15 agile collaboration tools for remote teams

Team collaboration software offers several advantages, especially for remote teams. There are many different ways to collaborate effectively. Here are 15 agile collaboration tools that can facilitate that collaboration.

What are agile collaboration tools?

Team collaboration is essential in most fields. Collaboration tools help teams achieve a common goal. It is designed to help a team work together in a meaningful way. Collaboration tools can be understood as anything that a team of at least two people uses to work together. The tools come in different options and purposes, but they all have the same goal: to make it easier for the people working together to collaborate. For example, collaboration tools are chat apps that allow team members to share ideas or various project management tools. Especially for teams that are located in different places, i.e. work remotely, easy collaboration is very important. 

Benefits of agile Collaboration tools 

• Full team visibility 
  The team must be aware of the common goals so that they can work together to achieve them. Everyone must have an overview of the entire project and know what everyone is doing to achieve the common goal. The brainstorming and team management tools help with this. 
  This transparency also helps the team figure out if someone needs help with a task and collaboration is needed. 

• Tracking the process
  Processes are constantly changing. Therefore, teams need the ability to quickly adapt to changes. Agile Collaboration tools make this easier. 
  Tools like Slack or Microsoft Teams help simplify workflows and create agility. Changes to documents can be suggested and implemented centrally for everyone. This makes it possible to react quickly to changes and avoid problems. 

• Successful implementation of the project 
  Everyone on the team brings their talents to the table, and agile collaboration tools help to foster these in the best possible way. If a tool helps to collaborate with others and thus contribute to the achievement of the goal, the tool is worth it. Because the easier the collaboration is, the easier it is to achieve the goals. 

Tools for Brainstorming 

Google Docs 

With Google Docs, teams can edit documents using quick editing tools and built-in templates. Real-time collaboration allows people to work on a project simultaneously and make changes for everyone to see. 

Stormboard

Teams can hold meetings or monitor projects with this all-in-one digital workspace. Remote teams can use the shared workspace to generate ideas and implement actions. 

Miro

The online whiteboard tool helps the team creatively brainstorm ideas. It offers enterprise-grade security and management features and can be easily deployed to remote teams. It enhances the productivity of team members to successfully implement projects.

Tools for Meetings 

GoToMeeting

This is a video conferencing software that allows teams to schedule meetings and share their screen 

WebEx

This tool offers personalized video meeting rooms. Teams can collaborate there and also use it for webinars, training sessions, etc. It also has messaging, calling, and data sharing capabilities. 

Microsoft Teams

The Microsoft Teams tool allows teams to chat, hold meetings and share files. You can share files with everyone, which makes collaboration very easy. With the well-known Microsoft brand, numerous 365 integrations are possible.

Tools for Team Management 

Easy Retro

The tool is designed to make retroperspectives effective and easy. It helps motivate the team and gather insights about the team’s effectiveness and progress. Boards can be created and selected from different templates. These can be personalized with a name, context, and different columns. 

Retrium

Retrium can be used to conduct engaging retrospectives, allowing the team to organize everything in one place. Feedback can be shared openly and new ideas can be brainstormed. This also allows problems to be identified and different tasks to be prioritized. 

Milanote

Milanote is a tool to easily organize ideas and projects using visual boards. It can also be used for blogging. Especially for remote teams, this tool can be helpful as it allows collaboration in one central place. 

Tools for Task Management

Asana

Asana is a cloud-based project management and task tool. It can be used to plan, organize, and track tasks. It has all the features that are important for agile teams. Such as boards and timelines. It offers simple project and sprint plans. Asana lets you track progress by providing real-time status updates, reports, and more. Project plans, files, and feedback encourage team collaboration. It also lets you set goals and priorities for tasks. 

Trello

Remote teams can use this tool to work together on projects and divide the project into simple steps, assign tasks to team members, and set deadlines. Many integrations connect other tools already used by the team in one place. 

Confluence 

Use Confluence to gather knowledge in one place and share it with everyone on the team. It offers several templates that can be used to document goals or take notes of meetings. There are also project plan suggestions for many industries that you can work with. 

Check out our blogpost about agile project management tools!

Tools for Chat 

Slack 

The instant messaging tool offers the team the possibility to organize the conversations and make the communication as effective as possible. Information can be searched in the archive. In addition, file sharing allows optimal collaboration in real-time. 

Chanty

Chanty is a simple text, voice, and video platform. There is a central point of the platform: Teambook. You can store and organize tasks, conversations, and notes there. 

Flowdock

The tool offers group and private chats and also the function to connect the team inbox with channels like Twitter, Asana, or other tools and to get inbox messages directly into the team chat. 

How to select the right tool 

You should choose the software that best fits the individual needs of the company. Criteria for selecting the best agile collaboration tools for your company are as follows:

• Multiple functions 
  Some tools focus on only one function, but you should consider whether this is enough or if multiple functions in one are more efficient for the work. Teams should not have to spend too much time switching between many different tools. It is best to have a tool that has different functions that every team member can use individual.

• Pay attention to user-friendliness 
  Tools that require little training time and are easy to use are especially handy for growing teams. For this, you could first request a demo and pay attention to usage and ease of navigation. 
  
• Cloud-based tools 
  With cloud-based tools, you can always see edits and activities. The information is stored online, so all team members are always up to date – even remotely.