5 Things That Can Go Wrong With Collaborative Content Review

Let’s start by answering this question: If you had just one day to send across a 50-page document to your client, would you email your team back and forth for their feedback or just start collaborating online?

The answer is not only obvious but also the best! Online Collaborative Review is a boon when you need to get your work done in a jiffy. But as they say, “Too many cooks spoil the broth”; too many reviewers working simultaneously can make your “broth” (document) tangy! Here are a few tips that will catch you before you fall into pits of trouble and will help you manage collaborative review.

1. Different Reviewers, Different Versions

Imagine the nightmare if all the reviewers are working on different versions, and you need to collaborate all of them! You need to have a definite and well-defined version management system. So, sharing documents on a server makes sure that everyone can access the latest version at all times, and eliminate the issue of the owner having to  merge the feedback from different versions.

2. Last-Minute Changes

You have fixed all the comments, and are ready to hit the send button, when one of your team members send you some additional comments. Avoid last minute fixes and define a clear review process; this includes the ability to set a review deadline and the ability to track progress at individual levels. Set expectations early on in the process to avoid bad surprises!

3. Comments Unnoticed

Sometimes it’s obvious to miss out on the latest comments, with many people working on the same document. Marking of unread comments help you to stay on track and identify the newly added comments since your last visit.

4. Lots of Comments to Read!

After a while, it might become tiresome to read long threads of comments, which might have already been addressed. So, it’s best if you can resolve the comment once it has been worked on, making it easier to identify unresolved comments.

5. Duplicate Comments

Reading the same comments from different reviewers can also consume lot of your time. So it’s best if all the reviewers can view each others comments to avoid duplicate feedback. Reviewers can respond to the previous comments, clarify any remark, thus avoiding multiple entries on the same subject.

These details if taken care of, working together on the same document across locations will become a productive and time-saving process. Zoho Docs Word Processor, with its intuitive commenting and reviewing features, ensures these pitfalls are eliminated. It allows you to add, edit, or delete previous comments anytime. The ‘comment only access’ ensures that your collaborators can only add comments, and not make any changes to the content directly. In addition to that, with the ‘comment notifications’ feature enabled, you get notified via emails whenever new comments are added or someone responds to your previous comments.

So go ahead, and give it a try. We would love to hear your feedback and suggestions.