Remote work is the norm today and is most likely to be the future of workspaces. Developers across the world are being brought together amidst the Covid pandemic with the help of a variety of collaboration tools to continue delivering projects as before. Teams need to be productive, connected and stable in their performance, objectives that can be achieved easily by investing in a good collaboration tool that checks your specific boxes. We’ve scoured the web to highlight the most popular, secure and reliable web collaboration tools in the market today.
What’s a web collaboration tool/platform? What does it do?
These are online, web–based tools that offer ways to collaborate within teams through group emails, chats, productivity indicators/meters, calendars, charts, instant messaging, and other features so that individuals within an organization/start-up can co-create and work together.
Not only are they a great way to produce results efficiently and quickly, but they’ve also gained immense traction with the globally rising trend of remote work and distributed teams.
Here are a few benefits of using web collaboration tools:
All teams can work together, breaking unnecessary silos, increasing transparency.
There are no logistical hiccups.
Conversations don’t get lost in individual emails or chat boxes, causing miscommunication among employees.
Projects don’t get delayed due to lag in action, goal sharing and communication.
Minor issues don’t turn into big obstacles due to a lack of instant communication.
Projects don’t get postponed due to physical distance since developers can have shared control over the code, code modification and other alterations.
Group objectives and individual objectives can all be collectively achieved by the use oa web collaboration tools.
Let’s take a look at some remarkable web collaboration platforms in use today:
Trello
Trello is a visual collaboration platform that is power-packed with productivity-enhancing features that make coding and collaboration easier. Projects get managed with a system of boards, lists, and colourful card covers, as well as automated workflows. Vertically arranged cards are for the collection of ideas, to-do lists, or different stages of a workflow. Due dates, attachments and checklists provide extra support.
Jira
Another ideal choice for project collaboration, Jira offers flawless source and issue integration. Its security and admin features are far advanced too. It has powerful Agile views for managing Scrum and Kanban boards along with project roadmaps to push out sprints faster. It offers a variety of detailed reports such as User workload, the average age of unresolved issues, the progress of recently created issues and track project information such as User stories, story points, customizable templates, and a great bug tracking tool for code fixing. Additionally, you can add lots of third party tools to Jira for better coordination. It’s one of the best tools for issue tracking and project management if you’re looking for advanced capabilities and features.
Toggl
This is a useful time tracking app that allows you to track your daily activities across different platforms; including features like One-click Timer which can track time across the web/desktop app, mobile app, or browsers. It also has Pomodoro Timer, Idle Detection, email reminder features along with summary, detailed, & weekly reports with PDF & CSV Exports. You can get detailed insights while facilitating optimization of your project workflow. It can be used as a personal task manager or as a team task management tool.
Asana
Asana is perfect for setting strategic goals and also track their progress and check workload across teams. Centralisation brings more discipline and reduces distraction while using Asana. Asana users get to monitor the progress and status of important or prioritised projects in real-time. It offers iPhone support, HTML5, mobile sites with multiple workspaces, Project Sections and Search Views. It’s highly preferred for its stunning Gantt chart creation abilities. It also makes for a good CRM tool as it integrates that capability as well. Asana is better than Trello for larger projects and works great for group communication.
GitHub
The best code hosting platform for version control with loads of useful features like Drag and Drop Gist Code, GitHub Command Line Interface with the required pull request reviewers, and additional features like URL shortener, file finders, task checklist and the ability to create a local copy of a project that already exists remotely. It can do everything, from automation, testing, planning, project management, issue labelling, approvals, onboarding. A variety of integrated tools ensure that projects get delivered on schedule while maintaining transparency at all stages. It also provides increased safety with packages. Workflows for continuous deployment and integration, packages, code scanning, are constantly updated in GitHub.
Slack
Developers find Slack useful for its search capabilities and company directory to get connected based on programming languages or project types, etc. The platform’s asynchronous and real-time discussions create always in motion teams that can collaborate seamlessly. Some of its handy features include using shared channels across workspaces, sidebar streamlining, email, texts, reminders, and flawless coordination on desktop and mobile versions. It is popular as an instant messaging tool within teams but offers plenty of additional features. It claims to have 500,000 custom apps active every week. Developers, programmers get all the tools into one place, which enables them to deliver speedy results. At the same time, conversations remain organized.
Zoho Projects
From automation of workflows, Gantt Charts, Timesheets, sharing documents, setting task dependencies, CRM integration, hosting chat rooms, Views, planning capacity and the unlimited project support, Zoho Projects has it all. Centralised access and customization capabilities can make team collaboration easier in addition to breaking down complex projects into smaller tasks. A unique reporter tool helps customise individual dashboards and track metrics effectively. You can easily integrate it with Drive, Gmail and Google Calendar.
Before deciding which web collaboration tools are the best for your company, read all the features, tech specifications and reviews online about your business goals, team’s preferences, budget and types of projects you’re undertaking.