The 10 Best Communication Tools for Teams in 2024

Lani Le

Productivity Consultant & Writer

4 min read

Published: Nov 30, 2022

Revised on: Mar 1, 2024

Effective internal communication is the bridge between engaged employees and successful organizations. 

Whether you’re communicating with a virtual or in-person team, using an effective and reliable tool is essential. 

With several innovative team communication tools springing up, it may be time to rethink your company's communication strategy.

If you find that your team is constantly out of the loop, this could be the move you need to make to close the gap and meet their communication needs.

What Should I Consider When Choosing Team Communication Tools?

Choosing the right team communication tools is crucial for effective collaboration and productivity within a team. Here are important factors to consider when making this decision:

• Ease of Use: The best team collaboration tools should be intuitive and easy to use. You would not need to spend time training team members to use them.
• Cloud Hosting and Cross-Platform Support: It is best to find effective communication tools that can support multiple devices. This will make it easier for your team to access it via multiple devices. They'll also be able to view updates and respond to urgent messages from their personal devices. Look for communication tools that are cloud-based and flexible.
• Data Security: No organization would want to compromise on data security. Since employees are expected to communicate and collaborate freely, it becomes vital to ensure that your communication tool has built-in data protection technology. This way, employees feel safe, and the company's interests are protected.
• Automation and Intelligence: AI has totally revolutionized team collaboration. Team collaboration and communication tools like Microsoft and Slack now have bots that can be programmed to reply to messages and carry out tasks autonomously. Using communication tools with such features can help increase team efficiency, save time, and improve productivity.
• Customizable: Every team has unique needs and goals. So for employee communication tools to be effective, they have to be customizable. Managers who know what would appeal best to their team can then tweak the tool/software to make it relevant to the team.
• Benefits of Team Communication Tools: Communication tools in the workplace play a vital role in addressing the challenges of team collaboration. For remote teams especially, these tools ensure that each employee stays engaged and productive. According to the recent Buffer State of Remote Work 2022 report, 24% of remote workers state loneliness as their biggest challenge, while 52% say they feel less connected. Also, 56% of the respondents say that remote work has made them change the way they collaborate and communicate.

What Are the Benefits of Communication Tools for Teams?

Communication tools for teams play a crucial role in enhancing collaboration, productivity, and overall efficiency within a group or organization. Here are several benefits of utilizing communication tools for teams:

• Strengthens Team Relationships: Open, clear communication is the bedrock of any relationship. When team members carry out tasks as a unit, they get more comfortable with one another. An efficient communication software brings employees closer - nurturing work relationships and boosting team spirit.
• Saves Time: The best team communication tools help smoothen the communication and project management process. This helps team members avoid uncoordinated work and focus on achieving goals and milestones. In turn, the time spent on collaboration, feedback, and communication is reduced, saving time and resources.
• Enhances Project Management: Coordination and communication are essential for successful project management. Using a team communication tool ensures that you can track, interact, and record all activities with your team. This helps boost team alignment and fosters efficient teamwork.
• Recognize Employee Contributions: Unlike in-office employees who can have both formal and informal interactions, remote teams tend to feel left out. With the right team communication tool, you can successfully help employees feel recognized and appreciated. One-on-one meetings, standup meetings, and daily check-ins via these tools can help your team members feel connected. 
• Improves Organization: The entire organization remains efficient when a team leads successfully manage different workflow stages. When each team actively uses an effective team communications tool, the entire organization will flourish. 

What Are the Best Available Team Communication Tools?

With the landscape of software and technology constantly evolving, there are several team communication tools that stand out and are highly regarded for their features and usability. Below are some of the best team communication tools based on their popularity and effectiveness.

10 Best Communication Tools for Teams

We are outlining the 10 best communication tools for teams. Learn about the key things to consider when choosing a team communication tool that best fits your needs.

1

Monday.com

Pricing

$8.00 per user/month

• Free version
• Free trial available
• No Seat Minimum

Rating 4.5 (17,385)

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Although it typically serves as a workflow tool, Monday.com has some great team communication features. The software lets you assign tasks to teammates, leave comments and feedback, discuss topics, and communicate deadlines. 

Pros

1. Easy to use and intuitive interface. Many reviewers mentioned how user-friendly Monday.com is.
2. Visual project management. Reviewers liked the ability to visualize workflows and track progress through boards and timelines.
3. Enhanced team collaboration. Monday.com facilitates task assignment, communication, and real-time updates to improve collaboration.
4. Customizable boards and workflows. Users appreciated the ability to fully customize boards and automations to match their needs.
5. Centralized hub. Storing all project information and files in one centralized place made managing projects easier.

