Adobe Acrobat
Use digital collaboration tools for better workflows.
Streamline team collaboration and workflows with these features.
What is a collaboration tool?
A collaboration tool is anything that teams use to communicate, organize, brainstorm, and otherwise work together in an efficient, productive way. A collaboration tool can be anything from a document where team members add creative work to a workflow software that keeps everyone up to speed on tasks, subtasks, and deadlines.
5 steps to choosing the best collaboration tools
The best collaboration tools will meet the needs of your team, be simple to navigate, and ensure your security.
1. Understand your needs
Your search begins with understanding what you need from a digital collaboration tool. Ask yourself what actions your collaborative online tool needs to enable. Perhaps document collaboration is important for your team. You may also need clients to have limited access to the documents that your team creates. Depending on the size of your team, you may need communication to be well-organized and function across departments. Online collaboration tools could even be a great solution if your team needs more engagement in projects.
2. Choose online collaboration tools that are easy to use
How much time are you willing to spend training your team to use the newest collaboration tools? If you select a collaboration tool that is easy to use, you’ll be able to save the time (and goodwill) of your team members. While you may need to look into tools with complex features, make sure that you choose a platform that isn’t too difficult to navigate. With well-designed tools, it should take relatively little time for your team members to learn to use the product and customize their experience while avoiding issues like excessive notifications.
3. Prioritize tool features
Collaborative tools offer many features, and you’ll want to prioritize those that meet the unique needs of your team. These might include storage and security features, messaging and notification features, document sharing features, and calendar and scheduling features. It might also be important to have a tool with an intuitive interface that is mobile-friendly.
4. Decide on integrations and compatibility
Before you decide on a collaborative digital tool, you’ll want to take a look at its integrations and compatibility. If, for example, you already have a messaging or video-conferencing channel that works well for your team, you may want to find a collaboration tool that can be integrated with it. You’ll also want to make sure that your collaboration tools are compatible with your team’s preferred document and image format and with the devices that your team members use.
5. Opt for cloud-based technology
Cloud-based technology is a must-have for collaboration tools that your team relies upon. The security of all of your files and documents is automatically ensured when your collaborative online tools back up to the cloud. Team members won’t be occupied with worries about saving or backing up documents, and they can rest easy knowing that their work won't be lost.
3 uses of online collaboration tools
In general, collaboration tools can be grouped into three categories: tools for planning and logistics, tools for communication, and tools for creating deliverables. However, these tools have a variety of uses that can best serve your needs. They can help with business management, serve as an email provider, be a messaging tool, or help with file editing.
1. Organizational tools for business management
Every organization, from a giant enterprise to a small business, needs to keep track of its employees’ work, responsibilities, and output. Any project manager can tell you that having a shared resource that explicitly states what everyone is responsible for improves workflow and clarifies project plans. Organizational and project management tools include time tracking and task management apps, a company CRM (customer relationship manager), a local intranet, file-sharing platforms, project management software, and cloud storage.
When you need to keep track of projects and initiatives, the following tools can be helpful:
- Asana. This is one of the most well-known project management platforms. Users can assign tasks to team members and add other people to projects to keep track of deadlines.
- Trello. Trello is easy to learn, and projects can be easily tracked with tasks and projects visible in a solitaire way. The projects look like cards, and you can drag tasks across them in a solitaire manner.
- Adobe Workfront. This enterprise work management software allows you to manage the complete lifecycle of projects, streamlining collaboration with strategic goals. Workfront integrates people, data, processes, and technology across teams, centralizing workflows and improving visibility.
2. Communication tools for messaging and chat
Teamwork only happens if team members can talk to each other. Email is the original online communications tool, but now teams can also communicate via remote collaboration tools for video calls, group chats, instant messaging, screen sharing, and comments within other apps. Even a whiteboard in an office filled with comments or announcements can be a communication tool, if used right — likewise for digital whiteboards with collaboration features.
The following tools can be helpful for messaging team members:
• Slack. This software offers instant messaging capabilities, file sharing, and easy searchability. It hosts a variety of features and many integration options.
• Microsoft Teams. If you have a business-level Microsoft 365 subscription, you should have access to Microsoft Teams. In addition to messaging, you can schedule calls and easily share files.
Email is an important communication tool in any business. The following platforms can be helpful for your remote teams:
• Microsoft 365. This platform includes Microsoft Outlook email software. The suite has essential business document creation tools, such as Microsoft Excel, Word, and PowerPoint, that you can use to create and send files to co-workers easily.
• Google Workspace. This collaborative suite not only comes with the Gmail app but also has document creation abilities through Google Docs, a video conferencing method through Google Meet, and more tools that help your team move with efficiency. With Gmail, you can easily create custom business emails for team members.
