When it comes to running your team smoothly, it’s important to simplify teamwork as much as possible.
This is true whether your business is all online and your team’s remotely located across the world, or you’re a brick-and-mortar store with everyone based in one office.
From people working together on projects to you managing your team as a whole, having everyone working for you feeling comfortable, happy, and motivated is key to the success of your business. It’s just as important as mastering your Instagram marketing. And it’s every bit as important as making your presence known on social media platforms and making your brand as appealing as possible.
Luckily, there are some great apps out there that make the task of simplifying teamwork way less of a chore. So if you want to learn about how you can make your teamwork more efficient, here are some great apps:
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1. PingPong
Do you have a highly collaborative team? Are you, for example, one of those business leaders who likes to bounce ideas off of people? Do you hold brainstorming sessions? Are you known for having different teams work in friendly competition then compare notes at the end of the day?
Especially for creative companies, or companies offering clients complex solutions, PingPong is one of the best apps out there. What’s more, you can use it anywhere, whether in the office or with a remote team.
According to Entrepreneur.com, it works like this: “With PingPong, you can create questions, share them with team members and ask them to respond, all during the course of your information sharing session. You can check responses in real time. This will give you a clear idea of whether you are on the right track or there are still some gray areas that need to be addressed…. You can even share the necessary research/reference material with your team.”
As many as 75 percent of employers consider teamwork and collaboration to be “very important.” PingPong is one of the easiest apps that guarantees you’re communicating with your entire team and learning about their opinions.
2. Slack
Slack is one of the biggest players out there. Therefore, it’s no surprise that companies are using it more and more these days. In fact, even Slack uses Slack. If that isn’t proof of how great this chat platform is, then we don’t know what is. Every day, 50,000 people use this app. And because it’s so easy to use, it’s something people use personally, too.
But this app is perfectly made for business. That’s because it’s designed to work with so many elements of work that you’re already using. What’s more, according to Inc.com, even big companies like eBay and Yelp use it.
“No matter the company size, Slack is geared for team-based communication and integrates with dozens of apps including MailChimp, Google Drive, Dropbox, and Twitter. It also indexes the contents of every chat and shared file, which makes searching a breeze,” continues Inc.
There are paid versions, but most of the basics are free. This means you can use the version that works best for you and your company.
3. Dropbox
If your company is one that handles many files—especially large ones, such as PDFs and videos—then you’ll get a lot out of Dropbox. It’s one of the easiest ways to pass files around. Additionally, you can share files while making comments and trackable changes. This is much better than just emailing files back and forth (and waiting for them to upload and download, too). And one of the best features is that you can access files you’ve marked even when you’re offline. This is perfect if you’re always on the go.
According to Mashable, there are several options available: “The free app comes with 2.5 GB of free storage space, with options to upgrade your account at a flat rate of $100 per year for 100 GB of space. Dropbox also offers 250 MB of storage for free when you complete five out of seven Getting Started tasks.” As of 2016, there were 28.8 million small businesses in the US. And there’s no mistaking the fact that many of them are using apps like this one to share documents and files.
4. Mural.ly
Finally, there are some apps that simplify teamwork for the most complex of teams: artistic teams. And yes, we know that everyone on your business team is brilliant. However, wouldn’t it be nice if there were a way for them to collaborate without throwing their latest idea in the trash, or scrawling over it in red ink so that it isn’t salvageable?
That’s where Mural.ly comes in. According to Quickbooks, “If you’re a design firm or involved in a creative venture, then Mural.ly’s visual platform for assembling and sorting ideas in the form of digital ‘sticky notes’ may be ideal for your organization. Mural.ly’s large HTML5 drawing board is well suited for design-oriented and creative tasks.”
The business of creativity is now worth $44 billion. Therefore, it’s no surprise that apps are adjusting to serve that industry.
Opt for Smoother Teamwork
By using these apps, you’ll hugely simplify the process of your team working together in your business. What challenges do you think you can face more easily now with these apps?
