If you’re at all plugged into workplace software chat then you will have likely heard of, or even encountered the use of, Notion in 2023. Here’s exactly what it is.
Workplace software is largely dominated by big players like Slack and offerings from Microsoft, such as Teams, but an independent web app has burst on the scene over recent months. Microsoft has taken notice too, launching Loop as a rival to Notion.
Notion isn’t just a typical messaging or video conferencing app in the same vein as the software you’ll most regularly use to interact with colleagues at work. Instead, it is all about collaboration. This is our basic explanation.
What is Notion?
Notion is web-based software focused on collaboration. It is intended to be used by workplace teams to improve productivity, with the ability to work together in different ways all in one place.
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In Notion’s own words, it is “a single space where you can think, write, and plan. Capture thoughts, manage projects, or even run an entire company — and do it exactly the way you want.” Further, “Notion is the connected workspace where better, faster work happens.”
In practice, Notion offers a variety of contextual templates that allow you and your team to visualise a project and then manage or work within it collaboratively. Examples presented by Notion include a travel planner, study activity and a simple action plan tool.
Each of these templates can include various elements (referred to as “blocks”), such as AI integration, images, code, Docs, Wikis, video and more. Then, once you have projects running, Notion offers various ways to track and manage a large set of them.
You are presented them visually and you can then filter and sort your set of projects. Further, you can create labels, tags, owners, teams, due dates, time spent and more within each, which can all also be tracked and managed.
Notion is aimed to be a flexible workplace offering, with the ability to be used across Engineering, Design, Product, Marketing, Operations and HR industries. The company touts it is used across brands like Amazon, Monday, Nike, Uber, Figma, Pinterest, Headspace and more.
Notion is available for free to individuals (where you can invite 10 guests), then costs $8 per month for the Plus membership (where you can invite 100 guests) and get additional features like unlimited blocks for teams, unlimited file uploads and 30 days page history.
The $15 per month for the Business level, which is everything in Plus as well as a SAML SSO, Private teamspaces, Bulk PDF export, Advanced page analytics and 90 day page history. The top level is Enterprise and requires a demo before receiving a quote. You are also required to pay between $8-$10 for Notion AI integration on top of any plan.
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
