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We don't need to tell you how important it is for your team to talk to each other.
Whether it's collaborating on a project or brainstorming a new product feature, team communication tools are the glue that holds your people together. Without effective communication, one in every five projects will fail, so it pays for your team to have the right toolkit.
Team communication software comes in many shapes and sizes. Some tools are simple chat rooms, while others allow your team to collaborate on documents or share thoughts and comments similar to social media platforms.
Our list is a little different as there are some tools you may not recognize. These eight platforms are filled with features and can help rapid-growth organizations—but some of them just haven't been featured in a TechCrunch article (yet!)
Here are our eight picks
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1. Teamwork
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At the top of the list is our tool—Teamwork.
Sure, it’s a project management tool, but it also has an entire suite of collaboration features to help your team talk to each other.
There's the central workspace that tracks important day-to-day stuff like what deadlines are coming up and who is working on what. Inside this workspace, there are extras like Teamwork Spaces and Teamwork Chat, where your team can message, share files, and even keep notebooks about projects.
Take Teamwork’s document sharing feature with a built-in editor. Open it up and share text, images, embedded videos, and diagrams within a document and collaborate on them with the rest of your team in real-time.
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That way, they’ll be perfect for when you need to share them with your clients
Features
Inbuilt chat, collaboration editor, and document finder
Use Spaces to create, edit, and share content
Activity feeds that updates in real-time
Instant face-to-face or team video calls using Chat
Integrations
MS Teams, HubSpot, SoftSync for Jira, Chatify, Slack, Gmail for Teamwork, Zendesk for Teamwork
Price
Forever free plan and paid plans starting at $10/user/month
Want to give Teamwork a try? Sign up for a free 30-day trial and see why so many organizations count on Teamwork to manage multiple complex projects with ease.
2. Google Docs
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Any team that is regularly working with documents should think about using Google Docs as a team communication tool.
Instead of emailing your team and asking them to take a look at a project brief or pinging them on Slack and asking them a question about something in a contract, Google Docs keeps all your questions and edits in a single document.
Not only is it free, but it's also easy to share documents, add suggestions and comments, and collaborate on just about any project. Any edits or changes made are automatically saved, so your progress isn't lost. If you want to restore an older version of the document, all you have to do is head to the edit history and choose one.
And any time a team member jumps into a document, they'll appear on the top right-hand side of the screen so you know there's someone else there.
Features
Comments and suggestions for quick feedback and editing
Document sharing links and permission settings
Changes are saved automatically
Mobile app so your team can collaborate from any device
Integrations
Box, HelloSign, Clockify, Tray.io, Teamwork, Slack, Evernote
Price
Free
3. Front
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Front is a communication software that brings all of your team’s conversations under one roof.
It connects almost any chat tool you can think of—Drift, Twilio SMS, WhatsApp, Slack, Vyte, Zoom—and bundles them into one dashboard. So, if your team collaborates using lots of different channels, they won't have to switch from screen to screen constantly—they can work from Front.
It also integrates your email platforms. Instead of getting buried in CCs and BCCs, your team can @mention each other and chat about emails internally to keep things organized.
Features
Looks and feels like Gmail or Outlook when you use it
Open API allows you to customize it to your tech stack
Rules automatically send messages to the right team member based on keywords, sender, and time of day
Team inboxes help manage main email accounts like help@company.com and even your company Twitter account
Integrations
Gmail, Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, Slack, Zoom, Sendbee
Price
From $19/user/month
4. Flowdock
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Flowdock is a simple chat platform for teams to connect over messaging and video.
Flowdock is a scaled-back version of Slack but has most of the similar core features like conversation threads, @mentions, and notifications.
There is inbuilt search and filtering, so you can quickly find any conversation you've had about an important project. The appear command instantly launches a video chat with a colleague. And the team inbox feature combines notifications from other channels, like Zendesk, Twitter, and email to keep everything organized.
Features
Create “Flows” to have 1:1 chats with team members
Tagg group threads together for easy searching
Flowdock app that runs on iOS and Android devices
100+ integrations that can be connected using Open API
Integrations
Basecamp, Asana, Jira, ScrumDo, Aha!
Price
Plans start at $3/user/month
5. Weje
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If your team is looking for somewhere to draw and share ideas together for business goals, online whiteboards are a perfect solution. Weje is an all-in-one free online whiteboard tool for teams, agencies, students, and businesses to communicate effectively. Weje provides users with real-time online whiteboards for notes, drawing, text, links, and other uses. Teams can also upload files, create mind maps, cards, lists, kanban boards, moodboards, & brainstorm together. This tool is free for up to 2 users, with low pricing available for an unlimited number of users. Features
Drag-and-drop tools to move & arrange information
Unique names, pointers and markers for each user
Permission control for managers to define roles, responsibilities, and sharing options on each whiteboard
Kanban boards (like Trello), mind maps, and sticky notes
Integrations
Coming Soon: Google Drive, Dropbox, Slack & Others
Price
Free forever and Paid upgrades starting at $4/month
6. InVision
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InVision is a team communication tool for developers and designers.
