How to choose the best document-sharing app for your organization

The rise of remote and hybrid work has opened doors in the corporate world, removing location boundaries for companies and affording flexibility to employees. But virtual collaboration is evolving, and remote-friendly teams need the best tools in their tech stacks to help remote employees work with their colleagues effectively.

Every remote and hybrid team needs a top-notch, secure document-sharing solution to support file organization, access management, and real-time and asynchronous collaboration. The best document-sharing apps integrate with corporate communication platforms too. Let’s explore the power of document sharing and how the right tools can unify your remote team and give everyone’s teamwork a boost.

Why effective document sharing matters

With video conferencing, you can hold live, online meetings with colleagues—a must for remote and hybrid teams.

If you’re on a remote or hybrid team, it’s especially important to lock down effective, efficient document-sharing strategies. A strong, remote-friendly work culture depends on asynchronous collaboration, and a good document-sharing app can make all the difference.

Here’s how the right document-sharing method can transform your remote-friendly workplace:

• Reduces information silos. A recent Gallup poll found that the most common challenge for hybrid employees was reduced access to resources and equipment for work. Using a document-sharing app can improve resource-sharing across your team to keep everyone in the loop.
• Ensures document security. Security and access management are critical to digital workplaces. Who can view which documents? Which docs are accessible outside of your organization? A secure document-sharing platform can help you manage access to ensure information security.
• Supports collaboration. With multiple teams working together across a remote or hybrid organization, it can get complicated to keep documentation organized and manage share settings. Storing slide decks, spreadsheets and other documents in a shared app makes collaboration simpler and easier.

Choosing the right platform for sharing documents with your team

Any document-sharing app you use should have strong security features, collaboration support and integration capabilities. User experience and customer support matter too. Start narrowing down your options by considering the below factors.

Secure document sharing

Keep an eye out for these non-negotiable security features:

• Data encryption both in transit and at rest. This ensures that data is scrambled both when you send a document and when it’s stored in your app of choice.
• Two-factor authentication. This security measure requires users to submit two verifications of identity, such as a password and a code from a mobile app, before they can access a folder or file.
• Access control. Adjustable access lets you determine which users can view and edit which folders and files.

Integration with your tech stack

To encourage collaboration, make sure your file-sharing platform integrates with your company’s business messaging platform, where the actual communication happens. For example, Slack’s AI-powered platform for work integrates with most major document-sharing services, making it easy to share and collaborate on files directly in Slack.

Quality user experience and support

There’s such a thing as too many remote-work tools. No one has the time or patience to learn new software interfaces every few months. Keep things simple to ensure a positive user experience and cohesive user support.

For example, if your company already uses Google Meet for meetings and Google Calendar for schedule management, consider using Google Drive as your document-sharing platform. Your teammates already understand the interface and know where to turn for support if they run into technical difficulties.

Best document-sharing tools

If your company already uses Slack as its communication platform, there’s good news: Slack integrates with the most popular document-sharing apps to promote remote collaboration. The below platforms support Slack integration to streamline your document-sharing experience.

Google Drive

Google Drive makes the most sense for companies that already use Google’s suite of cloud-based products. Drive supports Google Docs, Sheets, Slides and Forms, and it integrates with other major platforms like Microsoft Office. With Drive, you can securely store your files in the cloud, and the platform’s Slack app lets you preview shared documents and receive Slack notifications when someone comments on your file.

Box

Box makes it easy to store, manage and collaborate on files to drive team productivity. With the platform’s Slack app, you can access files stored in Box directly from Slack, streamlining the process of sharing and importing files without any app-switching required.

Dropbox

Dropbox is one of the original household names in the world of cloud-based document sharing. Dropbox’s secure cloud document storage lets you organize important files in one centralized space and easily share them with your team. The platform’s Slack integration supports Dropbox content sharing in Slack channels and direct messages (DMs) and allows you to manage and track sharing activity in Slack.

OneDrive

OneDrive is Microsoft’s file-sharing and storage solution. If your company already uses the Microsoft Office suite, OneDrive might be your most seamless option for file management and document sharing. And with OneDrive for Slack, you can share and preview files right from Slack’s platform.

Seamless document sharing with Slack

Slack is much more than just an instant messaging app for your business. It’s a full-service productivity platform that supports your entire digital workplace. Integrate your chosen document-sharing tool with Slack for an instant, streamlined document-collaboration solution that boosts team productivity.

Getting started: Sharing business documents in Slack

Once you’ve chosen and migrated to the best document-sharing app for your company, work on integrating the platform with your team’s business communication tool. The most popular document-sharing solutions for remote and hybrid companies support integration with Slack to make asynchronous collaboration more efficient.

Real-time document collaboration tools and integrations

The application you choose for document sharing and collaboration should let multiple people edit the same document simultaneously and see one another’s changes as they happen. Real-time document collaboration brings together remote teammates in a collective virtual space, no matter where they’re physically located.

Efficient document management and organization in Slack

Here’s how to stay organized and on task when managing your documents in Slack:

• Create dedicated, project-specific Slack channels that your team can use to share relevant documents. This keeps information consolidated and easier to find.
• Pin important documents at the top of each channel.
• Lean on your integrated document management apps to support seamless file sharing.
• Take advantage of Slack integrations. For example, allow Google Sheets to embed spreadsheets directly in Slack to reduce context switching.