Have you ever felt lonely, isolated, and disconnected from your team? Do your coworkers stare at their computer monitors all day long and never talk to a single person? If this sounds a lot like your office life, you could probably benefit from a tool that helps teams collaborate!
What is an online collaboration tool?
Picture this. You’re a fast-paced startup, or perhaps a growing enterprise. Your team is made up of some of the most talented designers, developers, and customer service members you could find.
The only problem is they’re spread out across different cities or countries.
Using online collaboration tools, it’s easy to rally the troops and get them working together in a 100% virtual environment.
Depending on the tool, you’ll be able to collaborate online with your team using features like project management, time trackers, messaging, video conferences, and virtual whiteboards.
Collaboration tools empower your team to complete projects on time, communicate with colleagues, and optimize every resource available.
How online collaboration tools help your business
Remote teams are the clear winners if you’re looking to introduce an online collaboration tool into your workflow.
But even if you want to maximize in-house workflows, online collaboration tools are a great way to get teams working smarter and more effectively.
McKinsey found using online collaboration tools and digital workplaces can increase productivity by 20-30%. Another study by Aruba found 70% of employees attribute their collaboration efforts to the use of digital technology.
Using a collaboration tool can help your business in a lot of ways, such as:
- Delegating work
- Collaborating across different geographical areas and time zones
- Optimizing cross-collaboration between departments
- Increasing productivity
- Optimizing your reporting/tracking
- Organizing how you store workplace files
It’s clear: collaborating online makes everybody’s job easier. They help cut out useless meetings and emails and get your team working together on the most important projects.
The question is… what tool is right for your business?
39 online collaboration tools to help distributed teams perform at a higher level
Design Collaboration Tools
Ziflow
Ziflow is the leading tool for enterprise-level agencies and brands to prove their work online.
Using Ziflow, teams can upload and collaborate on projects easier without having to send email trails. With over 1,200 file types supported, all an agency needs to do is upload their file, have their team review it, and act on feedback.
Ziflow has all the tools a team needs to collect and share useful actionable feedback. The result? All your projects stay on track, remain compliant, and get delivered on time.
“Current Ziflow customers deliver their projects up to 56% faster than before they adopted online proofing, with 29% fewer revisions.”
Key Features
- Proofing for Text, Audio, Video, and Hundreds of Other Media Types
- Collaborative and Real-Time Review
- Automated Workflows, Deadlines and Reminders
- Role-Based Permissions
- Version Control
- Side-by-Side Comparison
- SOC2 Security
- Audit Trails
- Integrations with Slack, Google Drive, Basecamp, and more.
Notable Clients
- Showtime
- Splash Worldwide
- AWS
- Hilton
- Weber Grills
Price: Plans start at $9 / user / month. Ziflow offers annual & monthly plans.
InVision
InVision is used by digital product designers to track and optimize the delivery of projects.
Used by tech companies like Netflix and MailChimp, InVision helps designers navigate every stage of the product design process, from ideation to development. Designers can begin a project using the freehand tool to sketch out their idea, like this:
When inside InVision’s dashboard, teams can control the entire design process through feedback loops and notifications.
Key Features
- Prototyping
- Collaboration
- Revision History
- Feedback Management
Notable Clients
- Netflix
- Uber
- MailChimp
Price: Free plan available. Premium plans start at $15 / user / month
Chat/Communication/Video Conferencing Tools
Slack
We’re willing to bet you’ve heard of Slack. It’s one of the most widely used messaging apps used by teams around the world.
Teams communicate with each other inside channels. These channels can be assigned to departments or issues and used to track and archive conversations to help teams get more done.
Team members can also search channels, as well as integrate with apps like Ziflow, Google Calendar, Zoom, and DropBox, to maximize time efficiently.
