There are many communication challenges faced by small, medium and large companies alike. Whether they are dealing with remote teams, multiple work sites, tremendous growth, employees on the road, or even outsourced contractors – staying in touch, coordinated, and abreast of developments is daunting. These challenges explain why many companies are turning to cloud-based software solutions for their team and corporate communication needs.
Collaboration software provides an always-online platform where employees engaged in projects can connect and collaborate with each other. These collaborative software solutions offer a variety of options including task and project management, chat and email communication, data analysis, file storage, and a host of other task or workflow related functionality.
Here are three companies that are making communicating at work a lot easier.
Slack
Growth and market share accumulation at Slack have been exponential. The cloud-based enterprise application that facilitates project and team communication was recently valued at over 2.8 billion dollars according to Forbes.com. At its core, Slack is a simple messaging app for teams, but it also integrates brainstorming tools, document management, email integration, project and even task management.
Slack integrates seamlessly with existing platforms. Users profess to the ease of learning how to use the software and effectiveness of being able to see in-line chats and conversations embedded within the documentation. According to PCMag.com, Slack is the “Editors' Choice for online communication and collaboration.” Slack Light is available for free, or companies can upgrade to a paid program around $8 per user that allows unlimited messaging and integration, as well as statistical tools.
Honey
This social application allows employees to interact, discover, and store relevant content on an intranet platform. Honey.is provides the ability for companies to post employee profiles, news stories, and company updates. The platform also boasts some pretty impressive clients including such well-known brands as Huge, CapitalOne, Lowes and Coca-Cola.
Honey centers on internal communication at a corporate level. It’s a way to promote and maintain company culture, communicate with employees, and disseminate news and information throughout the organization without having to rely on email. Users create profiles and have access to all the other user profiles within the company. Wired magazine writes, “Unlike many information sharing tools; Honey wasn’t designed for a ‘typical’ office drone — it was created with Huge’s large, diverse, and designer-heavy workforce in mind.” The tool is free to try and then prices are based on company size.
Basecamp
Basecamp is web-based software that allows communication and collaboration on and between project teams. The software boasts millions of users and has tremendous support among those customers, boasting 98 percent recommendations. Basecamp supports multiple languages, which can be essential in today’s global work integration and it works on mobile devices.
Basecamp allows for file sharing, project monitoring, time tracking, milestone management, and task assignments. While it doesn't offer the integration ability and advanced features of some other collaboration tools, it is a capable project management platform with a cost of about $20 per month per user.
The attraction to web-based communication software solutions is undeniable. Effective communication tools and software will create less misunderstanding while empowering teams, and promoting company culture. In a world where more and more workers are working remotely and project teams are spread all over the globe, seeking out a low cost alternative to bloated and outdated email just makes sense. The use of these tools will foster cohesiveness, accountability and, perhaps most importantly, increase productivity among remote and integrated teams. Finding the right solution is as simple as identifying the tools needed and the appropriate budget. These companies do all the heavy lifting after that.
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Dennis Hung is an entrepreneur and product analyst specializing in mobile technology, IoT and healthcare.