Enhancing Collaboration with Digital Tools

Back when I was a data analyst, I used to “collaborate” by sharing screenshots, exporting Excel files, and sending copies of local ipynb files with teammates. My workflows consisted of hundreds of ad hoc queries in SQL Server scripts or Jupyter Notebook files that were organized by code comments that only made sense to me… And even worse, they were saved as v1, v2, vFinal, etc. in various locations across a disorganized file system that we only cleaned up for archiving purposes only after the project was over 😵💫 I left that job thinking it was normal for a data team to be this unorganized and that data collaboration was overrated—we just need to code and build dashboards better and faster! As I transitioned to companies where data played a much more central role in the company rather than one that was merely an auxiliary function, I learned that collaboration is not just a single thing that data teams have or do not have. There are LEVELS to this: 1️⃣ Synchronous collaboration - At remote-first companies, I needed to be able to work through problems in the same file at the same time alongside my manager when I was stuck ↳ Data tools with real-time code collaboration features that also allow for granular role-based access controls allowed me to prototype rapidly with my virtual teammates 2️⃣ Asynchronous collaboration - I have almost always worked with people across different timezones ↳ Features like commenting and versioning allowed me to pick up work on a project where a colleague left off, and vice versa 3️⃣ Organizational collaboration - All the hard work I did on an analysis was worth nothing if I couldn’t surface the insights to other data teams and business stakeholders and demonstrate the business value ↳ Team workspaces helped us build out dedicated hubs for teams to collaborate efficiently and organize data reports used to share insights interactively A data platform that boasts all of these features and is built with the collaborative data team in mind is JetBrains Datalore. If your data team knows the pain of any of these collaboration struggles, check out Datalore at 👉 https://lnkd.in/gcZSNBeU #ad

AI isn't just a tool; it's becoming a teammate. A major field experiment with 776 professionals at Procter & Gamble, led by researchers from Harvard, Wharton, and Warwick, revealed something remarkable: Generative AI can replicate and even outperform human teamwork. Read the recently published paper here: In a real-world new product development challenge, professionals were assigned to one of four conditions: 1. Control Individuals without AI 2. Human Team R&D + Commercial without AI (+0.24 SD) 3. Individual + AI Working alone with GPT-4 (+0.37 SD) 4. AI-Augmented Team Human team + GPT-4 (+0.39 SD) Key findings: ⭐ Individuals with AI matched the output quality of traditional teams, with 16% less time spent. ⭐ AI helped non-experts perform like seasoned product developers. ⭐ It flattened functional silos: R&D and Commercial employees produced more balanced, cross-functional solutions. ⭐ It made work feel better: AI users reported higher excitement and energy and lower anxiety, even more so than many working in human-only teams. What does this mean for organizations? 💡 Rethink team structures. One AI-empowered individual can do the work of two and do it faster. 💡 Democratize expertise. AI is a boundary-spanning engine that reduces reliance on deep specialization. 💡 Invest in AI fluency. Prompting and AI collaboration skills are the new competitive edge. 💡 Double down on innovation. AI + team = highest chance of top-tier breakthrough ideas. This is not just productivity software. This is a redefinition of how work happens. AI is no longer the intern or the assistant. It’s showing up as a cybernetic teammate, enhancing performance, dissolving silos, and lifting morale. The future of work isn’t human vs. AI. The next step is human + AI + new ways of collaborating. Are you ready?

