The ideal remote collaboration tools for teams include chat and instant messaging apps, which can also be used for sharing files and document management.
Meetings are inevitable; sometimes, face-to-face discussions are the quickest way to resolve an issue. Thanks to apps such as Zoom, team members can connect quickly for meetings.
Slack
Slack is a digital workspace and communication tool that provides teams with an efficient way to interact. They can use Slack to message each other directly or organize conversations into channels, upload idea sketches for discussion purposes, host video calls, and connect to various other applications so employees don’t have to switch between applications all the time. Slack also integrates seamlessly with numerous tools, so employees don’t have to switch back and forth between applications while working within its platform.
Ensure all team members understand how and what expectations to set for Slack use. Teams may also utilize it to share companywide announcements in its default #general channel, making sure important messages reach employees without getting lost among discussions about other subjects.
Slack is an invaluable platform for remote teams, providing them with numerous tools that help foster a sense of community and teamwork. Users can set reminders, report outages or bugs instantly, share welcome messages for new team members and hold video conferencing meetings. Furthermore, it integrates other tools and services, such as Google Drive, Trello, and GitHub, into its platform for communication purposes.
Slack can create the impression of face-to-face communication among teammates by offering tools that mimic facial expressions and open body language, including emoticons and adding voice notes for messages – creating an experience closer to speaking directly with colleagues than using email alone.
Maintaining a sense of community among remote teams is critical, even when working remotely. One effective strategy to foster this sense of belonging is hosting regular virtual team-building events, including anything from simple trivia contests in Slack or rock-paper-scissors challenges to video calls with employees’ managers discussing performance.
- Zoom
Zoom video conferencing software enables remote team members to communicate in real-time and share work materials, making for more productive meetings or group gatherings of up to 100 people. Zoom provides high-quality audio/video, calendar integration, encryption for privacy protection and tools like in-meeting chat, screen sharing and breakout rooms to make meetings feel like in-person gatherings.
Zoom’s in-meeting chat feature offers quick, private communication among team members without ever leaving the platform. Teams can even use it to start meetings from conversations without leaving Zoom; its integration with third-party tools like Asana, Trello and Dropbox makes for an efficient collaboration suite that keeps all team members up to date in real-time.
Polling and Q&A features are another great way to bring everyone on board during a Zoom call, helping eliminate confusion or misunderstandings and allowing participants to raise their virtual hands during meetings. After each meeting has ended, managers can also send out surveys so that participation rates and meeting productivity can be measured accurately.
Instead of attending regular update meetings, replace them with Zoom meetings featuring shared photo albums. Encourage teammates to upload their best baby or childhood pictures and host an engaging “Guess Who” game! This team-building activity is sure to keep people engaged during quarantines. After the pandemic passes, they can revert to regular meetings to catch up on any important projects and updates.
- Asana
Asana is an accessible task management and project management solution designed for teams. This tool lets them organize their work in one central place so everyone can know about deadlines, status updates, and what needs to be completed next. Furthermore, Asana supports multiple platforms, making its use easy regardless of your team members’ location.
Asana features an appealing reward feature to encourage and recognize team success, such as celebratory creatures like unicorns or dragons if tasks are completed on time. Asana also offers powerful features like creating subtasks, commenting actions, tracking progress with timeline views, and setting task priority levels – perfect for managing long-term projects with multiple deadlines or dependencies!
Asana offers teams various project views that best suit their workflow, such as lists, kanban boards and calendar views to easily visualize workload and avoid scheduling conflicts. Furthermore, individual users can be assigned roles and permissions so that only appropriate people can access sensitive information.
Before investing in Asana, there are a few important points to remember. First and foremost is its ZERO chat support at any subscription level; its email support is notoriously slow; also, many features tend to be locked behind paid plans, making it hard for smaller teams to leverage these essential tools for success.
- Dropbox
Dropbox is best known as a cloud storage solution but boasts some collaboration features. Shared folders allow teams to collect key files and create to-do lists; its commenting feature will enable teammates to edit documents and add their thoughts. These functions come standard in all paid plans, beginning at $9.99/month for individuals and $12.99/month for businesses.
Project Spaces make it simple to organize team members, external collaborators, content, and projects into an intuitive surface that makes teamwork simple. Add collaborators by name or email, customize their access permissions, and even attach messages when inviting new ones. When files are uploaded to a Space, they automatically sync across Dropbox accounts, so they appear in everyone’s folders; Dropbox also tracks any changes made over time with in-app activity notifications and email links – perfect for collaborative teamwork!
Once your team has the basic tools, everyone must work cohesively. Document collaboration platforms like Dropbox Paper can help unify workflows by enabling teams to edit and annotate documents in real time. This makes this an efficient alternative to email chains or messaging apps for co-editing documents back and forth.
Video calls can be an ideal way to connect with remote teams for brainstorming sessions, work reviews, and approvals. At the same time, Dropbox templates and tools can save even more time by automating manual processes like eSignatures, feedback, and approvals, helping your teams focus more on tasks at hand and less on administrative processes. Utilizing such tools can save your distributed workforce time while increasing productivity.
- Fellow
Remote team members have many digital tools that enable them to collaborate efficiently from anywhere, but only when used effectively. Failure to use these tools effectively could lead to miscommunication, low productivity and lack of accountability – here are some tips to improve collaboration:
Set up daily or weekly meetings, video calls, or virtual chats to discuss progress, issues, and plans. These meetings help keep everyone on the same page and track with their tasks. In addition, it is essential to utilize appropriate digital communication tools like Slack for messaging Zoo,m for video calls and project management software like Trello or Asana to maintain workflow.
Make sure that remote team members are fully engaged by providing clear instructions, feedback, and direction. This will increase productivity and satisfaction and encourage further employee support through training opportunities and manager coaching. Furthermore, remote team-building activities, book/music clubs, contest nights, virtual happy hours or birthday celebrations should be considered a positive work culture.
Make it easier for remote teams to participate in meetings by posting the agenda before each meeting, providing everyone access to the video conferencing tool, and sending out meeting notes afterwards. Assigning action items and deadlines during meetings is also helpful so everyone knows their responsibilities between meetings. Fellow’s meeting productivity software simplifies this by centralizing all meeting workflow into one accessible hub with calendar integrations, video conference integrations, desktop apps, and mobile apps – and making everything accessible when meeting time comes!