Remote work is a convenient setup to have, thanks to its flexibility. But without access systems, collaborating online with clients and teams can become complicated and stressful for everyone involved.
To avoid such a scenario in your work from home adventure, you need a reliable workflow The MacBook Survival Guide for Remote Workers The MacBook Survival Guide for Remote Workers You couldn't imagine doing your work without your Mac, but maybe may not be running at full efficiency. Read more and A set of basic and free tools. , like the ones we've listed below. These tools come with the right features that a remote worker (you!) needs to collaborate with ease and efficiency.
It's hard to track time zones to schedule calls and meetings at times that work for everyone on the team. Keep a time zone converter handy to visualize time zones and discover the ideal times to contact your teammates or clients. Try each time zone. It's a web-based application that keeps time zone math simple and beautiful.
Alternatives to each time zone: World Time Buddy, Timezone.io
Your team needs a virtual office. Team Spirit Trumps Technology:Mastering Remote Collaboration for Online Teams. Team Spirit Trumps Technology:Mastering Remote Collaboration for Online Teams. Collaborating isn't any easier if you have to work together remotely and just share the internet. Like a common connection. Technology can help navigate the chaos. But it's just the icing. Learn More:One place for everything from important team announcements to work-related discussions and water talk. That it's where you can start to feel like a valued part of the team instead of feeling like a person working in isolation.
Slack has worked quite well. Slack makes group communication faster and easier. Slack makes group communication faster and easier. Group emails can kill productivity. It's time to put email clients to sleep and use collaboration services like the recently launched Slack. Read more for us at MakeUseOf. We haven't abandoned email, but we now reserve it for election announcements. We suggest you give Slack a shot.
If your team decides to use Slack, you'll need these Slack tips. Get more out of Slack with these 7 tips Get more out of Slack with these 7 tips With a smart user interface, Slack makes a potentially complex workflow simple and intuitive. Communication has been redefined. Make better use of Slack with these tips. Read more and Ryan's guide on how to get Slack to work with your favorite services. The best way to get Slack to work with your favorite services. The best way to get Slack to work with your favorite services. In addition to communication, there are many ways to carry information. Slack, but there are few integrations that let you control external services from within Slack, until now. Read more.
Even if you're a solopreneur, a centralized dashboard like Slack can still work for you. Experiment with it to see if it can improve collaboration with your customers.
Want to give someone on your team a pat on the back for a job well done? We have a dedicated Slack channel called shout for that.
You can adopt our Slack channel hack, or try a tool like Small Improvements, which allows you to have a custom performance feedback process.
Alternatives to clearance: HipChat, Pie
Choosing a project management setup that works well with your team's specific workflow requires a trial-and-error approach. However, Trello is a great option for many teams, thanks to its versatility and ease of use. 10 Unique Uses Of Trello Other Than Project Management 10 Unique Uses Of Trello Other Than Project Management Trello is a lover's delight. His Kanban-style approach was not intended just for project management. Don't you believe us? Check out these ten unique uses of Trello. Read more.
Trello is capable of handling anything you throw at it. You can map your team's strategies, set goals, discuss ideas, assign tasks, track them, and do much, much more.
Decide on work patterns in advance and be meticulous about clear labeling and organization. This will prevent your Trello projects from getting messy. And don't forget to add smart search to your Trello workflow!
Alternatives to Trello: Asana, Quip, Podio (our Podio tips) How to better track and manage your projects with Podio How to track and manage your projects with Podio The best project management tools are simple to get started and flexible enough to grow with your project. We show how Podio can meet your project needs.Read More)
General team discussions can go off on tangents and get out of hand super fast. They are not conducive to making clear calls to any given proposal.
To keep decision making streamlined, a voting app is much better. We recommend Loomio, an open source web-based application that adds clarity to the decision-making process.
With Loomio, you can start a proposal, set a deadline for the result, and invite your teammates to vote on it. People are free to make their choices and change their vote. What matters is that everyone on the team can See at a glance where the proposal is headed. .
