Top 5 Remote Working Tools For Global Teams
While most of us thought that an active internet connection is all one requires to work remotely, our bubble burst when we started with remote work.
It’s not that simple after all. Remote work comes with a set of challenges unique to each company.
Here is a set of robust remote working tools that are a must-have for getting things done efficiently!
1. Slack
The award for the Favourite Messenger App goes to “Slack”
For remote workers, Slack is the replacement for office coffee vending machines; and you can’t do without it. It’s a go-to remote working tool for businesses as it helps them communicate effectively regardless of time-zones.
Slack allows users to create funnel messages into different custom-made channels. This way only the concerned team is aware of what is being discussed, agreed upon, and needs immediate attention.
Not everything can be communicated on text right? — Slack lets you hop on quick calls with your coworkers to discuss trivial queries that are difficult to communicate via text.
Your Slack status is a remote analogy to your in-office ramp walks. So while you are away, maximise the use of the “Update your Status” feature as this will alert the team member of your absence.
To top it all, Slack has a massive selection of integrations that can save your time and escalate your productivity. Dropbox, Google Drive, JIRA, and over 2,200 other apps can be integrated with Slack.
Fun Fact: Slack is an acronym for ‘Searchable Log of All Conversation and Knowledge’
Slack is available for a variety of devices and platforms — Mac, Windows, Linux, Android, and iOS.
Slack offers a free plan where the users are limited to 10,000 archived chats and only 10 integrations. But some of its interesting features can only be enjoyed if one upgrades to a paid plan. Paid plans start at $6.67 per active user per month.
Top alternatives — Microsoft Teams, Skype, Troop Messenger
2. G Suite & Google Drive
The toolkit provided by GSuite is a long list! From Calendars to Docs to Jamboards, Google’s free library of the tool kit is all you need to bring your project to life.
GSuite supports 100+ different file types.
Most GSuite applications allow several members to make an edit at the same time. And the best part is, you can trace all the iteration and restore them if required. Not only this, you can even tag your peers, add comments to assign an action item.
Google Drive and GSuite applications are available on desktop, mobile, and tablet for both iOS and Android environments.
For starters, the free plan offered by Google Drive allows 15 GB of cloud storage per user. In case more storage is required, the Google Drive plan starts at 100GB for $1.99 and progresses with increased storage.
For GSuite, pricing starts as low as $6 per user per month and goes up to $25 per user per month depending on the plan you opt for.
Top alternative — Microsoft Office 365
3. JIRA
JIRA is a powerful agile project management tool well known for turning tasks into new releases.
The self-hosted JIRA not only helps break projects into achievable chunks but also improves collaboration by helping teammates avoid email volley balling.
A few of many JIRA features include customizable workflows, scrum lists, kanban boards. JIRA can be seamlessly integrated with thousands of apps and integrations.
JIRA Cloud is built for a multi-screen world. The application is available on desktop, mobile, and tablet for both iOS and Android environments.
JIRA has 2 tiers of the paid plan starting at $10 per month for small teams of not more than 10 users. If your organization has 10,000+ users, enquire about their enterprise solution.
Top alternatives — Asana, GitHub, Trello, ProofHub
4. MindMeister
MindMeister is a great tool for virtual brainstorming. It is like a remote analogy to those whiteboard meeting rooms where the team would go and rack their brains.
MindMeister is a robust mind mapping, project planning, and idea management tool. It helps innovative teams capture the nuances of a concept in intricate visual networks.
MindMeister mind maps are a notch up as you can add videos, post-it notes in them, or attach PDFs or spreadsheets. With the built-in presentation mode, you can turn your mind maps into dynamic slideshows or embed them on your website.
You can add as many team members as you want, share different levels of access with them. It even allows you to see who contributed to when and what. Besides this, you can even vote on ideas, add comments, and communicate via in-tool chat.
MindMeister also has native apps for iPhone, iPad, Android phones, and tablets with full offline capabilities and automatic synchronization.
It is free for the first 3 mind maps with the ability to share, collaborate, and import. For growing organizations, it’s best advised to opt for a business plan starting at $6.29 per month.
Top alternatives — WiseMapping, Coggle
5. Team Viewer
With TeamViewer in place, IT Support Teams can resolve tech mishaps, as though you were debugging in person. They can securely connect to remote devices, take control of remote systems and troubleshoot problems.
With TeamViewer Remote Monitoring Management (RMM), you can also gain a high degree of visibility of your IT infrastructure. TeamViewer RMM helps you centralize your device information without relying on end-user input, detect and patch software vulnerabilities. It even protects your devices against external threats and human error.
You can integrate TeamViewer APIs into other systems and applications. This helps optimize your processes and increase productivity.
TeamViewer allows you to connect across platforms as long as the connection supports either Windows, macOS, Chrome OS, iOS, or Android.
For Corporate License, the pricing starts from $90. It includes 200 licensed users, allowing 3 users to open 1 remote session each, at the same time.
Top alternatives — GoToAssist, Dameware Remote Everywhere
BONUS TOOL: 1 Password
1 Password is the best cloud-based password management tool. When signing in to apps and websites, this tool records all the endless usernames and passwords.
With this app in place, all you need to do is remember one strong master password. And its automatic form filler will let you sign in to all your online accounts with a single click, look, or touch.
1 Password allows you to sync data files and passwords with its servers or save them locally with your Dropbox or iCloud accounts. It also helps maintain password hygiene by checking for weak, compromised, or duplicated passwords.
The Advanced Protection feature of 1 Password allows you to create firewall rules, monitors sign-in attempts of the team. And even warns you about the sites that are missing two-factor authentication or using unsecured HTTP.
1 Password not only safeguards your passwords from 3rd parties, but also from themselves. All your master passwords and metadata are end-to-end encrypted with keys that only you have.
1Password is available on all your devices, browsers, and operating systems. So you’ll always have all your information with you.
For business, the monthly paid plan of 1Password pricing starts at $7.99 per user monthly.
Top alternatives — Last Pass, Zoho Vault
