As technology continues to evolve and innovations become more commonplace, virtual work teams are increasingly prevalent. A remote team provides your business with incredible benefits, such as a reduction in overhead and improved productivity. Employees also may enjoy the many benefits associated with the working from the comfort of their home, such as eliminating commute and being closer to their family.
Managing a remote team can benefit the company, but there are challenges when the entire team is not in the same office. The primary difficulties relate to communication and collaboration.
Regardless of whether one team member is off-site, or all team members are telecommuting, you need to have the right tools available to combat these challenges. More than that, all employees need to be proficient with their various features. These are some leading tools you can implement to help you with your remote team activities.
Collaboration Tools
To work in the most productive manner possible, your team needs to share files, chat, access thought boards and more with ease.
While there are many collaboration tools and programs you can review before you complete your decision about which one to implement with your remote teams, these are some possible options in the market today.
1. Teamwork Projects
Teamwork Projects is designed with a user-friendly interface and a robust set of tools that can take your team’s telecommuting efforts to the next level. In fact, many people praise this program being one of the best options. When you inspect its features, you will see it has task lists, chat, file sharing capabilities, time and activity tracking and more.
With its many functions, it works well with all business types, and you can choose from a free version or an enterprise version available at a reasonable price. A free trial is available, so you can test out its features before committing.
Its design and its customization options make it unique. For each task created, you can set up subtasks, task dependencies, timelines and due dates, assign workers and more. More than that, the interface is color coded and has multiple views like an activity view and a milestone view. Other features include a free chat app, a Kanban-style board view, Gantt charts and special billing functions.
2. Basecamp
Another smart collaboration tool to consider for your virtual team is Basecamp. This program is available for a flat rate that is affordable, and it gives you access to a wide range of features with an easy-to-use interface. In fact, some of its capabilities include messaging and chatting, sharing files, creating and monitoring tasks, and more. It also has integration capabilities with many platforms and apps that your team may currently be using.
When you compare Basecamp to other tools and programs on the market, you realize that this is a less robust program than others. However, for businesses that want a no-frills approach to team collaboration with a platform that is straightforward, this is an excellent option. It provides all the basic functions required for efficient collaboration without bogging your team down with extra features that some workers may find confusing or non-beneficial.
3. Office 365
Many companies are unaware of the robust features loaded into the Office 365 platform. These tools are ideal for remote teams of all sizes to use. In fact, the options available for use include SharePoint Online, Outlook Groups, Yammer Groups and others.
The OneDrive feature gives you seamless file sharing with all users who you have enabled sharing with. You can also share data on a desktop or mobile device through SharePoint Online, Microsoft Flow and Power Apps.
In some larger collaboration tools, your team can create calendar events and share them with others. You can address task management through a planner. A team notebook is accessible for idea-sharing. There are even larger communication platforms, such as those that act as a forum for teams and those that are enterprise-wide.
While this is not a free platform, there are different packages available that can give you control over the cost of your collaboration tools.
4. Google Drive
For those who are looking for a free suite of collaboration tools, Google Drive deserves a closer look. Its G-Suite feature provides your team with free email addresses, video conferencing applications, file sharing and online storage. These functions and features are user-friendly and accessible from any location where an Internet connection is available.
In addition to the G-Suite, Google Drive offers additional features. For example, it lets you share folders with intelligence in mind. For example, you can order the documents chronologically, or divide them for simplification and organization. Drafts are also visible to everyone included in a team.
These are only a few of the Google Drive features that your remote team may enjoy.
Communication Tools
Live communication is essential to the productivity of remote teams. While some collaboration tools offer live communication, you may enjoy greater flexibility interacting through a dedicated program. Here are a few tools to consider.
1. Skype
Skype provides your team with the ability to have phone conversations over the Internet and save your business money on phone bills. More than that, it provides you with the ability to enjoy live chat functions and even to set up video conference calls. Video calls provide effective communication and may create a greater bond between team members. Skype is reasonably among the most popular communication tools available today.
2. Slack
If you are looking for an effective communication tool that works well for internal collaboration, Slack is a wonderful option to consider.
While it does not allow you to have audio or video communications in the same way that Skype does, it has a robust live chat feature. It customizes chatting to specific teams, and this means your workers can have multiple chat streams for different projects going at the same time. They can pin items and publish meeting notes to keep everyone on the same page.
Collaboration and communication within teams are vital for productivity. Today’s most popular applications and tools offer various features and have unique applications. With free trials available, now is a great time to explore the options closely and determine which tools are a perfect fit for your needs.
Author bio:
Heather Redding is a part-time assistant manager and part-time writer based in Aurora, Illinois. She likes sharing her thoughts on productivity and innovation. To feed her curiosity, she enjoys her Kindle library with a hot cup of coffee. She likes to recharge with slow urban strolls. Reach out to Heather on Twitter.
