Choosing the best online collaboration tool to manage your teams is nearly as important as your business. It also requires a lot of work.
However, If you don’t already use one, chances are you don’t know the factors to consider, mistakes to avoid, or the best options available.
If you use one already, you might want to double-check as well.
Fortunately, we’ve done all the work for you.
Read this blog to discover factors to consider, mistakes to avoid, and options to explore when choosing an online collaboration tool.
It’ll help you make a well-informed decision.
Let’s get started.
What are your considerations in choosing online collaboration tools?
You must know the critical factors when choosing an online collaboration tool.
Multiple factors play a crucial role in the effectiveness of an online collaboration tool.
But, to keep things simple, we chose the top five.
We also collected expert opinions about each factor and quoted them in the article (edited for clarity and conciseness).
Let’s analyse each one of them.
1. Features (Effectiveness for current business needs)
Angela Ashenden, the principal analyst of the digital workplace at CCS Insight, says:
“The hunt for a collaboration tool should not be about the perfect tool, but the perfect fit for what employees specifically need”.
Angela makes a great point about the features of a tool. You see, features are the capability of a tool to perform functions. But when it comes to collaboration tools, more isn’t always better.
You have to choose a collaboration that precisely fits your business needs well. It’s not necessarily the one with the most features.
Here’s what Andrew Bischof of Future Computers had to say about this:
“When choosing a collaboration tool, the first thing you need to take care of is ensuring the features it offers are helpful for your current business needs.”
“The best way to identify your current business needs is to survey your employees, understand their problems, and think of ways a collaboration tool fixes them”.
Next time you choose a collaboration tool, talk to your employees. Ask them what they want in a collaboration tool, make a list, and then only go on to choose one.
This brings us to our next point.
2. The learning curve for the software
Jean Achille, the CEO of Devon Group, says:
“Companies should proceed cautiously when selecting their collaboration tool and choose the one that accommodates their employee’s working style.”
This makes complete sense. The most prominent stakeholders of the collaboration tool are your employees. And if you choose a collaboration with a steep learning curve – your employees will try to avoid using it. This kills the purpose of a collaboration tool.
Here’s something else you need to understand. And it comes from Dom Nicastro, the Managing Editor at CMSWire, who says:
“Never forget the change management challenge that comes with the new tool.“
“Most collaboration tools available today need a lot of investment before you can get a wide adoption from your employees.”
Do you get the point?
Here’s the key takeaway: Avoid choosing collaboration tools with a steep learning curve.
Now, let’s talk about our third point.
3. Customisation (Effectiveness for future business needs)
Andrew Bischof from Future Computers shares his advice for choosing a collaboration tool.
“Businesses often develop new needs as they grow. These future needs must be fulfilled with a collaboration tool you purchase today.”
“Look for a collaboration tool that accommodates for customisation and adapts to your future needs.” – Andrew Bischof, Future Computers
So, what does customisation mean?
It’s simple. A tool can integrate additional features or eliminate some as new requirements appear.
Remember! You cannot afford to change your collaboration tool every time a new need develops in your business.
Instead, your collaboration tool should be customisable – so you can add new capabilities when needed.
This brings us to our 4th point.
4. Availability of free trial
Andrew Bischof from Future Computers says:
“Most collaboration software providers today allow users to try out their software before purchasing it.”
“Managers should exploit this free trial offering to acquaint their employees with the tool. Managers can then collect feedback from employees about their experience – to identify the limitations and shortcomings of the tool.”
So, according to Andrew, the best way to determine if a tool is a right fit for your team is to try a free trial.
The employee feedback after the free trial can give you significant insights into its acceptance.
Your decision becomes much simpler and easier once your employees provide feedback about the collaboration tool.
This is why you must check for the availability of a free trial of the collaboration tool you are about to consider.
And now, it’s time for the last point.
5. Level of security offered
Ryan Kennedy, Technology Consultant and founder of Kickdrum, shares some thoughts on the security of a collaboration tool:
“Security is one of the critical aspects of a quality collaboration tool. With the right one, you can onboard new users quickly and limit their access at will. You also need to be able to cut off access to the employees as soon as they leave.”
We completely agree with Ryan on this one.
Because, out of all the features the collaboration tools offer, security needs to be high on your list.
If you belong to an industry dealing with sensitive information, you need enterprise-grade security without compromise.
If you are lenient towards the security aspect of the new tool, you risk information theft, which can induce legal battles and financial damage to your business.
So, you must ensure that your chosen tool does not comprise security. But here’s the thing.
You can make some mistakes even if you know what to look for in a collaboration tool. And that makes our next section even more critical.
