The main types of collaboration tools (and how to choose)

The main business collaboration tools include:

Understanding what tools you’ll need comes down to one thing: listening! What are your company’s recurring complaints or challenges? How do your people like to work?

As well as finding secure and easy access tools, consider how they'll use them. Real-time communication lets users chat and collaborate instantly; asynchronous collaboration software allows workers to team up at different times, and collocated collaboration lets users work together in the same place. This type of work usually comes under the relatively new term 'knowledge worker' (and if you’re wondering, “what is a knowledge worker?”, we've got you covered).

Project management collaboration tools allow teams to collaborate on specific projects and see what’s required at a glance in the style of Kanban boards, Gantt charts, or a calendar/list view. Project management tools typically appeal to users involved in multiple workstreams by simplifying how they see tasks assigned to them and view project deadlines and milestones. In most project management tools, it’s possible to attach documents, images, or links.

There is considerable crossover between project management tools (which streamline and automate processes) and task management tools (which are dedicated to organising and tracking tasks, assignments, and deadlines). Most software covers all of the above in various depths to offer a more valuable, well-rounded tool.

Are emails falling through the cracks of your business? Do tasks and actions from meetings need to be actioned or assigned ownership? If communication isn’t as smooth as it should be, you need a communication collaboration tool.

Software focusing on workplace communication helps people connect outside their immediate work circles and collaborate without needing long-winded meetings. It’s popular to use collaboration tools alongside chat applications and create a structured process or stream to enable quick and direct communication that stays organised among team members.

Do you want to get more innovation from your teams? You may need to plan projects, strategise a potential business change, or consider improvements. If so, collaborative editing and visualisation tools make it possible. These can be lists and charts that make a logical flow of ideas, virtual whiteboards for brainstorming, visual collaboration, or videos that help team members explain big ideas without needing to type them all out.

With cloud-based software to help enhance collaboration, it’s easy to get all your stakeholders involved with one virtual document and leave the session with firm ideas and actions to make the dreams a reality.


The most popular types of editing and visualisation software include:

Do you often hear in your business that work has been duplicated, that out-of-date documents have been sent out, or that items have been recreated because no one knew a file already existed? If so, you need file sharing and storage tools. These allow collaborative content to be produced while also ensuring that the documents can be accessed by everyone.

Most typically, file-sharing tools offer version control, multiple collaborators, and feedback and review tools for annotations and editing by various parties.

Want to learn more? Check out our guide on the best tools for knowledge management.