Analysis and recommendation of key AI tools for improving team meetings, communication, collaboration, and content creation

You will not be replaced by AI but someone who uses AI. ChatGPT has taken the world by storm in a few months. And, as big tech giants are playing catchup, organizations are trying to figure out how to incorporate AI tools into their day-to-day operations.

Unfortunately, companies are adopting a reactive approach rather than being proactive. One of their biggest mistakes is implementing AI tools without having clear business goals or a purpose. Trying to stay relevant is not enough.

To make things worse, the speed at which new tools and AI features are launched – almost daily – adds more confusion. Most of the leaders I work with struggle to filter out the noise from the signal.

In this post, I will focus on how day-to-day AI tools can improve team collaboration and how to be more intentional about which to use.

How to Use AI Tools to Improve Team Collaboration

Before jumping into the best AI tools for team collaboration, let’s reflect on how to best approach them.

AI is changing how teams collaborate and communicate, with various tools that able to enhance productivity and streamline tasks. From project management to document collaboration and email management, there are many opportunities for teams to use AI tools.

However, AI’s potential goes beyond increasing productivity – AI should augment human intelligence, not replace it. In other words, AI can improve collaboration by becoming an additional team member.

As David Coleman said, "We're moving into an era where collaboration is not just human-to-human but human-to-machine collaboration and machine-to-machine collaboration."

Here are some tips to intentionally experiment with, learn, and adopt AI tools for your team.

Start with a clear goal

There are many AI tools available in the market, and it’s essential to identify the one that best suits your needs. What’s the problem you’re trying to solve and what’s the desired outcome? Determine a few clear and measurable goals.

Start small

Most teams are already experiencing tech overload. Research shows that companies are rolling out new technologies faster than employees can learn to use them. Implementing AI tools can be overwhelming but also a distraction. Exploring the various possibilities of ChatGPT can be time-consuming and cause team members to get stuck in analysis paralysis.

Replace, don't add

It's easy to fall into the trap of adding more tools. However, sometimes the best solution is to replace the current tools altogether. By doing so, you can save time and money. Additionally, replacing existing tools provides an opportunity to reassess your workflow and identify areas for improvement. So, before adding more AI tools to your arsenal, consider whether replacing your current ones may be the better option.

Address fears and obstacles

There are several fears and obstacles associated with implementing AI tools, such as job displacement, ethical concerns, and security risks. Address these fears and concerns openly and honestly to help your team feel more comfortable with the technology.

Train your team

Provide training and support to help your team effectively use AI tools. Encourage them to experiment with the tools and share their experiences with the rest of the team. Remember, practice makes perfect.

Evaluate and adjust

AI tools are in a race to add features quickly. Don't get attached to a new tool too fast. Teams tend to stick to what's familiar and are less open to trying new tools.

This also means avoiding annual plans. While many AI tools offer discounts for yearly subscriptions, you may regret committing to one if a better alternative emerges quickly or in a more promising direction.

Regularly evaluate AI tool performance; adjust the approach to optimize initiatives and ensure maximum ROI.

Best AI Tools for Team Collaboration

Here’s a list of recommended AI tools to improve your team's effectiveness. They’re organized by category: meetings management, email and content management, video creation, documentation, and project management.

Technology alone won’t fix your team’s problems, but it will accelerate both the good and the bad that already exist. People and AI bring different skills and abilities to the table – you need the right process and culture to make them work together.

Research by Chess Grandmaster Garry Kasparov discovered that “weak human + machine + better process” is superior to “strong human + machine + inferior process.”

It’s important to note that most tools are expanding beyond their original categories – as the competition increases, cannibalization will accelerate, too.

Check out the different tools, test them, and get used to the new era of human-to-machine collaboration.

1. Best AI Tools for Meeting Management

• Note-taking and meeting recording: Otter.ai, Fireflies,

• Agreements: TARA, Almanac

• Action items and follow-up: Taskade, Notion

Otter.ai

Otter.ai is a transcription and note-taking tool that uses AI to create real-time transcriptions of meetings, interviews, and webinars. Otter.ai also offers search and sharing features for easy collaboration.

How team members can use Otter.ai:

• Transcribe and summarize meetings in real time, automatically generating meeting notes

• Use real-time transcription to keep track of critical points and decisions made during a meeting

• AI-powered speaker identification makes it easy to attribute comments to the correct speaker

• Can transcribe multiple languages making it great for global teams

• Share transcripts with team members for collaboration and note-taking purposes

• Use Otter.ai's search feature to quickly find specific points in a conversation

• Train Otter.ai to recognize specific terminology or industry jargon to improve accuracy

Watchouts:

• The free version of Otter.ai allows for up to 600 minutes of transcription per month – you could eat those minutes pretty quickly

• Not everyone will grant Otter.ai access to a video call – or feel comfortable with having an app recording notes without their consent

• The accuracy of the transcription may vary depending on the quality of the audio input

Fireflies

Fireflies is an AI-powered meeting assistant to help teams take more efficient and effective meeting notes. It’s an alternative to Otter.ai – some consider Fireflies to be better.

