Beyond Virtual Meetings: 6 Popular Collaboration Tools to Boost Productivity

Full-time WFH has transformed employee productivity with mixed results. While we might be reacting to WFH in our own unique ways, it is undeniable that COVID-19 and the resulting isolation has spiked stress levels for the global workforce, and this will negatively impact productivity even if a person’s net outcomes go up. 

According to Microsoft, 25%Opens a new window saw a productivity dip, while 20% said it improved. Similarly, a Deloitte reportOpens a new window found that individual employee productivity increased in 60% of cases, possibly due to savings in commute hours. But overall business productivity declined for nearly all (99%) companies. 

In the U.S., 70%Opens a new window of employees said this was the most stressful period in their entire career. As a result, 62% are losing at least an hour every day in productivity. The first measure most companies, team leaders, and employees take to address this issue is via meetings and virtual collaboration. 

But this might not necessarily be the best answer. 

Learn More: 7 Do’s and Don’ts for Driving Successful Remote Work: Expert Advice 

When Virtual Meetings Don’t Work 

When spending days at home on end, meetings and video chats offer an essential connection to the outside world. But now, several weeks into indefinite WFH, over-reliance on meetings is taking its toll. The World Economic Forum called this “video call fatigueOpens a new window ,” a feeling of being exhausted by endless meetings, conversations, tests, and quizzes on virtual platforms. Even before the pandemic, employees traditionally complained about unnecessary meetings cutting into work hours.

“Even in real life (IRL), I have never heard a client lament, “I just wish I had more meetings.” The opposite is almost always true — many people find that group meetings, whether remote or in-person, interfere with their real work, are boring and unproductive, and are too numerous,” saidOpens a new window Mary Mesaglio, Research VP and Distinguished Analyst, Gartner. 

Clearly, it is time companies look beyond virtual meetings — which is only a hangover from our in-office workdays — and look at productivity solutions that are purpose-built for the new normal. 

Fortunately, most of us have robust productivity technology stacks already in place that can cut down meeting volumes and push the needle in the right direction. 

Six Everyday Collaboration Tools to Up Productivity 

Did you know that the average enterprise has 288 different SaaS apps installed across systems? It makes sense to maximize as many apps as possible, instead of relying on one or two video communication tools for productivity and problem-solving. 

Here are six tools you probably own in 2020, and how to use them to up your WFH game: 

1. Trello for agile project management: Use visual cues and custom images

Trello is an incredibly popular agile project management tool that uses a kanban board-like visualization to plot tasks, allocate resources, and track progress. 

Trello can help simplify basic activities like creating task lists, viewing important information, and tracking productivity hours across the team. You could also explore its advanced capabilities like no-code automation (via the bot, Buttler) and additional capabilities through “Power-Ups.” 

If you are an existing Trello user, here’s a handy hack: customize your Trello boards and cards using colors and custom images. In a recent update, Trello announced that it is possible to add your own images as card covers. This means that you could assign a card to an employee and add their selfie to the card image so that everyone knows about the employee’s task ownership at a glance. The color-coding feature lets you prioritize visually — e.g., green for ongoing, red for urgent, and white for complete. 

2. Slack for business communication: Opt for threading rather than posting 

Slack is among the first apps ever to put a “fun” spin to business communication. This has earned it enduring loyalty from its user base, despite the rise of several Slack competitors, most notably Microsoft Teams. Slack is much more than an IM app to replace your inbox — you can integrate thousands of applications like Salesforce, g-Suite, etc., there is a customizable bot, and it can also serve as a file repository. 

One of the best (and least used) ways to maximize Slack is to create threads. Typically, you would post your message to a channel or a direct message conversation, and someone else would post a reply. The conversation would continue, with each message appearing as a separate post. Threading transforms this by collating all related posts on one thread. This makes it easy to search, while also reducing the clutter in a channel. 

You will often find the information you were looking for on a Slack thread (searchable via CTRL + F), eliminating the need to hop on a Zoom call. 

