The pandemic boosted the trend of already growing remote work. Businesses have been considering this trend to follow and apply. Fortunately, it has become a norm for many companies. With the increase in remote working culture, there has been a rise in demand for remote tools. Companies use remote collaboration tools for seamless workflow and to streamline processes. These tools enhance workflow and promote the feeling of togetherness.Â
Table of contents
What Are Remote Collaborative Tools?
Collaborative tools help teams to collaborate well from anywhere in the world. As companies have shifted to remote working, it is more than a need to use these remote tools. These tools enable businesses to boost the productivity and efficiency level of employees. It keeps the team on the same page and motivates them to work towards a common goal.
Remote collaborative tools offer instant access to ideas, projects and enable internal communication. Not doubting the fact that technology is key to avoiding disruption while working remotely. If a company fails to provide such tools to its employees, it will lead to more burnout. Or the company could face challenges as it’s more like a future threat to the business.
Best Remote Collaboration Tools Businesses Should Use
We have categorized each remote collaboration tool under main categories, e.g., document tool, time, video, team chat and online projects.
Document Remote Collaborative Tool
These remote tools are cloud-based and do not need additional purchases. Document cloud-based remote tools offer high productivity and are 100% secure. We have shortlisted some best remote collaborative tools.Â
Google Workspaces
This is one of the best tools for remote collaboration. It has a handful of useful features which allow one to store and edit data in real-time. It offers the best user interface and is highly integratable. Using this tool, managers provide certain access to the employees to protect the company’s sensitive data. With this real-time collaboration tool, you can edit files even when offline. It also allows you to store data on Google Drive and can be accessed anytime from anywhere in the world.
Office 365
If your business requires word files, excel spreadsheets, PDFs and PowerPoint files, Office 365 is for you. You will access all of these from a single platform. From remote to hybrid, it is suitable for every working model. This remote collaboration tool allows you to access, edit and share documents at the same time.
Time Collaborative Tools
Time tracking is essential when working remotely. Employers need to keep an eye on their employees’ check-ins and checkouts. Also, it is the employer’s responsibility to check if the tasks assigned are delivered before or on deadline.
Timely
This time-tracking collaborative remote tool enables teams to plan, schedule and manage tasks on time. It also ensures that the team members are visible and updated with the task progress. Moreover, these tools also allow workers to have a good work-life balance by managing time effectively.
Google Calendar
Google calendars perform well in organizing and scheduling meetings. This tool is essential to stay informed about future events and conferences, especially when working remotely. Employees can take part in the meetings from anywhere in the world. Remote workers could access and share any relevant documents required in the meeting.
Video Conferencing Collaborative Tools
One prominent drawback of working remotely is that we miss out on physical interaction. It exaggerated the sense of loneliness and isolation at the same time. But, companies have been empowering their employees by offering collaborative video tools.
Zoom Video Conferencing tool
You must have been familiar with this tool during a pandemic and even after it subsided. The company skyrocketed its user base in 2021. Most organizations use Zoom for virtual meetings because of its smooth integration into all devices. Apart from its formal corporate meetings, teams use this tool for casual talks with its feature ‘Troop Talks’.
HubSpot Meeting
HubSpot meeting tool offers customized meeting links that you can use to invite people. It shows if you are available for the meeting on a specific day and time. It saves a lot of time we usually spend sending wired emails to check the availability. When a person schedules a meeting, their contact information displays on the calendar. Every time a person schedules a meeting, it will grow your database. This tool is best for hassle-free booking of appointments and meetings.
Team Chat Collaborative Tools
Whether you work remotely or in an office space, you need to interact with your employees in real time. For this purpose, companies use team chat collaborative tools for instant communication. With these tools, teams can collaborate, provide feedback, and solve issues quickly. These apps offer teams to stay in touch and have fun in their free time.
Slack
Slack has been the best and favorite pick by many organizations. It caters to everything from personal to group chats. Using Slack helps a person set channels dedicated to different topics. Working on projects is a dynamic process that frequently demands immediate adjustments. Slack allows you to send a short text instead of an email which slows down your work speed while waiting for a response.
ProofHub
ProofHub is another helpful team collaboration tool. It offers instant communication services related to your projects. It usually uses a formal tone when used for communicating with clients. Its main features include individual chats, group chats, creating discussions with remote workers, allowing mentions and more. It gives teams flexibility over their work processes and enables them to focus on their goals and the most important things.
Using Remote Collaboration Tools Makes a Perfect Sense
Remote work also comes with some challenges, one of which is to collaborate physically. Using these tools has dismissed this challenge and greatly rewarded the companies. The exemplary remote collaborative tools make individual contributors work as a teammate. These tools produce efficient workers and enhance the productivity of the business.
Featured Image: Shift
