Best collaboration tools for employees

By adapting to this environment and utilizing more advanced collaboration and communication technologies, any organization can greatly improve effective and efficient communication among team members and between customers and employees. The collaboration software and solutions market increased by more than $5 billion between 2015 and 2019.

According to global data, its value increased from around $7 billion in 2015 to $12.415 billion in 2019. Between 2015 and 2019, the market expanded by an astounding 43.5 percent. The collaboration software market is expected to grow and reach $13.58 billion by 2024.

Trends That Redefine the Collaboration Space

The modern workforce is changing quickly, impacting team tools and decision-making. Implementing cutting-edge collaboration tools or techniques can increase a companys productivity by nearly 30%.

Texting over talking, video calls, remote work, and daily device use are four major trends driving innovation in collaboration spaces. Clients expect faster responses, and employees expect to use the technologies they are accustomed to using daily.

Why Should Businesses Establish Collaboration Channels?

Many businesses have turned to technology to promote cooperation and connect staff members and teams. Globalization, cross-functionality, and a lack of structure have contributed to increased knowledge and service work. Installing a technology solution without a foundational plan, on the other hand, will not produce the results that company executives desire.

Implementing a Team Collaboration Tool

In the 2020s pandemic, many businesses scrambled to create solutions, eager to keep their employees linked as remote working became an instant need. Communication and documentation between office-based teams became an instant need. Tools for team collaboration are currently having a bit of a moment.

Collaboration and transparency are two essential elements of the modern workplace. Our teams use the best web-based communication technologies to increase productivity and efficiency.

There are five types of employee collaboration tools covering communication, documentation, software, project management, and online file-sharing, further explained below:

Online Communication Tools

1. Nectar

Nectar is a well-known platform for employee rewards and recognition that promotes online collaboration. It creates a simple, standardized method for businesses to provide rewards, wellness challenges, spot bonuses, and recognition while staying within their budgets. This category includes both management-to-direct reports and peer-to-peer acknowledgement.

Thanks to an interactive recognition stream, you can reward exceptional performance whenever and wherever you want with Nectar. Maintain employee morale, foster teamwork, and publicize your company's core values in an online working environment.

Advantages

• Slack, Microsoft Teams, and other technologies are linked to your other platforms.
• Provides hundreds of options for international gift cards or branded corporate items.
• There is a free tier as well as paid plans.
• Compare costs and features to find the right Nectar plan for your team.

Disadvantages

• Few reward options are available outside of the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia.

2. Bonusly

This team collaboration software is a breeze thanks to its seamless integration with your company's existing online communication tools. When you use it every day, it doesn't feel like you're doing any extra work!

Furthermore, thanks to Bonuslys 360-degree recognition, everyone can see teamwork, giving employees at all levels of your business more leverage. You can express your gratitude to one another and forge deeper working ties by encouraging a culture of online collaboration.

Advantages

• Analytics highlight the abilities of team members.
• Use lighthearted, enjoyable surveys of all types to make it easy for managers and other leaders to receive, understand, and respond to employee feedback.
• Because of the simple onboarding process, employees can start using it right away.
• Best suited for groups of more than 100 members.
• Customized automated awards for completed projects and staff milestones

Disadvantages

• There is no free plan, but a free trial is available here.
• Increasing the number of advantages

3. Zoom

Zoom has become a popular collaboration tool with video conferencing service due to the global COVID-19 pandemic, which caused many businesses and professionals to choose a work-from-home setting. Zoom became the most popular application, with 477 million downloads globally in 2020.

Advantages

• Capacity for a large number of participants (up to 500)
• Connection dependability and conferencing quality
• Simple and user-friendly interface
• Extensive Functionality and Productivity Tools

Disadvantages

• Minor performance issues and resource drain
• Limited Functionality and Features on Free Plan (40 minutes for a free plan)

4. Teamwork

Teamwork was created to allow you to manage ALL of your client projects from a single platform. Teamwork has everything you need to manage your client services, including billing, time tracking, and unlimited client access.

With the assistance of a team, you can utilize resources and ensure that you never miss a billable minute again. View every project from the sky, including milestones, capacity planning, budgeting, and time tracking.

Work and projects should be divided into tasks and tiers of subtasks to ensure that nothing falls between the cracks. In this case, everyone knows what needs to be done and when.

