Compare the best team collaboration software for your business or team. Use the table below to compare by price, features, demos, reviews, and more.
Team collaboration software is defined as any web two that enables two or more people to manage, coordinate and track work on a task or project. Calendar sharing and conferencing software are a few of the features that make it easier for teams to work together. Teams can collaborate even if members are working from different locations. Team collaboration software is an umbrella term used to describe integrated solutions that package various tools in one product. Modern solutions are usually app or web-based portals that synch with mobile options, allowing people to cooperate while they are on-the-go.
Team collaboration software is an effective way for companies to streamline communication and provides a place to store files, takes, to-do lists and correspondence in one convenient place. Collaboration software provides a centralized place to track and monitor the progress of even complex projects.
Unified Communications – The use of group chats, emails, IMs, virtual meetings and text messages can make it difficult to follow a thread and determine who said what and when. Because these types of communications can become muddle, it's possible to lose track of a message, resulting in a lot of time spent searching for a particular message. A good team collaboration software places all communication into one searchable location.
Calendar Integration – Users no longer have to manually input meetings, to-do lists, meetings or deadlines, reducing the likelihood of errors and eliminating confusion.
Activity Streams – Users can now keep track of which team members are working on a particular project. Having the ability to monitor the activities of team members ensures that nothing gets overlooked.
Remote File Access – Using cloud-based storage makes it easy to work from home, or another remote location, with the ability to open documents from any place at any time.
File Versioning Control – No longer deal with the headache of transferring files back and forth and having to remember which version is the most recent one. Team collaboration software eliminates this problem by allowing team members to live edit a document and tracks these changes using a paper trail.
Conferencing – The solutions that provide conferencing tools work to integrate all project communications.
Screen Sharing – The ability to jump into someone else's screen to handle customer service issues, make a presentation or facilitate training from any location makes explaining concepts easier and saves time.
Ease of Use – People do not use software that is overly complicated. Difficult software creates more headaches and does not make team collaboration more efficient. Consider software that has an intuitive user interface and focuses on features that the organization needs. Buying software that comes with a lot of features does not mean that these features will be beneficial.
Mobile – One of the main benefits of using team collaboration software is the fact it allows a workforce to connect a mobile workforce. It makes sense that the software need to be able to work well with mobile devices. Because most products are now cloud-based web applications, they are often come with mobile apps. Having a mobile app with good syncing capabilities are must-have features of any good collaboration tool.
Integration – Integration is closely related to screen sharing. The software should not subject employees to experience app fatigue. The collaborative software tool should not create another thing that employees constantly need to check. Find a software that integrates the collaboration solution with the tools the organization already uses.
Mobility, Mobility, Mobility – The usefulness of tools that are compatible with various devices has already been stated. It's important to recognize that the popularity of virtual workplaces and BYOD is showing no signs of decreasing any time soon. Many market leaders offer mobile versions of their web-based applications. However, as mobilization increasing, there will be a shift towards these providers selling mobile apps as their flagship products.
A Mixture of Private and Public Use – With the shift to move things to the cloud, collaboration tools aren't just for internal, organizational use. Collaboration tools are ways for customers to offer their input and cooperation. Allowing customers to offer their input on projects can be helpful. Customer participation does not mean allowing them to see the debate and other types of communication throughout the project. The same is true for involving any other type of external collaborators, like contractors. Companies deal with these issues by using separate solutions for external and internal use. There is software available that offers access hierarchies and creates the opportunity for the company to have a public face while maintaining private workspaces.
Executive Adoption – Team collaboration used to be something that only C-level executives engaged in using to handle the day-to-day operations. However, as these products evolve, the technology is spreading to higher level executives. Being able to manage global teams and customer bases virtually provides an incentive for the adoption of this software at a corporation's highest levels.
Related: Best Free Web Conferencing Solutions
Team collaboration software can give companies an advantage during the lifecycle of a project. This software effectively handles every stage of a project, from planning to implementation and follow up. It eliminates the common problems faced by teams that can affect the success of a project, like scattered email threads, file versioning, and miscommunication.
Before making a final selection, ask team members for input. Without understanding the needs of the team, there is a good chance that the collaboration software may be ineffective. Find out what features the team would like to have, and which ones would be nothing more than a waste of time. Find out what may prevent the team from adopting the software.
