Companies are all affected by the current digital transformation, and more than ever they need to become more efficient to remain competitive. With this in mind, numerous online collaborative tools have emerged. Whether it’s to improve the fluidity of internal teamwork or to better collaborate with a freelancer, these collaborative platforms have become real productivity allies. To help you optimize your processes and stay one step ahead of the competition, we present our 7 favorite collaborative tools to adopt without delay.
Online collaborative tools: definition and benefits
Collaborative tools are digital software programs that centralize information to boost the productivity of a work team. As you may have noticed, there have been an increasing number of them on the market in recent years. And with good reason! With the advent of telecommuting, they meet a real need: to promote better communication despite distance, and collaborate more effectively.
Most of them are available at low cost, or even free of charge, and have taken their place in our working habits. Companies use them mainly to share documents of all kinds, simplify communication within their teams and facilitate the management of collaborative projects. But online collaborative tools have also become indispensable for optimizing your collaborations with freelancers. They enable you to better monitor the progress of ongoing assignments.
Whether you’re looking to improve the efficiency of an in-house team, or to collaborate serenely with an external service provider, such as an office manager, these collaborative work tools have a number of advantages, including :
- real-time access to all shared information ;
- Reduced risk of missing important information;
- an opportunity to capitalize oncollective intelligence;
- less need for physical meetings and a certain geographical freedom;
- greater efficiency and productivity to accelerate company growth.
The 7 best online collaborative tools in 2024 (according to our team)
Google Drive, the American giant’s cloud
This collaborative storage platform is a must-have for sharing documents or files between colleagues in the same company, or with a freelancer. In fact, Google Drive remains one of our favorite online collaborative tools, thanks to its ease of use and various features: real-time file editing, simultaneous access to documents, adding comments, etc.
What’s more, you can complement this storage platform with other Google Workspace services for even greater efficiency (check your business emails with Gmail, organize and share your day with Google Calendar, plan a videoconference in just a few clicks with Google Meet).
Use cases :
- Share documents relating to a freelance assignment.
- Create and share a time summary table to avoid surprises at the end of the assignment.
- Create a dashboard to track the progress of ongoing projects.
Notion, the most customizable online collaborative tool
If you haven’t heard of it yet, we strongly advise you to give it a try! Notion is a comprehensive collaborative platform. Not only can you store and share files, but you can also edit text, create a dashboard, manage your projects, create a database… and much more! While it may seem a little confusing at first, because it’s totally modular, you’ll soon find you can’t live without it. Ideal for collaborative working, you can make changes to your workspace in real time, boosting your team’s productivity.
Use cases :
- Create a follow-up file for each customer or service provider.
- Feed, organize and plan an editorial calendar.
- Monitor the progress of each team project with a comprehensive dashboard and individual task assignments.
Monday.com, simplifying project management
Monday.com is a highly effective online collaborative tool for project and task management. Its customizable interface is easy to learn. The application offers several different views to give you an overview of your projects. As well as a more detailed view of tasks, their allocation and progress. Monday.com also facilitates communication between teams and with external service providers.
Use cases :
- Create automations to increase your project management efficiency.
- Visualize project progress with customized dashboards.
- Share files instantly with your whole team.
Microsoft Teams, a communication tool, but not just that
Microsoft Teams mainly enables better communication within your teams, thanks to its instant messaging and videoconferencing services. But the application also offers other features for collaborative working. These include file sharing and simultaneous editing of documents in real time.
Use cases :
- Start an instant meeting even when teleworking.
- Quickly communicate urgent information to colleagues via chat.
Dropbox, for file and photo storage
Dropbox is a collaborative tool that lets you store your documents in the cloud in a totally secure way. With shared access, you can instantly transmit files to internal or external collaborators. What’s more, you don’t need to create a Dropbox account to simply view and download documents.
In addition, Dropbox Paper now complements the tool’s services. Like Google Drive, this application lets you create and share documents from templates.