Advantages

• Join teamwork for a no-strings-attached 30-day trial.
• Teamwork's growth-oriented features include time tracking, personalized client permissions, task delegation to various employees, and more.
• The necessary characteristics and an easy learning curve (like reports and resource management)
• Teamwork provides the cooperation, client features, and strong flexibility required for managing multiple complex projects.
• Capabilities to manage large, complex projects with no learning curve or constraints for your team
• Collaborate in real-time with your team and clients to get your questions answered and projects completed on time and within budget.

Disadvantages

• UX can be clumsy at times, but they are currently redesigning it.

5. Chanty

Teams can easily promote healthy relationships with Chanty through open and accessible communication. Chanty is a simple team chat solution that includes basic collaboration tools, an unlimited message history, and workplace applications.

It is a communication solution that makes it easier and faster for your team members to complete tasks, activities, or projects. It also aids in gathering all of the information you require into a single, user-friendly application.

Advantages

• Unlimited message history searches
• Task manager built-in
• Easy-to-use interface
• Simple to use and easy to start
• Find the Chanty package that works best for your team by comparing pricing and features.

Disadvantages

• Custom integrations are limited.

6. Whereby

What is the greatest location for a video meeting? You don't have to download any software or an application. Simply select your unique URL and meet using your browser - on desktop or mobile - with a single click.

You can cooperate and communicate using a variety of Whereby's capabilities like Breakout Groups, Miro's virtual whiteboards, screen sharing, screen recording, Google Docs, Trello, and YouTube integrations.

Advantages

• One-click meeting initiation was voted "easiest to use."
• Plan conferences for up to 50 people.
• There are no installations, downloads, or applications required.
• Elegant and simple design
• Video calls that are secure and encrypted
• Conference room with your company's logo and custom backgrounds
• Breakout Groups can more easily offer classes, virtual events, and seminars.

Disadvantages

• Meetings with more than two participants are limited to 45 minutes on the free plans.
• Not as well-known as other video conferencing methods

7. Slack

Slack, the smart collaboration application, has desktop and mobile versions. It allows groups and individuals within teams to communicate with one another directly.

The best Slack applications, such as Google Docs, Box, and Dropbox, are integrated for a seamless experience. You can even separate conversations into different channels for different efforts or projects.

Advantages

• Cloud hosting eliminates the need for costly installations.
• The ability to search messages properly encourages confidential group communication and allows for external sharing.

Disadvantages

• Has a limit on the visibility of the message
• On a per-user basis, slightly more expensive
• Signing into each workspace to communicate with multiple teams can take time.

8. GoToMeeting

GoToMeeting is a powerful online meeting and video conferencing technology that allows businesses to collaborate in real-time with their teams, clients, customers, and other businesses.

It is especially useful for foreign teams because it allows for screen sharing, which can significantly shorten the learning curve.

Other useful features of the platform include messaging, group chat, recording, tool integration, and a one-click meeting capability that can immediately set up meetings in Google Calendar or Outlook.

Advantages

• A simple user interface
• Capable of holding large meetings
• Users to record meetings so that you are not required to be present in person

Disadvantages

• A subscription is very expensive.
• A dependable internet connection is required.

9. Microsoft Teams

Microsoft Teams is a unified communications platform that combines office chat with video conferences, file sharing, attachments, and application integration. Your teams can use this platform to organize web conferences and communicate with internal and external users via voice, video, and chat.

Advantages

• All Office 365 applications are fully integrated
• Ample cloud storage per user
• Makes Microsoft Office tools available in one location
• Simple to use, with a secure platform for connecting with colleagues

Disadvantages

• The user interface is somewhat difficult.
• Difficult to begin with

10. Skype for Business

The vast majority of us have made use of Skype. Simply put, Skype is an online collaboration platform that allows users to freely communicate with any other Skype user via voice, video, screen sharing, and instant messaging.

More importantly, Skype supports conference calls with up to 25 participants, making it very practical to gather your team for a quick project status update.

Advantages

• Free of charge
• Anyone with a Skype account anywhere around the globe can be called.
• Allows for screen sharing
• Installing the application is simple.

Disadvantages

• There are no available language translation services.
• Skype can easily pick up on background noises.
• Sound quality is affected by bandwidth.

