Collaboration Tools

Collaboration tools are software that lets staff work together more effectively by communicating and sharing information and documents more easily. Rather than emailing files backwards and forwards, a team works in one shared place.

Sharing the work itself

A shared workspace is one space holding a team's documents, tasks and updates, so staff do not have to hunt through inboxes or personal folders to find the latest version of something.

For example, a small video game studio planning a launch event keeps one supplier checklist in its workspace. The manager adds a price, the office apprentice adds a phone number, and both see the change straight away — nobody is left working from a copy that is out of date.

Keeping the team organised

• Shared to-do lists — a task can be assigned to a member of staff with a due date, so it is always clear who is doing what and nothing is quietly forgotten.
• Message boards — updates are posted in one place the whole team can read, which prevents messy email chains where replies get tangled and people are left out of the loop.
• Schedules — key dates and deadlines sit in a shared view, so anyone can check what is coming up without having to ask a manager.

Collaboration tools are not the same as communication tools. Live chat and video conferencing carry the conversation, while collaboration tools are where the shared work itself actually lives.