Cons

1. Steep learning curve. Some reviewers found the initial setup and learning process time-consuming and complex.
2. Limitations of free plan. Key features like automations are only available on paid plans.
3. Integration issues. Some users faced challenges integrating Monday.com with other tools they use.
4. Slow performance. A few reviewers complained about occasional lagging or platform slowness with heavy usage.
5. Price. Monday.com's pricing model makes it cost prohibitive for larger teams to use all features.

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2

Assembly

Pricing

$2.80 per user/month

• Free version
• Free trial available
• Seat Minimum: 1 User

Rating 4.7 (291)

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Assembly offers a wide array of team communication workflows that work great for remote and in-office teams. From the Daily Recap template, which lets team members communicate their daily accomplishments, to the Daily Standup template, which helps managers coordinate effective standups. 

Each team communication template is customizable, easy to use, and effective for internal communications. Assembly enables you to streamline communication and ensure that every team member stays updated. It offers integration with Office 365, Microsoft Teams, and major SSO and HRIS solutions.

Pros

1. Easy to use and intuitive interface. Many reviews mentioned Assembly is simple, easy to navigate, and user-friendly.
2. Good customer support. Reviews mentioned Assembly's support team is responsive in resolving issues.
3. Rewards redemption process is smooth. Users liked the gift card and other reward options that can be redeemed with points.
4. Integrates well with Slack and Microsoft Teams. The integration makes giving recognition quick and seamless.
5. Good for employee recognition and engagement. Reviews highlighted Assembly's peer-to-peer recognition features that help boost employee morale.

Cons

1. Limitations in analytics and reporting features. Some reviews wanted more detailed analytics and user statistics.
2. Creating flows and automations can be tricky. Reviews noted workflows and automations are sometimes hard to setup.
3. Limited customization options for recognitions. Users wanted more ways to customize recognitions with images/GIFs.
4. Lack of mobile apps earlier on. Reviews mentioned lack of mobile apps made it hard to use when not by a computer.
5. Confusion due to branding changes. Reviews noted frequent name changes of the reward units was confusing initially.

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3

Teamwork

Pricing

$5.99 per user/month

• Free version
• Free trial available
• Seat Minimum: 3 Users

Rating 4.4 (3,111)

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Teamwork lets you increase your team’s productivity by letting you manage all tasks, projects, and deadlines in one place. With an intuitive user interface and robust features, your team can stay on top of tasks. Teamwork also integrates easily with other apps and lets you create tasks, sub-tasks, milestones, and instructions.

Pros

1. Easy to use interface and intuitive workflow. Many users found Teamwork easy to navigate.
2. Robust task management features. Users liked the ability to create, assign, and track tasks efficiently.
3. Real-time collaboration tools. Features like messaging and file sharing facilitated team communication and alignment.
4. Time tracking functionality. Users appreciated the ability to log time spent on tasks for billing purposes.
5. Integrations with other tools. Integration with Google Drive, Slack, etc helped users leverage their existing workflows.

Cons

1. Steep learning curve initially. The extensive features can be overwhelming for new users.
2. Limited customizability of UI. Lack of ability to customize the UI to user needs and preferences.
3. Unreliable mobile app. The mobile app was seen as glitchy and lacking key features.
4. Confusing pricing model. Some users felt the pricing tiers were not aligned to team sizes/needs.
5. Reporting limitations. Users wanted more advanced reporting functionality for data insights.

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4

Zoom

Pricing

$14.99 per user/month

• Free version
• No Seat Minimum

Rating 4.4 (4,167,995)

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Best known for its fast and reliable video conferencing feature, Zoom has grown into so much more. This communication software lets you share files, take notes and stay in touch with team members and colleagues. It is easy to use and works great for presentations, one-on-one meetings, remote team bonding calls, and so much more. The best part of this tool is that other participants do not need to have a Zoom account to join a meeting. All they need is a meeting ID and password. 