Use cases :
- File sharing with a freelancer for his assignment.
- Sign and send a contract.
- Avoid sending e-mails for large files.
Trello, the most intuitive project management tool
Very easy to learn, you create a board for each project, then different cards for each associated task. Trello ‘s highly visual, drag-and-drop display lets you quickly update project progress. Ideal for managing a freelance activity. But that’s not all! If you’re using it in a team, you can also add comments or checklists, pin attachments, or set reminders for due dates.
Use cases :
- Managing the follow-up to a freelance collaboration, step by step.
- Plan your editorial calendar so you always know where you stand in the management of your social networks, blog or newsletter.
Box, the ultra-secure content management platform
Box is an online collaboration tool in the same spirit as Dropbox. Entirely designed for businesses, it offers advanced security controls to protect your sensitive content. Key features include file sharing, collaborative document creation and editing, and electronic signature.
Use cases :
- Create a mind map as a team in real time.
- Get a new customer to sign a sales contract.
- Assign tasks to project collaborators.
Bonus: Slack
Very popular with companies of all sizes, Slack is above all a platform for exchange. Its instant messaging service simplifies day-to-day communication within your teams. In addition to conversations between two people, you can also create different communication channels depending on your current projects. What’s more, Slack also offers document sharing and audio and video calls for even greater day-to-day efficiency.
Use cases :
- Send instant messages to avoid saturating mailboxes.
- Communicate with your team from anywhere via a dedicated channel.
- Quickly share a document with several colleagues for validation.
How to choose the right collaborative platforms?
Selection criteria
By now you’re familiar with our favorite online collaborative tools. But perhaps you’re still wondering how to choose between these 7 proposals? Whether you’re a large company, a start-up or even a freelancer, there are three main criteria to consider:
- tool functionalities: collaborative work, communication, project management, define your real needs to choose the most appropriate tool;
- ease of use: the sooner you get to grips with this new tool, the sooner you’ll reap the benefits in terms of efficiency.
- security and confidentiality: check that the application encrypts shared data, especially if you’re exchanging sensitive information about your company or customers.
Comparison table
To help you make your choice, we’ve summarized below the main features of each of the 7 online collaborative tools presented in this article.
| Tool | Ease of use | Features | Security & Privacy |
| Google Drive | – intuitive interface – integration with Google Workspace | – 15 GB storage – real-time document sharing and editing – integration with Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, etc. | – data encryption – two-factor authentication |
| Notion | – customizable interface – easy to use after a short learning curve | – collaborative workspace – project management tools – databases – file sharing and storage | – data encryption – permission control for teams |
| Monday.com | – highly visual user interface – quick learning curve thanks to predefined templates | – project management tools – task tracking – file sharing | – data encryption – security options and access control |
| Microsoft Teams | – familiar user interface for Microsoft 365 users | – instant messaging and video calls – file collaboration | – data encryption – multi-factor authentication |
| Dropbox | – simple, uncluttered user interface – quick to learn | – from 2 GB to 15 TB of storage depending on the package – file transfer – signature requests – document creation and editing with Dropbox Paper | – data encryption – advanced security options for businesses |
| Trello | – interface based on maps and tables – highly visual and intuitive | – project management with tables and maps – real-time collaboration | – data encryption – permission control options |
| Box | – clear, organized interface – easy integration with Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace | – unlimited storage – file sharing – real-time note creation and editing – electronic signature | – data encryption – advanced access and permissions management options |
| Slack | – modern, intuitive interface | – instant messaging, audio and video calls – themed chat channels | – data encryption – advanced security options for businesses |
Google Drive, Box, Notion, Slack… There are many online collaborative tools, each offering their own advantages. Whether you’re a freelancer or the head of a company with several employees, they can make a real contribution to accelerating your growth, provided you choose the tool best suited to your needs.
Would you like to improve your day-to-day productivity? At Digital Agency, we can help you set up these collaborative work tools, so that your teams can quickly get to grips with them. Contact us for more information on our services!
