Yeah, I would say communication is key. I have had a soft-spot for https://slack.com/ for a while now; you could take a look at that.
I haven't used Shotgun professionally but I'm unsure how you were planning on using that and the spreadsheets, I would think SG would replace the spreadsheets? I have found using spreadsheets works pretty well if your team's communications are good.
Good luck with the project!