While collaboration tools were nice to have a couple of years ago, the pandemic has highlighted the value of these tools. Now teams are still able to meet, share content, as well as to still be able to huddle around the digital water cooler to socialize with colleagues from anywhere in the world.
One of the great things about collaboration tools is the unrivaled ability it has to increase productivity, efficiency, and engagement for a next-generation work experience.
Remote working has become the new workplace and this shift demands companies to leverage advanced ways to collaborate with high levels of automation that goes beyond a spreadsheet.
Let’s look at some of the tried-and-tested collaboration tools that are designed to help companies achieve internal objectives as well as those for their clients. Whether you’re engaged in digital advertising, email outreach, search engine optimization, or lead generation – there’s a collaboration tool for almost any business.
When choosing a collaboration tool your business objectives and budget are strong factors that affect your selection. The majority of the tools available offer chat, instant messaging, screen sharing functionality, video calls, and file sharing.
And, because efficiency and productivity are some of the metrics you want to drive in your company, it’s really important to be purposeful about which tool you choose. While a mix of tools does hold appeal as it provides a gamut of features, it can also have the converse effect where employees feel overwhelmed by an onslaught of task assignments, chat notifications, and the need to learn how to effectively use all of these platforms. That’s why it’s key to understand the areas you want to improve on and narrow down the search to one or two options. Most of these tools offer a trial basis subscription and this could be a good way to test whether the tool can work in your company.
Here are some of the top collaboration tools used in 2021:
Skype
Skype is a free collaboration tool primarily used for free chats and video and audio calls (up to 25 people). There is also an option to share files and your screen for quick check-ins or project updates with your team based anywhere in the world – provided they have a Skype account.
Desktop: ✓
Mobile: ✓
Google Docs
Google Docs or GDocs as the cool kids call it, allows multiple people to edit, comment, or leave suggestions in the same file – simultaneously. It also offers an edit and version history enabling you to see the changes that have been made. It also eliminates a gazillion emails from being sent with version control that you have to try and keep track of. As it is part of the Google Drive suite it provides outstanding organization and a central place accessible to your entire team.
Desktop: ✓
Mobile: ✓
Google Hangouts
Google Hangouts is a quick and efficient way to stay in touch with your team. You can send instant messages, conduct video or audio calls (single or groups) – across iOS and Android operating systems as well as via the web interface or directly from your Gmail.
Desktop: ✓
Mobile: ✓
Slack
Slack enables teams to send direct messages to individuals or groups provided these team members are part of the workspace. Discussions can also be created and these are called channels. This is a great way to add project updates so that all relevant team members are aware of any status changes in real-time. There are several integrations built into this platform including GDocs and DropBox.
Desktop: ✓
Mobile: ✓
Trello
When the world of work became obsessed with agility an entirely new language was born – agile teams, stand-ups, scrum, visual workflows, and burn-down charts, Trello was one of the go-to project organization tools that were used. Trello offers excellent organization for task management with the ability to create project boards and cards for tasks. You can assign team members to project boards, cards, and it also offers deadline reminders and notifies you of updates via email. It also integrates with Google Drive and best of all it’s free.
Desktop: ✓
Mobile: ✓
WeTransfer
In case your email server prevents you from sending large files, fear not, because there’s WeTransfer. The cloud-based application provides you with a safe way to transfer files up to 2GB for free. It offers a simplified interface with a good user experience that makes sending large files uncomplicated. It also sends you a copy of the link once the upload has successfully been sent and notifies you should the email address bounce and when the recipient opened the link.
Desktop: ✓
Mobile: ✓
Whether your team is located across the globe these tools are up for any virtual task to help you increase productivity for more efficient, connected teams.