Online Documentation Tools

1. Google Docs

This is probably not surprising to you. It is, without a doubt, the most well-known documentation tool. With Google Docs, multiple users can edit the same document simultaneously, leave comments, and see the changes made by each contributor (revision history).

Invite team members to collaborate on a Google Docs file. Everyone can easily collaborate with it and access the information they need to do their jobs. They also have a central location where they can store and share information, take notes, and save data.

Advantages

• Cloud-based services do not require installation.
• Google Drive automatically saves any changes you make to documents so that you wont lose them.
• The changes to a document can be tracked in real-time by multiple authors.

Disadvantages

• Features that are limited in comparison to Microsoft Word

2. Office Online

Office online is the go-to tool for remotely or from other devices editing the same document paragraph by paragraph with the rest of your team.

You can co-author a document in real-time, edit and convert PDF files to Word documents and vice versa, resume reading your word documents from where you left off, and send in-line replies to your team via email if you have internet access. All of this can be done safely and effectively from any device.

Advantages

• Its completely free.
• It works flawlessly on both PC and mobile.
• Everyone can see who is making changes because collaborators update them in real-time.

Disadvantages

• Requires an internet connection to work

3. ai

This platform for smart document collaboration, which includes tracking features, enables teams to create and collaborate on strong internal and client-facing papers.

Bits more than 50 connectors make it simple to manage digital content, collaborate on interactive documents, and track user engagement levels.

Advantages

• A large number of integrations
• Powerful templates
• The interface is slick.

Disadvantages

• Lacks a capable mobile application

4. Canva

Canva is a graphic design tool that offers a lot of templates you can use for presentation, report, and documentation. This tool is very easy to use and you can also access it on mobile to make quick revisions to your file.

Advantages:

- User-friendly and very simple to use

- Offers thousands of unique templates that can be easily customized and share

- Tools work perfectly on mobile, computer, or any device

Disadvantages:

- Needs an internet connection to work

- Free version is limited

Online Software Tools

1. GitHub

If you enjoy programming, check out GitHub. The development platform owned by Microsoft Corporation enables programmers to collaborate and work on the same projects simultaneously easily.

Each contributor receives a working copy of the code displayed on their computer on the platform via the GitHub web-based graphical interface. Any changes made to a project can be quickly examined and, if necessary, reversed.

Advantages

• The tools free tier provides an unlimited number of private repositories.
• Its simple to use and keep track of changes with the Gists function.

Disadvantages

• It is simple for a security breach to have an impact.
• Some fantastic features are hidden behind a SaaS paywall.

2. Adobe XD

AdobeXD is a great tool for designers. The program enables real-time team communication on design tasks.

Others can use the solutions creative cloud to edit and make changes to the design in real-time. With this technology, teams can develop and prototype websites, mobile applications, and other applications in real-time.

Advantages

• There are many fantastic native UI components and a guide to help you navigate the site.
• It is simple to add items to the UI 

Disadvantages

• The UI is difficult to animate, and there is no CSS export.

3. Creatopy

Creatopy is a powerful and easy-to-use visual production tool that provides communicators with a thoughtfully designed experience. Individuals and teams can quickly use the new platform to create compelling advertising visuals for multi-channel.

Creatopy provides communicators the tools they need to jumpstart their creative processes and keep visual content organized and on-brand. It has advanced automation features and a growing library of templates and graphic elements.

Advantages

• Collaboration on the cloud for all parties involved
• Drag and drop editor, accessible, intuitive interface
• Original artwork, design presets, and templates are offered without resale restrictions.
• No coding or design expertise is necessary.
• Exporting designs as HTML5, GIF, and AMP HTML files

Disadvantages

• A reliable internet connection is necessary
• There isn't a mobile application available currently.

Online Project Management Tools

1. Toggl Plan

Toggl Plan makes it easy for managers, stakeholders, and team members collaboratively plan and deliver projects. It makes collaboration easy with colour-coded visual overviews, transparent communication, and keeping work-related information in one place.

Advantages

• To begin, 14 days are free. The basic plan is never billed.
• Improve job clarity by using simple, understandable graphic summaries.
• Project planning timelines can be broad or specific and can be coloured.
• Set goals and track your progress.
• Control team availability and workloads by using team timelines.
• Scrum and kanban boards are used to deliver agile projects iteratively.
• Team members should work closely together to complete tasks. To discuss ideas, use comments and file attachments.
• Connectors for Google Calendar, Github, Slack, and Toggl time tracking help improve job management.

