What is a Collaborative Tool/Software A collaborative tool or software is a tool that allows a business and its employees to “collaborate” when they are working together. These systems allow multiple employees to work on projects together and manage things like what work is completed by whom and when it is to be done. In basic terms, it is a tool that allows you to reduce wastage of time and effort and efficiently manage work so that everything runs smoothly. A good example of this would be if a digital marketing firm allocates 4 Work-From-Home employees to a client’s social media. Now, if these employees use a collaborative tool that suits their needs, they can manage tasks and timings in a manner such that everyone can see what work is done and when the rest needs to be done making things a lot easier. These tools are amazing for all types of business but seem to be the most helpful to startups in terms of productivity. This is because startups are new in their respective industries and don’t have custom or expensive software tailor-made for their business and workflow. Thus, when it comes to collaborating work and getting the most out of company time, collaborative tools like Google workspace are a major bonus at an affordable price. Our Top 6 Collaborative Tools 1) Zoho Workplace Marketed heavily as an alternative for Google Workspace, Zoho Workplace is one of our favourite collaborative tools of this bunch. They boast an impressive 15 million e-mail users and are an Indian MNC that has been around for the past 25 years. As to why you should use it, Zoho boasts some features above and beyond the competition such as MME encryption, a dedicated mail engine and much more. They have a bit of a normal-looking interface but most items are easily accessible and simple making it great for startups. Pricing Plans 1. Standard Priced at ₹99 per user annually Provides access to Zoho Mail, WorkDrive, Office Suite and Cliq 30 GB Mail storage per user Can send huge attachments up to 500MB 2. Professional Priced at ₹399 per user billed annually All features of Standard are included in this Also provides access to Zoho Meeting, Connect and ShowTime 100 Gb Mail storage per user Can send huge attachments up to 1 GB 3. Mail only plan Priced at ₹58.33 per user billed annually Provides access to only mail and Calendar For basic mail only usage required by employees Advantages Zoho Workplace allows Unlimited Users to be on a company account which is not a common feature It offers a large mail attachment limit of up to 1 GB Offers alternatives to major apps like Zoho Meeting as an alternative to Zoom and Google Meet Zoho mail is a tried and tested service with good reviews and an extensive Control Panel offering many features like group accounts, privileges, etc. Is cheaper than most major competitors like Google Workspace Disadvantages Zoho Workplace is majorly focused in India as of now and has yet to make a large name for itself internationally. Some users claim that the Email client of Zoho Mail is a bit outdated and slow making it “annoying: at times 2) Slack Slack is a peppy collaborative tool that aims at boosting teamwork and the overall synchronization of things in a business. Slack is said to be “One platform for your team and your work” which means that this is the only platform any start-up will need to work at its peak efficiency. Slack basically works through making channels. Channels are basically an alternative for e-mails reducing the hassle and confusion created via e-mail conversations. These channels allow you to get together a group of people required for a certain project or goal. Because of this, teamwork and communication between teams become much easier and simplified. Pricing Plans of Slack 1. Free This plan is free of cost and is meant for small teams wanting to try out Slack Provides integration with many other services such as Google Drive. Allows 1 -1 Voice & Video calls between the team Provides 5 Gb File Storage in total 2. Standard This plan costs $2.67 per month and is meant for small and medium-sized businesses All features of the free plan are included Provides 10Gb file Storage per member Allows for external collaboration with other organizations 3. Plus This plan costs $5 per month and is meant for large businesses All features of the standard plan are included Around the clock assistance with a 4-hour response time assured by Slack Provides 20Gb file Storage per member An Unlimited number of general channels can be opened 4. Enterprise Grid This plan is made for Large scale businesses with support for up to 500,000 users All the above features are provided with many more such as priority support and unlimited workspaces. Pricing for this plan isn’t set Advantages Channels are very useful and making team communication easy and hassle-free A 24/7 Customer Support team is always present to help businesses out with using Slack Slack perfectly integrates with many other software such as Google Drive, Microsoft Office, etc. Has a free plan that allows new start-ups to try out using Slack without having to bear any expenses. Is used by many large companies such as Vodafone, Trivago, Treebo, etc. Disadvantages Some people might find the multiple plans confusing as in which features they need and which they don’t 3) Samepage Samepage facilitates communication, meetings, project managing, online video conferencing, task flow management, workflow, and more. They do this by combining multiple communication aspects like real-time texting, video conferencing and more to create an online workspace that is fast and efficient for teams. Pricing Plans 1. Free This Plan is free of cost and is meant for small groups and individual usage Offers 2 GB of Cloud Storage Provides most basic features in regards to document sharing but nothing advanced such as document edit history 2. Standard This Plan costs $7.50 per
