Freelancing is not always about working solo. There are times when you have to work together with other developers or designers. This means you have to keep in close contact with the client and with other team members. Everyone needs to receive proper feedback (sometimes very quickly) and there needs to be a central storage place for all the project files and documentation.

Working as a team while being in the same building can sometimes be a pain. Working as a team while members are spread all across the world can be a lot more difficult. Without the proper collaboration tools that is!

So here are some very cool web collaboration tools that I’ve been using for the last couple of years:

1. Skype

If you want to be taken seriously as a freelancer, you must have a Skype account. For most clients, chatting is not enough, especially when you’re working on your first project together.

Skype provides the best quality audio and can be used as a phone replacement, making it very easy to talk with people from London, Paris or New York without spending a dime.

2. ConceptShare

A client of mine introduced me to ConceptShare and since then we have been using it on every single project. It’s a web based application built in Flash, that allows you to upload designs, documents and videos and gather feedback from other team members.

You can set up multiple workspaces for each individual project, apply mark up directly on top of the images, make comments, receive notifications by email, etc. Just noticed the latest features include a print option and a tool called Desktop Downloader.

It’s definitely one of the best web collaboration tools ever!

3. Unfuddle

Unfuddle is a great tool for project management and it’s very similar to the more popular Basecamp (the team I work with used it for a while). Not much to say here… If you know a few things about project management, you will definitely appreciate Unfuddle. It has a clean interface and an easy way to set up projects, milestones, tickets, keep track of changes and messages, as well as receive notifications by email.

4. TortoiseSVN

TortoiseSVN is a Subversion client for Windows, implemented as a shell extension. For the not technical types, this tool allows you and other team members to work on the same files (stored in a central repository), without overwriting your changes and wasting hours and hours of work (we’ve all been there, right?).

You can access all the functions just by right clicking on a versioned file. All you need to remember is to Update the file before editing and to Commit after you’re done. If you forget to Update, the software will let you know, so no chance to overwrite anything, unless you really want to.

5. PayMo

Like I said in a previous post, I use PayMo mostly as a time tracking tool, because it’s free for just one user. But PayMo is more powerfull when it’s used as collaboration tool. It’s a great tool for both Users and Managers, especially since they just added a new online invoicing module.

The interface is very intuitive and this is something you don’t usually find in large time tracking applications. The design is very clean and easy on the eyes.

Add your favorites to the list

Do you have other web applications that I’m not aware of? Add your favourites and share your experiences in the comments.