Pros

1. Easy to use and intuitive interface - Many reviewers mentioned Zoom is very easy to use, even for those less tech-savvy. The interface is clean, simple, and intuitive.
2. High quality audio/video - Reviewers consistently praised the high-quality video and audio provided by Zoom, resulting in smooth, clear communication.
3. Useful features like screen sharing, chat, recording - Features like screen sharing, chat, breakout rooms, and the ability to record meetings make Zoom useful for collaboration and engagement.
4. Reliable performance - Reviewers said Zoom provides a reliable conferencing experience, even on slower networks. It rarely crashes or lags.
5. Widely used/cross-platform - Zoom works across devices and platforms, and its widespread use makes it easy when inviting others to meetings.

Cons

1. Privacy/security concerns - There were complaints about previous security issues like Zoombombing and privacy concerns around data handling.
2. Meeting limits in free version - The 40-minute limit on group meetings in the free version was frequently cited as a downside.
3. Video meeting fatigue - Staring at screens for hours during back-to-back Zoom meetings can be tiring and draining.
4. Technical glitches - Occasional issues with audio, connectivity problems, or other technical glitches were mentioned as frustrations.
5. Pricing concerns - Some felt the pricing for paid plans is too high, especially for smaller teams/businesses.

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5

Slack

Pricing

$7.25 per user/month

• Free version
• No Seat Minimum

Rating 4.5 (183,654)

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Slack is a popular communication tool for teams that lets colleagues easily communicate and collaborate on tasks and projects. Its easy-to-use interface makes it easy for teams to send chats, share files, and track the team’s progress. It is excellent for remote, hybrid, and in-office teams and integrates easily with several solutions. It is perfect for one-on-ones, huddles, and breakouts.

Pros

1. Easy to use interface and intuitive navigation. Many reviews mentioned Slack is simple to get started with and user-friendly.
2. Facilitates team communication and collaboration. Slack provides channels, threads, and direct messaging for organizing conversations and working together.
3. Integration capabilities. Slack seamlessly integrates with many apps like Google Drive, Trello, Zoom etc.
4. Customizable notification settings. Users can customize notifications to control interruptions.
5. Powerful search function. Slack's search allows quickly finding messages, files, and conversations.

Cons

1. Can be distracting with too many notifications and channels. This was a common downside mentioned in reviews.
2. Expensive compared to competitors, especially for larger teams. Pricing was seen as a drawback.
3. Message history limitations in free version. The free plan only stores 10,000 messages.
4. Learning curve. Slack has many features so completely mastering it takes time.
5. Privacy concerns and data security risks were also cited as potential issues.

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6

Discord

Pricing

Contact sales for pricing

• No Seat Minimum

Rating 4.7 (5,315,892)

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This instant messaging platform helps users communicate via different channels such as chat, audio, and video. It is mainly used by tech teams in the gaming industry. With Discord, your team can connect and interact with users in other external communities.

Pros

1. Great for communication and connecting with communities/friends (gaming, hobby groups, etc.)
2. Easy to use and intuitive interface
3. High quality voice/video calling for group chats
4. Customizable servers and channels allow organization
5. Broad platform availability - PC, mobile, web

Cons

1. Poor customer support/difficulty getting issues resolved
2. Problems with stability, bugs, crashes
3. Confusing interface for new users
4. Privacy/security concerns
5. Limitations of free version (file sizes, streaming quality, etc.)

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7

Trello

Pricing

$5.00 per user/month

• Free version
• Free trial available
• No Seat Minimum

Rating 4.4 (37,415)

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Trello is an excellent tool for task management and team communication. It lets you assign tasks to team members. You can also move those tasks into categories like to-do, assigned, in progress, and done. This way, you and your team can be aligned and have a visual map of tasks and their processes.

Pros

1. Intuitive and easy to use interface. Many reviews praised how simple Trello is to get started with and how the drag-and-drop functionality makes managing tasks incredibly convenient.
2. Flexibility and customization. Users like that they can customize workflows, boards, lists, cards, labels, etc. to suit their specific needs. Trello can be adapted for personal or business use.
3. Collaboration features. Reviews highlighted the ability to assign tasks, share boards, leave comments, and get notifications as key features that enable teams to work together seamlessly.
4. Integration with other apps. The ability to connect Trello with tools like Slack, Google Drive, Dropbox, etc. enhances workflows and productivity.
5. Free plan with robust features. Even the free version provides enough functionality for many users' needs, especially smaller teams and personal use.

Cons

1. Limitations of free plan. The free plan has restrictions like a cap on the number of boards, attachments size, etc. which can be limiting for larger teams.
2. Steep learning curve initially. Some users found Trello confusing at first and it took time to learn how to best organize boards and workflows.
3. Can get visually overwhelming. As the number of boards/cards increases, the visual interface can become cluttered and hard to navigate.
4. Lack of advanced features. Users noted a lack of time tracking, resource management, reporting, etc. for handling complex projects.
5. Performance issues. Some reviews mentioned occasional slowness in loading or syncing, especially with larger volumes of data.

