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In the past couple of months, remote work has been on the rise because of how the COVID-19 pandemic forced businesses to adapt to enable continuity of operations. This global health crisis has likewise led to organizations being accustomed to different schedules and habits that make remote work both manageable and productive. While this work arrangement can spur a great deal of difficulty at first, it also opens up an avenue for positive changes and increased collaboration among remote teams.

Now that you have adopted remote work policies and a remote workforce in place, how can you effectively communicate and collaborate with them especially during a crisis? Some challenges that remote work poses include time zones, technological differences, cultural differences, and language barriers, among others.

Apart from these unique threats, you also have all these common struggles associated with remote work to overcome:

Source: State of Remote Report, 2019

Managing a remote team is becoming the need of the hour. As a leader, it is your responsibility to set up the path for your team’s success. And these digital tools can significantly improve your remote work processes and help you stay on top of things while operating from your home office, a coworking space, or anywhere else in the world.

Source: Slack

For Quick Messaging and Chatting – Slack

Slack is a messaging remote work tool that helps in team communication, allowing you and your team to exchange ideas and give comments in real time. It has great team management features for planning, running projects, assigning teams, as well as playing games and activities. It is also an efficient platform for company-wide announcements and is available for both iOS and Android to give you complete functionality.

Other Best Features:

• Different channels for multiple teams and projects
• File sharing
• Archived messages with a search feature
• Third-party app integrations
• Voice and video calls

Alternatives:

• Google Hangout
• Microsoft Teams
• Skype
• Flock
• Wire
• Mattermost

Source: Zoom

For Video Conferencing – Zoom

Zoom is a video conferencing and communication tool designed for remote teams, virtual business conferences, webinars, virtual meetings, and other corporate purposes. Many business leaders regard Zoom as one of the best remote collaboration tools because it replicates face-to-face interactions and in-office meetings. You can see how your team reacts to a suggestion or an idea. You can even share your screen with other team members for a collaborative discussion when you are presenting. This is an effective feature especially if you are teaching someone how to use a new app or you want to display a document for the team. If you are a digital product seller, you can easily show them a demo without having to guess their genuine reactions. No wonder Zoom is one of the top market winners during this COVID-19 crisis.

Other Best Features:

• Join as a view-only attendee
• Built-in security measures like password protection
• Instant or scheduled meeting setups
• Fullscreen and gallery view
• Voice sharing

Alternatives:

• Google Hangouts Meet
• join.me
• Cisco Webex Meetings
• GoToMeeting
• BlueJeans

Source: Toggl

For Time Management – Toggl

Toggl is an easy-to-use time tracking app that can give you an overview of time spent on various tasks. It was designed to accurately track how long it takes to accomplish a project and was originally intended for freelancers to ensure accurate invoicing and fair payments. The app’s data visualizations can help you compare profits against time spent on tasks and labor costs, allowing you to see which projects and clients are most profitable. Toggl is web-based but also offers native apps for desktop, iOS, and Android that sync together in real time. Furthermore, the app can be used both online and offline for continued productivity.

Other Best Features:

• Charts
• Day-by-day breakdown
• Full reports
• One-click time tracking
• Reports sharing

Alternatives:

• DeskTime
• Everhour
• Paymo
• FreshBooks
• RescueTime
• Hubstaff

Source: Microsoft

For Project Management – Evernote

Evernote works on all platforms, including smartphones and tablets, which makes it an ideal project management tool for you and your remote team. Sync your notes and files with ease across all your devices. This app serves as your personal digital assistant, task organizer, to-do-list, and pocket notebook. It can help you focus on what really matters and give you access to information when you most need it.

Other Best Features:

• Editorial content calendar
• Faster image recognition
• Mobile offline notes
• Business card scanning
• Presentation mode
• PDF annotation

Alternatives:

• Trello
• Google Sheets/Excel
• Basecamp
• Asana

Source: PCMag

For Cloud Storage and File Sharing – Google Drive

Imagine your Word documents, Excel spreadsheets, PowerPoint presentations, and even images and videos in one convenient location that is accessible to your remote team—that is Google Drive for you. With this digital tool, your team members can also collaborate on a particular document, leave comments, and make real-time changes. You can grant other people access to certain files and allow them to view or make edits as you wish. Moreover, Google Drive comes with a free 15g storage space.

Other Best Features:

• Convert PDF files to Docs
• Scan documents
• Filter searches
• One-tap phone backup
• Set up offline access

Alternatives:

• Dropbox
• OneDrive
• pCloud
• Sync
• Canto

Source: Zapier

For Workflow Automation – Zapier

Simply put, Zapier can automate almost any type of business process. This workflow automation software has the ability to share data with and connect to over 1,000 web apps such as Facebook, Google Drive, and Slack, among others. Just build a workflow in their editor, select the apps you want to integrate into your workflow, and then design it. Zapier lets you create what they call “Zaps,” which allow you to build entire workflows using over 500 integrations from document sharing and social media to project management and email marketing.

Other Best Features:

• Connect over 1,500 apps
• User-friendly workflow editor
• Multi-step workflows and conditioning logic
• Collaboration tools for teams and organizations

Alternatives:

• Automate
• Zoho Creator
• Microsoft Flow
• Integrify
• KiSSFLOW

Source: Dashlane

For Password Management – Dashlane

Having several passwords can be challenging, but a structured and secure password management tool will bear the burden for you. With just a few clicks, Dashlane can remember your login details. It is encrypted and easy to use especially for first-time users. This tool also has the capability to store logins for up to 50 accounts in a secure vault with multi-factor authentication. Should you opt for Dashlane’s premium service, you can monitor the dark web for data breaches and receive personalized alerts if any of your personal information appears in stolen data.

Other Best Features:

• Easy syncing between devices
• Includes VPN
• Secure document storage
• Extension that supports Chrome, Firefox, and Safari

Alternatives:

• LastPass
• Keeper Password Manager
• RoboForm
• True Key
• Enpass

The COVID-19 pandemic forced a lot of businesses to enable remote work. This work arrangement can be challenging, especially when it is sudden and uncalled for. But with the right digital tools in place, you can maximize productivity and establish collaborative workflows among your team members, wherever they may be in the world.