Loomio Alternative: Tricider
There are times when you need to have face-to-face conversations with one or more people on your team. Of course, if you're a camera-shy introvert like me, you might dread those calls, but sometimes you can't escape them. And when you do need to video (or audio) chat, Google Hangouts is a reliable option, As long as you have a decent internet connection .
Hangouts keeps video calls simple Google finally made a Hangouts web app and it's worth it Google finally made a Hangouts web app and it's worth it For a long time, Hangouts on the desktop was a nightmare. Now, you have a major update on the web in the form of a new dedicated web app. Read More It also works on mobile devices..
Alternatives to Google Hangouts: Skype, Appear.in, Sqwiggle
A repository for storing and sharing project files is a must-have for any team, and a cloud storage service is the perfect fit for that role. We recommend Dropbox, as it remains the most intuitive and secure solution for file sharing, and adds useful document collaboration features. Improve collaborative editing of Office files with Dropbox and Project Harmony Improve collaborative editing of Office files with Dropbox and Project Harmony Dropbox has made a promise to move toward collaborative writing and editing. Project Harmony is giving Dropbox for Business users early access to a new desktop collaboration feature. Read more from time to time.
Choose a Dropbox plan based on your team size and file storage requirements. You can choose between Dropbox Basic, Dropbox Pro, and Dropbox for Business.
Also, you can make Dropbox more powerful by adding third-party services. For example, with Balloon.io, you can have customers download files directly to your Dropbox.
If Dropbox for Business is overkill for your business setup, try the Dropbox team feature. It gives you a set of collaboration tools within your Basic or Pro account.
Alternatives to Dropbox: Google Drive, OneDrive
Whether you work alone or in a team, there are bound to be repetitive tasks that eat up a lot of your time. The smart thing is to reduce the ones that don't. need their input and then automate them using a service like Zapier or IFTTT.
We have many resources here at MakeUseOf to help you automate various aspects of your work. Start With Ryan's IFTTT Recipe List For Easier Collaboration 7 IFTTT Recipes You Should Set Up For Easy Collaboration With Others 7 IFTTT Recipes You Should Set Up For Easy Collaboration With Others When you're collaborating with others, IFTTT offers even more opportunities for automate and simplify The process of working with others. Here are 7 helpful recipes for the project you're managing with someone else. Read more.
Despite being well connected with your teammates, working remotely online can leave you feeling lonely, like you're working in a vacuum. It's up to you to nurture yourself and make a focused effort to build a support system of people and activities. This will help you keep health problems away. Log in to Life:Top 9 Tips to Fight Computer Fatigue and Protect Your Health. Get Into Life:Top 9 Tips to Fight Computer Fatigue and Protect Your Health. Did you know that your sedentary lifestyle could kill you? Inside out? Ryan has already made a case about the potential health risks of sitting too long, and for those of us who... Read More at bay and thrive Despite the pressures of remote work..
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A mix of just-for-now tools and casual activities is sure to get the job done. But it also creates a lot of confusion and is a waste of time and resources.
Setting up a system with the right tools can take time, but it's worth the effort. As part of a team that has a fairly streamlined workflow, I can vouch for the benefits of this approach.
The bottom line is that it's important to work with your teammates or clients to set up shared tools for regular tasks. That way everyone can follow a standard workflow, which:
Note: Depending on the type of projects your team works on, you'll need dedicated tools for certain tasks, like collaborating on documents. Teamwork:10 Tips for Effective Real-Time Online Collaboration Teamwork:10 Tips for Effective Real-Time Online Collaboration Read More and getting feedback on designs.
The tools listed here are a good place to start to improve your remote collaboration setup. You don't have to get them all, just the ones that can make a significant difference to your workflow. The fewer apps the better!
What digital tools do you regularly use to collaborate with people on projects? Which ones have transformed your workflow? Share your remote working secrets with us in the comments.
