9 Powerful Collaboration And Communication Tools For Better Project Management
Project management got you down?
Does it seem like your team is constantly lost?
Do you feel like you’re running the Department of Redundancy Departments?
Don’t worry, you’re not alone.
Many startups and business owners need a bit of help keeping project management task and functions on track. Here are 9 powerful collaboration and communication tools for better project management.
ClickMeeting
ClickMeeting provides powerful audio and video conferencing services for startups and entrepreneurs.
ClickMeeting is great for business owners with colleagues, partners, or clients across various geographical locations who need to meet on a regular basis. The service also provides options for virtual meeting room branding to make your virtual meeting space a more impressive experience.
You can get started with a 30-Day Free Trial, and continue with a paid subscription. Subscriptions start at $30 per month, with discounts for purchasing 12 or more months at a time.
WorkflowMax
WorkflowMAX is a comprehensive project management tool that provides the user with a complete tool-kit to start effectively managing projects, employees, invoicing, and more.
WorkflowMAX is great for business owners who currently have their project management functions scattered across multiple platforms, and who are looking to integrate those functions into one software.
You can start with a 2-week free trial, after which you can decide to continue with a paid subscription starting at $15 per month for a single user, and additional options for larger organizations.
Wrike
Wrike is powerful project management tool that allows for transparent collaboration for multiple users.
Trusted by powerhouse companies such as Amazon, PayPal, Hootsuite, and the like, Wrike fully integrates tools such as Microsoft Word, Excel, Google Drive, iOS and Android, Wufoo and more to create a truly collaborative environment.
Wrike has a free subscription that allows up to 5 users to collaborate with up to 2GB of storage. Paid subscriptions with 5 or more users start at $49 per month.
Due
Due is a comprehensive invoicing and hourly tracking system for users who need a little help with keeping track of project hours.
Due provides a user-friendly interface that allows you to be productive from day one. Users can track profitability based on invoices billed and received, as well as employee hours worked. Due will also draft reports so you can analyze productivity, efficiency, and profitability. Due is also integrated with PayPal to offer affordable pricing on payments from clients.
For invoicing, it seems like Due is always free. However, it would appear that there is a fee associated with Due’s hourly tracking service, despite the pricing being unavailable on the website. For information, contact Due regarding pricing.
Slack
Fully integrated with iOS and Android, Slack is the team communication tool of the century.
Okay, maybe I’m getting a bit ahead of myself. But it is pretty great. Slack is basically a fully caffeinated instant messaging system that allows for integrated document sharing. Various communication channels allow your team to communicate freely regarding various projects, activities, and deadlines.
Slack is perfect for a business looking to streamline communications by implementing a single hub for discussions.
Slack is free for an unlimited amount of users for as long as you want it. The only catch is that the free version only holds up to 10,000 messages. While that might seem like a decent amount of messages, it can burn up pretty quickly. You’ll still be able to collaborate with your team, but you might not be able to access a message that was delivered a couple of weeks ago. The Standard plan starts at $6.67 per user per month, and allows for unlimited archival access.
Skype
When most people think of Skype they probably think of video calls. What many people don’t realize is that Skype also offers instant messaging, file sharing, voice calls, and video conferencing.
Skype also offers audio translation services for video or phone calls with a group or person who speaks another language. Skype’s translation service is great for business owners who are looking to conduct business internationally, but don’t necessary have the language skills down pat.
The platform is free for the most part, with Skype for business starts at $2.00 per user per month.
Google Drive
When it comes to document and spreadsheet creation, you won’t find a better free option than Google Drive. With Microsoft Office Suites starting at $149.00 per user, Google Drive fights back with essentially the exact same software for exactly zero dollars and zero cents.
There may be a few differences, but for standard document write ups or spreadsheet creation, Google Drive provides everything a business owner needs; including the ability to collaborate with other users in your team.
Google Drive is free to use, and comes completely integrated with any Gmail account.
Dropbox
Dropbox is a cloud-based file sharing platform that allows teams to share documents, images and presentations. When an item is uploaded to a shared Dropbox folder, everyone who has access to that folder receives a notification and invitation to view or edit.
Dropbox is free to use with up to 2GB of storage, or begins with a monthly subscription of $10 per month with 1TB of storage.
Trello
Trello takes organization to a new level with visual organizations. Think Pinterest, but for project management.
Projects are organized by boards, which have corresponding cards that outline tasks and objectives for each project. Trello is great for business owners who need a streamlined and visual way to keep projects on track.
Trello offers a free version with unlimited users, but with minimal application integrations. If you want to go all out with Trello, consider the paid subscription of $8.33 per user per month to start integrating your favorite project management tools.
Over to you
How do you manage your projects? Do any of these services pique your interest? Let us know in the comments below!
Megan Kubasch
Latest posts by Megan Kubasch (see all)
- 7 Tools That Make Facebook Marketing Easy - January 29, 2016
- Blogger Outreach: 8 Ways To Avoid The Trash Folder - January 21, 2016
- 9 Powerful Collaboration And Communication Tools For Better Project Management - November 26, 2015