At first glance, most AI tools feel the same. But choosing the right one can save you hours every week. Here’s my quick guide to where each shines: ⸻ 1. Gemini – Google • Reads and analyzes millions of words without slowing down • Native multimodal — mix text, images, audio, and code in one query • Built into Docs, Sheets, Gmail, and Meet Best for: Teams in Google Workspace needing deep analysis and instant integration 2. Claude – Anthropic • Writes in your tone. Ideal for ghostwriting and thought leadership • Handles complex coding with step-by-step clarity • Turns messy research into concise briefs Best for: Professionals who want an AI collaborator, not just a tool 3. Perplexity AI – Perplexity • Every claim comes with a verifiable source • Academic filter for peer-reviewed research • Instant answers without sign-up Best for: Researchers, students, and analysts who value speed and trust 4. ChatGPT – OpenAI • Largest plugin marketplace for custom tasks • Memory for personalized responses over time • GPT5 reasoning model for advanced problem-solving Best for: Power users needing a creative, analytical “Swiss Army knife” 5. Meta AI – Meta • Free in WhatsApp, Instagram, and Messenger • Open-source base for custom development • Generates images with simple text prompts Best for: Everyday users and small teams who want AI inside familiar apps 6. Grok – xAI • Reads X (Twitter) in real time for trending topics • Witty, sometimes provocative tone that sparks creativity • Bundled with X Premium+ Best for: Marketers, creators, and trend-watchers riding live conversation ⸻ Which AI has been the most useful in your workflow? I’d love to hear how your experience matches or challenges this list. #AI #Productivity #Career

We just built a commercial grade RCT platform called MindMeld for humans and AI agents to collaborate in integrative workspaces. We then test drove it in a large-scale Marketing Field Experiment with surprising results. Notably, "Personality Pairing" between human and AI personalities improves output quality and Human-AI teams generate 60% greater productivity per worker. In the experiment: 🚩 2310 participants were randomly assigned to human-human and human-AI teams, with randomized AI personality traits. 🚩 The teams exchanged 183,691 messages, and created 63,656 image edits, 1,960,095 ad copy edits, and 10,375 AI-generated images while producing 11,138 ads for a large think tank. 🚩 Analysis of fine-grained communication, collaboration, and workflow logs revealed that collaborating with AI agents increased communication by 137% and allowed humans to focus 23% more on text and image content generation messaging and 20% less on direct text editing. Humans on Human-AI teams sent 23% fewer social messages, creating 60% greater productivity per worker and higher-quality ad copy. 🚩 In contrast, human-human teams produced higher-quality images, suggesting that AI agents require fine-tuning for multimodal workflows. 🚩 AI Personality Pairing Experiments revealed that AI traits can complement human personalities to enhance collaboration. For example, conscientious humans paired with open AI agents improved image quality, while extroverted humans paired with conscientious AI agents reduced the quality of text, images, and clicks. 🚩 In field tests of ad campaigns with ~5M impressions, ads with higher image quality produced by human collaborations and higher text quality produced by AI collaborations performed significantly better on click-through rate and cost per click metrics. As human collaborations produced better image quality and AI collaborations produced better text quality, ads created by human-AI teams performed similarly, overall, to those created by human-human teams. 🚩 Together, these results suggest AI agents can improve teamwork and productivity, especially when tuned to complement human traits. The paper, coauthored with Harang Ju, can be found in the link on the first comment below. We thank the MIT Initiative on the Digital Economy for institutional support! As always, thoughts and comments highly encouraged! Wondering especially what Erik Brynjolfsson Edward McFowland III Iavor Bojinov John Horton Karim Lakhani Azeem Azhar Sendhil Mullainathan Nicole Immorlica Alessandro Acquisti Ethan Mollick Katy Milkman and others think!

