3 Tools You Should (But Arent) Using for Team CollaborationBy Brian PattersonCollaboration has evolved. Products dont follow the fow of an assembly line of individual workers. Documents arent printed and distributed to people to make changes. Tasks and assignments might not even be emailedout anymore, as proect management tools have taken over the way we handle work.!ith all these changes in the workplace, its time that we adapt."very day, new tools seem to spring up claiming to change the way people work. !eve sifted through the clutter to #nd you some of the most useful and promising applications for your organi$ation that you might not be using yet.1. Attentiv: Effective Meetings for Better Decision-Making%ets face it & meetings can be a huge waste of time and a frustrating sacri#ce of productivity and money. Thats why we need to make them count, and 'ttentivis the tool for doing ust that. 'ttentiv considers the typical issues of meetings and decision(making )groupthink, *yes men,+ e,trovert(dominated conversation- and tackles each head on with a cool set of features.'nonymous feedback and input allows introverts to #nally be heard. ' feature for asking .uestions and taking polls alleviates the fear of interrupting another speaker and allows for honest feedback. ' clear agenda, complete with action items and discussion topics, allows the group to stay on(task. "asily distracted *multi(taskers+ can login using their phones or tablets, #nding a new use for their devices during meetings rather than browsing and checking Twitter. 'utomated meeting minutes round out 'ttentivs useful features, ensuring nobody ever needs to take and distribute minutes again.'ll meetings and reports are stored on your account online, with no download re.uired. The free version of 'ttentiv gives you #ve meetings a month, with paid options giving you more storage space and more meetings.2. Sqwiggle: Intuitive, Instant o!!unication/oving forward, were seeing more and more employees working remotely. !hile theres now a plethora of video conferencing tools with plenty of features, 0.wiggleis an e,tremely simple and intuitive option, especially if your organi$ation is not looking to spend much.1ust create an account, add members of your organi$ation, and see their faces pop up on the screen. 2rom there, you can click on a face to be instantly put on a video call with that user.0.wiggles advantages lie with its clean interface and simplicity. 3t doesnt try to cram a ton of features into the tool like its competitors, and it works well. !ith its minimalistic design, you can .uickly login and do e,actly what video conferencing was designed to do. 0.wiggle is especially useful for remote workers, since you can stay logged in and .uickly get in touch with anybody else on the software within your organi$ation.%ike 'ttentiv, this is a web app that you can easily access from your browser, so no need to download additional software. The free version of 0.wiggle gets you unlimited one(on(on video chatting, with paid versions letting you add more people to the conversation.". In#ision: S$are an% Annotate reative I%eas3f youre anything like me, youre probably awful with design. 'rtwork and graphics have never been my forte, but with 3n4ision3 can get my opinions across. 3n4ision is a simple yet feature(packed tool for collaborative design, whether its for a web page, a mobile app, or an ad. 5uickly create functional prototypes and mockups with your designs and let other collaborators leave comments and suggestions./aor companies like 6ike, 0ony, and 'dobe already use 3n4ision & and for good reason. "ven if youre not into design, this tool is perfect for marketing teams, engineers, and anybody with a cool idea to show the preliminary stages of something awesome, and sell another person on the vision. %ike 'ttentiv and 0.wiggle, you can sign up for a free account or see which paid plan best #ts your organi$ations needs.!hile the onset of innovation should ideally make us more productive, oftentimes it fails to make us any more productive. 6ot to mention we still struggle with common workplace tropes like ineffective meetings. !ith the professional workplace heading towards an increasingly collaborative direction, these tools are a sure#re way to adapt and gain some productivity for your organi$ation, no matter the industry.