Remote teams: great in theory, full of headaches in practice. You need to keep everyone on the same page, but between email chains, chat apps, and lost files, it’s easy for things to spiral. If your company’s rolling out Bigtincan and you’re trying to figure out how it actually helps your team work together (and not just create another layer of busywork), this guide’s for you.
Below, I’ll walk through how to set up Bigtincan for real collaboration, how to avoid the common traps, and what features are worth your time. No fluff, just what works.
1. Get Your House in Order: Setting Up Bigtincan for Your Team
Before you start uploading files and inviting the whole company, take fifteen minutes to get your workspace sorted. Bigtincan is customizable, which is great—unless you let it turn into a junk drawer. Here’s what to do:
- Decide who needs access: Not everyone needs to be in every workspace or channel. Start small: only add people who actually need to collaborate.
- Organize by real projects or teams: Use channels or folders that match how your team actually works. “Marketing Q3” beats “General.”
- Clarify permissions: Bigtincan’s permission system can get fiddly. Make it clear who can edit, upload, or just view files. Fewer cooks in the kitchen = less mess.
- Set up integrations early: If you use Salesforce, Slack, or Office 365, connect them now. It’s easier than untangling a mess later.
Pro Tip: Don’t just import your entire file server. Curate what goes into Bigtincan at first, or you’ll end up with the same chaos—just in a new tool.
2. Sharing Content That Makes Sense
Remote teams live and die by how well they share information. Bigtincan is built for file sharing, but you need some ground rules.
What Works
- Centralize key docs: Sales decks, one-pagers, policies—put them in Bigtincan, not buried in old email chains.
- Use versioning: Bigtincan tracks versions, so don’t rename files “FINAL_v3.” Just upload over the old one.
- Preview before download: The built-in viewer saves time. No need to download a 50MB PDF if it’s the wrong one.
- Comment in context: Need feedback? Tag teammates right on the doc.
What Doesn’t
- Don’t use it as a dumping ground: Your team will stop trusting the system if half the files are outdated or irrelevant.
- Skip uploading every little thing: Not every lunch agenda needs to live here.
Ignore This
- “AI-powered content recommendations”: Maybe this’ll get good someday, but for now, it’s hit-or-miss. Don’t count on it to find your most important files.
Pro Tip: Make it a habit to archive or delete old docs regularly. If your team sees only relevant, up-to-date stuff, they’ll actually use the platform.
3. Real-Time and Async Communication: Using Bigtincan’s Collaboration Tools
Bigtincan isn’t Slack or Zoom, but it does give you ways to talk with your team—both in real-time and asynchronously.
Messaging & Comments
- Channel messages: Use for team-wide announcements or updates. Don’t overdo it; nobody wants more notification spam.
- Document comments: Tag people with @mentions for feedback on specific files. This cuts down on “Hey, did you see my email?” follow-ups.
- Tasks and assignments: You can assign tasks related to content—handy for reviews or approvals.
What Works
- Keep convos in context: Chat where the work is happening. If you’re reviewing a proposal, discuss it on the doc itself.
- Use notifications wisely: Encourage people to check Bigtincan notifications instead of blasting Slack or email.
What Doesn’t
- Don’t try to replace all chat: For fast back-and-forth, Bigtincan’s messaging is fine, but it’s not a true chat app. For deep discussions, stick to your main chat tool.
Pro Tip: Set up notification preferences early. Too many pings and people start ignoring everything.
4. Running Meetings and Training Remotely
You can’t run a remote team without meetings—but at least you can make them less painful. Bigtincan has features for sharing agendas, training materials, and even recording sessions.
Meetings
- Pre-share agendas and docs: Upload everything before the meeting. No more “Wait, where’s the deck?” moments.
- Record and store sessions: If you’re running a training or important meeting, record it (using Zoom or Teams), then upload the file to Bigtincan for people who couldn’t make it.
- Action items: Log follow-ups as tasks tied to files or notes in Bigtincan. It keeps people accountable.
Training
- Onboarding materials: Create a central folder for new hires. Video walkthroughs, key docs, company policies—put them all here.
- Track progress: Bigtincan lets you see who’s viewed or completed content. Use it, but don’t be Big Brother.
What to Skip
- Don’t try to run video calls in Bigtincan: It’s not built for that. Use your regular video tool, then store the important stuff here.
Pro Tip: After a meeting, upload the summary and tag attendees. That way, everyone’s on the same page, even if they were double-booked.
5. Keeping Everyone on the Same Page
The real trick to remote teamwork? Making sure nobody’s working from outdated info. Bigtincan can help, but only if you use it right.
Make It the Single Source of Truth
- Point people to Bigtincan, not random links: If it’s important, it should live here. Otherwise, you’ll end up with “which version is right?” drama.
- Set review reminders: Out-of-date docs are worse than no docs. Schedule regular check-ins to update key files.
- Encourage questions in context: If someone’s confused, they should ask on the file, not in a group chat that nobody will remember.
What to Watch Out For
- Adoption can lag: People will fall back to old habits unless you make Bigtincan the go-to spot.
- Too many cooks: Assign clear owners for each folder or workspace. Someone needs to keep things tidy.
Pro Tip: Every month, do a quick audit. Delete what’s old, update what’s out of date, and highlight what’s new.
6. What’s Worth Your Time (and What Isn’t)
Let’s be honest: not every feature is a winner. Here’s what’s worth digging into, and what you can skip (for now).
Worth Using
- Mobile app: Actually pretty good. Great for field teams or anyone who hates lugging a laptop.
- Analytics: See who’s using what. Useful for spotting which content actually gets used.
- Integrations: Linking with tools you already use (Office 365, Salesforce) can save real time.
Not Essential (Yet)
- AI features: The content recommendations and “next best action” stuff sounds cool, but it’s not reliable enough for most teams.
- Gamification: If you want to hand out badges for uploading files, go for it. Most teams don’t need it.
7. Tips for Rolling Out Bigtincan Without the Drama
- Start small: Don’t try to move your entire company over on day one.
- Train, but keep it short: Focus on what people actually need to know—skip the deep dives unless someone asks.
- Get feedback: If something’s confusing or annoying, fix it early before habits set in.
- Lead by example: If managers use Bigtincan, others will too.
Keeping remote teams working together is never going to be frictionless, but Bigtincan can help—if you use it for what it’s good at and don’t overload it with junk. Keep your setup simple, update things regularly, and don’t sweat the features you don’t need. Start small, see what sticks, and tweak as you go. That’s how you actually get stuff done.