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In simple words, a collaboration tool is anything that helps people work together. There are a myriad of applications in the market, some cutting edge, which are marketed under the head "collaboration tools". I will list out some software tools, which I feel are essential tools to help people work together in an organization, especially a growing one:- Email. This is simply the most popular mode people use to send each other messages, have discussions, share files, assign tasks, coordinate and a myriad of other business activities. Although misused, and leading to efficiency losses in terms of "email overload", any list of collaboration tools without this one would be incomplete. Though it makes sense to shift to other tools, people simply aren't going to stop using this one. Document Collaboration. Documents are the heart of any business organization. A big part of information work is comprised of creating documents - strategy documents, specifications, proposals, studies, operational documents, records, orders and countless others. In this age of distributed work, document collaboration systems allow remote teams to work together on documents using their internet connection. Features like versioning, notifications, locking etc helps keep track of changes. Task Management. A big part of working together in teams is the ability to coordinate activities of each team member so that it is directed towards team goals, and each member makes contributions according to their ability and expertise. Task management tools are a great way to coordinate activities of team members, set responsibilities, order activities, update progress and keep track of the overall project. Online Meetings. No matter how much importance text based collaboration gains, there never can be a substitute for spoken communication in a system of humans. This is needed to brainstorm issues, discuss matters for quick resolution, or simply motivate each other and foster team spirit. Intranet/Group Workspaces. Although information sharing is important in teams, it is also important to provide context around this information. Intranet workspaces are a centralized location where teams can access team information (documents, tasks, calendars) and intranet pages which provide context around this information. In recent times, the trend has been to integrate these tools in a single solution. The benefits are obvious, as information can flow freely between these tools - email and document sharing, task management and online meetings and so on - rather than being trapped in data silos. "Total collaboration software" solutions like HyperOffice and Google Apps represent this approach.
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