How to Use Online Collaboration Tools for Increased Productivity in the Workplace

Modern work happens everywhere. Throughout a workday, your teammates might be in remote cabins, backyard hammocks, or mile-high airplanes. If you want effective teamwork and constructive communication in the work-from-anywhere era, you need a first-rate online collaboration tool.

A modern online collaboration platform creates a strong foundation for better productivity and engagement among distributed team members. The best collaboration tools support remote teams by connecting everything they need — people, processes, data, knowledge, culture, and applications — in one place. Here’s how to identify the right solution for your business.

What is an online collaboration tool?

Online collaboration tools are software applications and platforms that help remote and hybrid teams work together efficiently and productively. These collaboration solutions let users organize and track tasks, tools, files, and conversations all in one space. The best collaboration tools are flexible enough to meet different teams’ specific needs while adapting to their existing processes without disrupting workflows.

Teams can use online collaboration tools to track work as it’s created and updated, monitor tasks, securely share documents and files, and stay on top of progress goals. Video and audio chat features support real-time communication, while business messaging and online whiteboard capabilities allow for asynchronous teamwork.

Benefits of using online collaboration tools

Online collaboration tools streamline remote communication and project management to supercharge productivity. In a recent global study of companies that use Slack, a work operating system where online collaboration happens, Forrester estimated that in over three years of using the platform, companies saw a 294% return on their investment and a revenue increase of $967,300 due to improved customer satisfaction. The study also found that higher customer satisfaction meant fewer customer service tickets, which reduced costs by $2.6 million.

The benefits of online collaboration solutions don’t stop at remote and hybrid companies. Wherever your team members work, these tools can transform team functions to make them more productive, adaptable, efficient, and globally connected. Collaboration tools cut down on email overload and accelerate decision-making. Features like topic-specific channels keep discussions organized and easily searchable. Centralized task lists and automated reminders keep users on track to ensure they meet deadlines.

Document collaboration tools, shared workspaces, and online huddles and huddle boards create opportunities for team members to connect and brainstorm in real time, regardless of their location. When teams use collaboration tools effectively, they can speed up timelines, reduce errors, and save their companies time and money.

Online collaboration tool key features

Think of your collaboration platform as your team’s central hub: a place where the essential pieces of your workflow come together seamlessly. The best collaboration tools for remote work include the following features:

• Messaging: Your tool should offer real-time collaboration capabilities to make office communication painless. Think instant messaging, meetings, video and audio calls, discussion channels, screen sharing, virtual whiteboards such as Slack canvas, and the ability to connect with external partners, all within the same platform.
• Integration capabilities: Choose a tool that plays nicely with the productivity apps you already use, including Salesforce, Dropbox, Jira Cloud, Trello. Syncing your existing tech stack with your online collaboration platform makes work more efficient.
• File sharing: The tool you choose should make file sharing easy. It should support common file formats such as PDF, DOCX, and JPEG and integrate smoothly with cloud storage services and CRM systems.
• Task tracking and project management: The best collaboration tools allow you to easily track projects from start to finish. Anyone on a team should be able to organize, collaborate, and check in on tasks independently.
• AI capabilities: A strong collaboration platform should include AI-powered search functions, conversation summaries, and other features to help users find and prioritize important information fast.
• Security and compliance: Look for robust security features. Industries with strict compliance requirements, such as finance and healthcare, need security-compliant tools that provide end-to-end encryption, two-factor authentication, and access management options.
• Customization and flexibility: Your collaboration platform’s workflows and integrations must be flexible and customizable so your team can tailor and scale the tool to its specific needs.
• User-friendly interface: Prioritize tools with an intuitive interface and straightforward navigation. A good user experience (UX) ensures that teams can hit the ground running with their new collaboration tool and avoid a difficult learning curve.

