4 Collaborative Tools That Are Way Better Than Email

Say Good-Bye to Your Inbox

Slack

Slack takes the frustration out of communication by letting you message your colleagues with one platform instead of using multiple programs. Message just one person, or start a group conversation and share videos, documents and images. The program also integrates with several other programs your team might be using, including Dropbox and Google Drive. Slack is accessible on computers as well as mobile devices, making it a versatile tool that’s a good fit for a mobile worker.

Yammer

Using Yammer, you can plug into an online network and connect with other colleagues, form discussion groups and collaborate on different projects. Because Yammer is integrated with Microsoft Office 365, you can collaborate on Word documents and PowerPoint presentations, viewing edits in real-time or following discussions about the files. Yammer also lets you create a profile with your location, contact information and skills and abilities so that the right person can find you when they need your expertise.

Convo

Sometimes, you just want to focus on one part of a document or file that you’re discussing with the team. Convo lets you do just that with its annotation feature. Highlight a statistic and send a message to your colleague asking them to double-check it, or chat with your colleagues via laptop or smartphone. Share files with the team for their feedback or edits; Convo lets you see both easily. With an interface that’s similar to Facebook, Convo also syncs with Google Drive and DropBox to make collaboration even easier.

Trello

Trello gives you a simple visual system for managing multiple projects by creating boards to organize your projects. Related projects are placed on a board, and each task or project is represented by a card, which holds images, files and comments. Your team members can be assigned to different cards so they’ll know who’s doing what. Checklists, due dates and progress bars keep you informed on the status of each project. Designed to be user-friendly, Trello also has extra features that you can use for extra organizational efficiency, like viewing cards in a calendar or voting on tasks to determine their importance in the workflow.

While email has revolutionized the way we communicate, these programs show that there are now much better and much faster ways to get things done. And if you work at a company that’s thinking about mobile working or still figuring out a system, knowing multiple options will help you determine what’s the best fit for your organization. If you’ve already found a system that works well for you, let us know what it is in the comments!

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