3. Brainstorming and creative tools for file editing
Apps where team members do creative work should also keep online collaboration tools in mind. Most deliverables are the work of a team, and that team needs to be able to access, edit, and comment on their work quickly and easily. Apps for individual work also need to function for team collaboration, making everything from first drafts to final proofing much easier.
Sharing files is what keeps a business running. Check out these remote collaboration tools for efficient file editing:
• Adobe Acrobat. This platform has all the tools you need to edit, share, and collaborate on documents with your team. You can easily comment on and annotate PDFs to make them presentation-ready. Acrobat also has a variety of security features, so you can ensure your confidential company PDFs are only available to team members.
• Google Docs. Team members can easily edit files at the same time, and any changes are saved automatically.
• Microsoft SharePoint. Your team can share and edit files while easily viewing any changes made to the document as your projects progress.
With file collaboration tools, remote work efficiency can be the norm for you.
The benefits of collaboration tools.
Good collaborative tools keep teams motivated. Clear expectations about where a project is and what’s required specifically help team members stay connected and engaged. When your team knows what’s going on and what they’re supposed to do, they’re happier.
Plus, everyone loves positive feedback. When a coworker gets back to you with a thumbs-up or an acknowledgment of hard work, that feels good. Collaboration platforms give you the means to add motivation to any workflow.
What makes for good collaboration tools?
The best online collaboration tools are built with teams in mind and facilitate collaboration not only within a team, but also across an industry.
Purpose-built products
Good collaboration tools are purpose-built to enhance document workflow. All sorts of common tools can be jury-rigged to do a task they weren’t designed for, and apps that weren’t made to work together can be combined to achieve a given result. As appealing as improvised solutions can be, they’ll always have some degree of friction everyone involved will have to correct for, and they also tend to have steep learning curves for those who are unfamiliar with them. Truly good collaboration tools negate friction rather than create it.
Industry-standard apps
Industry-standard tools are a key way to ease collaboration. New team members are more likely to be familiar with industry-standard software, and business partners, stakeholders, freelancers, and other outside collaborators can reasonably be expected to know their functionality too. The use of bespoke or proprietary tools means that you’ll encounter speed bumps whenever you collaborate with someone outside of your team, but it’s easy to avoid that outcome with proper training.
Adobe Acrobat has been the industry-standard app for PDFs for over 25 years. Adobe invented the PDF and continues to offer the most comprehensive support for the format for large and small businesses alike.
How Walgreens Boots used Adobe to boost collaboration.
In 2020, the Walgreens Boots Alliance needed to update the pharmacy experience in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. Through collaboration and planning, the worldwide chain transformed how customers interacted with its 10,000 storefronts. Everything from ordering medicines to prescription pickup went digital, all while giving over 120 million customers personalized recommendations and reminders for everything from prescription renewals to flu shots.
Collaborate with Acrobat.
Adobe Acrobat is one of the most powerful, agile, and versatile collaboration tools a team can have at their disposal. Each team member can:
- Share files with collaborators both on your team and beyond your organization
- Take advantage of interoperability and compatibility with other industry-standard tools like Microsoft Office
- Add comments from anywhere with the Acrobat Reader mobile app or sign in to Acrobat online
- Share and track documents across multiple devices, plus reduce errors with document version control.
- Protect sensitive information with passwords or redaction
It doesn’t matter if you use a Mac or PC, if you work on a desktop or mobile device, or if you’re on a large team within a major enterprise or a small team at an independent firm. Adobe makes collaboration as easy as possible. Reduce friction and increase connection with Acrobat.
Collaboration tools FAQs
Can collaboration tools help companies grow?
Yes, collaboration tools can help companies grow by increasing the efficiency and effectiveness of a company’s team. They can help team members in different locations to seamlessly connect in real-time. They can also prevent inefficiencies like poor communication or duplicate work.
How do businesses use collaboration tools?
Businesses can use collaboration tools to streamline management of projects and teams. Collaboration tools can also allow different teams, like marketing and product development, to work together and easily access each other’s work. Businesses may also use collaboration tools to encourage engagement while enabling remote work.
Can online collaboration tools help students excel?
Collaboration tools can ensure that students’ work and assignments are organized and accessible. They can also improve communication between students and encourage collaboration — a strategy long proven to help students excel.
How does Adobe help keep files secure?
Adobe encrypts documents for your security. You can easily encrypt a PDF, password protect it, or redact sensitive information with our PDF redactor. With cloud-based technology, your team’s work is safe from being lost.
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