Collaboration and teamwork strategies for design teams

If you’re about to plan a design workshop, it’s a great idea to get your team to be productive and working together.

There’s no point having a workshop if some people are going to sit there an observe – it’s all about collective input.

Before we get started, we need to make sure we have a solid plan for how we’re going to get the team to work together effectively.

We want to make sure everyone feels comfortable participating and contributing their ideas.

• One thing we could do is start with some icebreakers to help everyone get to know each other and feel more comfortable.
• We could also try using some team-building exercises to help foster collaboration and teamwork.
• And we should make sure to encourage everyone to speak up and share their thoughts and ideas.
• It’s important that everyone feels heard and valued. We could also try using some group brainstorming techniques to generate a lot of ideas and get everyone involved.
• And we should make sure to set some ground rules for the workshop, like no interrupting or judging, to create a safe and supportive environment for everyone.

If you focus on creating a collaborative and inclusive atmosphere, you’ll be able to get the most out of the workshop and come up with some really innovative solutions.

Best collaboration tools for workshops

• InVision — Invision is a design collaboration and prototyping tool that helps teams create and share interactive prototypes of their designs.
• Miro — The online collaborative whiteboard platform to bring teams together, anytime, anywhere.
• Extensis Digital Asset Management — Accessible, cloud-based digital asset management for smaller teams.
• UXPin — Meet UXPin Merge. The innovative tech powering code-based design.
• MockFlow — Online whiteboard for brainstorming user interfaces with your team
• Fluid UI — Fluid UI is a web-based prototyping tool that helps you create interactive mobile and web prototypes quickly and easily. It has a drag-and-drop interface, a library of UI elements, and a range of collaboration features.
• Mockup Machine — Use Mockup Machine services to design online mockups, wireframes, UX/UI mockups, software mockups, and prototypes.
• Proto.io — Build interactive web, iOS, Android, and other low or high-fidelity prototypes right into your web browser. Drag and drop ready-to-use, easily customizable templates, UI components, icons, and more, to prototype in minutes! No coding skills required.
• SmartDraw — SmartDraw’s ERD software is one of the most popular and widely used ERD software programs available. It is easy to use and includes a library of symbols and templates to help users create diagrams quickly and easily.
• Workfront — Workfront is an enterprise work management platform that helps teams manage projects, tasks, and resources in one place. It helps teams collaborate, automate processes, and get work done faster.
• WeTransfer — WeTransfer is the simplest way to send your files around the world. Share large files and photos. Transfer up to 2GB free. File sharing made easy!
• Balsamiq — Balsamiq is the company behind Balsamiq Wireframes, the industry standard low-fidelity wireframing tool.
• Basecamp — Trusted by millions, Basecamp puts everything you need to get work done in one place. It’s the calm, organized way to manage projects, work with clients, and communicate company-wide.
• Schoology — Schoology is an online learning platform that helps students, teachers, and administrators collaborate, share resources, and manage their classes. It offers tools for communication, assessment, and grading, as well as a library of digital content.
• LucidSpark — The virtual whiteboard that connects teams so they can bring their best ideas to life
• Amadine.com — Amadine is a powerful vector graphics editor for Mac. It’s easy to use, with a modern interface and powerful tools for creating logos, illustrations, icons, and more. It’s perfect for professionals and hobbyists alike.
• TickTick — Join millions of people to capture ideas, manage to-dos and make the most of your life with TickTick.
• GoToMeeting — GoToMeeting is the easiest and most convenient way to meet with colleagues, clients, and customers from anywhere, with just one click.
• Taskade — Taskade is the ultimate task list app for teams. Unleash your productivity with modern task lists, notes, and mind maps, in one unified workspace.
• ShareFile — Citrix ShareFile is the secure file sharing and transfer service that’s built for business. Click here to try sharing files with clients and colleagues for free!
• ProtoPie — Build better products with our realistic & no-code prototyping tool. Ideal for all designers, UX researchers, and developers.
• Wrike — Only Wrike’s work management platform gives your team full visibility and control over all your tasks and projects. Project management software has never been more collaborative.
• ClassDojo — Build wonderful classroom communities with parents and students
• UserBit — UserBit is a comprehensive user research tool that helps product teams to understand their users better.
• Remember the Milk — Remember The Milk is the popular to-do list that’s everywhere you are: from your phone, to the web, to your Google apps, and more. Used by millions worldwide.
• Google Meet — Meet with others from anywhere with secure, easy-to-join video meetings from Google.
• Slack — Slack is a new way to communicate with your team. It’s faster, and more secure than email.
• SurveyGizmo — SurveyGizmo is an online survey platform that helps businesses create surveys, collect data, and analyze results. It offers powerful features, such as custom logic, branching, and reporting, to help you get the insights you need.
• HotGloo — HotGloo is a UX, wireframe and prototyping tool designed to build wireframes for web, mobile and wearables.
• Airtable — Airtable is a cloud-based platform that helps teams organize their work and collaborate. It combines the power of a database with the flexibility of a spreadsheet, making it easy to create custom workflows and manage data.