Best Collaboration Tools in South Korea – Changing the Work Culture

Covid-19 is changing the world rapidly. People work from home because of social distancing, but still have to complete projects with their colleagues. Therefore, collaboration is essential. Many might have heard of collaboration tools, but might not be sure of what the tools are and how they could work for you and your business. Collaboration tools are software that allows you to share, process, and manage files between several users and systems. This is perfect for those working remotely in Korea because it allows them to work simultaneously on a task or project once logged into the system.

Korea has a collective work culture with principled rules and a rigid hierarchy. As an employee, one even has to follow some unwritten rules in the Korean workplace. However, collaboration tools are changing some aspects of the work culture in Korea. It is being used to streamline workflows and manage tasks through cloud-based schedules, wherever their employees are.

Collaboration tools help businesses maintain work and connections remotely. In the past, people tended to hold meetings or write emails to communicate and use other software to work on projects. Collaboration tools enable people to work more efficiently online during the COVID-19 pandemic. The demand for collaboration tools is rising these days. Some data shows that working from home can increase productivity and more importantly decrease employee-quit rates.

Here are some of the most common collaboration tools in South Korea, which have changed Koreans’ work culture.

Best Collaboration Tools in South Korea

Slack –  Sharing Information through Open Channels

Over 750,000 companies use Slack to get work done. Slack looks similar to Messenger as it has multiple chatting rooms called ‘channels’. You can create channels for each team or project to manage conversations. These channels let you and your team know where to go to ask questions, share updates, and stay in the loop. You can also share files and have a voice or video call to communicate better. Companies rely on Slack to help them safely scale their business and bridge global departments. The business has to pay $6.67 (7,500 won) per month for the service.

While Slack is popular in Korea, many Korean companies find Slack difficult to use because it does not have Korean support. In addition, it does not offer on-site sales and technical support in Korea. Therefore if there are any issues, immediate customer support is not available. Those working in Korea will need to get support via email communication.

Jandi – A Korean Version Of Slack

JANDI is known as the Korean version of Slack. It is one of the top SaaS startups in Korea. JANDI is a group-oriented messaging platform with an integrated suite of collaboration tools. Compared to Slack, It is easier to use and reflects Korean companies’ corporate culture. Group messaging can be done in the chat room. You can open up company-wide communication and information sharing with public spaces by department or project team. And it supports video meetings with up to 300 participants. JANDI gains users by providing a “one-stop platform for anything work-related.” You can use other platforms, including Evernote Business, Google Drive, and Asana.

JANDI offers language support for English, Korean, Chinese, and Japanese. On JANDI, co-workers can message each other and share files. In addition, it has search functions such as Dropbox. It also provides interesting emoticons and animated stickers, much like KakaoTalk. Users can use JANDI for free up to 5GB of storage; if they want more, they will need to upgrade to their premium service.

Many Korean tech startups such as Wadiz and VT Cosmetics and enterprises such as CJ and LG CNS are actively using JANDI. Furthermore, Toss Lab, the creator of JANDI is headquartered in Seoul and has offices in Taipei, Tokyo, Kuala Lumpur, and Dubai. Their focus for 2022 will be to continue to improve their SaaS tool development for the Southeast Asian market. TossLab has raised over $12 million in funding through its Series B round from Softbank Ventures, Atinum Investment, SV Investment, SparkLab, Sinhan Capital, and T-Investment.

“Messengers for individuals are on the rise, but they are also widely used in workspaces which cause some problems. We observe the phenomenon not only in small companies but also in larger businesses. We will expand JANDI’s business so that it will reach more customers, not only in Korea but also in other Asian countries,” said CEO of Toss Lab, Daniel Chan.

Gotalk

Korean startup Klounge specializes in WebRTC and SAAS platforms. It is the operator of the video conferencing platform Gotalk.to and visual assistant platform Videohelp.me. Gotalk is a low-latency browser-based video meeting platform that doesn’t require any apps and most features can be used without signing up. When using Gotalk it is recommended to use Chrome on Windows, Mac, or Android. For iOS, it is recommended to use Safari. It offers a good range of collaboration tools such as screen sharing, video sharing, integrated YouTube search, file sharing, drawing on webcams, whiteboarding, etc. In addition, you can easily connect with others easily by using custom URLs that can be created in any language. By clicking the shared link, users can connect to group video meetings instantly with no apps or log in.

Kakao launched a business messenger platform called Kakao Work to meet the growing demand for contactless communication tools due to COVID-19. It is a cloud-based business platform tailored to business requirements such as enhanced security and encrypted data. Furthermore, the platform offers messaging, group chats, video meetings, and work culture services. Kakaowork’s video calls can support 30 participants at a time and could go up to as high as 200 in the future.

What separates Kakao Talk from Kakao Work is that employees can block messages after they are off work. Therefore, companies can have their employee database so employees can message each other without exchanging phone numbers. In addition, there is a time clock feature that allows employees to share when they started and finished their work. It also applies to requesting and monitoring vacations.

Microsoft teams –  Collaborate, Share, Call, and More

Teams is a communication and collaboration tool released by Microsoft two years ago. It combines a few collaboration functions that enable consistent workplace chat, video meetings, file storage, and application integration. Similar to Slack, you can create and manage channels by topic. Instead of switching between several apps, using Microsoft services such as MS Office, OneDrive, and Outlook Mail on one tool is more convenient. Having an excellent team space is key to making creative decisions and communicating with one another. The core features are all free except for the meeting recording.

In 2019, Microsoft started offering data residency for customers in South Korea. Therefore team members in Korea who signed up after July 9th of, 2019, are served through their local data center. Older users will still have their files stored in one of the Asia Pacific data centers in either Hong Kong or Singapore. Microsoft now has data centers in Seoul and Busan which allow users in Korea to store data in Korea.

Twist – Clear and Organized Team Communication

Using Slack is fun at first, but it comes with the stress of checking messages updated in real-time. Twist is a collaboration tool that makes your team communication less chaotic. All new updates can be checked in the inbox. Furthermore, all conversations are used separately based on channel, thread, and message. Some businesses will be more urgent and more important than others. Use messages when you need to communicate quickly with one person or a small group of people. If you have an ongoing topic to discuss with several people and don’t need an immediate response, create a thread. Twist makes your work more organized, and best of all, it comes in Korean! It is free to use, and you can upgrade for unlimited access for $5 per month.

Notion – Notes, Tasks, Wikis, All-in-one

Notion is a collaboration tool app designed to manage projects by gathering scattered tasks in one place. It builds a living record of meetings for team members so that anyone can easily get the information they need. Unlike the other tools that create folders, Notion allows you to collect and manage every page on the homepage. You can add files, events, to-dos, tables, boards, galleries, calendars, and more in one place. Notion is now free for personal users. Moreover, there are discounts for qualified educational, nonprofit, and community organizations.

Notion already has Notion Ambassadors in South Korea who teach courses and manage Facebook groups on Notion. Companies like Samsung and Socar are using Notion since the app is now available in Korean.

Wrap-up: Collaboration tools are the trend

Collaboration tools in South Korea are boosting productivity and changing work culture. Therefore, people can choose different devices according to their needs. If you want to raise your efficiency and save more time, use Microsoft Teams or Notion. If you wish for better team communication, try Slack and Twist. Otherwise, if you miss the work culture in Korea, Jandi or Kakao Work might be your best option.

The pandemic has changed people’s lifestyles drastically, bringing uncertainty and challenges. Korea’s work culture may change over time. Above all, collaboration tools are the trend.