One of the problems with most cloud collaboration apps is that you need to have an Internet connection in order to do your work. LucidChart, a web-based visual communication and diagramming app that offers real-time collaboration, has announced that it is now providing offline capabilities. Read more »
Looking for a way to access your Gmail inbox from your Mac’s menu bar? Zentertain’s Mailbox is a lightweight app that does just that, adding an envelope icon to your menu bar that, when clicked, pops open a window containing your Gmail inbox. Read more »
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Ahead of the Google I/O developer conference this week, Google Apps reseller Cloud Sherpas is announcing some updates to SherpaTools, a companion product for Google Apps. The most significant change is an update to its Delegation features, providing greater control over permissions. Read more »
Bookmarking service Copyto.co not only stores the URLs of the pages you want to save; it allows you to save the content on the page in your account, too. That way, if the page changes, you’ll still have the content stored your Copyto.co account. Read more »
Every day, it seems, there are dozens of new applications available to help with different aspects of web working. It got me thinking. What is it we really need as web workers these days, and is anyone working to find solutions to those problems? Read more »
LastPass, a password management app, could have been hacked, with user data — including email addresses, salted passwords and the server salt — potentially compromised, according to a post on the company’s blog. As a precaution, the company is forcing its users to change their master passwords. Read more »
Working remotely means not having the easy access to the machines and systems you used to when you were cubicle-bound. Here’s a list of five basic categories of tools you should have at the ready, and a variety of options to consider for each category. Read more »
I’m a big fan of the superfast note-taking combo of Notational Velocity on my Macbook plus Simplenote on my iPhone.. So I was very happy to discover ResophNotes, a Notational Velocity-like note-taking app for Windows, complete with keyboard shortcuts, incremental search and Simplenote sync. Read more »
Xobni, a popular productivity add-on for Outlook that automatically displays additional information about email contacts, has announced that it is making available “gadgets,” third-party additions to Xobni that will let well-known collaboration tools like Yammer, Chatter and Dropbox become an integral part of the Outlook interface. Read more »
ideapi is a simple online tool for collaborating on documents. Unlike other collaborative document editing tools like Google Docs, each ideapi document is based around discrete sections. Each section can be commented upon and edited separately, which makes idapi ideal for creating structured documents like proposals. Read more »
Using a team isn’t just a way to get things done faster, it’s also a way to do things better. Gone are the days when innovation was handled by management. Smart businesses know that idea generation happens on the ground. But that innovation takes time. Read more »
During an annual performance review, it is important to be able to document your accomplishments. Here are a few ways to ensure you can demonstrate your value to the company, whether you’re a freelancer being evaluated or an employee preparing for an annual review. Read more »
As with most collaboration apps, Central Desktop is general-purpose tool, trying to pack in all the features that every organization needs. But what if it could be focused on a specific industry? SocialBridge is, essentially, Central Desktop built only for use by creative agencies. Read more »
Looking for an online tool to create diagrams, mind maps and flow charts? Diagramly is an online diagramming app, and while it’s not quite a powerful as desktop apps like Visio, it’s perfectly capable of producing fairly complex diagrams and charts. Read more »
Teamly, a collaborative task/priority management app Thursday reviewed previously, has announced it has moved out of beta and also introduced a new paid plan, Teamly Professional, which includes access to all features and costs $8 per user per month Read more »
Google has released the Google Docs app for Android to complement the web version. I’ve taken a quick look at it on an HTC Evo 4G, and it looks like it will be a useful tool for collaborating on documents and spreadsheets. Read more »
WorkSimple is a company pursuing an interesting niche in the rapidly expanding “social business” market: It provides an app that enables users to share their goals with their co-workers. The company has announced that the basic features of the app are now free. Read more »
The growing lifestyle business movement presents a staff retention issue for businesses. However, by taking some of the elements that make lifestyle businesses so attractive, such as freedom and flexibility, and offering them to their employees, employers can mitigate that risk. Read more »
VMware said Tuesday it purchased SlideRocket, an online presentation provider, for an undisclosed sum. The acquisition fits in with VMware’s acquisition of the Zimbra messaging platform in January 2010 and pits VMware against Microsoft, Cisco, Google and other folks in the collaboration space. Read more »
Working with freelancers has become a necessity for many businesses. But bringing someone into your team who doesn’t have a good idea of how your organization operates can present difficulties. You can make things easier by asking the right questions before you start your working relationship: Read more »
