If you work on a project together with other team members, you definitely have to exchange a lot of messages and emails during the day. And in case your team also consists of remote workers, online communication becomes key to achieving goals and keeping up with the rest of the team. But is the tool you’re currently using convenient enough?
Team collaboration software nowadays is a must because well-organized communication among project participants contributes to the overall work result. Many project management tools already include a platform that can be used for internal communication. Plus, there are also multiple separate tools that can be integrated into the main platform you use.
How to Choose Team Collaboration Software?
There are certain features to look for while choosing project communication software:
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Choose comprehensive tools. It is convenient to have all the features you need for project management in the same place. And that includes other tools that are connected to planning and organizing a workspace. Your team should have easy access to everything they might need. That’s why you should either pick a project management software with its own communication system or look for the possibility to integrate other tools;
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Look for both group and private communication. Even though it is important to have public discussions of the project, there definitely should be an ability to chat eye to eye;
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Test how easy it is to use. Especially if your team is growing fast, every employee should be able to get used to your software quickly. Otherwise, your team members will waste time trying to adjust to new tools. Installing a demo version is very helpful in this case;
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Prefer cloud team collaboration. It is convenient because all your data is stored in one place and you have access to it whenever you need it.
To help you out with choosing the best software for team collaboration, we made a list of tools you might want to check out first.
- Bitrix24
- Trello
- Asana
- Jira
- Monday
- Podio
- Basecamp
- Wrike
- Freshconnect
- Slack
This is more than just a team
collaboration and communication tool as Bitrix24 actually offers a wide variety of features to be used while managing a project. What you get with Bitrix24 is:
It is perfect for Agile project management and can be used both in big and small teams. As for communication and collaboration, Bitrix24 offers its own messaging system. You can create group chats or text your workers individually. It is also possible to link Bitrix24 to your team emails and set tasks through them. Developers will get updates on their tasks too and a notification will be sent each time changes are made or another task is assigned.
Trello
Trello is regularly used for task management but it is also very convenient when increasing transparency and collaboration among team members. When a board is created, each project participant gets access to it and can alternate it and make updates as the project moves along. Users have a great overlook of the project as a whole and can see when a task is stuck or something requires immediate attention.
It is also possible to plan meetings with Trello, as each team member has an opportunity to contribute. With a system like this, all issues will be addressed and each team member will pay attention to the difficulties they face.
If you think that Trello alone doesn’t fulfill your preferences when it comes to collaboration among team members, you can integrate it into other tools you use. For example, if you need a messaging system, you can connect it to Slack and if you want to upload files and generally store project data, you can use any online data storage like GoogleDrive together with Trello.
You can even integrate Trello into a calendar so that you could have a monthly overview of the tasks that need to be completed. Trello also offers various features for team project management.
Asana
This is yet another comprehensive
tool for project management that suits various teams and is altogether perfect for implementing Agile methodology. What
Asana offers is:
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Planning tasks for a certain term or sprint in various ways. You can choose what suits you best: a Kanban-type board, the Gantt chart to track dependencies, a calendar with a monthly overview, or a daily list of tasks with main priorities;
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Tracking the most important data that can be used later on to improve the workflow. If you know how much time your teammates need to complete a task or what affects their productivity, you can adjust the work process accordingly;
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Involving each team member into the project. Even though there is a project manager, each worker has the opportunity to make updates on their tasks which allows you to keep everyone on the same page about what is going on;
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Simple interface which makes working with Asana both easy and pleasant. Every team member can have immediate access to whatever they need.
It is also possible to communicate with both your team members and customers using Asana. Even a comment on a task might help - plus, you can also message a person and have a discussion or even link your email and have all the data about your online correspondence in one place.
Jira
Jira cloud team collaboration tool is another popular option. It can be used for tracking and organizing work inside a team of developers and facilitating collaboration. Like many other similar tools, Jira also suggests using a Scrum or a Kanban board to set goals and control the workflow. This approach is also great because the team has the opportunity to see the whole project from the inside and actively contribute to its completion.
Other Jira features include:
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Planning the roadmap of a project. If you want to set deadlines, mark connections between assignments as well as get a general plan of a project, this feature is perfect for you;
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Connection to other tools. It is possible to link Jira to other software you use. It can be used to get the most informative overview of the workflow and make updates in real time;
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Reports. After you complete a sprint or if you are in the process of working on a task, you can request a report on several various features. This is how productivity and efficiency can be tracked and adjusted so that better results could be achieved.
Monday.com
If you are looking for a top collaboration and project management tool, Monday.com might satisfy your needs. It is a tool that comes from different types of visual organization software which means it is extremely simple to use and requires no adaptation period for workers who use it for the first time.
With Monday.com, you can:
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Use templates for work organization. It simplifies the process organization and makes it easier to create repeated tasks. But at the same time, as all templates are customizable, you can implement necessary changes and overall create a personalized workspace that would work perfectly for your particular team;
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Organize and store communication. With Monday.com, you won’t lose the data or files you sent to your teammates as they never get deleted. All the data is saved and stored for later use;
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View your project from various angles. You can choose the view you prefer to see your tasks in. Those include a basic Kanban board view, timescale, calendar, and even a map. You can also sort the tasks according to their deadline or priority and see if you missed something important.
