With the Internet, there is no longer any need to recruit freelancers nearby. Skills from all over the world are available to you!
But to work best with remote service providers, it is necessary to maintain good communication and to be able to ensure that your project runs smoothly.
Many collaborative tools exist, facilitating the sharing of data. We are going to share with you the best known and sometimes even free collaborative work tools.
Best communication tools for remote teams
There are several communication tools that can be effective for remote teams, depending on their specific needs and preferences. Here are some of the most popular options:
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| collaborative tools remote working freelance |
monday.com
monday.com is a high-performance application that facilitates collaboration and communication between remote employees. This software offers a collaboration-oriented interface that allows you to stay informed, connected and communicate better with your internal team and external freelancers while managing your daily work.
This Work OS software allows you to follow the work of each collaborator, share files and comment on tasks to have all the information in real time. Plus, monday.com's automation and integration features centralize your work on one platform by syncing your email and calendar, and integrating your files.
kSuite
kSuite is the ethical collaborative solution offered by Infomaniak, a key cloud service provider in Europe, which is committed to a Web that is more respectful of privacy, the climate and biodiversity. Infomaniak is also the leading developer of productivity solutions in Switzerland.
kSuite includes:
- kDrive: a storage service with an office suite to access your data from your devices and collaborate as a team on documents, spreadsheets and presentations.
- kMail: an email service to manage your emails, contacts and appointments from all your devices.
- kMeet: a videoconferencing solution for remote teamwork like in the office.
- kChat: instant messaging to exchange, coordinate teams, organize projects and centralize communication flows.
- Custom Brand: an option to personalize all kSuite applications with the domain name of your choice and your brand universe (logo, colors, etc.).
Designed for freelancers and professionals, kSuite simplifies all day-to-day management of users in an organization.
- Price: first user free for life, and then from €1.58 per user per month with kDrive, kMail, kMeet, kChat and an online office suite.
Dropbox
Dropbox is certainly the best-known free sharing and collaborative work tool.
It allows you to store your files online and share them with whoever you want. Your freelance worker can install a Dropbox folder on his computer and thus send you the work done as soon as it is finished. You receive them immediately.
In the same way, you can easily send him instructions or additional documents necessary for his mission.
Dropbox also has mobile apps, so you can take your files anywhere.
- The price: The tool is free up to 2 GB of storage.
Google Drive
Google also offers its collaborative work tool .
Just like Dropbox, you can share all types of files there: image, video, text, slideshow, tables... You even have the possibility of creating documents directly in its interface.
Ideal for transmitting files that are too heavy for sending by email , for editing a project monitoring table between several collaborators, creating online forms or building a presentation with several people.
- Capacity: In its free version, Google Drive offers you a space of 15GB.
Evernote
The Evernote app makes it easy to organize your ideas for a project and share them with your contractors.
Here you can collect lists of ideas, tasks, drafts and store important documents. Dynamic and intuitive, Evernote allows you to illustrate everything with photos, diagrams, drawings, reference articles...
If you work with a freelancer , this collaborative work tool is a great way to explain your project to them, to refine it and to manage it on a daily basis. As the application exists for desktop and mobile, you can check the progress of the project or write down an idea at any time.
- The price: Evernote is free, but if you want to take advantage of the collaboration features, it will cost €13.99/month and per user.
Trello
Trello is an extremely practical tool for managing a multi-team project or editorial calendars.
This collaborative space takes the form of “boards” for projects or clients and “cards” for tasks. Trello allows you to follow the progress of the different missions of the service providers.
You can, for example, have a column "To do", "In progress", "Returned" and "Validated". When the freelancer is working on a task, he can drag it to "In progress", then to "Render" when it's finished.
- Capacity: With this collaborative work tool you can share up to 10 MB of files for free.
Skype
Skype is an instant messaging software useful for chatting with your collaborators in real time. You can easily organize meetings , and even share your screens and annotate PowerPoint presentations.
Skype features are very advanced for collaborative work.
- The price: The use of Skype is free but it will be necessary to put your hand in the wallet to access the collaborative features.
Podium
In spirit, Podio is like Trello. It is a free collaborative workspace that includes all the stages of a project, as well as their progress.
Very complete, with an ergonomic interface, it allows you to classify projects by client, communicate in real time and share files thanks to the integration of other tools that we have seen previously: Dropbox, Google Drive and Evernote.
Podio is an effective solution if you manage several clients and work with many freelancers.
Mural
Mural is a very useful collaborative work tool for brainstorming and therefore for exchanging ideas with your service provider.
On a wall, you can each propose ideas in the form of post-its and organize them as you see fit. To illustrate your ideas, it is also possible to share videos, links or even Excel or Illustrator files.
Finally, Mural is compatible with other collaborative work tools such as Dropbox, GitHub and Google Drive.
Slack
Slack is an instant messaging application for collaborative work . Conversations with your collaborators and service providers are organized in the form of channels and when writing is no longer enough, you can easily organize audio and/or video calls.
Tools such as Google Drive, DropBox or Trello can also be integrated into Slack to save you time.
- The price: For small teams, Slack is completely free.
Asana
Asana is a collaborative project management tool. Within this tool, you can manage teams, create projects and tasks in your projects, assign tasks to your collaborators, comment on their work and send files...
The Asana interface allows you to display your tasks in table, calendar or timeline format, for better visibility of the progress of your project.
With these 10 tools offering collaborative workspaces, you will be equipped to work in perfect harmony with your favorite freelancers .
If you know of other collaborative tools, do not hesitate to share them in the comments.
FAQs collaborative tools for working remotely with a freelancer
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| FAQs |
1- What are some examples of collaborative work tools?
There are many collaborative work tools available for teams to use. Some essential tools include:
- Monday.com: A project management tool with features for managing team projects, even when working remotely.
- Figma: A design tool for creating collaborative interfaces and prototypes.
- TeamViewer: A remote desktop and file sharing software for collaboration between team members.
- Notion: A tool for organizing team tasks, notes, and information in a collaborative workspace.
- Slack: A messaging and communication tool for teams.
- Google Drive: A cloud-based tool for sharing and collaborating on documents, spreadsheets, and presentations.
- Microsoft Teams: A collaborative platform that facilitates teamwork via video conferencing, instant messaging, and file sharing.
2- How can online collaboration be done effectively?
Effective online collaboration can be achieved through the use of various tools and software. Slack and Zoom are great options for team collaboration, offering instant messaging and video conferencing capabilities. Trello and Asana are effective project management tools that allow for task planning, management, and progress tracking.
3- What is the best tool for collaborative work?
Microsoft Teams is a top choice for collaborative work, providing a platform that allows for video conferencing, instant messaging, and file sharing. Teams can easily communicate and collaborate with each other in a secure and user-friendly environment.
4- What are the benefits of online collaborative work?
Collaborative work offers numerous benefits for teams, including:
- Increased creativity
- Time-saving
- Improved productivity
- Better well-being at work
- Simplified remote work
- Improved employee involvement
- Enhanced relationships between team members
- Knowledge sharing
5- What are online collaborative tools?
Online collaborative tools or software enable the sharing of work files between team members, as well as with external partners, service providers, and customers. With these tools, everyone can edit and add information to a project in real-time, improving collaboration and productivity.