Effective collaboration is very important for any organization nowadays. And for this, the use of collaboration tools helps a lot. The reason is that it enables you to meet your team members online through real-time communication, so that it becomes easy to discuss your work with them without being physically present at the same place. Also, by using these tools, you can share the documents related to the project among team members quickly.
What is collaboration in the workplace?
By Merriam Webster’s definition, collaboration is “the work and activity of several persons who individually contribute toward the efficiency of the whole.”
In plain language, that means working together to reach a common goal. In the workplace, collaboration refers to team members working together online in real-time.
Why is workplace collaboration so important?
Your company’s productivity can increase by 20 to 30% by using various web collaboration tools.
With true collaborative solutions, there’s no longer a need to be in the same room at the same time to work on the same project. Collaboration enables teams to brainstorm, contribute individual ideas and perspectives, share resources, make decisions, and reach goals together — all from different locations. In short, it bridges the gap between discussion and action like never before. Your company’s productivity can increase by 20 to 30% by using the right collaboration tools.
Additional benefits of collaboration include:
- More work completed without compromising on results
- Critical decisions made early on in the project
- Efficient problem-solving due to varied intelligence areas
- More valued individuals based on unique skill sets
- Overall team cohesion
Types of online collaboration tools
The term “collaboration software” isn’t just a single, all-encompassing product. There’s a broad range of apps, tools, and services out there that each play a role in team collaboration. This makes perfect sense considering large marketing teams don’t require the same collaboration tools as small start-up companies.
So before we tell you about some of the best online collaboration software on the market, it’s important to be aware of the different types. While most people are aware of traditional document collaboration tools, like G Suite and Microsoft Office Online, they may not be quite as familiar with the more advanced online collaboration tools that fall into these categories:
- Communication
- Design
- File sharing
- Project management
- Software development
- Video
Top 10 communication and collaboration tools
Apps and other software tools can enable improved communication and collaboration within the workplace – here’s a guide to ten of the best
Never has it been more important to be able to collaborate and communicate remotely. The coronavirus outbreak has completely disrupted how we work, and those organizations without the proper tools will suffer. Luckily, there are more tools than ever before to choose from.
01 Slack
What began as a messaging tool for video game developers has evolved into the full-service collaboration platform we now call Slack. It is an easy-to-use messaging service and integrates with popular services such as Twitter and Dropbox. Conversations or channels are organized by topic of which you can have as many as you like. The design is slick and simple, and you can share any file type (including photos and videos) with colleagues in a fraction of the time it would take to email them. (Interestingly, teams who use Slack claim to see an average 48.6 percent reduction in internal email). It also has video call functionality for up to 15 participants, for those days when you need to see your fellow workers’ faces.
02 Cisco WebEx
This video conferencing giant was formed in 2007 and is one of the biggest players in the space (it is one of the most widely-used online meeting tools in the world.) WebEx’s major selling points include its high quality, designed to make users feel as though they are in the room with their colleagues. Users can host and join meetings, share screens and documents and easily pass control between team members when giving presentations or writing on virtual whiteboards. Typically used for team collaboration, webinars, training, and customer support, it is now a crucial tool for organizations working from home.
03 Zoom
Labeled the “business story of 2020”, remote conferencing company Zoom has been one of the few real success stories amid the global pandemic. The cloud-based service combines video conferencing, online meetings, chat, and mobile collaboration. Currently the second-most downloaded app in the world, its stock has soared while the markets plummeted, fainting more than 100 percent since the beginning of the year. Its main pros are clean, high-quality audio and video, calls can be recorded for future review, screens can be shared with ease, and events can be scheduled, exported to calendars and guests invited, so no one in your team need ever miss a call.
04 Microsoft Teams/Office 365
Technology heavyweight, Microsoft, is another oft-cited purveyor of collaboration and communication tools worthy of respect. For collaboration, there is Office 365 with its unsurpassed range of features. The cloud-based solution offers all the traditional word processing, spreadsheet, and slide-show capabilities, and lets multiple people edit the same documents in real-time. Microsoft’s video conferencing offering, Teams, now comes bundled in with lots of Office 365 packages and helps streamline remote communication through high-quality virtual meeting rooms.
05 G-Suite
Google’s full gamut of cloud computing and collaboration tools. The true value of G-Suite is simply the comprehensive range of interconnected tools – from email and calendar to docs and sheets, to video conferencing with Google Hangouts. Perfect for startups and SMEs, these collaboration tools are free to use, with supplementary business features for when your company needs an extra level of customization. Truly collaborative, team members can view each other’s calendars, communicate via chat, and work on documents at the same time.
06 Asana
Founded in 2008 by Facebook co-founder Dustin Moskovitz, Asana is designed to help teams organize, track, and manage their workloads, making it easier to work on projects together. Slickly designed, this software-as-a-service allows teams to create projects, assign work to teammates, set deadlines, and chat about specific tasks, all in one place. It also comes with a suite of reporting tools to help members monitor project progress.
07 Trello
This web-based project management application was designed to make project collaboration as simple as possible. Overarching projects are set up as boards and members can add cards for individual steps or tasks, assigning them to those involved, prioritizing, and adding timelines. Flexible, easy to use, and visually attractive, it can be used across a range of sectors, from software project management and web design to law office case management and lesson planning.
08 Harvest/Forecast
Harvest is a web-based tracking tool, which allows you to monitor the time and budget your team members spend on individual projects or tasks. It also has invoice and reporting capabilities so that clients will receive automated payment reminders rather than managers being required to chase via email. Harvest’s complementary application, Forecast, is a visualization tool that helps teams map out plans so that you can check how available coworkers are at a glance. The perfect collaborative replacement for lengthy spreadsheets.
09 Powwownow
Telecommunications company Powwownow may have invented the future of conference calls. Available 24/7, they offer instant, hassle-free communication with your colleagues, wherever they are in the world. The major benefit is a cost-saving, as you can conference call globally, without being hit with the bridging fees common to other providers. The in-built web meeting tool allows you to share screens and notes, take feedback, and record important meetings, so no vital decisions slip through the cracks.
10 Ryver
Another top-rated messaging platform, Ryver aims to help organizations communicate better. You can create as many teams as you want and categorize them easily, and conversations can be set up with individuals, small groups, or whole teams. A set of filters allow you to control who sees what you say and post in the app, and specific posts can be marked if you want to come back to them later on. Finally, all company posts can be found in a Facebook-style newsfeed, so you never miss an important message – or deadline – again.
Conclusion
Need to find a team member fast? Need to share the current status of an ongoing project? Want to see what’s really important in your project? Collaboration tools are all about connecting your team members together.