Steve Jobs, the famous American pioneer of the personal computer revolution of the 1980s, once said, “Technology is nothing. What’s important is that you have a faith in people that they’re basically good and smart and if you give them tools, they’ll do wonderful things with them.” His words fit so perfectly with the modern workplace scenarios especially with the remote teams, for whom working smart is more important than working hard. With right tools and technologies at their disposal, teams can exponentially increase their productivity rates which will ultimately benefit the business.
Considering the increasing trend of employees working virtually, there’s a necessity to use tools that can assist them to better focus on what’s really important and thus getting more done in less time. In this post, I’m listing 6 super productive tools that are worth to be used by remote teams. Let’s take a look:
1. ProofHub – Project management and collaboration made easy
It’s an all-in-one project management platform that helps you smoothly accomplish the 4 stages of a project i.e. plan, collaborate, organize and deliver. Packed with an array of simple yet highly useful features, this tool gives you everything you need to manage work in one central place. With Gantt charts, reports, custom roles, notebooks, etc. you can coordinate project updates, lead discussions within teams and be aware of upcoming deadlines. Also, from data security point of view this platform is pretty solid.
They’ve pricing plans to suit different needs – for individuals, startups, businesses, enterprises and per user plan as well. Getting started with ProofHub is quite easy – you just need to sign up to avail its 30-day free trial.
2. Skype – Voice and video calling made easy
While it is rare that remote teams have face-to-face meetings in a physical meeting room, Skype makes virtual meetings possible over the internet in a few mouse clicks. No matter if you’ve 5 or 10 members in your remote team from different locations of the world, you can instantly have a conference call on voice and video mode using Skype. This platform also supports text messaging and file sharing. It is compatible working with desktops, laptops and all other mobile devices. To start with it, you just need to create your account on it.
3. Buffer – Manage social media on the go
Buffer is a must to have tool for teams who love to share things on social media – users can manage their social networks by scheduling posts to be published on different social media platforms such as LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, etc. Suppose in a remote team of 5 employees, one member is working from New York and the target audience is that of Texas, then he can schedule posts according to the timezone of the target audience i.e. Texas.
This application is compatible working on three platforms – browser, mobile and newsreader. They offer three plans – Basic, Awesome and Business.
4. 1Password – Your Password manager
Every so often someone within the team needs access to a program which is not open to all. And delay in sharing access details by the authorized person results in wastage of time. The problem persists even more in remote teams due to difference in time, place and schedule. To help you combat such issues, 1Password comes as a handy solution. It lets you save login details of various programs at one place which you can share with others who may need access, whenever required. Since everything is stored over the cloud with encryption based security, there’s no chance to lose your confidential data. It is available to download for Mac, Windows, Android and iOS.
5. Every Time Zone – Time zone visualizer
Within a remote team, 10 o’clock in the morning for one is different time for others working from other regions of the world. At times, it becomes important to know what time it is for your colleague living there in Texas. In such situations, every time zone comes up as an instant helping hand. This website displays current time according to date and place. Quite simple and convenient!
Editor’s Note: For those with a visual impairment, please visit: thetimenow.com
6. Workfrom – Find Cafes and coffee shops
These days, individuals working on their mobile devices can be found sitting at cafe shops. While many of the remote workers prefer to sit and work at their favorite spots, there are days when they’re in the mood to change. And this is when Workfrom helps you. This website is specifically designed to help people find and share interesting places from where they can work remotely all over the world. You’ll find recommendations about cafes, coffee shops and co-working places in a number of locations along with photographs and menu details.
Inculcating these tools in your work routine is relatively simple and rewards are excellent – not just in terms of working together as a remote team, but most importantly it helps every member to grow at an individual level. Do you want to add any productivity tool to this list? Do share your suggestions with us in the comments section.
Author Bio:
Kanika Sharma works as a writer at ProofHub. For the past 2 years, she has been writing for various technology blogs. Being an engineering graduate, her background allows her to connect with cutting edge technologies and relate them with real world scenarios. When she is not writing, she can be found in the abode of Himalayas, as exploring nature excites her the most. Her future plans include joining a writing community, a vacation in Paris and riding a white horse. Follow Kanika on Twitter to know more about her.