How team members can use Fireflies:

• Transcribe and summarize meetings in real-time, automatically generating meeting notes

• Use Fireflies’ “Use Case” to select from different modes depending on the kind of meeting you attend (education, sales, recruiting, etc.)

• Share the meeting summary and key highlights with team members who were unable to attend a meeting

• Transcribe interviews so you can be present and focus on listening

• Integrate it into a CRM to input key client data

• Use the searchable archive of past meetings notes

Watchouts:

• Fairly accurate but not as good as human note-taking

• Language/accent barrier

• The meeting recap is not very effective

2. Best AI Tools for Email and Content Writing

• Writing: Grammarly, Ellie, Copy.ai

• Managing: Superhuman, Notion

Grammarly GO

Grammarly Go is the evolution of Grammarly, bringing the power of generative AI to the digital spaces you write in most. I’ve been using Grammarly for a long time (305 weeks in a row, according to their weekly reminders).

With Go, Grammarly has expanded beyond grammar, spell-checking, and tone analysis, now offering the ability to improve your writing, provide alternatives, or shorten it.

Grammarly GO can be used with various applications, including email, messaging, social media apps, and web browsers. It offers a simple and easy-to-use interface.

How team members can use Grammarly GO:

• Improve your writing with its comprehensive grammar and spell-checking

• Use writing tone and style so the entire team communicates with one voice

• Improve individual skill writing using its detailed feedback and suggested improvements

• Experiment with different writing styles and tones using Grammarly's suggestions to improve clarity and effectiveness

• Use Grammarly Go with a range of applications, including email, messaging, and social media apps, as well as web browsers, to improve your writing on-the-go

• Monitor progress and stay motivated (last week, I wrote over 30,000 words total and used more unique words than 93% of users)

Watchouts:

• The advanced features, such as tone analysis and writing improvement, are only available with the premium version

• Grammarly may not catch all errors, and some of the suggested improvements may not be relevant or useful for every writer

• By default, it prioritizes efficient writing and suggests shorten all sentences, even at the expense of clarity or flow

• It doesn’t work across all platforms (e.g., you can’t use it on Microsoft Outlook on Mac)

Superhuman

Superhuman is an AI-powered email management tool that can help teams manage their email exchanges more efficiently. It provides an intuitive email interface and automation features to streamline email tasks.

Superhuman helps teams tackle email overload, stay on top of emails, and reduce email anxiety.

Superhuman promises teams to hit Inbox Zero. While the tool increases productivity, that might be an unrealistic goal considering that mindsets and limitations can get in the way. However, overall, it really improves the email experience.

How team members can use Superhuman:

• Use Superhuman's intuitive email interface to manage emails more efficiently

• You can triage emails: Is this message for today, for another day, or is it done?

• Utilize Superhuman's automation features to streamline email tasks, such as scheduling emails, setting reminders, and snoozing emails

• Use its personalized coaching to help team members improve their email habits

• Use Superhuman's analytics and reporting features to gain insights into email performance and identify areas for improvement

• Train Superhuman on specific email topics to improve accuracy and efficiency

• Use Superhuman's integration with other tools, such as Google Calendar or Trello, to streamline workflows

Watchouts:

• It may not work well for users who prefer a more traditional email experience

• It requires a change of mindset, as the tool by itself is not enough to change how the team deals with emails

• Changing old habits requires intentionality and new productivity systems; not everyone is willing to put in the effort

3. Best AI Tools for Video Creation

Descript

Descript is an AI-powered audio and video editor that quickly cleans up video recording. Unsurprisingly, it has become the tool of choice for many podcasters because of its easy-to-use editing interface. Quickly remove filler words and pauses in a recording by deleting them in the transcript – just as simple as editing a Word document.

Descript improves the clarity and impact of team communication and messaging.

How team members can use Descript:

• Use Descript to transcribe audio and video files, making it easier to search and locate specific content

• Transcribe Zoom video calls and meeting notes in real time

• Edit the transcription to remove errors, pauses, or repetitions

• Record guests remotely for a town hall when host and guest are not in the same location

• Collaborate with team members on editing projects by sharing access to Descript projects and providing feedback on changes made

• Utilize Descript's AI-powered editing suggestions to enhance the quality of the content

Watchouts:

• It may not be as accurate as human transcription in some cases

• Requires some time to learn how to use Descript's editing features

Loom

Loom is a video messaging tool that enables teams to create and share short videos quickly. Loom is the async video messaging tool for work, seeking to replace calls and meetings. It’s a fantastic, easy-to-use tool to address questions, product demos, tutorials, Q&As, etc. I use it a lot to provide challenges or exercises to teams I’m coaching, as well as to provide pre-work for my programs.

