Podcast Summary: The Digital Marketing Podcast

Episode: Top Collaboration Tools
Hosts: Daniel Rowles & Ciaran Rogers
Date: August 13, 2017

Episode Overview

In this lively and practical episode, Daniel Rowles and Ciaran Rogers explore their favorite digital collaboration tools, reflecting on how remote work has transformed both their day-to-day operations and wider client expectations. Drawing on firsthand experience with distributed teams, they break down the strengths and quirks of various tools for planning, communication, document editing, video calling, mind mapping, and surveys—offering honest comparisons and actionable recommendations.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Shift to Distributed Work

• Target Internet has shifted to a fully distributed (remote) organization—no central office—which, as Daniel points out, was once a "dealbreaker" for clients but is now seen as progressive.

  “If I'd walked into them five years ago and said, yeah, we don't have an office ... that would have been the end of the conversation. ... Now, ‘Oh, you’re distributed. That's amazing!’” (Daniel, 00:43)

• While remote work offers flexibility, it introduces new challenges for communication and coordination, requiring more thoughtful tool selection and clear protocols.

2. The Downside of Email and Channel Fatigue

• Email can be overwhelming, especially in larger organizations with excessive CC-ing and BCC-ing. The hosts cite data showing for every email sent, you get 1.7 back—so endless inbox management is a losing battle.
• Different team members prefer different channels, so flexibility and awareness of colleagues’ preferences are key.

  “If you SMS me, I will reply straight away. But actually if you direct message me in Facebook Messenger, I am shocking at replying ... possibly the worst possible way to message me is a LinkedIn message.” (Daniel, 01:38)

• For larger organizations, setting communication boundaries and protocols is critical to reducing noise and improving productivity.

3. Top Collaboration & Planning Tools

A. Task Management: Asana & Trello

Asana

• Ciaran’s new favorite tool for task/project management. He praises its simplicity, freemium model, granular control (subtasks, spreadsheet imports), and strong calendar integration.

  “It’s beautifully uncomplicated ... simplicity itself, really. And it’s got great granularity.” (Ciaran, 05:47)

• Asana supports different work styles, from lists to card-based (kanban) views similar to Trello.

Trello

• Previously a favorite, especially for visual planners who like Post-It note workflows.

  “For a long time, Trello was my go-to digital space where I was able to do that collaboratively online.” (Ciaran, 07:14)

• Both tools are valuable for assigning/monitoring project tasks, vital in remote teams.

Key Segment

• Asana/Trello comparison and practical features: [05:10–10:12]

B. Collaborative Document Editing: Google Docs & Dropbox

• Google Docs is commended for its low barrier to entry and real-time collaboration—particularly useful across organizations and agencies.

  “It is really, really great for not only all being in the same spreadsheet and making changes at the same time… you do have full auditing of who changed what when.” (Ciaran, 11:40)

• Daniel is less enthusiastic, citing organizational adoption challenges and a personal dislike of Google’s UI outside of search.

  “I have a general problem with Google interfaces other than search, so… everything feels a bit clunky.” (Daniel, 10:45)

• Dropbox is praised for file sharing and version rollback, though used differently from real-time document editing.

Key Segment

• Google Docs, Dropbox strengths/weaknesses: [10:26–13:11]

C. Collaborative Mind Mapping: Coggle

• Ciaran recommends Coggle (coggle.it) for live, collaborative mind mapping with a simple interface and mobile compatibility.

  “As you know, I'm a big mind map fan but [Coggle] is one of the best sources of online collaboratively mind mapping stuff I've found.” (Ciaran, 13:13)

• Bullet-point structure keeps complexity manageable and encourages concise contributions.

Key Segment

• Mind mapping tools: [13:11–14:39]

D. Video Conferencing & Screen Sharing

• Skype: Default choice due to ubiquity and integrated chat/video/screen sharing.

