If you’re running a remote work team, you likely need to use some kind of document collaboration tool. Now more than ever, document collaboration is an important aspect of remote work. COVID-19 has forced workers to stay at home, but that doesn’t mean your business has to suffer a complete loss of productivity.
With modern collaboration tools, it is possible to stay connected with your employees and get things done. Many tools offer real-time collaboration, so multiple users can be on the same document, editing it at the same time. Others offer easy upload and download features, as well as document exporting. These six high-powered tools can help you excel while working from home.
[Read: Top Tech Tools to Keep Your Team Connected During Coronavirus]
Google Docs
Arguably the most well-known document collaboration platform, Google Docs allows you to begin working with colleagues as long as you have a Gmail account. What’s best is your colleagues won’t even need Google accounts to use Google Docs. This means if you’re working with clients or other users, they can still access documents.
With Google Docs, you can create documents, spreadsheets and presentations. You can share with colleagues via an official invite, or a specific link granting them editing permissions. Google Drive is also a comprehensive cloud storage platform for Google Docs. You can create folders, manage document storage and get a bird's eye view of all your working documents. Google docs is one of the most comprehensive and utilized document collaboration platforms on the internet.
Zoho Docs
Zoho Docs mirrors Google Docs services in that it provides a comprehensive cloud platform for small business owners. You can create documents, spreadsheets and presentations, and Zoho provides users with 5GB of free storage upfront.
In Zoho’s platform, you can create and organize folders, as well as password protect certain documents — by giving permissions to some employees and not others, you can better manage internal information security at your business. Zoho Docs provides a comprehensive cloud-based document management software that’s a good alternative to Google Docs.
Part of remote work is creating a seamless environment for employees to collaborate.
Dropbox Paper
Dropbox Paper provides an extensive cloud-based document management system focused on design tools for workers and other creatives. It focuses on the use of text and images, and users can upload YouTube and other social media posts to documents. Adding collaborators is, like in Google Docs, as simple as clicking a “Share” button. While this service may not be as robust as Google Docs, it’s a good, light alternative.
[Read: 10 Free Tools Small Businesses Can Access Now]
Quip
In addition to being a document collaboration tool, Quip is also a communication platform. This tech tool allows users to collaborate on documents and organizes message threads that are tied to documents for easy communication. This means you can keep your projects separate with separate lines of communication. Depending on the nature of your business, this may be a great option for you and your team.
Notion
Like Quip, Notion goes beyond just document management services to provide communication and organization tools. In addition to a platform for document creation and collaboration, Notion provides task management, note taking and communication tools. This is another example of an integrated software service that does more than just provide a platform for document management. It also integrates with other communication tools, like Slack, so you can seamlessly incorporate it into your workflow.
Confluence
Confluence is a full-fledged cloud-based organization platform. It provides document editing and collaboration capabilities, but also highlights meeting note organization, IT documentation and strategy doc management. This means it can integrate into your workflow and provide you with extensive collaboration options among you and your team.
Part of remote work is creating a seamless environment for employees to collaborate. By adopting a cloud-based document collaboration platform, you can accomplish more in a simpler, faster way than if just using email.
[Read: 7 Tools That Will Help You Work From Home]
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