Online collaboration software is an online service that allows group work or teamwork with remote users. Basically, it enables you to build a platform wherein your team will be able to share files and discuss the same with each other on the platform.
This article here summarizes Best Free Online Collaboration Tools” which will help you choose the right tool for your company.
Communication Softwares
Nextiva
Nextiva brings all the features of traditional business phone systems to companies that work remotely or across multiple locations and time zones. Using just one robust online platform (and one service provider), you can deliver and manage reliable phone service to employees in multiple locations.
Remote and flexible companies traditionally struggle with reliable communications. In fact, LucidChart points to a Zogby Analytics study that isolated information gaps and delays as a top obstacle facing remote workers.
Nextiva helps companies overcome the remote communication barrier. Manage call traffic over the internet, establish a cloud-based call center, and so much more.
Pros
- Top rated customer service and free trial period
- Reliable cloud-based enterprise Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) with zero outages last year
- Streamlined control panel and single platform for easy management of phone, email, chat, and SMS
- Collects customer insights to supplement business decisions
- Security monitoring and protection
- Tons of bells and whistles, including automations and integrations
- Physical phones available on request
Get a full view of all Nextiva’s products and features.
Cons
- Employees may have to change existing phone numbers
- May require a light communication and training plan if you’re replacing an existing system
Slack
Slack is a smart collaboration tool that is available in both desktop and mobile versions. It allows teams to send direct messages to each other as individuals as well as groups.
You can also organize conversations into various channels for specific initiatives or projects, and integrates with the best Slack apps like Google Docs, Box and Dropbox for a more unified experience.
Pros
- Hosted in the cloud so no need for costly installations
- Messages are fully searchable
- Supports private group communication
- Allows for external sharing
Cons
- Has a message visibility limit
- Pretty expensive on a per user basis
- Is slower to load than other apps such as Flock or Brief
- It can be cumbersome to sign into each workspace to communicate with different teams
Bonusly
Make visibility a priority this year with Bonusly. This online collaboration platform gives managers, executives, and employees the ability to see and celebrate great work through an easy-to-use interface. Helping to create a culture where recognition is part of your day, Bonusly encourages employees to recognize their colleagues and promotes workplace collaboration.
Using this team collaboration software is a breeze, as it integrates seamlessly into the other online communication tools at your business. You can use it on a daily basis without feeling like you’re doing any extra work!
Bonusly’s 360-degree recognition also makes teamwork visible to everyone and empowers employees at all levels of your company. You can show appreciation for each other and build stronger working relationships while incentivizing a culture of online collaboration.
Pros
- Analytics point out team members’ strengths
- Make it easy for managers and leaders to gather, understand, and act on employee feedback with fun, lightweight surveys of all types.
- Easy onboarding meaning employees can start using it on their first day
- Best suited for teams/companies of 100+
- Automated custom rewards for employee milestones and completed projects
Cons
- No free plan, but they do offer a free trial here
- Expanding list of rewards
monday.com
What would it mean for your productivity if you never had to check email, Slack, Salesforce, and Excel just to track down information about one project?
Whether you’re working in the office, from home, or from across the globe, monday.com helps your entire team stay in sync. This work operating system (Work OS) keeps all of your work clearly organized on one visual platform everyone can access.
Without any coding skills, you can customize monday.com so that it works best for your team. Automate data entry, workflows, and other repetitive tasks, so you can focus on more meaningful work. Then assign tasks so nothing falls through the cracks.
Plus, we surveyed 1,273 executives that use collaboration tools on a regular basis. And they voted monday.com as their favorite platform.
Pros
- Sign up for a free trial without entering your payment details
- Download pre-designed templates perfectly suited to your workflows
- Get the “bird’s eye view” of multiple projects in one convenient location
- Check your progress at any time from the mobile app
- View your projects in a calendar mode so you never miss any deadlines
- Assign new tasks to available team members so no one is overloaded
- Automate your workflows without coding
- Integrate all of your other apps on one unified platform
Cons
- Mobile app can be cumbersome, but they are working on it constantly
- More content on advanced concepts
Nectar
Nectar is an award-winning employee recognition & rewards platform that bolsters online collaboration. It creates a simple, standardized way for organizations to give out recognition, spot bonuses, awards and wellness challenges all within budget. This includes peer to peer recognition as well as manager to direct reports.
With Nectar, you can reinforce great work anytime, anywhere through an interactive recognition feed. Keep morale up, teams connected and promote your company’s core values in an online working environment.
Pros
- Connects with your other tools like Slack, Microsoft Teams and more to make recognition as seamless as possible
- Has a robust rewards engine with hundreds of global gift card options or branded company swag
- Unlike others in this space, Nectar aligns with its customers through Fair Billing. You only pay for ACTIVE users instead of per employee per month. They also don’t do contracts or implementation fees.
- Has a free tier along with paid plans
Explore pricing and features to find the Nectar plan that best fits your team.
Cons
- Wish there was more functionality on the free tier
- Reward options are limited outside of the US, UK or Australia
Hubstaff
Remote and asynchronous teams face communication challenges that in-office teams don’t. With Hubstaff’s stopwatch-style timer, teams can track time and see real-time updates from their desktop, web browser, or mobile device.
A virtual dashboard lets them view activity scores, enable optional screenshotting, and set productive and unproductive apps and websites for each member of their team. Integrations with over 30 popular project management, help desk, and HR apps make Hubstaff even more powerful for growing teams.
Pros
- Beautiful UI/UX
- Simple tracking
- Unlimited screenshots
- Automated timesheets
- Customizable invoices
- Easy team payments
Cons
- Relies on integrations
- If you’re looking for just a time tracker, there are free options that don’t provide the same features Hubstaff does but are cheaper.
Project management programs
Wrike: If you’ve got tasks to assign across team members, Wrike is one of the better task collaboration tools out there. In fact, we use it at SpaceIQ. It’s got everything required to create detailed tasks, delegate, track progress, and measure results. All that, and a user-friendly navigation system.
Asana: Asana helps teams prioritize goals, stay on-task, and collaborate across all parts of a project. List, timeline, calendar, and accomplishment views let employees pick their perspective on work, while in-app messaging and integrations bring the project together one step at a time.
Trello: Trello uses “cards” to collect tasks under a single project header. Each card is assigned to someone, who manages it as part of the larger project. It’s a visual take on project collaboration. Plus, there are tons of high-profile tie-ins that make Trello an instant asset within your digital app ecosystem.
Calendar software
Microsoft Outlook: The old standard, and for good reason. Outlook is an email-calendar client all-in-one. Many businesses utilize Outlook for email, making its calendar component a natural fit. That, and the fact it’s incredibly easy to use, intuitive, and directly integrated into your email and address book.
Google Calendar: In all the ways Microsoft Outlook is convenient and accessible, so is Google Calendar. Where Google has the edge is in its usability, which features numerous custom options for creating events, integrating with other cloud services, and recognizing appointments sent to your Gmail account.
Calendly: For a calendar that’s not bundled with email or other software, Calendly is a simple, intuitive choice. Calendly makes a great collaborative calendar, allowing users to sync their calendars to find common free time for meetings. Calendly also has smart scheduling tools to connect users within the same group, as well as outside contacts.
Every year brings new cloud-based collaborative software startups. What’s hot this year may be supplanted by something even better next year. What matters now is that your suite of collaborative applications enables your team to achieve success today.
Conclusion
Collaboration is the root for success in any project. And, finding the best collaboration tools can be challenging. Not all collaboration software are created equal – which means your team might need to try a few different ones before finding one that works well for you. If your company is looking for online collaboration tools, this post will help.