Learn More: 10 Tips to Use Slack Like a Pro (in 2020 & Beyond) 

3. Microsoft Lists for tasks prioritization: Contextualize tasks using # (hashtags)

Even if you haven’t used Microsoft Lists, the app comes included with the newest edition of Microsoft 365 Business and Enterprise plans. It isn’t a simple to-do list app — Lists is surprisingly powerful, letting you create elaborate lists, share them, get feedback, record prioritization, and integrate across different platforms. For instance, you could choose to display your lists on your PC’s Start Menu. 

One hack we’d recommend with Lists is contextualization via hashtags. The same hashtags added across different list items will group them together, making them sharable at one go. Lists also give you the option of adding small notes to an item for better contextualization. 

4. Dropbox Paper for brainstorming: Co-prototype in real-time

All of us have used Dropbox, but Dropbox Paper continues to be underutilized. 

Dropbox Paper is a completely free product, letting you jumpstart your WFH productivity game at no additional costs. And it is an excellent whiteboard tool — from basic project planning to file uploads, from built-in templates to calendar integrations, there is a lot to play with. 

One differentiating capability that we found is the brainstorming feature. Now that we don’t have access to a shared whiteboard in a physical office, Paper offers a digital alternative where team members can come in, pen down their thoughts, add comments, and even integrate rich files, all with the appropriate attributions and time stamps. 

You can embed YouTube/Vimeo videos, SoundCloud/Spotify audio, Twitter/Facebook/Instagram posts, or an entire Pinterest board to make your prototype come to life. 

5. Smartsheet for tracking progress: Export regularly to build auditable records

Smartsheet is a next-gen alternative to regular spreadsheet apps like Microsoft Excel or Google Sheets. It takes data organization to a whole new level with handy automation, informative dashboards, customizable forms, a centralized admin center, and multiple views for different stakeholders. The data captured is cleverly visualized and easy to maneuver, reducing the need to ask a colleague for help on a video call. 

But Smartsheet doesn’t just ingest data — it is also capable of exporting in the form of PDF, Excel, Google Sheets, and more. Let’s say you are using Smartsheet to manage your software licenses. Regularly exporting Smartsheet data will help track IT spends, conduct audits, and introduce optimizations. The app’s activity logs let you monitor who is accessing Smartsheet reports and when. 

6. Google Hangouts for vanilla chat: Try out Easter Eggs to make work fun

Despite so many chat applications in the market, Google Hangouts continues to hold its own. It has seen several rounds of rebranding, but its essence remains the same: a simple chat and file sharing app that just works. Even as we try to cut down on email clutter and replace traditional inboxes with more streamlined alternatives like Slack, Hangouts is a popular tool for shooting a quick question to a colleague, sharing a link, or sending an emoji. 

To make this experience more fun and engaging, Google has baked in a number of quirky easter eggs. Here are our top three: 

• /8ball – This command generates a random response to a question, just like the original Magic-8-ball toy of the ’60s and ’70s. We got answers like Concentrate and ask again, and  Don’t count on it.
• /roll1d6 – This command will roll one virtual dice with six sides and give you a random number between 1 and 6. During light-hearted discussions and decision-making (e.g., who will host the next Zoom Happy Hours), this command can come in handy. 
• Up Up Down Down Left Right Left Right B A – Typing in this simple command and pressing enter will change your Hangouts background to the image below. Hacks like these brighten up your productivity experience and relieve stress.

Learn More: 5 Tips for Making Virtual Meetings Relaxed (and Engaging) 

Using Technology Responsibly 

This is just the tip of the iceberg. Depending on your technology stack, there will be plenty of tips and hacks that can improve the application experience and boost your productivity levels even during these complex times. However, do remember to use tech responsibly. Today, more than 50%Opens a new window of remote workers face an overwhelming number of messages and are forced to switch between applications to complete daily tasks constantly. 

Hacks like the ones we listed will help maximize one platform, reducing the need to broad-base your application landscape or click on the “start a meeting” button for every bottleneck. 

Tell us about your WFH experience on LinkedInOpens a new window , TwitterOpens a new window , or FacebookOpens a new window . We’d love to hear from you!