How to Choose the Right Collaborative Tool?
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A method for choosing a collaborative tool: start from your goal, identify the main uses of the tool, then filter your shortlist through four criteria — available options, ease of use, accessibility mode and customer service. Slack, Microsoft Teams, Asana, Trello, Google Drive, OVHcloud and Talkspirit are the platforms named. Choosing is presented as sometimes the easiest part: preparation, deployment, adaptation and employee feedback decide whether the tool is actually adopted.
Collaborative work is “trendy.” Riding this wave, many platforms have appeared in recent years. In a short period of time, the range of tools has indeed become overwhelming—so much so that it’s not always easy finding your way around and choosing the right collaborative tool that will best meet your needs.
Why use a collaborative tool?
The first step in your quest for the collaborative tool “made for you” should be to ask yourself what you’re looking for. What’s your goal? On which aspects should this new tool have an impact?
Here are some of the benefits you can expect from collaborative tools:
- gather your employees in a shared space
- make information and document sharing more fluid
- promote creativity and collective intelligence
- strengthen a culture of sharing and mutual aid
- improve productivity among your teams
- save time on internal communication by avoiding endless email exchanges
So, what’s your goal?
A diversity of tools for many use cases
Second, you’ll need to ask yourself what the main uses of your tool will be. This phase of upstream reflection is essential in order to calmly deal with a multitude of collaborative tools dedicated to a multitude of different uses.
Need an instant messaging tool to clear out your mailbox? A videoconferencing software to facilitate remote working? A shared agenda to define team highlights? Maybe a project management tool to assign tasks and coordinate their execution?
Depending on the answers to these different questions, there are both specialized tools and more comprehensive collaborative platforms that allow these different tools to be centralized.
Four keys to choose your collaborative tool
Now you’re ready to make the leap and start your search, but you’re still hesitating between all the platforms like Slack, Microsoft Teams, Asana, Trello, Google Drive, OVHcloud and Talkspirit. Feel free to take a look at our comparison of the 18 collaborative tools we recommend, especially for teleworking.
Here are also four ways to filter through these options to help you make the best choice for your needs:
- Available options: Don’t hesitate to project your potential future needs.
- Ease of use: Is the tool clear and simple to use, or does it require a significant amount of time for your employees to adapt?
- Accessibility mode: Is it software to be installed on your company’s computers, a subscription website, or a SaaS platform?
- Customer service: The quality of the provider’s service is an essential factor. Find out about the availability and responsiveness of customer service to answer your questions or deal with any difficulties.
By going through the different tools you’ve selected using this matrix, you should be able to define which is the right collaborative tool for your company.
Accompanying change to promote adoption
Choosing a collaborative tool should never be taken lightly, but it’s actually sometimes the easiest part of the project. Indeed, setting up a new collaborative tool always involves a preparation phase, but also a deployment and adaptation phase.
Because with the implementation of a new tool, your habits and those of your employees will necessarily have to evolve and adapt.
Guidance takes time and genuine effort. Remember to properly scope the communication made upstream and throughout the deployment until you can see an optimal adoption of your new collaborative tool. And of course, ask your employees for their feedback so you can adjust your approach as needed!
Want to know more?
For even more advice, download our cheat sheet: Eight Essential Steps for Choosing Your Collaborative Platform
If you are still hesitating between several tools, we also invite you to take a look at our Top 13 of the Best Collaborative Platforms.
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Among the collaborative platforms that include all the essential features (chat, shared diary, discussion groups/communities, document storage space, etc.), Talkspirit stands out for its ability to bring all these functions together in a single space, accessible to all your employees. For more information, contact us by email at [email protected] or click here.
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Author: Paul Maubareyt
FAQ
What you are looking for. The first question is your goal, and which aspects the new tool should have an impact on.
Gathering employees in a shared space, more fluid information and document sharing, more creativity and collective intelligence, a stronger culture of sharing and mutual aid, better team productivity, and time saved on internal communication by avoiding endless email exchanges.
Available options, projecting potential future needs; ease of use, and how much time employees need to adapt; accessibility mode — software installed on company computers, a subscription website or a SaaS platform; and customer service, meaning the provider's availability and responsiveness.
Slack, Microsoft Teams, Asana, Trello, Google Drive, OVHcloud and Talkspirit.
Not necessarily. Setting up a new collaborative tool always involves a preparation phase, but also a deployment and adaptation phase, because the habits of employees have to evolve.
Scope the communication properly upstream and throughout the deployment until adoption is optimal, and ask employees for feedback so the approach can be adjusted as needed.
