Need to Get Your Remote Team Collaboration-Ready? Here are 11 Tools

Planning on joining one or maybe building one yourself? Knowing what it takes to make remote teams work is an invaluable asset. From the Clarity blog, Zapier.com and Fast Company, here are some ways you and everyone else on your team could keep in touch throughout the workday:

Blue Jeans

Offering cloud-based video solutions, Blue Jeans has a presence in many international markets, such as UK and Australia. The service is easily available and convenient to use. Because it’s cloud-based, you won’t have to worry about hardware upgrades or hiring IT guys. This will run on any smart phone device. You and your mates won’t have trouble figuring this one out.

Skype

It’s free. So if you and your team want to save up on costs, this is the way to go. Do video calls, voice or text chat with everyone without putting a dent on your company’s pockets. Group call feature lets you have up to 9 people in one call. Better features come with the subscription, like forwarding calls or calling phone directly. But if basic communication is what you had in mind, this one is gold.

Trello

Need an easy way to organize everything? Hand out tasks? Inform your team of a new project? This remains one of the best ones out there. It looks like an online version of a project board, making it easy for everyone on the team what their assignments are for the day. And yes, like many of the great collaboration tools out there, it’s free.

Google Hangouts

Connecting with this one is easy. All you have to do is sign up for a Gmail account and you basically get one. Like Skype, video calling allows for as many as 9 people in one call. However, if your team’s a bit bigger, you may want to look elsewhere. This one’s also free which is a major plus point for small teams that just need an easy way to stay connected.

Huddle

Share and manage files with ease. Keep records and collaborate on projects. Manage the daily task distribution. You can do all these with Huddle. The first 14 days are free. After that, you’ll need to sign up for a subscription.

Basecamp

Create projects, assign tasks, join threads and more. Staying in touch is easy with Basecamp’s features. Every person, project and file is accessible. However, only the first 45 days of the service is free. The next ones will set you back at least $20.

Google Docs

This is one of the best file sharing tools out there. You can organize your docs, spreadsheets, pdfs, epubs and more. Send or receive files without any trouble. The best thing about it is that you and your team can read and edit files in real time. Need to send out a proposal? You won’t have to keep 99 drafts of a single document on your desktop. Google Docs keeps a revision history so reviewing previous versions is easy. Best of all, it’s free.

Slack

Need a virtual office? This one works great. A Slack group chat room can accommodate the entire team. Make sure to explore the channels. However, too many of you in one channel could get too noisy. No worries though if that happens. Simply sectioning off rooms will solve the problem.

Asana

Create projects and send assignments to your team. The ticket history is on there as well so it’s easy to track where the projects are or if one fell through the cracks. Make sure everyone has a steady internet connection though. Also, too many people in one project could slow down Asana. The free version already works great but if you want to explore more options or want to add more of your team, going with the paid version is a great idea.

GoToMeeting

The thing about GoToMeeting is that it’s basic. If you want fashionable, hip and cool, you won’t find it here. But if you and your team of 10 need to do a video call, this one packs solid audio and video quality. If you want to video call 2-3 people, Skype works great. But if you’re 10, this option is better.

f.lux

Working remote often means you work with people on different time zones. That means people work late at night or early in the morning. With f.lux, you won’t have to worry about constantly adjusting your screen—and wasting minutes every day just to get the right tint back for nighttime or early morning work settings. The app adjusts the tint so your eyes can work without the glare.  

These are simply some of the apps and tools you and your team can use to work, stay connected and improve collaboration. You don’t need to use them all. Just make sure to explore your options to find which ones your team will go for.