Agile is a popular methodology in project management used by teams, such as software developers, to increase the productivity of the development phases.
The agile process brings multi-disciplinary teams together and streamlines the processes. The work is split into sprints, in layman’s terms, dividing tasks into small objectives and goals.
Below are some collaboration tools any agile team should use for project management:
1. Miro:
If you’re a team that needs a canvas to do more than just a retrospective board, then Miro is the right tool. It’s not just a retrospective board but also a tool for prototyping. Using Miro, you can create flows and make prototypes while sharing them with your team. The free version lets you create limited boards and share them with your team. You can get more with paid versions. In addition, Miro offers design templates and seamless work between teams.
2. Google Docs:
Google Docs is incredibly important for Agile teams. Why? Because all documentation that’s needed for an organization, most importantly, for an agile team, can be done with this absolutely FREE tool. Since collaboration is vital, teams often use Google Docs for creating documents and sharing across the organization. For this purpose, companies usually buy Google’s GSuite; however, it can be used for free.
3. GoRetro:
If you’re looking for a tool that makes the whole retrospective process easy, this is the one. GoRetro is a tool that lets you create a retrospective board and collaborate with the team to ensure that the work is done on time and the flow doesn’t get disturbed. You can create boards and share with unlimited team members, set board privacy, modify the viewing options, sort, filter, export in PDF, CSV, etc. And the surprising thing is that all of this is for FREE.
4. Trello:
Trello is your go-to for handling the mess when task management becomes clumsy. Why is Trello noteworthy for Agile teams? Well, it helps manage the project and its workflow with ease. The Kanban boards are perfect for teams that follow agile methodology. If you need a more advanced version of Trello, the company that owns Trello offers Jira designed explicitly for progressive agile teams.
5. Zoom:
The covid-19 pandemic has taught us how remote working can still be effective. Zoom has become everyone’s go-to for handling virtual meetups. People worldwide rushed to download Zoom when the virtual classes and meetings started remotely. Zoom is one of the best, if not the best, video calling software available. You can hold a video call meeting of the whole team using Zoom with funky features like adding your favorite backgrounds. Zoom is available for free, but their pricing plans are available for teams.
6. Google Meet:
We discussed Zoom above, an excellent tool for agile teams for video chats, but if your company has GSuite and is probably paying for it, there’s no need to jump in on Zoom. Google Meet is there to rescue. The video calling platform allows you to start a meeting with just a few clicks and is well integrated with Google Calendar and other Google products. GSuite users can seamlessly hold meetings and do work without any complexities; hence it is one of the best tools for virtual meetings for agile teams. It’s quick, reliable, productive, and adds value to the team effort.
7. Slack:
Before Slack, the world was living with Hangouts and other alternatives for internal organizational communication. Thank God they decided to build a tool that can be used for teams. Slack is one of the best, if not the best, tools for communication in an organization.
I would say it’s the best one, but many might disagree. So let’s look at it this way. If Facebook is the social giant among all other popular social media platforms, Slack is the king of messaging communication in an organization. Period!
Teams can communicate seamlessly using channels and can also drop DMs if necessary. The friendly interface makes it more usable. It’s a tool that is not just built for technicals but also for managers and non-technical staff. Agile teams can and should use Slack for better communication. A plus point would be app integrations since the platform supports multiple apps, making things easy for those who use them.
8. Google Drive:
Every team needs a cloud storage service. If you think that your team can rely on physical hard drives or company servers, sooner or later, you’ll realize that it’s a bad idea. For storage-related problems, Google Drive is one of the best solutions out there, especially if you’re already a GSuite user. Without GSuite, the minimum or default storage that you get for free is 15GB per user; however, it’s not the case in GSuite plans. The storage plans for teams are available on their website. In addition, Google Drive is integrated seamlessly with Gmail, Google Docs, Firebase, and other Google Products.
