We all know there are some circumstances where synchronous communication is the best option. For all the other times, there are asynchronous communication tools to allow you to exchange and receive information independently.
To make asynchronous communication more effective, lean on the following tools and apps.
Chanty: for team collaboration
Think of Chanty like the smaller-scale version of Slack with task management thrown in. Chanty has a similar, intuitive interface as Slack. You can talk to co-workers through company-wide, group, and private chats. You can also share media and content as well as pinpoint important messages. For synchronous communication, use Chanty’s phone feature to dial colleagues.
With Chanty, you can convert these chats into tasks. These tasks can then be assigned to the appropriate person with a deadline added. To make it easier to manage multiple tasks, filter them by status, dates, and people. Chanty also provides a Kanban board to support Scrum methodology.
Pricing: Chanty is more affordable than many similar asynchronous communication tools, including Slack. The free plan can accommodate up to 10 members with unlimited message history, conversations, and voice messages. It does not include group audio calls, one-to-one video calls, group video calls, or screen sharing. The business plan is $3 per user per month. It includes unlimited integrations, video calls, group audio calls, screen sharing, and a dedicated support line.
Jell: for organized daily stand-ups
Looking for a tool to help you keep daily stand-ups on track even when your team can’t meet at the same time? Jell makes asynchronous daily stand-ups a reality. It also works for individual and team check-ins as well as Objectives and Key Results (OKRs).
Jell allows you to publish standups in a centralized place so your team can respond to daily standup questions. Customize the questions and other content to your business needs for best results. You can set the schedule for check-in, optimizing it for multiple time zones.
Pricing: Jell offers three different pricing options. The Starter package is billed at $4 per user per month. This package includes daily standups and reminders, Microsoft Teams and Slack integrations, as well as check-in templates and customization.
At the Plus level ($8 per user per month), you also get capabilities to manage goals and OKRs as well as private teams. Jell provides customized quotes for the enterprise level, which includes personalized onboarding, extra customer service support, and custom integrations.
Shift: for focused work
Let’s face it: most of us spend more time than we’d like switching between apps. If it’s not your inbox, it’s a shared doc or video conferencing call grabbing your attention. It’s easy to become overwhelmed by all the apps you use each workday.
Shift is designed to eliminate the switching. Shift brings everything in one place. You simply connect all of your apps to Shift to customize your workstation. You can also share these workstations with your team and add in your favorite extensions.
Pricing: The basic level of Shift allows for up to two email accounts, one app account, and shared workspaces. The advanced option is $99.99 a year and allows for unlimited accounts, apps, chrome extensions, and notification muting. The highest level, Teams, is $99.99 per user per year. It includes a team management dashboard and consolidated billing.
Related: Challenges of Working from Home and How to Overcome Them
Huddle: for team and client file sharing
Huddle brings stakeholders together to work effectively and efficiently on documents. This solution works well for agencies, cross-functional teams, and client-facing projects. Huddle gives everyone access to the latest version of the document.
You can also create a branded client portal to enhance your customer experience. The software also offers government-grade security, secure file sharing, and mobile features. Users can add tasks, send change requests, and set up an approval process.
Pricing: Huddle breaks its plans into three options. The minimum number of users for any Huddle plan is 15. For pricing details, Huddles offers customized demos.
Confluence: for your company knowledge base
Part of the Atlassian brand, Confluence provides wiki software to facilitate knowledge sharing. Instead of having to track someone down to find information about a work policy or process, you can access a knowledge base.
Confluence can be used to share ideas, reinforce culture, and collaborate. The platform organizes everything into pages and spaces for an easy learning curve. Pages can be developed and created by users. Spaces house pages for specific teams, departments, and projects. Confluence integrates with Jira for task and project management.
Pricing: Confluence’s free package is available to 10 users. On average, the standard package costs $5 per user per month for up to 10,000 users. The premium options offer greater analytics and admin tools at $10 per user per month for up to 10,000 users. Finally, the enterprise option is available for 10,000 users with unlimited sites and a guaranteed uptime SLA of 99.95%.
For more ideas on how to up your communication game (whether it’s synchronously or asynchronously), stay tuned to the Vibe blog. And to see how others are making remote collaboration work for their company, check out our State of Remote Collaboration Report 2021.
Vibe offers a collaborative solution combining an interactive digital whiteboard and innovative smart software. Increase engagement and efficiency at your brainstorming sessions, virtual training, and classroom sessions by integrating your favorite applications with video conferencing and an infinite, mess-free writing canvas. Collaborate today with Vibe.
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