When was the last time your team truly clicked—ideas flowing, decisions made, and everyone aligned on what’s next? For many business teams, that kind of collaboration feels like chasing lightning in a bottle. Between remote teams, tool overload, and time constraints, teamwork can easily become fragmented. But a new visual collaboration tool—like Zoho’s just-launched Vani—is making it easier to bring people, ideas, and data together in one shared space.
I saw a live demo of Vani in action and used it myself for 2 team discussions. Vani is a powerful tool to help teams host, organize and foster ideas that can be leveraged beyond just ideas into real action and insights for the enterprise.
Vani is simple to use and worked well when our “collaboration leader” hosted a live discussion with about 30 team members. We leverage Vani to input ideas in real time into the Vani platform, see each other’s ideas and then move from idea to clear foundations for team insights on the given issues.
Key Takeaways
- Collaboration is no longer just about meetings—it’s about shared visual intelligence.
- Teams that brainstorm and plan visually achieve faster alignment and better outcomes.
- Reducing app-switching improves productivity and team morale.
- Visual collaboration tools like Zoho’s Vani help SMBs scale creativity without complexity.
- The future of teamwork blends AI-powered insights with human imagination.
Why Collaboration Is a Competitive Advantage
For businesses teams, collaboration isn’t just a “nice-to-have”—it’s a growth strategy. Teams that communicate clearly and execute efficiently can innovate faster, serve customers better, and pivot more easily when markets shift.
According to Karthikeyan Jambulingam, Head of Product for Zoho’s new collaboration brand Vani, “Even a small percentage increase in ease of collaboration can lead to extraordinary gains in productivity.” That statement is especially true for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), where time, talent, and resources are often stretched thin.
When teams have the right environment for collaboration, creativity becomes structured and repeatable. A good collaboration system doesn’t just spark ideas—it helps refine, prioritize, and execute them.
The New Era of Visual Work
Zoho’s new platform, Vani, reflects a growing shift toward visual collaboration. Instead of relying on static documents or endless Slack threads, teams can now brainstorm, plan, and innovate on what Zoho calls an “infinite canvas.”
Think of it as a living workspace where your product roadmap, marketing calendar, and brainstorming notes all live side by side. Each department—sales, marketing, operations—can work in its own “Zone” while maintaining visibility of the full project.
This structure prevents confusion and duplication while giving everyone room to think independently. It’s a model that mirrors how teams work best: with autonomy and alignment.
How to Foster Collaboration in Your Small Business
- Start with shared purpose.
Every project needs a clearly defined “why.” Whether it’s launching a new product or improving customer service, teams collaborate best when they know what success looks like. - Visualize your thinking.
Replace long email threads with mind maps or flowcharts. Visuals make abstract ideas concrete—and more importantly, they create shared understanding. - Reduce tool fatigue.
Switching between apps kills momentum. Use integrated tools that allow brainstorming, planning, and video calls in one place. Platforms like Vani aim to solve exactly that problem. - Encourage spontaneous collaboration.
Some of the best ideas come from casual conversations. Zoho Vani’s “video catchup” feature is designed to mimic those spontaneous office interactions virtually—helping teams stay connected even when distributed. - Leverage AI as your co-collaborator.
AI can handle repetitive tasks like summarizing discussions or generating visual diagrams. That frees up your team’s energy for creativity and decision-making.
Why Visual Collaboration Matters Now
In a world of hybrid work, collaboration is no longer bound to physical offices. But that flexibility comes with new challenges—disconnected tools, miscommunication, and lack of visibility.
Visual-first collaboration solves these issues by putting context, communication, and content on a single canvas. It helps everyone “see” the same information at the same time, breaking down silos between departments.
As Shashi Bellamkonda from Info-Tech Research Group put it, “Vani will help teams brainstorm together, no matter where they are. The video catchup feature mimics that spontaneous ‘office walk over’ moment to discuss ideas with colleagues.”
That’s the essence of modern collaboration—not just working together, but thinking together.
Bringing It All Together
Collaboration is the heartbeat of small business success. It fuels innovation, strengthens culture, and speeds up execution. As digital tools evolve, visual and intelligent platforms like Zoho’s Vani are redefining how teams work together—more fluidly, more creatively, and more connected than ever.
If you want your team to collaborate better, don’t just add more meetings—add more visibility. Create spaces where people can see, share, and build on each other’s ideas. Because when collaboration flows, business growth follows.