With Loom, teams can quickly record and share video messages to communicate ideas, give feedback, and collaborate more effectively. You can monitor if people have watched your videos –  many use it for sales pitches, too.

Loom offers a variety of features, such as screen recording, webcam recording, and the ability to add annotations and comments to videos.

4. Best AI Tools for Documentation and Asynchronous Collaboration

• Keeping teams informed: Almanac, Notion

• Managing asynchronous collaboration: Notion, Taskade

Notion

Notion is an AI-powered productivity tool that can help teams organize, manage, and collaborate on projects. It can provide a central location for storing and sharing information, as well as automating tedious tasks.

Notion can help teams streamline project management and productivity processes by automating repetitive tasks and providing advanced productivity tools.

At an additional fee, Notion AI helps enhance writing, editing, and productivity. It can summarize notes, analyze meeting notes, and generate next steps in real time. Its writing feature works better than some writing-specific tools.

I’ve written a couple of draft articles in Notion, and it has provided some great suggestions to improve or shorten sentences.

How team members can use Notion:

• Create a single source for documentation, including project details, meeting notes, and team documents

• Utilize its automation features to streamline tasks, such as scheduling meetings and assigning tasks

• Use Notion's collaboration features to enable team members to work together on projects in real time

• Customize its variety of templates to optimize workflows for specific projects or tasks

• Integrate Notion with other tools, such as project management software and communication tools, to create a comprehensive productivity system

• Use Notion's knowledge management features to create and share resources, such as FAQs or best practices

Watchouts:

• It takes some time for users to go through the learning curve

• It requires some time to set up and learn how to use it effectively

• It may not work well for large or complex projects

• It can be too expensive for large teams

Almanac

Almanac is a direct competitor to Notion with some great templates. Almanac wants to position itself as “the” platform for async collaboration – a more modern version of Notion.

Almanac provides a variety of great templates that your team can customize. However, you have to request early access and schedule a demo session to get it.

5. Best AI Tools for Project Management

• Integration: Maestro.ai

• Automation of tasks: TARA, Wrike, Zapier

• Monitoring workload: TARA, Wrike

Maestro.ai

Maestro.ai is an AI-powered collaboration platform on a mission to fight communication fragmentation. Its technology can scan, read, and make sense of the multiple messages your team gets across platforms throughout the day. Maestro.ai saves you time by surfacing information that matters.

Remember when Slack was supposed to kill email? Well, that didn’t happen. Worse, teams are now communicating across multiple tools that don’t talk to each other. The results: fragmented conversations and the need to monitor platforms to stay up-to-date with the latest team issues – often trying to find a chat that started in Slack and continued elsewhere.

Maestro can turn multiple conversations into skimmable summaries, providing team leaders with the necessary information.

How team members and leaders can use Maestro.ai:

• Create an on-demand, single source of truth

• Understand the workload and prioritize tasks

• Access a summary of what happened since the last time you browsed a Slack channel

• Rather than going to a wiki to create documentation, Maestro.ai does it for you

• Make sense out of long Slack threads

• Integrate your team’s documents, chats, conversations, and tickets

• Automate repetitive tasks, such as scheduling and follow-ups

Watchouts:

• Still in beta phase, with limited access

• The current version is working on Slack, Notion, and Jira - Google Docs and email are coming up soon

• The company is initially focusing on developer teams

Wrike

Wrike is an AI-powered project management tool that can help teams manage projects and collaborate more effectively. It can provide a centralized location for task tracking, as well as automation features to streamline project management. Wrike wants to change the way teams work forever.

Wrike offers several features to streamline project management and improve team collaboration. Its Work Intelligence technology uses machine learning to help you finish your tasks, telling you what to do next or assigning tasks to another team member.

Smart Replies suggests responses to common requests from colleagues, saving writing time.

Lastly, Wrike’s Project Risk Prediction can anticipate when a project will be finished based on similar ones, as well as raise flags if the project starts to fall behind.

How team members and leaders can use Wrike:

• Manage a centralized location for project management and collaboration

• Get real-time updates on project progress, keeping everyone informed

• Quickly respond to customers using pre-written messages

• Automate marketing activities like scheduling social media posts or sending newsletters

• Estimate when a project will be finished based on past experience

• Implement changes based on Wrike's analytics to improve team productivity and effectiveness

Watchouts:

• It may be too complex or feature-rich for some users

• Some teams find Wrike’s pricing too high

• It may require some time to learn how to use it effectively

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Getting started with AI tools in the workplace requires a clear goal, the right tools, training, and a willingness to experiment. By taking a strategic and intentional approach, teammates and leaders can successfully implement AI tools and improve team collaboration.