10 top collaboration tools for your organization

Tools are very helpful - but it also takes turning team members into team players.

Check this free team collaboration assessment: http://collaborative-coaching.com/team-assessment

The assessment tests 12 key, evidence-based characteristics that separate mere good from high-performance teams.

Great list. RHUB online collaboration appliances is another very good option in regards to hosting webinars, web conferences, online collaboration, online meetings, online presentations etc.

I think the most pressing problem with most of these vendors is two-fold. First, most provide a single point solution (i.e. Dropbox, Skype) that tries to do everything. These are great tools, but they need to have a more user-centric approach outside of the feature they provide. Second, most of the collaboration tools lack of ease-of-use. Features are abundant but those same features (file sharing, micro-blogging, task management, etc), have become commodities. All the vendors have them. But not all the vendors have the same user adoption (Sharepoint anyone?). The reason of course is that users find them to be too complex. Most users are simple when it comes to using technology. But we NEED them as part of our online collaboration experience. I suppose the overall complexity is the dirty secret of most collaboration tools.

The biggest single complaint we hear: ‘Our customers and employees wouldn’t use them…’ This is why we’re using Centroy. They’re focused on dead simple ease-of-use. The layout even has a Facebook feel. Humans are a creature of habit. The more they’re familiar with, the more likely they’ll be comfortable using it.

Centroy seems to get this. They really nailed it. All the same fancy features and security are there (they came first). But as I mentioned before, the features are a commodity. It’s the ease-of-use that’s become an untapped opportunity. Check them out. There’s a live demo sandbox. http://centroy.com

Really good list

Know it's a year old,but as this been revisited? I am the chairperson for a Relay For Life event, and am looking for a way to get my committee more active with each other rather than only talking once a month. Have looked at a few free offerings but I need something that is super easy to use because of the lack of technical inclination some of the committee possess.

This is a great list, thank you so much for sharing! Lots of great things to keep in mind. What about pin.fm?

This is a great list indeed! I like using the tool that shares social media dashboards. Cool online collaboration tools!

Hi, I'm using BrainSqueezer. It's a collaborative brainstorming by design app for iPad. http://brain-squeezer.com

Dear Friends, The power of WCS allows you to be a part of versatile, secure collaborative network. For businesses: there is no limit to what you can do. Post jobs and projects, organize your work, collaborate with others and much more. For individuals: search for jobs and projects, participate in activities and use communication tools as part of a team network. Try Work Collaboration system. Its a great tool to make your team in sync and productive. See demo : http://www.youtube.com/user/WORKCOLLABORATION See services included for $20 and $3 per each additional user https://www.workcollaboration.com/services.aspx Try it 30 days no credit card or strings attached. https://www.workcollaboration.com/registration.aspx Collaboration the way it meant to be. Enjoy !!

You may find teamvoiceapp.com useful if you work in a distributed team and need to make decisions together - as a team.

Collaborating on documents and holding teleconferences/web conferences with a team of people continues to be a challenge even with enterprise grade tools. We are working on a new tools called Paper Tablet that addresses both of these problems. Currently, when I am working on a document with others, I would print out the entire word, powerpoint, or pdf document, write comments on it, scan it, and email it back to my team to incorporate changes. We are working on an iPad app that will allow me to "print to tablet", make changes electronically on the iPad, save it or send it to the team via email, thus bypassing the need to print out anything. The next phase is to create the ability to hold a web conference and collaborate live from the iPad. Check it out at www.tip9.com.

It,s amazing social media as much cutting edge IT tech.no and is changing highly speed ~~deeply thinking in the future ...

I've found the most effective collaboration tools are those that spread collaboration-encouraging features throughout the overall business management process, which few apps accomplish successfully as a result of narrow feature sets. Most collaboration apps focus on one aspect of business management, or are entirely separate from the other apps a business uses to manage itself. The lack of integration between these tools is terrible for efficiency and is also quite costly. I would suggest going with a collaborative platform that considers the wider scope of business operations. WORKetc is a great example, as it integrates CRM, project management, and billing into one system - while bringing collaborative tools to every aspect of the program. Collaboration takes place on a business wide scale, and not too mention one is capable of managing their entire SMB/freelancing work through one web-based SaaS. You can see WORKetc compared with similar collaborative tools here: http://www.worketc.com/compare

It makes social media so much easier to to have my social media accounts in one place with Hootsuite! With the exception of Tungle.me (which I've also used and recommend) the others on the list were new to me. Thanks for the recommendations!

Hello! I would like to propose you to add another alternative for project management called Doolphy. You can find more information about it at http://www.doolphy.com Regards!

Thanks, Holly, sounds like that's a solid choice for nonprofits. Jamie, thanks the pointers. I love Yammer and probably should have mentioned it in the roundup. I didn't know about THOUGHTstream so will to check it out!

Great list! Having worked for nonprofits for years I appreciate the need for easier ways to connect and collaborate and the need to keep cost down. I would add two tool to your already great list: Yammer - An in-house microblogging platform that works like Twitter but with a group of our choosing. It's accessible from desktop and mobile and is an awesome way of keeping staff and volunteers connected to whats going on. https://www.yammer.com/ THOUGHTstream - An engagement and collaboration platform that helps nonprofit leaders collect and curate collective intelligence so they can make collaborative decisions and find crowdsourced solutions. http://www.thotstr.com/ (disclaimer - I'm the community manager for THOUGHTstream however I work for them only because I used the platform while working for a nonprofit and loved it)

A number of non-profits are using SAP StreamWork for collaboration, problem solving, brainstorming, decision making, working with donors, etc. Try it for free: http://sapstreamwork.com See Manna on Main's story here: http://www.sapstreamwork.com/news-blog/sap-streamwork-and-google-docs-help-manna-main-street-support-its-community

Sure thing, Kris, that's what we do. :~) Sahil, I've downloaded DeskAway, now will have to try it out on one of my projects!

This is a fabulous list, thanks so much for compiling it!!

Awesome! Thank you for the DeskAway mention.