Teams can upload designs and product prototypes directly to an InVision workspace and get comments from other developers. Thanks to the tools’ robust cloud storage, designs are stored in a shared dashboard where role-based permissions decide who can comment and share feedback.
Another cool feature is the interactive whiteboard. Teams can use this to brainstorm ideas together in real-time. If they like a suggestion, they can add a comment or a thumbs up to let you know!
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Features
Draw freehand designs and build prototypes on a screen with your team in real-time
Add comments, feedback, and emojis to brainstorming sessions
Store project files using cloud storage
Library of brainstorming templates to get started
Integrations
Teamwork, Jira, Adobe, Sketch, Dropbox
Price
Free plan available and paid plans start at $7.95/user/month
7. Workvivo
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Workvivo is a relatively new tool on the block. Instead of focusing on productivity, it hopes to do something else—improve team relationships.
The team communication tool is a platform where your team can discuss ideas, share updates about their lives, and invite each other to events. Designed for hybrid and remote teams, it’s a place where your people can get to know each other on a deeper level. It aims to go beyond the standard weekly Zoom catch-up.
Like other tools on our list, Workvivo also has a "spaces" feature where your team can interact and collaborate on projects. And the real-time personal activity feed means that nobody will miss out on any updates!
Features
Digital workspace to send instant messages
Social intranet to share updates and announcements
Branded employee app for when you are away from your desk
Public shout out feature to celebrate team wins
Integrations
Sharepoint, Slack, Zoom, Teams
Price
Price on request
8. Zoom
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The thing we like about Zoom (and what makes it more than just a great video conference tool) is that it gives your team lots of ways to communicate. You can video call, audio call, share your screens, and record meetings to share with anyone who couldn’t make it.
There’s also a chat function that’s super handy if you need to share links or documents during a meeting.
It generates searchable transcripts of every meeting you have (perfect for brainstorming sessions), and multiple people can share their screens simultaneously, making team meetings genuinely collaborative.
Features
Record meetings and save them to the cloud
Group chat has searchable history, file sharing, and a 10-year archive
Integrated calendars allow meetings to launch from Outlook, Gmail, or iCal
Join meetings from a desktop or mobile device
Integrations
Zapier, HubSpot, Gmail, Slack, Asana, Hangouts Chat.
Price
Free Basic Plan, Pro Plan starts at $149.90/year/license
9. Confluence
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The last team communication tool on our list is Confluence – a creation by the folks behind other popular tools like Jira, Trello, and Bitbucket.
Confluence is aimed at creative teams who work in hybrid or remote environments. Using the documents feature, teams can create, edit, and discuss their work in one place. There are also 75 inbuilt templates to help you build out project strategies with planning docs and reports.
Inside the documents, your team can make in-line and page comments, like feedback suggestions, using tags when they’re ready to move forward.
Features
Advanced search and labels make it easy to find documents
Jira integrations like issue-tracking and dynamic roadmaps
Permissions help limit access to sensitive documents
The announcement tool allows you to keep your team updated on progress
Integrations
Salesforce, Twitter, Slack, Zoom, Google Drive, InVision, HubSpot
Price
Confluence has a limited free version with Premium pricing starting at $5 per user per month
10. Nuovoteam
NuovoTeam is a communication and productivity suite designed to strengthen business connections with field teams around the world. Through the use of Push-to-Talk technology, NuovoTeam bridges the communication gap between users in the organizations and on-field workers. This feature eliminates the tedious and slow communication methods that are commonly used in this industry, such as text messages, phone calls, and physical mails. NuovoTeam also offers privacy-focused location tracking, a unified corporate directory, VoIP calls, file exchange, video calls, read receipts, voice notes, end-to-end encrypted text exchange, and content collaboration so operational activities are no longer considered contingencies for any business. Features: ● End-to-end encrypted Instant Messaging ● Real-time clock in/out of the workforce ● Unified corporate contact management ● Workflow management ● Location Tracking ● Public and Private Channels Integrations: Scalefusion, Magnitude Price: Plans start at $3/user/month
What team communication tools are you choosing for 2021?
Hybrid work is here to stay, and companies need to figure out how their teams can talk to each other whether they’re in the office or at home.
Investing in the right team communications is the best way to do that. Whether your team needs to chat over video, brainstorm using a whiteboard, or collaborate using a dedicated space, there are lots of tools that can make your remote workplace feel not-so-remote.
So, what team communication tools are you choosing for your team?
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