Keeping up with Twitter, Facebook and all the posts and comments written about your company can be overwhelming. Postling is a centralized dashboard for organizing, managing and tracking all your social media efforts, so that you can engage with your entire online community from one location. Read more »
Social media needn’t be an end in itself. It’s one thing to “engage” and “lead thinking”in your social network. But social media really starts having a direct benefit when you can tap into the information it’s providing you and feed it back into your team. Read more »
Organizations often opt to hire web workers from far away locales in order to tap into specific skills. But this focus on skills could be causing managers to miss a fundamental fact: Hiring remote workers with the right personality is even more crucial. Read more »
International meetings can be tricky. Language barriers can make communication difficult, while time zone differences can make finding a suitable time can be awkward. Here are a few of tips to help you overcome those issues and make your international meetings more successful. Read more »
Note-taking service Evernote has released a major update to its Android app. It includes document sharing features that make it possible for web workers to use Evernote as a collaboration tool. Meanwhile, its competitor Catch has added a premium version that also includes sharing features. Read more »
Tom’s Planner, a simple drag-and-drop, Gantt-chart-based, online planning tool has received a couple of useful updates: the website is now compatible with the iPad and iPhone (no app required), and it can also now import Excel and MS Project files. Read more »
I’ve been looking for a viable alternative to the archaic business cards for some time. CardCloud wants to replace business cards with a digital service: contact details are stored in a web app and can then be sent to other people using a mobile app. Read more »
Poor management, communications breakdowns, badly integrated team members, ill-equipped staff, personality clashes — there are many reasons why a virtual team can fail. What can you do to ensure that your team succeeds? Here are five common failings of virtual teams, and ways to avoid them. Read more »
In 2011, enterprise will finally get wise to the importance of social media, according to a research paper by Stifel Nicolaus. The biggest areas of growth will be in tools that use consumer technologies and combine internal collaboration with external feedback. Read more »
Working with teams whose members are spread across offices (or even continents) can make it extremely difficult to gauge and manage project momentum. Momentum isn’t motivation — it’s a separate factor. In fact, it’s often momentum that comes into play when team motivation might be flagging. Read more »
Does video really perform as well as face-to-face interaction? How does it compare to audio-only communication? Does it always outperform text-only channels like email? Let’s look at different types of tasks and see how video affects the work and communication quality experienced by remote teams. Read more »
Microsoft has launched the public beta of Office 365, an online suite of collaboration and office tools aimed at small businesses. It includes access to Office Web Apps, plus access to hosted versions of SharePoint Online, Exchange Online, and Lync Online. Read more »
If you have access to a server, FileShuttle is a free app for the Mac that makes sharing files, images and text a snap. Add your server’s FTP details, and uploading files is simply a matter of dragging them onto the FileShuttle icon in the dock. Read more »
Microproject is a simple, intuitive multi-user online project management app for small teams. It uses a slick drag-and-drop interface and presents all the information pertaining to the project on one fairly minimal screen: there’s no switching between windows or pop-ups. Read more »
Simon says that email’s reign may be coming to an end, and I recently mentioned sending less email as one way to reduce email overload, so I thought it would be fun to think about ways that how can replace email with other, more suitable tools. Read more »
URLHistory’s one of those simple but amazingly useful little Windows apps that does one thing really well: it monitors your clipboard looking for copied URLs, and stores them for use later. If you frequently end up pasting URLs into a text file, URLHistory’s for you. Read more »
Podio is a new app that aims to shake up the enterprise social networking space by providing a tool that can be customized using a wide range of ready-to-use apps available from its App Store. This allows organizations to create a networking platform to suit employees. Read more »
The first step to successful remote working is communication. Binfire offers distributed teams a free solution for online collaboration that makes it simple to stay on track, with several useful features that I haven’t seen in other project management solutions so far, including: Read more »
Jive Software has announced it has acquired Proximal Labs, a supplier of machine learning and data mining software. The move shows Jive’s intent to expand its efforts at mining the enterprise social graph to analyze user behavior in order to assist companies in becoming more effective. Read more »
An important but often unacknowledged issue surrounding collaborative business is that while companies will focus on choosing tools, prescribing acceptable network policies and measuring ROI, the easiest way to get staff to collaborate is to make it fun. But what makes collaboration fun? Read more »