Another great feature Monday.com offers is a mobile version. That means you and your workers can keep in touch regardless of the availability of a personal computer or a laptop. All you have to do is download the mobile app and log in.
Podio
Another tool for creating a centralized work environment and team collaboration enhancement. Podio offers everything you might need on a daily basis when working on a project in the same place. It has a simple yet intuitive user interface, which means your team members won’t be distracted and will be able to focus on the task and their performance.
With Podio, it is possible to visualize your plans and the current stages of a project. You also can create elements that will contain all the information about a certain task, such as a brief description or a deadline. But it is also possible to have a discussion in case any alterations have to be made.
As a cloud-based collaboration tool, Podio allows its users to exchange files and other data and get back to it later when needed. This means everything you might want to have in your project is always at hand and stored in one place.
You don’t necessarily have to use Podio from a personal computer. A mobile app is available as well which makes it much easier to stay in touch with the rest of the team. That means even developers who are working remotely or just those who are outside the office can still be a part of the working process.
Basecamp
Basecamp is a simple and visual team collaboration software that allows its users to keep all work in the same place. It includes:
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To-do lists. Keeping the team organized is very important and to-do lists can definitely help with that. In Basecamp, it is possible to divide each task into a set of subtasks, which allows to distribute the work more evenly and complete it faster;
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Calendar overview. You can offer your team to have a glance of a whole month as it might be a better way of visualizing the work that needs to be done;
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Group chats. If you need a place to communicate with all of the team members at once, Basecamp can definitely offer you a tool for this. That means there is no need to use another app or website and get distracted from the work process;
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Feed. You get a message board that can be used as a social media feed but with the purpose of informing your teammates. This is where necessary updates and notifications can be posted;
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File storage. Documents and files connected with your project can also be stored in Basecamp. You can reach out to them anytime you need.
Overall, Basecamp suggests a well-balanced work environment, which is perfect for team collaboration and communication.
Wrike
This platform provides visual work environment software that is used for team collaboration and project management. It is based on a Gantt chart which means not only the work process is visual but all dependencies can be tracked allowing the developers to adjust the work process.
Wrike also allows you to automate the work process and eliminate mistakes by setting automatic customizable assignments. At the same time, there is no need to update a task status via email as it can be done in Wrike and seen in real time so other team members get a full picture immediately.
In case you are constantly facing bottlenecks that prevent your team from completing projects on time, you can track that using Wrike too. If some of your team members get overloaded with tasks while the others have nothing to do, it might ruin the project pacing. But seeing the dependence you can easily fix the issue.
At the same time, as every worker is involved and has a transparent view of every project detail, it becomes much easier for them to understand the overall goal of the project as well as to detect the flaws of the workflow and suggest help in the areas requiring attention.
Freshconnect
With Freshconnect, you are constantly plugged into the workflow of your project and never miss any detail. You no longer need to switch from tool to tool to provide your co-workers with the necessary context as everything can be stored and shared in the same place. As the updates are implemented immediately, everyone always gets the full picture of a project.
Freshconnect is a comprehensive platform which means you can organize your workflow here, plan the project ahead, and store data - all in the same place. Plus, there are also other features that make this tool so attractive.
Here, you can organize communication with team members and inside the team perfectly. It is possible to create group chats for various contexts and purposes, even the ones where your co-workers can discuss their activities outside work. You can also address a person in a face-to-face chat and discuss certain ideas or issues without any intervention. And you can also switch off notifications if you don’t want to be distracted by constant updates.
Freshconnect also provides integration with other platforms. In case you have already used a certain program and don’t want to lose the data while switching to Freshconnect, just link it to your current tool.
Slack
Slack is a great solution for teams that are in need of a team collaboration and communication platform. Unlike Trello that mostly has planning and project management tools, Slack is perfect for organizing communication.
In Slack, you can:
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Divide team communication into channels. For example, it can be done according to the task people work on - if they do it together, they will need a space to discuss it;
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Call your team members. If you find it more convenient to discuss certain things over a video call or you just need a space for an online meeting, you can use Slack for this purpose as well;
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Share files. There is no need in creating separate storage for project-related files. You can send them directly to a person, or just drop them in a chat;
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Search chat history. If you are in need of certain data or files, you can use a chart search to get faster access to it.
What is even more convenient, is the possibility to connect Slack to the other project management tools you are using. That means you can still create a fully efficient work environment even though Slack doesn’t offer you all the features at once. Just choose other tools that you use, integrate them into Slack, and use everything you work on productively.
Conclusion
Like any other project management tool, team collaboration software is a matter of personal choice. If you still are not sure what to choose, it might be best to try a free or demo version of several tools which you find the most appealing.
Don’t agree to get software that is lacking features you find important otherwise you won’t be able to organize the work. But definitely give it a go, as team collaboration software is extremely important for teamwork and productivity.
