- What business communication tools are you lacking in your workplace? We've covered a lot of ground in our "Communication in the Workplace" video series. We've looked at typical methods of communication, challenges, how to overcome those barriers, and how to improve communication. You're so close to being a workplace communication pro. 

In today's video, we'll give you the last piece of the puzzle by sharing some of the leading communication software tools out there that you can implement into your new workplace communication standards. 

I'm Noelle, and this is Jotform. Let's get going. 

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First up on our list of essential business communication tools are online forms. These are ideal for when you need to collect lots of information from a wide variety of stakeholders. Lots of businesses use online forms for external communication such as collecting leads, payments, and registrations of all sorts. But these tools can also be really great for communication internally between your team. 

Managers can use forms to collect employee feedback after a meeting to better understand worker perspectives. Post-meeting questionnaires can be a powerful tool in gauging staff understanding. Did they digest the information how you intended them to? What's great is online forms are quick, simple, customizable, and easy to use. 

Jotform's Drag and Drop Editor allows you to create powerful, professional online forms. Using forms will help you keep your business running smoothly and facilitate communication between you and your team. One way to streamline communication on a group project is with Document Collaboration Tools. 

No one employee writes the whole contract, proposal, annual report, or marketing plan. As they say, it takes a village. Or in this case, your highly skilled team. And teams need a way to edit, annotate and discuss mission-critical documents remotely. Luckily, there are a plethora of online collaboration tools that allow multiple team members to simultaneously access and edit documents. 

Let's take a look at some popular examples. Google Drive contains collaborative Google docs, sheets, and slides built for the cloud. Google Drive provides share-ready storage and organization for the whole team. You can even integrate Jotform to instantly send form submissions or file uploads to the appropriate folder. 

Dropbox Business provides centralized cloud-based storage for remote collaboration. Streamline communication with inline comments and the ability to tag members in file folders. You can also integrate Jotform with Dropbox. 

Box is another tool that provides shared cloud-based storage and file organization. It also offers built-in communication tools and has a feature called Box Notes, which centralizes discussions within a single thread. Wouldn't you know, you can integrate Jotform with Box as well. 

From document collaboration to project management we go. Project management tools where a lot of hats. It helps users manage overall plans, schedules, day-to-day tasks, teams, budgets, and yes, communication. 

Here are some popular project management software tools with in-app communication features. Asana helps team members understand how their roles interact with the broader effort. It does this by providing a central hub for every element of a project. Communication tools include the ability to share plans, meeting agendas, and notes. Plus, you can comment on dashboards and centralized status updates. You can integrate Jotform with Asana to automatically add tasks, projects, and comments through your forms. 

Airtable is less of a project management app and more of a customizable database. Airtable is powerful project management template makes it easy to get the ball rolling. Communicate simply with your team via shared databases, team member tagging and robust comment options. You can also integrate Jotform with Airtable. 

Monday.com is a project management app that provides a centralized workspace for your team. You can even make the workplace look however you want. Add a calendar, a kanban board, a task list, or a combination of all three. The shared views enable instant, data-rich communication. Integrate with Jotform to automatically update items or add new ones through form submissions. 

Jotform Tables, like Airtable, is a customizable database. However, unique to Jotform Tables is a data collection tool that assists project management by providing an all-in-one workspace with flexible collaborator access. You also have the ability to email stakeholders directly from a given table. You can assign tasks, track efforts over time, and visualize project data in meeting-ready reports. Plus, there's no need for integration as Jotform Tables is part of Jotform Suite of Productivity Tools. 

If any or all of your staff is remote, this next part is particularly helpful for you. Video conferencing apps allow us to retain the visual signals from our nonverbal communications as we have remote meetings. Here are some helpful video conferencing tools. 

Zoom. We all know and love it. This leading video conferencing platform is packed with features that improve workplace communication. We're talking breakout rooms, optional passwords, and in-call chats. You can even integrate Zoom with Jotform. 

If you're already using Google's G suite at work, Google Meet makes it easy to integrate quick video calls into your workflow. You can even start a meeting from your Google calendar. How easy. 

GoToMeeting was one of the first popular video conferencing products and it remains ideal for business communication. In-meeting collaboration tools include a digital whiteboard, simple screen sharing and chat. 

The solution for quick everyday communication is instant messaging. Workplace messaging platforms provide shared public threads and one-on-one text channels that allow everyone to contribute whether in the moment or non-simultaneously. The result? More communication, which leads to greater understanding. 

Here are some top messaging platforms to try with your team. It's very likely you've heard of Slack. This cloud-based messaging app has saturated the market. Even its free version includes advanced features like voice and video calls. Even better, Slack integrates smoothly with Jotform. If you're into the Google suite life, Google Chat includes features like dedicated virtual rooms and group or direct messaging. It works on its own or as an adjunct to Gmail. 

If your office runs on Microsoft 365, you may prefer Microsoft Teams. This messaging app mirrors the threaded messaging organization of others on this list. Voice and video calls are also available. 

There are so many tools to start using to boost communication and streamline your in-house discussions. It's important to keep an eye on the prize-- understanding. Let's do a quick review. 

Online forums are a helpful tool to collect lots of information from a variety of stakeholders. Use them after meetings to assess levels of understanding across the team. Document collaboration tools like Google Drive, Dropbox, and Box all streamline the group effort of document creation. Project management software like Asana, Airtable, monday.com and Jotform Tables aids your team in seamless overall planning and communication. 

Video conferencing software like Zoom, Google Meeting, and GoToMeeting helps your team stay communicative even if they're remote. Instant messaging platforms like Slack, Google Chat and Microsoft Teams are a great solution for quick, everyday communication. You've done it, you've downloaded all the important information to create a communicative company. 

With all this knowledge and these tools, your team will be fully understanding each other on a daily basis. Thanks for watching our video series on "Communication in the Workplace. I'm Noelle, and this is Jotform. Off you go to the land of endless successful communication. 

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