Posts Tagged
Collaboration
Here at Web.Appstorm, we’ve written about a number of brilliant web apps. Some of them I use everyday, and many have become a part of my work flow and are of great use to me. The Internet is much like this, full of great apps that can help you with nearly anything you’d ever need help with. What if you want to add to the Internets great arsenal of tools orwealth of information by building your own site?
The answer to this could well be Handcraft. In essence, it’s an online text editor, though it’s a lot more than this in practice. It can become your whole web development work flow and backup setup in one. Handcraft started out as a prototyping tool, designed to let you build your sites directly in the browser, for the browser, rather than starting out in Photoshop. Let’s see if this is the tool you need to design your next great site.
Anybody who’s tried to lead a team to work on one or several projects knows how much of a nightmare it can be to get everything under control – Who does what? When? Who helps who? Who makes decisions and how can significant progress be made?
There are various programs and online tools out there that attempt to make the job of organization and collaboration less daunting. While the majority of these tools are complicated and have tons of features and capabilities, &! (pronounced andbang) goes the opposite direction. Let’s take a look and see if its reduced feature set is what your team needs.
It’s no secret that I’m somewhat of a productivity junkie, and I’m often looking for the latest and greatest way to keep track of my to-do’s and deadlines. In the more recent months of working with these apps, a particularly explosive niche that I’ve noticed has been web apps and services dedicated to organizing a team. Collaborative to-do lists, group calendars, and even direct communication platforms are examples of core features that are finding their way into these apps.
Today I’m going to take a look at the web service Orchestra, one of the more lightweight solutions to collaborative productivity. Orchestra has both a web app interface as well as a companion iPhone app that was just reviewed earlier today on iPhone.AppStorm. Hit the jump to find out more about how this web app can coordinate efforts between you and your coworkers.
One of the great things about the web is how easy sharing information and collaboration have become . There are now hundreds ways to show photos to friends, work on code with colleagues, make presentations to audiences across the globe, video chat with family abroad and team up to work on all kinds of projects, big and small. We’ve covered plenty of apps that help you curate and share content, including Zootool and Pinterest – but what if you wanted to share with a group – and do more than just look at pictures together?
Zwiggo has you covered. This app will have you and your group sharing pictures, links and files, talking in your own private chat room, taking group decisions in a flash, planning your schedule easily and getting things done all at once. It’s flexible enough to accommodate all types of groups and various activities. It also works in real-time and looks great. So how does Zwiggo work? Let’s put a project together and find out.
I wouldn’t be wrong if I claim that project management web apps have broken down the myth that it takes a seasoned veteran to get a project done. It doesn’t take too much time to learn and adopt an online project management app. Web apps have done decent job of breaking down the entire project management grunt work into manageable pieces – just like the way projects meant to be executed.
Project Management apps for sure improves communication and enhances the productivity of the team. If in doubt, you should ask our AppStorm editors; project management helps us keep working with a team that’s never even beenin an office together. The increased productivity and collaboration is so infectious. Binfire is one among the many project management and collaboration apps around. How unique is it actually?
Every once in a while, a tool is developed that is stunning in it’s simplicity. It’s utility is such that the tool itself fades away, and you wonder how you went so long without it. No, I’m not talking about an Apple product–but if you know Johnny Ive, see if he needs a speech writer.
Today, I’m going to try out A Web Whiteboard: a browser-based, collaborative brainstorming tool created by Senko Rašić, a programmer from Croatia. If you have a whiteboard in your office, or have ever used a whiteboard with colleagues, you are likely aware of the benefits. Personally, I’m a big fan of whiteboards because they’re an easy way to organize your thoughts, even when your thoughts and ideas change on a whim.
A Web Whiteboard takes this process and moves it to your computer, and more importantly, to the web, making easy and efficient collaboration possible, even when you’re miles away.
The software situation in enterprises is an unholy mess. From the top level management to employees, everyone has to be at the mercy of the feudal lords also known as system admins. Your productivity is dependant on whatever version of software they choose to impose on you. And if the software isn’t a bloatware, there is a very good chance it won’t be bought and used in production.
Document management and Intranet are two domains that receive hardly any attention at all. If you are really lucky and the company has deep pockets, you might get to use Microsoft Sharepoint – which is just about alright. But, for everyone else, it’s so good to see that web based alternatives like Papyrs are hard at work helping businesses manage information painlessly.
If you are interested in knowing how to set up and put Papyrs to use in your organization, do read on.
Since the explosion of cloud computing, small businesses are now turning to Internet-based software to help collaborate internet processes and help with the daily grind of tasks, meetings and memos. Internet-based software is much more appealing to businesses as it avoids the needs for expensive software licence fees and complicated computer systems. Internet-based systems also make the process of working from home a far easier and much more cost-effective solution for businesses.
I recently looked at Pivotal Tracker and yaM, two internet-based utilities that can help businesses collaborate easier (in the case of Pivotal Tracker) or organize meetings easier (in the case of yaM). But, what happens if you want to collaborate every aspect of your business, yet want to avoid spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on an ERM system such as SAP?
Oh hey! Look! It’s ANOTHER task/project-management application! Hold on for a second while I minimize the two other task-management apps on my computer, both of which are currently clamoring for my attention. Okay, now I’m…dang it, I gotta turn off my iPad; you don’t want me distracted by the to-do apps I’ve got synced on there. Oh, and while I’m thinking about it, give me one more second to hide my email app, otherwise my concentration will get diverted by the reminder emails coming in from the various task-managament apps that my coworkers use. Okay, now I’m ready. Whatcha got?
Action Method, huh? What’s so great about that? “A radically different approach to productivity,” you say. Well, as a frequent reader of the AppStorm network, I have to tell ya, virtually every task-management app on the market claims to do something “radically different.” But okay, I’ll bite. Let’s give it a whirl and see if Action Method lives up to its marketing.
For as long as I can remember, technology has really influenced the way we do things, such as the way we communicate, receive news and generally look at the world. This influence has also spread to the world of work. Nowadays, technology has meant that companies can reach out globally, not just locally, and has enabled them to spread their influence all over the world.
Look at business meetings nowadays. It used to be that meetings meant you had to spend an hour cooped in a hot, sweaty conference room with a cup of lukewarm dishwater posing as coffee. And not to forget the time it takes to get to said conference room. Nowadays, a lot more meetings are conducted over the Net, for example via teleconferencing. This not only keeps costs down but is also a lot more practical – meetings can be conducted straight from your desk.
Of course, there are plenty of ways to conduct meetings remotely. But these tend to be expensive to both set up and maintain. How does a free, Net-based meeting manager sound? Well, this is exactly what yaM (Yet Another Meeting) is. There’s no complicated software to install or monthly subscription fees to pay. You simply sign up, invite your colleagues and get to work.
I think we’re onto something here! Let’s delve deeper…