Let’s take a look.
What are the mistakes to avoid when choosing an online collaboration app for your team?
You can’t tell which action will lead to productive results if you’re not an expert on collaboration tools. Also, some mistakes can cause trouble with your collaboration tool choice.
Here are the top mistakes you should avoid when choosing a collaboration tool.
1. Falling victim to decision paralysis
“Decision fatigue is a real thing. The higher the number of choices you have for your collaboration tool, the harder it is going to be to choose the best one.” – Phil Simon, Award-Winning Author and Collaboration Expert
The greatest mistake you can make when choosing a collaboration tool is falling victim to decision fatigue.
Decision Fatigue occurs when you complicate your decision-making with so many choices that the whole process becomes overwhelming.
This leads you to overthink, avoid, and delay your decision-making.
To avoid this decision paralysis, use the method of elimination and eliminate every option that’s not the right fit.
2. Depending on your IT team to help pick your collaboration tool
Let us explain before you raise your eyebrows and start questioning the heading. We have nothing against IT having a say in your decision-making for the collaboration tool.
We are not suggesting anything at all on our own here. The opinion comes from David Coleman, a longtime collaboration researcher and analyst.
Here’s what David had to say:
“Your IT teams can be a part of decision-making for the collaboration tool. They could lead the decision-making. But I just don’t think they should be the ultimate authority (or the only authority as is the case often in businesses).”
“Because, given complete power, your IT teams will pick the tools that best suit themselves – not necessarily the employees or the business.”
Here’s your takeaway: Depend, but never rely, on your IT teams to help you choose a collaboration tool.
3. Not leveraging cloud solutions for collaboration
Cloud Solutions have grown tremendously over the years – specifically after the pandemic.
Sashi Banani, the CEO of Dropbox, says this about Cloud Solutions:
“Businesses can leverage cloud computing to build systems that they can quickly scale up or down – whenever they want – depending on their business needs.
Companies that expect ups and downs in their growth should choose cloud solutions to react accordingly.”
Most companies forced to go remote have realised that remote work is significantly cheaper than in-house work.
Most organisations today are comfortable with an entirely remote or hybrid culture.
This significantly amplifies the importance of cloud collaboration tools. Choosing a cloud collaboration tool makes more sense today than ever.
So, if you’re leveraging cloud communication for your business, try it.
And now, the most important part.
Which are the best online collaboration apps in the market?
There are extensive collaboration tools available in the market today. This makes choosing a collaboration tool harder than it has to be.
Tammy Bjelland, CEO of Workplaces, says: “I feel like, every day, I wake up, and there’s a new collaboration tool out there.”
But we’ve got you covered.
Here are some of the top online tools that you can explore:
- TalkMagnet: A secure and powerful collaboration tool that’s feature-rich yet simple and easy to use (the interface is just like WhatsApp).
- Trello: Uses the Kanban approach to simplify work management and gives you a bird’s eye view of your projects.
- Basecamp: A to-do-list-centred collaboration tool that comes with an in-built communication application.
- Asana: Another collaboration tool that leverages Kanban tools to simplify work and processes.
- Airtable: A work management software that your entire team can use. Also allows you to track time.
Great collaborations start with excellent communication
If collaboration is the engine that drives your teams, then communication is the fuel that runs that engine.
And we’ve got the best engine your teams can have.
It’s TalkMagnet – a collaboration tool that’s designed specifically for simplicity.
There is simply no learning curve at all. If employees know how to use WhatsApp or Facebook, they can use TalkMagnet.
What is TalkMagnet capable of? Simple. Everything you look for in a collaboration tool.
Be it texting, voice calling, or video calling with one person or a team – it is one click away with TalkMagnet.
It even lets you record your video calls, unlike most collaboration tools. You can also share files seamlessly and dig up old files with a simple search.
And security? Flawless. You can choose on-premise hosting, on-cloud hosting, or even a hybrid structure.
It is the best collaboration tool your teams can have.
But in case you don’t want to take our word for it, click here to try TalkMagnet for free.
You’ll see for yourself how powerful it is.
Choosing the ideal collaboration tool – made simple
There you go.
You’ve discovered the top 5 factors to consider when choosing a collaboration tool, the top mistakes to avoid, and recommendations for collaboration tools you can further explore.
Read our article “Top 8 Free Online Collaboration Tools for Small Businesses” to see which fits your business needs best.
Tired of complicated UI and a steep learning curve? Need an all-in-one software for chat, voice, video calls, and meeting recordings?
Use TalkMagnet for free, or book a demo with us now.
Our team is waiting to serve you.