People who know me know one of my quirks: I dislike Zoom meetings and avoid them like a dentist chair. I go through my calendar every Sunday night and remove myself from as many meetings as possible (sorry!). Why? Because these mediums can (without a lot of vigilance) make teams less collaborative, less creative, and zap their productivity. They can turn what used to be energizing and engaging work into something that feels like mush — and I am a big believer in remote work and technology (not a luddite, I swear). But ask yourself:  - Is your calendar packed with back-to-back Zooms? - How does that make you feel? - Do your Zooms have the “feel” of structure but somehow lack substance? - What were the moments that led to the highest quality work you have done in your career? - When do you feel most alive and engaged in your work? If you’re like me, days of wall-to-wall Zooms turn your work into mush you dread. So recently, I’ve been thinking a lot about ways to reclaim time, drive outcomes, and increase collaboration: selfishly for myself, and more importantly for the teams I work with. Here are a few things I've been experimenting with: (1) Pushing 80% of my Zoom meetings to be “team creates a work product together on the screen” vs “team presents slides and talks about them”. You know this is working when you leave the meeting and have produced a work product together that will get used. (2) Reviewing work outside of Zoom, asynchronously, so the discussions can be streamlined. “Hey, can you send me the slides and I’ll give you a call?” “Hey, can you send the slides now so we can come to the meeting with our questions to discuss?” This shifts the group's focus to getting better outcomes vs showing off cool slides to one another. (3) Making decisions outside of Zoom meetings. “Hey, can we hop on the phone and discuss X decision?” I find that 30-minute or 60-minute Zooms often can be converted into 5 minutes of readings and 5-10 minute phone calls. (4) Ditching the slick deck and “just put it in a doc.” The thing about slides is that they make it too easy to cover up thin work with pretty design. I’m trying to remove this crutch more and more by asking teams to just “put it in a doc”. When it’s just the words on a page, you can see where things stand. How does this all work in practice? My litmus test is seeing how much time in a day I’ve spent doing the things that are most important for the company or project. What did I accomplish on my list? If the answer is not very much, I know I haven't been successful in taking agency over my time. This is a work in progress for me. How are you reclaiming your calendar so that you can do your best work?

Your tools can either boost your team’s output or bottleneck it. 5 systems we use to stay aligned & focused: Slack – real-time clarity → For fast, focused team comms → Keeps async communication threaded and searchable. Zoom – intentional connection → For weekly meetings and spontaneous syncs. → Video keeps humans in focus—not just tasks. Hubstaff – transparent productivity → Track hours and activity without micromanaging. → Helps us guide with data, not opinions. PayPal – seamless payroll → Pays the team on time, every time. → Removes admin friction so focus stays on work. Jira – your project control center → Houses quarterly goals and daily tasks all in one place. → Keeps accountability clear and workflows moving. These are more than apps. They’re rhythm-builders. They shape how we think, collaborate, and perform. If your team ever feels off, start by auditing your tools. Are they empowering growth or slowing you down? PS: My tool stack isn’t set in stone. As tech evolves and our team grows, so will this list. Adaptability beats attachment every time. What tool has been a game-changer for your team? Helpful?  ♻️Please share to help others. 🔎Follow Michael Shen for more.

A product leader asked me recently: 'Which digital tools actually move the needle?' After working with many product teams, here's my practical tech stack for 2025: 1/ Collaboration & Planning Notion for documentation ClickUp for project and task management Miro for visual collaboration 2/ Development & Testing GitHub for code management Amazon Web Services (AWS) for scalable and reliable hosting infrastructure Canny for feature requests 3/ Data & Analytics Mixpanel + Microsoft Clarity for product usage and analytics Google Analytics 4 for user behavior Databox for data dashboards 4/ Automation Tools Zapier for workflow automation Docsumo 📄 for document processing Pro tip: The goal isn't to use every tool. Pick ones that solve your biggest bottlenecks first. My team's approach: >List your top 3 time-consuming processes >Start with tools that solve these specific problems >Measure impact (time saved, error reduction) >Only then, expand your stack What's the one tool that transformed your product development process?

We measure bandwidth at work. But not human connection. In hybrid and remote models, connection is the challenge. Too many employees commute in, only to find no one there. Too many remote workers feel busy, but isolated. Our research shows how to fix this. 1. Overlap drives value. Only 35% of employees see close collaborators on in-office days. When overlap is low, employees call office days “not valuable.” Coordinating anchor days improves connection without increasing office time. 2. One day goes far. Just a single office day a week builds 70% of cross-functional ties. Additional days have steep diminishing returns. Quality of overlap matters more than quantity of visits. 3. Managers set the tone. Many employees go 180+ days without seeing their manager in person. Regular 1:1s in-office or via video build trust and alignment. Manager facetime correlates with stronger digital connection as well. 4. Leadership visibility matters. Employees with regular executive facetime show higher belief in mission. Executive absence erodes connectivity across the org. Leaders must be seen, not just heard, to reinforce culture. Hybrid and remote work are not just about flexibility. They are about connection, overlap, and access to leaders. Do your hybrid days build connection or just fill calendars?