Slack success stories

Forrester’s Slack economic impact survey found that Slack’s work operating system helps employees stay engaged and productive. The survey found that teams using these tools get more done, have fewer meetings, and send fewer emails. In fact, 91% of respondents said they felt more connected to their teams because of Slack.

Here’s how Slack has improved collaboration and business operations for companies across industries.

Kokuyo Corporation

For more than a century, Kokuyo Corporation has been Japan’s leading stationery and office furniture and equipment manufacturer. Kotaro Kiyota used to manage the company’s 30-plus simultaneous projects using email and social networking, but project management became difficult when siloed information kept getting lost.

In 2021, the company modernized its processes and created new business ventures, including the creation of a main Slack channel with dedicated threads for each project. Now Kiyota can easily track and manage projects without the struggle of information silos, and new employees can catch up by reading through any project thread’s history. With Slack as its online collaboration platform, Kokuyo brings together team members across time zones and verticals including sales, production, and development.

Since implementing Slack, Kokuyo has halved its development time and boosted sales. One project saw sales rise 138% year-over-year and 388% compared with two years prior. Overall results were so successful, the company received Slack’s Unlocking Productivity Award in Japan.

Simployer

Simployer is a Scandinavian HR technology and knowledge provider with seven offices in four countries. The company has grown quickly through acquisitions that bring large numbers of new employees.

Prior to using Slack, the organization leveraged a mix of platforms for communication and collaboration, which Head of Group Communications and PR Cornelia Bjørke-Hill called “chaotic.” Simployer pivoted to Slack, which meant fewer one-on-one direct messages and more group conversations in one collective, organized space.

A company survey showed that employees of all ages thought the transition to Slack was easy. Respondents reported enjoying the platform’s search function, which allows users to type full-sentence questions into the search bar — no need to remember the exact wording or even which specific channel or DM to search.

Hearst Magazines

Hearst Magazines’ portfolio includes some 25 brands in the U.S., more than 200 magazine editions, and 175 websites globally. But with more than 2,500 pieces of content generated daily, finding a single report from Hearst’s reserves could take an editor around 30 minutes.

The enterprise rolled out a Slack-based solution called HANS bot — short for “Hearst Answers” — that understands natural language. It pulls from previously published Hearst content to quickly answer questions about what’s trending and how each piece has performed. Publishers can then review reports detailing how much e-commerce revenue a product or story produces. HANS bot saves Hearst employees an hour per day on average.

“We’re sitting on top of dozens of tools — data tools, commerce creation tools, and publishing tools — and HANS bot allows us to bring all of those together in Slack,” said Hearst Magazines Product Director Zack Packer.

How Slack helps with industry-specific collaboration

Here’s how different industries are taking advantage of online collaboration tools like Slack.

• Software development: Development teams use Slack end-to-end, from creating source code to deploying a product. Slack channels give a development team visibility into every step of the project, making collaborating on specifications, code reviews, and deployment statuses easy. It keeps incident data in one place, maximizing team productivity.
• Marketing: Marketers can combine Slack with other apps to act on data and insights, right in the work operating system. Using channels, marketers can share information and coordinate PR and social media responses. Slack huddles gives users an easy way to talk through solutions as needed, and Slack Connect helps marketers engage with external prospects, customers, and partners without leaving their workspace.
• Creative: Integrating design apps into Slack means everybody stays on the same page regarding project progress. Many creative teams work within the Adobe Creative Cloud app on Slack, which lets users create, share assets, brainstorm, and preview files without having to switch applications.

Unlock new levels of productivity with Slack

Your online collaboration tool should provide a single platform for team members to connect, share information, solve problems, and make processes more efficient. Whether you work remotely, in an office, or a bit of both, the best collaboration tools can help you get more done in the workday — with less context switching.

Slack’s work operating system gathers everything your organization needs for top-notch team collaboration. With Slack, you can leverage secure file sharing, project management tools, AI-powered search and conversation summaries, security and compliance features, and app integrations to achieve fast, effective collaboration for teams of all industries and sizes.