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Top Cloud-Based Tools for Employee Collaboration

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The success or failure of your business projects hinges on the hard work of your employees. Teamwork, the foundation for every business, has become increasingly challenging in this digital age, as workers become more accustomed to interacting via text message and social media. But there are several collaboration tools that can open up the channels of communication, helping projects flow more smoothly and avoiding missed deadlines.

Here are a few top tools that, for a small monthly fee, can provide your team connectivity from PCs and mobile devices, keeping your project on track no matter what…with no IT support required.

Teambox

Teambox offers a free version that includes up to 5 users and up to 5 GB of storage, making it a great solution for businesses on a budget. Google Drive integration is also a plus. Businesses can create tasks, assign workers, and view progress in a Gantt chart format.

Basecamp

Basecamp puts everything about a project on one page, giving team members an overview of the latest discussions, files, and to-do list items relating to one project. Plans start at $20 per month, but Basecamp offers a free 60-day trial to let businesses try it out.

Activecollab

Activecollab adds billing onto the project collaboration format, letting businesses bill from the system once work is complete on a project. After a 30-day trial, Activecollab plans start at $25 per month, which includes up to 5 team members and 5 GB of storage.

Cloud-based collaboration software gives an administrator the ability to assign access as needed, which means only specified team members are able to see certain items. Administrators can also choose to grant access to clients, allowing them to receive regular updates on a project’s status This provides a level of service clients will appreciate while eliminating the need for phone calls to determine where projects stand.

3 Tech Tools That Can Encourage Employee Collaboration

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Mobile devices have allowed workers to remain connected from anywhere, using any device. This connectivity gives employees the ability to work from home or on the road, accessing documents while a meeting is in progress or even working on a project while hanging out in a hotel room during a business trip.

But since most projects involve multiple team members, having so many employees on the move can pose a few challenges. Remote work has taken away the ability to have a face-to-face conversation with a co-worker, resulting in misunderstanding an communication lags that can easily delay projects.

Technology has a solution for that, as well. Several communication tools are available, each of which can serve as a centralized location for all team members to upload files, post status updates, and communicate with other staff members. With so many choices, though, professionals aren’t always sure which solution is the right choice for their particular business model. Here are a few of the best collaboration systems. Whether you make the decision on your own or ask your IT support provider to help you select and set up one, each of these services has its own unique set of offerings.

  • Basecamp gives each project its own page, with a social media-style format that immediately shows team members the latest activity. Users can add to-do lists and assign tasks to specific team members, with all of this accessible from mobile devices, as well as PCs.
  • Teambox is more task-oriented, focusing on checklists on its dashboard. But the app has a communication component, as well, which also follows a social media format. Teambox will likely be a more enticing option to smaller businesses, since the app charges per user rather than per project, as Basecamp does.
  • GoToMeeting brings the board room to your mobile device, letting teams share files, interact face-to-face, and even conduct a presentation, all in real time. With GoToTraining, business can also train teams of employees on a new piece of software, all without having to set foot in an office.