Are you tired of your workday being eaten up by back-to-back meetings? You're not alone. Many of us feel overwhelmed by the number of meetings that seem to take over our schedules. But don't worry, I've got some easy strategies to help you and your team work better, with fewer interruptions. Chat More, Meet Less Firstly, let's lean into online chatting. Tools like Slack can be a game-changer. They let you share ideas and updates without needing to gather everyone for a meeting. It's a great way to keep the conversation going, without pausing your workday. The Magic of Quick Check-ins Next up, embrace the quick daily stand-up. A brief catch-up with your team each day can replace many longer meetings. It keeps everyone in the loop and can often be done in just a few minutes. Visual Brainstorming Then there's the power of visual tools. Digital boards like Miro are fantastic for brainstorming and planning. They make sharing ideas fun and interactive, cutting down the need for long discussions. Stay Focused Finally, make sure every meeting has a clear purpose. Before you call a meeting, ask yourself what you need to achieve. Keeping meetings focused and to the point can save a lot of time. So there you have it: chat instead of meet, quick daily updates, use visual tools, and keep meetings focused. By trying these simple tips, you can reduce meeting overload and make your workday more productive and enjoyable.

Throwing AI tools at your team without a plan is like giving them a Ferrari without driving lessons. AI only drives impact if your workforce knows how to use it effectively. After: 1-defining objectives 2-assessing readiness 3-piloting use cases with a tiger team Step 4 is about empowering the broader team to leverage AI confidently. Boston Consulting Group (BCG) research and Gilbert’s Behavior Engineering Model show that high-impact AI adoption is 80% about people, 20% about tech. Here’s how to make that happen: 1️⃣ Environmental Supports: Build the Framework for Success -Clear Guidance: Define AI’s role in specific tasks. If a tool like Momentum.io automates data entry, outline how it frees up time for strategic activities. -Accessible Tools: Ensure AI tools are easy to use and well-integrated. For tools like ChatGPT create a prompt library so employees don’t have to start from scratch. -Recognition: Acknowledge team members who make measurable improvements with AI, like reducing response times or boosting engagement. Recognition fuels adoption. 2️⃣ Empower with Tiger Team Champions -Use Tiger/Pilot Team Champions: Leverage your pilot team members as champions who share workflows and real-world results. Their successes give others confidence and practical insights. -Role-Specific Training: Focus on high-impact skills for each role. Sales might use prompts for lead scoring, while support teams focus on customer inquiries. Keep it relevant and simple. -Match Tools to Skill Levels: For non-technical roles, choose tools with low-code interfaces or embedded automation. Keep adoption smooth by aligning with current abilities. 3️⃣ Continuous Feedback and Real-Time Learning -Pilot Insights: Apply findings from the pilot phase to refine processes and address any gaps. Updates based on tiger team feedback benefit the entire workforce. -Knowledge Hub: Create an evolving resource library with top prompts, troubleshooting guides, and FAQs. Let it grow as employees share tips and adjustments. -Peer Learning: Champions from the tiger team can host peer-led sessions to show AI’s real impact, making it more approachable. 4️⃣ Just in Time Enablement -On-Demand Help Channels: Offer immediate support options, like a Slack channel or help desk, to address issues as they arise. -Use AI to enable AI: Create customGPT that are task or job specific to lighten workload or learning brain load. Leverage NotebookLLM. -Troubleshooting Guide: Provide a quick-reference guide for common AI issues, empowering employees to solve small challenges independently. AI’s true power lies in your team’s ability to use it well. Step 4 is about support, practical training, and peer learning led by tiger team champions. By building confidence and competence, you’re creating an AI-enabled workforce ready to drive real impact. Step 5 coming next ;) Ps my next podcast guest, we talk about what happens when AI does a lot of what humans used to do… Stay tuned.