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8

Microsoft Teams

Pricing

$6.00 per user/month

• Free trial available
• No Seat Minimum

Rating 4.3 (6,713,916)

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With versatile features like voice and video calls, group and private chat messages, video conferencing, and collaborations over Excel spreadsheets, Powerpoint, and Word docs, this tool has proven to be an excellent tool for remote team communication.

Pros

1. Integration with other Microsoft products like Outlook, OneDrive, SharePoint, etc. makes collaboration easy.
2. Offers a wide range of features like chat, video conferencing, file sharing, task management, etc. in one platform.
3. User-friendly and intuitive interface. Easy to get started.
4. Robust security features like encryption, 2-factor authentication, etc.
5. Available across platforms like desktop, web, iOS, Android. Provides flexibility.

Cons

1. Can be overwhelming for some users due to large number of features. Steep learning curve.
2. Occasional technical glitches and bugs.
3. Limited customization options for branding and UI.
4. Integration with non-Microsoft tools and platforms can be limited.
5. High resource usage and performance issues reported by some users.

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9

Asana

Pricing

$10.99 per user/month

• Free version
• Free trial available
• No Seat Minimum

Rating 4.4 (23,710)

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Just like Monday.com, Asana serves as a workflow tool. It works great for remote collaboration and communication. It lets team members work with Gantt charts and calendars that let them track tasks and deadlines. Team members can also assign tasks and drop comments.

Pros

1. User-friendly and intuitive interface
2. Powerful features for task management and project tracking
3. Enables easy collaboration through task assignment, file sharing, and real-time communication
4. Customizable workflows and views like Kanban boards and Gantt charts
5. Integrations with other tools like Slack, Google Drive, Dropbox etc.

Cons

1. Steep learning curve, especially for beginners
2. Can be overwhelming with extensive notifications
3. Limitations in advanced reporting capabilities
4. Expensive pricing plans for larger teams
5. Lack of robust time tracking and resource management features

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10

Basecamp

Pricing

$15.00 per user/month

• Free version
• Free trial available
• No Seat Minimum

Rating 4.2 (20,622)

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This team communication tool is perfect for medium to large teams. It enables team members to give updates on deliverables, milestones, and timelines. Some of its key features include task management, file sharing, document management, chatting and messaging, milestone tracking, etc. 

Pros

1. Easy to use interface and intuitive navigation. Many reviews mentioned Basecamp is user-friendly with a clean and simple interface, allowing for a short learning curve.
2. Centralized communication and collaboration. Multiple reviews liked having one place to store conversations, files, and tasks related to projects, improving teamwork and transparency.
3. Task management features. Reviews highlighted useful capabilities like assigning tasks, setting due dates, tracking progress, and managing to-do lists across projects.
4. Affordable pricing. Several reviews said Basecamp provides good value, with one flat monthly fee regardless of number of users or projects.
5. Mobile app accessibility. Some reviews appreciated being able to access Basecamp via iOS and Android apps, enabling remote work and availability on-the-go.

Cons

1. Reporting and analytics limitations. A common complaint was Basecamp lacks robust reporting features to get detailed insights on project progress.
2. Steep learning curve. Despite the simple interface, some reviews mentioned new users still face a learning curve in fully leveraging all of Basecamp's functionalities.
3. Limited customization options. Multiple reviews wanted more ability to customize projects, workflows, notifications and integrate with other tools.
4. Chat limitations. Compared to dedicated chat tools, reviews cited Basecamp's chat functionality can be basic and inconvenient.
5. Lack of key PM features. Reviews noted limitations around time tracking, calendars, Gantt charts, dependencies, and workflows for larger projects.

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Conclusion

Team communication tools have emerged as invaluable assets in the modern workplace, enabling teams to collaborate effectively, regardless of geographical boundaries. From instant messaging platforms to video conferencing solutions, these tools have revolutionized the way teams interact and work together, fostering improved productivity and fostering a sense of connectivity among team members. As technology continues to advance, the role of team communication tools will only become more integral in promoting seamless collaboration and enhancing overall team performance. Embracing these tools is not just a choice but a necessity for any organization aspiring to thrive in the dynamic and interconnected world of today.