Key Features
- Shared messaging channels
- File sharing
- Apps and integrations
Notable Clients
- Hubspot
- Xero
- Lyft
- Shopify
- SurveyMonkey
Price: Free plan available. Premium plans start at $8 / user / month
Microsoft Teams
Microsoft Teams is a video conferencing and online meeting platform that combines the power of high-quality audio, video, chat, and screen sharing options to create one hub for collaboration before, during, and after team meetings.
The platform can be used to facilitate everything from 1-1 meeting and private team meetings to live events hosting thousands of internal and external participants. Because the platform works with Microsoft conferencing and A/V devices, enterprises are using Microsoft Teams to create a seamless connection between physical meeting spaces and remote meeting participation.
Key Features
- Team meeting hosting and scheduling assistance
- Live event hosting and live chat
- Meeting note taking and recording
- File sharing
- Screen sharing and instant messaging
- Audio conferencing
- Automatic transcription
Notable Clients
- General Electric
- L’Oréal
- McCann Group
- Goodyear Tire
Price: Office 365 Business Essential plans start at $5.00 per user / per month.
Skype
Let’s get one thing straight. Skype was one of the first tools to help businesses host video meetings for free.
Although it’s now being rivaled by tools like Zoom, Skype is still worth a place on our list because of its features. Using Skype, you can have audio and video calls with team members around the world on multiple devices. You can also use Skype to host group calls, where you can talk to a bunch of team members at a time. Think of it as a way to hold a worldwide group meeting—digitally.
Key Features
- Instant messaging
- 1:1 video calls
- Group video calls & conferencing
- Voice messages
- File sharing & transfer
- Screen sharing
Price: Free version available. Paid plans start at $5 / month
Zoom
Zoom is a cloud-based video and web conferencing platform for teams and customers to conduct online meetings. The tool also allows you to share your screen (and files) to collaborate on any project in real-time.
You can also connect multiple conference rooms and add in remote attendees to meetings, so you no longer need a physical location to host those important meetings with clients.
Zoom also integrates with a bunch of tools like Google Calendar and Workplace, so once a session is booked on your calendar, a join link will be emailed to the attendee automatically.
Key Features
- Live / video conferencing
- Video call recording
- CRM integration
- Screen sharing
- Drag & drop file sharing
- Email invitations
Notable Clients
- Nasdaq
- Autodesk
- Finra
- Fox Studios
Price: Free plan available. Premium plans start at $13.99/month
Stormboard
Stormboard works differently from other tools in this section because it helps you brainstorm and plan a meeting before it happens. Using Stormboard, you can set up your meeting beforehand, discuss your ideas in real-time, and then assign tasks after the meeting wraps up to keep projects on track.
The tool also has built-in templates for project management techniques like agile, and work can be instantly exported using the tool’s reporting options. For more technical meeting needs, this tool is a good fit.
Key Features
- Activity/News Feed
- Collaboration
- Idea Ranking
- Mind Maps
- Status Tracking
- Workflow Management
Notable Clients
- Ikea
- Liberty Mutual
- Lonely Planet
- SalesForce
Price: Free plan available. Premium plans start at $5/month
GoToMeeting
GoToMeeting is a web conferencing tool for teams who need to host larger meetings.
Using GoToMeeting, you can host a meeting for up to 100 people, and attendees can share any application on their computer in real-time. It also works with a bunch of different devices like Mac, PC, iPad, iPhone, or Android.
It’s simple enough to use. Meeting organizers can schedule meetings in advance or create regular meetings for their teams. Then, attendees can join the sessions by clicking on a link sent to them over email or message.
Key Features
- Instant meetings with a single click
- One-time scheduled meetings
- Recurring meetings
- Join from Mac, PC, iPad, iPhone or Android
Notable Clients
- Gainsight
- Marketo
- Penguin Random House
- Make-A-Wish
Price: Starting from: $12.00/month
Google Hangouts
Google Hangouts is used by thousands of businesses across the globe who are on a budget.
It’s similar to the other tools we’ve mentioned here because you can host video chats, as well as voice calls with your team. As it’s integrated into Google+ and Gmail, there is also an app for iOS and Android devices your team can download to join meetings easier.