  “Because I’ve got the direct chat kind of instant messenger open at the same time… I can shift between typing, video, and audio very quickly and I think that’s why I quite like it.” (Daniel, 17:29)

• Google Hangouts: Praised for natural-feeling meetings—speaker view mimics face-to-face shifts.

  “It does mimic that face-to-face contact as closely as I've seen.” (Ciaran, 16:08)

• Join.me: Unique in allowing guests to join meetings via browser link without software or accounts (except for the host), solving tricky firewall/IT system issues in corporations.

  “To host a meeting, you have to have software installed… But anybody joining it just needs a web address, nothing more.” (Ciaran, 19:34)

• Zoom: Noted for affordable webinars, robust screen sharing, separate audio files for each speaker (great for podcasting), and audience polling.

  “Audio quality is really, really good. ... some really great webinar features… up to 100 or more, actually if you pay a little bit more, people using it. It goes right up to 500, I think.” (Ciaran, 20:05; Daniel, 21:07)

Key Segment

• Video conferencing tools (Skype, Hangouts, Join.me, Zoom): [14:39–21:33]

E. Questionnaire & Survey Tools

• SurveyMonkey: Easy to set up, many question formats, suitable for internal/external feedback.
• Google Surveys: Lets you specify audience demographics and delivers questions directly to relevant users.
• Daniel notes another (unnamed) tool by the WordPress team, promising to update in show notes.
• Pro tip: Target audiences for surveys more creatively using pay-per-click/display advertising to distribute survey links.
• Importance of internal process: Insights from social media or surveys must be shared with wider teams, not kept siloed.

  “If you ask questions there needs to be a process of doing something different afterwards. So the whole process piece is probably worth trying to think about before you even ask the questions.” (Daniel, 25:36)

Key Segment

• Survey tools and customer feedback: [23:05–25:36]

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Email Fatigue:

  “For every email that you send, you get 1.7 emails back, which means it's a battle you can't win.” (Daniel, 01:56)

• On Collaboration Preferences:

  “We’re small enough that we can adjust it by the individual… For bigger organizations, you need to set boundaries and rules to these things.” (Daniel, 01:17)

• On Mind Maps:

  “The other thing I love about mind maps is they tend to be bullet pointed. It’s difficult to write too much on them. And that's good. Less is more when you're dealing with lots of complex things.” (Ciaran, 14:23)

• On Fake Webinars:

  “They are recordings… I think this is horrific forms of scams, because it is directly lying. ... Anyone that does these… you are charlatans.” (Daniel, 22:34)

• On Social Survey Insights:

  “All too often they remain siloed within the social media team … do a little bit of soul searching and questioning as to how you might be able to make use of some of those insights.” (Ciaran, 24:54)

• On Human Touch in Remote Work:

  “I still think you never really replace face to face because of the nuance and so on, but there’s lots of ways of taking the advantage of being in different locations and then filling those gaps.” (Daniel, 25:52)

Timestamps for Important Segments

• 00:23–02:49: The evolution to remote/distributed teams and changing client attitudes
• 03:02–03:57: The pitfalls of email overload in large organizations
• 05:10–10:12: Task management tools: Asana vs. Trello; practical use cases
• 10:26–13:11: Collaborative document editing: Google Docs, Dropbox comparison
• 13:11–14:39: Collaborative mind mapping with Coggle
• 14:39–21:33: Video conferencing tools: Skype, Hangouts, Join.me, Zoom; pitfalls & unique features
• 23:05–25:36: Survey tools (SurveyMonkey, Google Surveys) and making use of customer insights

Conclusion

Daniel and Ciaran’s refreshingly candid discussion covers not just the features of today’s digital collaboration toolbox, but also the practical realities and cultural hurdles remote teams face. Their recommendations—spanning from task management and mind mapping to video calls and customer feedback—are grounded in real-world experience, with a recurring theme: no digital solution is perfect, and face-to-face interaction still brings unique benefits. Listeners are encouraged to experiment, set clear communication norms, and most of all, share what works (or flops) in their own organizations.

To learn more or access the resources mentioned, visit: Target Internet