Disadvantages

• The mobile application does not have all of the functionality of the online application. However, new features are constantly being added.

2. ProofHub

ProofHub is a fantastic tool for team collaboration and project management. It enables managers to plan and complete projects flawlessly in collaboration with team members. You can organize and delegate tasks to team members intelligently. Using the built-in chat software, you can break down barriers to remote connection.

ProofHubs online workspace allows you to organize files, share comments, and track daily progress. An online proofing tool can be used to check and approve files. Comprehensive Gantt charts simplify project planning by organizing your project into clear visual timeframes.

Advantages

• Test for free
• Simple to set up and understand
• Pricing is straightforward, with no user-specific fees.
• Excellent teamwork abilities

Disadvantages

• A few integrations with third-party entities

3. Trello

This is one of the most well-known project management tools available. Trello is intended for task organization and allows users to create boards or lists that can be shared and assigned to others.

Trello can also integrate with other applications such as Evernote, Google Drive, GitHub, and Slack to provide a unified team experience. Trello is jam-packed with reminders and email notifications.

Advantages

• Quick real-time updates are completely free.
• It is simple to create tasks, add members, and assign them.

Disadvantages

• Large projects are difficult to manage.
• Its not the best way to collaborate for real-time communication.

4. Asana

Asana is one of the most effective project management tools available. Because it updates in real-time, it makes managing a team of remote workers easier for project managers. Groups can use the program to manage, track, and organize their work. Video calls, project management, and useful integrations such as to-do lists, reminders, and direct requests are among its key features.

Advantages

• Has a free plan
• Consists of numerous integrations
• Packed with plugins that allow you to change projects

Disadvantages

• Restricts project task delegation to a single person
• Projects can become complex as a result of the numerous features.

5. Google Keep

Google Keep is a note-taking application. This application allows you to easily take and save notes, pictures, voice recordings, and checklists and share them with the rest of your team. Users can set reminders and integrate seamlessly with the main Google interface.

Advantages

• Has lovely colours that enhance the user interface
• Simple to learn and use
• It is quick and responsive on both the web and mobile.

Disadvantages

• This limited method for managing notes has few features and no numbered lists or bullet points.

Online File Sharing Applications

1. Dropbox

Dropbox is one of the most popular options for file sharing and synchronization.

Many business owners work from home, at a local coffee shop, or while travelling to and from meetings. The challenge of this business lifestyle is having access to whatever you need on all your devices. There are numerous options for file sharing and storage. One of these methods is to use Dropbox.

Advantages

• 16GB of free storage space
• Simple file synchronization across multiple platforms
• You can retrieve and restore deleted and earlier versions of files using the file version history function.

Disadvantages

• Organizations that use Dropbox as a business solution must purchase employee licenses.
• Finding folders or files can be difficult at times.

2. Hightail

Users can use this cloud solution to share large files while also receiving feedback securely. The utility supports file synchronization as well as digital signatures.

It has many innovative, collaborative features that simplify and smooth things and eliminate the need to send files via email, which can lead to misunderstandings.

Advantages

• File storage is unlimited online.
• Sends large files up to 10 GB with ease. 
• Excellent security features, such as identity verification

Disadvantages

• Less enthralling support personnel
• The majority of shared files expire quickly.

3. Google Drive

Google Drive is an online storage space for storing all of your files and securely sharing them with your team, and if you have a Gmail account, many people are most likely familiar with it. Once you've granted them access, your team can quickly access the files saved in your Google Drive directory and use them to complete various projects as needed.

They can be asked to read, modify, or leave comments on any documents, videos, or images stored on the drive.

Advantages

• Allows you to choose how much interaction each participant receives.
• The user interface is simple and intuitive.
• Accessible via computer and mobile devices

Disadvantages

• Logging in to Google Drive from different work addresses can be difficult.

Conclusion

As a result, internet collaboration technologies are now available for almost any business task. Furthermore, your team does not need to be geographically dispersed to use these tools. By utilizing these tools, internal teams can also improve project execution, use resources better, and achieve greater transparency and unrivalled teamwork.