What are online collaboration tools? Online collaboration tools are specially designed to help you communicate information more effectively. Collaboration tools help teams of professionals and business units share technical information more efficiently within their organizations. These tools make it possible for workers who might be located on opposite sides of the globe to meet on projects, assign tasks, provide peer review for documents, give feedback to designs or products, and manage team schedules.
Working as a team can be challenging, especially if its a remote team. You do not have many opportunities to meet and talk as face-to-face. However, technology can bridge that gap. This blog post contains a list of online collaboration tools that should help you and your remote team work together effectively and efficiently.
Advantages of collaboration
Flexibility:
Companies and employees are more flexible. The technologies that support collaboration make it possible to easily communicate and exchange information no matter the place or timezone.
Mobility:
International companies, with multinational offices, implement project teams that do not work in the same place or even at the same time; which means, they have unlimited access to the best resources since location is not an issue. In-person meetings are replaced by video conferences. This type of meeting reduces costs by limiting travel costs.
Skills and motivation:
Since location is not an issue, project teams can work with the most competent people of their choosing because technology compensates for the geographical separation. Collaborative work also acts as a stimulus for project teams; they share and exchange ideas and creativity is maximized. The shared and differed points of view enrich strategies and development. Group dynamics and interactions stimulate the collaborators who then become more productive and efficient. And the exchange of information is a driving force for learning; meaning their professional development speeds up because they share knowledge and learn from one another. Group dynamics lead to improved performance and objectives are achieved more effectively.
Document sharing:
Teams save time by sharing documents over a secure platform, and versioning ensures everyone is working on the latest version of a document – so work isn’t repeated.
Increased productivity:
Collaborators tend to be more efficient when the companies they work for use they use modern collaboration tools.. The team gains autonomy because the employees are equipped to move forward as the project progresses.
Disadvantages of collaboration
Security:
Collaborative work also has its limitations. Data shared with too many collaborators can prove to be a threat. Sensitive business data must remain under control and cannot be disclosed outside the organization. Customer information, company figures and tariffs are examples of data that need to be protected. Organizations should also make sure to backup regularly.
Work-life balance:
Another potential issue is people overworking and blurring the lines between their personal time and work hours. That ever-elusive work-life balance then becomes increasingly difficult if individuals don’t set their boundaries.
Productivity:
Finally, the loss of human touch can be detrimental if taken to an extreme. Productivity is lost If everything needs to be entered into a system, as it can often take much more time to write out task descriptions than to simply go over to someone and discuss face-to-face.
Slack
At ClickUp, we use Slack as our conference line and text communication tools. Its success is well-known, and it’s helpful to filter messages and conversations via channels. This keeps things organized and helps others stay on topic.
Replies also help when you want to take a conversation or comment deeper. As Slack has powerful Android and iOS mobile apps, you can stay connected on all your devices too.
The dangerous part of Slack as a collaboration tool is that you could include too many details about a project which could get lost.
We’ve integrated our Slack with our tasks in ClickUp, so we know exactly what we’re referring to. Their app integrations are one of the reasons why Slack has become such an essential tool for collaboration and chat. To aid you with project organization, read our guide on Slack project management.
Pricing: Free to $12.50 per user/month
MeisterTask
MeisterTask is a Kanban board-based project management tool that’s good at streamlining project processes through its drag and drop interface. As each project is listed on a card, it’s easy for your entire team to collaborate over them and drag and drop them around to make quick scheduling changes.
Each MeisterTask user has access to a central hub where they can share files, images and ideas with the rest of the team. To keep everyone informed of what’s going on, MeisterTask gives you an activity stream to share assignments and deadlines.
However, unlike ClickUp, MeisterTask doesn’t allow you to set up automatic reminders to ensure everything stays on track.
Pricing: Free to $20.75/month.
Trello
If your team is more visually-focused, then Trello may be the right fit.
Trello offers a few unique features, including its “Trello cards,” where users can attach files, write to-do lists, assign tasks/subtasks, update task progress, and add comments. Trello users can then pin their cards to a sharable overall project board. Users can then be added to team boards to view, edit, update and share files on each card.
Cards can contain task assignments, task updates, due dates, attachments, and even conversations. Think of each card as its own project ecosystem. Additionally, Trello offers an enormous library of board templates for project management, remote work, marketing, classrooms, and more.
The app’s “Command Run” feature is especially handy, allowing users to automate tasks like setting due dates, outlining schedules, and adding team members to cards.
Though Trello does not have native video conferencing or screen sharing tools, it integrates with Google Hangouts, Zoom, and Zoom alternatives. It also integrates with Slack, Yammer, Flock, Glip, Asana, and other communication tools.
Trello calls integrations “Power-Ups,” and the free plan allows for one power-up per board.
Trello’s free plan includes:
- Unlimited lists, cards, personal boards
- Timeline and calendar views
- Maximum of 10 team boards
- Basic automation
- 50 monthly command runs
- Two-factor authentication
- Apple and Android mobile app access
Best For: Trello is best for small teams with a high number of basic daily tasks they need to automate, as well as teams that want to organize tasks visually but that don’t plan to use many third-party integrations.
Asana
Asana is one of the leaders of modern project management, having taken a very complex and rigid framework for team collaboration software and made it beautiful and easy to use.
In many ways, they brought project management and collaboration to the masses. Asana allows you to assign tasks to team members – making it easier to notify them of important project developments. It also allows team members to share goals and coordinate over milestones – making it easier to work as a team.
While Asana is a good option, it has a few problems such as not supporting multiple assignees and assigned comments. Luckily, ClickUp can solve those for you.
Zoom
This longtime Skype alternative gives you the chance to easily have video calls, online demos or webinars with your virtual teams. Advanced features include selective screen sharing where some participants can see the presenter’s screen and others can’t.
If your remote teams use Microsoft Outlook, then this is a top selection: it’s easy to schedule video conferencing meetings from Outlook through the Zoom plugins.
It also has breakout rooms, meaning virtual teams can gather inside video calls without ever losing the main feed. This is very helpful to discuss remote work when running a large webinar or training session.
Pricing: Free to $19.99 per month/host
Fleep
Fleep is a chat messaging, file sharing, and task management platform that organizes channels according to Conversations.
Each Conversation has a unique Pinboard where users can highlight important updates, files, links, or notes that they need everyone on their team to see and have editing access to. Note that you can search for external users in the Fleep database and automatically add them to your workspaces.
Fleep has advanced chat features including not only user presence but also information about when they were last online and read receipts to ensure you always know who has and has not received your messages. Fleep also has a writing indicator.
Users can create list-based tasks, assign tasks and upload relevant files to the task File Drawer, highlight important tasks, and monitor task progress. There’s also a Fleep weekly progress report that provides updates on tasks, completed projects, and upcoming projects.
Additional Fleep free plan features include:
- User status updates
- Chat history
- Integrations with Zapier, Slack, Google Drive, JIRA, and more
- 10 GB of storage
- Search chat history by user
- Full message history
- Unlimited 1:1 conversations
- VIdeo integrations
- Up to 3 Conversations
Best For: Fleep is best for small teams that frequently collaborate with external users, as well as teams that have advanced task management needs.
Conclusion: Collaboration is the cornerstone for most online business, which is why it’s so important to choose your tools wisely. There are plenty of ready-made solutions out there which you can find in the list below. If you want to create something custom-made for your company, you can use some of the free tools that will help you build it.