Key Features
- Chat / Messaging
- Discussion Threads
- Video Conferencing
- Screen Sharing
Notable Clients
- ASICS America Corporation
- Global Payments Inc
- Secret Escapes Limited
- ClearCapital
Price: Free, with G Suite pricing for business ranging from $3 to $25 per user per month.
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Miro
Imagine having a digital whiteboard you could use to build and collaborate with your team on projects. Well, that’s exactly what Miro does.
Miro is a tool distributed teams can use to collaborate as if they would in person using a digital whiteboard. Teams can use Miro to brainstorm, build processes and make decisions in one place.
On each digital whiteboard, teams can upload videos, files and build processes using templates. Then, you can use Miro to host video meetings and discuss projects or problems to keep workflows on track.
Key Features
- Remote collaboration
- Agile management
- Brainstorming sessions
- Prototyping/wireframing
- Getting feedback on design content
Notable Clients
- Instapage
- Skyscanner
- Cisco
- UpWork
Price: Free plan available. Premium plans starts at $8 / user / month
Zeplin
Zeplin is a collaboration tool used to bridge the communication gap between designers and developers.
For product teams, Zeplin can be used to automatically hand off designs between collaborators with accurate specs, assets, and code snippets. Product designers can export and store their designs in Zeplin as a project, and work on them from anywhere in the cloud. When team members need help, they can invite their colleagues using a share link to boost collaboration and get projects delivered faster.
Key Features
- Integrations with Sketch, Adobe XD, Figma and Photoshop CC
- Renaming assets
- Design handoff
- Filtering notes
Team Collaboration and Project Management Tools:
Brief
Brief is a cloud-based team collaboration tool. It comes as an easy-to-use app that allows the employees to share messages, files, and images within their teams. The app can be easily installed on a wide variety of devices and can prove to be a very handy ‘go to’ tool that can be used on a day-to-day basis for sharing documents and files within remote teams. It’s feature-rich offering an elegant dashboard. In addition to the features, such as message chat, video chat, and team hubs, it also provides means to self-organize by allowing to maintain to-do lists, prioritizing tasks, etc. With Brief, one can easily transfer large files and images, regardless of their size.
Asana
Asana as a project management and collaboration tool is rich with features, usability, and user-friendliness. For what it offers, it’s popular with many enterprises these days. It allows to track tasks in visual lists, boards, timelines, or calendar formats to suit the individual project needs and convenience. Asana provides easy-to-use dashboards to track and plan multiple projects of varied types aiming to offer complete team solutions. It interfaces well with a host of other tools such as Google Sheets, Dropbox, Hourstack, Slack, etc., providing one single integrated platform for multiple purposes. With features like Task Management, Communication Dashboards, and cutting-edge Integrations, undoubtedly it is one of the most widely used projects management and team collaboration tools these days.
Basecamp
Basecamp as a collaboration tool ensures that none of the employees loses track and is left behind. Keeping everyone on the same page in a team can be difficult sometimes, and more so in an organization with employees working from diverse locations. Some of the features that set Basecamp apart are Message Boards that enable to make quick announcements relating to the project or quick status updates.
Basecamp is somewhat similar to the more popular Trello, which is a card-based task and project management tool (similar to using Post-it notes) making team collaboration easier. Trello mimics real-life boards to manage the projects. Asana on the other hand takes a task-oriented approach and offers better workflow functionality. Trello is easy to work with, but Asana has a broader set of features.
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Podio
Podio is an online collaboration tool, aiming to help employers improve the structure of the workflows by offering a way to organize unwieldy stacks of work and makes it easy to assign specific tasks to different employees. The tool enables sharing of files within the team, gets feedback in real-time, and tracks the status of the projects.
Conceptboard
Conceptboard is an instant whiteboard for teams and projects, and to that extent serves as a collaboration tool for the employees operating from dispersed locations.
Conclusion
One of the biggest communication and collaboration hurdles small businesses face is communication and collaboration.