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March 18, 2013

Minigroup – How Small Groups Collaborate

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Minigroup is a tool that teams can use to work together on all types of projects. Groups of people can share files, messages, and information in a way that’s more streamlined than using a shared documents folder and more secure than traditional email.

Start collaborating more effectively with your own team by signing up for Minigroup and creating your first “minigroup.” Give your group a name, description, image, and category, and decide whether the people you invite should be able to invite other collaborators, as well. When you open up your minigroup on the Minigroup platform, you’ll see an activity stream, messages, and task lists. You’ll also find an Events tab, where you can see the dates of upcoming meetings and sync those dates to iCal or Google Calendar. The conversations you have with your group are clearly posted in chronological order, making it easy for people who’ve been out of the loop to get caught up on the latest developments at any point. You can also share large files by dragging and dropping them right from your desktop into the activity stream, and sort files that have been added to any minigroup by file type, keyword, or the date they were added.

The more minigroups you create, the more useful Minigroup will become in your everyday life. Create a Family group where you can post schedules and share plans with your spouse and kids, a Hockey group where you can set-up practice sessions with your teammates, and an Education group where you can work on lesson plans for the college course you’re teaching next semester. You can even invite clients or students to participate in the minigroups you create, making Minigroup an essential tool for both internal and external collaboration.

Practical Uses:

  • Collaborate with a client on a web design project
  • Assign tasks to colleagues when working on group projects
  • Keep your contractor updated on all your latest ideas for your kitchen renovation
  • Get caught up on what everyone at your company was up to while you were away on vacation

Insider Tips:

  • Minigroup syncs with iCal and Google Calendar
  • Users can attach files up to 500MB in size
  • As many as 500 people can join a minigroup
  • Minigroup notifies group members via email when tasks have been marked as complete

What we liked:

  • Companies can create separate minigroups for each client they’re working with
  • Minigroups are simple enough that they don’t seem overwhelming
  • People can catch up on lengthy conversations by scrolling through a single page
  • Managers can assign tasks to specific team members, or leave them open for anyone to complete
  • Minigroup works on all smartphones without any apps needed

What we didn’t like:

  • Nothing

Alternatives:

Company Info:

  • Launched: May 2011 (Public Beta)
  • Privately Held
  • Headquarters: Calgary, Canada
  • Web site: https://minigroup.com

Costs:

  • 3 minigroups for $5/month
  • 10 minigroups for $9/month
  • 25 minigroups for $19/month
  • 50 minigroups for $29/month

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