Project management is a fast-growing industry that involves the work and cooperation of people from everywhere. Because of this, the remote work set-up has grown more popular where teams are composed of people from all over the world. Though team members and their project managers are separated by thousands of miles, they are still able to collaborate and deliver quality output.

What is a remote team?

A remote team is also called a virtual team which is composed of a small number of people whose skills complement each other. From the term itself, they are not located in a commonplace but are distributed in different places. This team works on common projects and has aimed to deliver quality output in a timely manner.

More specifically, a remote team’s members are not co-located but they work directly for their manager who makes sure they deliver defined work.

In order for remote teams to succeed, they need to overcome the challenges of distance and time difference. The manager needs to be sure that his team does actually work for the time they are paid and ensure that they meet the deadline. Remote teams need to make sure they are on the same page even if they are not in the same room. It is important that they are able to collaborate and brainstorm with each other. With this, online collaboration apps provide the answer.

Best apps remote teams can use

It is great to know that remote teams now have access to numerous apps that help them achieve their goals. These apps can be used for the various aspects of remote work such as communication, project management, file management, reporting, time conversion, bug and issue tracking, cloud storage, and so on.

Communication

Communication apps can either be chat or call or both and are essential, especially for meetings, brainstorming, and conferences.

  • Join.me – This app is useful to teams because of its free audio and video conferencing capabilities and instant screen sharing.
  • Zoom – Zoom is the preferred app for video conferencing and virtual meetings. It can accommodate up to 50 video participants and 500 people to chat at once, making it the perfect tool for remote teams. Additionally, Zoom allows users to record a call with a full-length video, as well as keep a parallel conversation in the text chat.
  • Google Hangouts – Google Hangouts lets users video chat right in their browser with up to 25 participants. The calls are free and the app is perfect for video conferencing. Additionally, Google Hangouts is integrated with other Google apps.
  • Skype – Skype is among the oldest apps for communication but it doesn’t mean it is not competitive. In 2016, it had about 74 million users according to Statistic Brain. For many years, Skype has been a default free tool for many businesses, although credits are available. Its clarity and efficiency as an audio and video calling tool make it a great choice over the years.
  • Slack – Slack is one of today’s most popular communication tools, thanks to its always-on chat interface. Users enter a workspace where they can converse in the public channels or send private messages through direct messaging. Slack allows users to share files and go through archives, among others.

Project Management

Remote teams need to have good project management apps to help them collaborate and share files. Also, it is helpful in letting managers know what is being done and who is working.

  • ProofHub – ProofHub is a very handy app that takes care of time reports, resource utilization, tasks, projects, and everything in between. It also has Kanban boards for easier viewing of the projects, as well as Gantt charts for better visualization of calendars and timelines.
  • Trello – Trello is a popular project management tool that uses the Kanban-style of listing where users can create boards for managing their projects. Because it looks like a whiteboard with numerous post-its that can be moved around the board, users can easily see and understand what’s being done and who is working on them.
  • Asana – Asana is also a preferred app by many teams because of its features that allow them to create and assign tasks and set due dates. More than that, users can comment and even attach files for better collaboration. It also has built-in communication capabilities that users can use to chat privately or publicly.
  • Smartsheet – Users will find Smartsheet as a great collaboration tool that is suitable for people who prefer a straightforward and visual way to manage tasks. It looks like an advanced version of Excel which makes Smartsheet a smart choice for spreadsheets users.

File Management

A large part of project management and remote team working is file management. Teams need to have access to files that are shared while making sure that these are securely stored. These file management apps contribute to the success of project management.

  • Dropbox – Dropbox allows users to download files onto their computers so that they can easily drag and drop them for file sharing. When auto-sync is enabled, it can migrate files even while teams are not using it.
  • Box – Box is another app to use for sharing files with the team without having to worry about privacy. The rate is $5 per user but the documents are encrypted and the user can revoke permissions anytime.
  • Google Drive – Everybody is familiar with Google Drive as it easily allows users to share presentations, work documents, and spreadsheets to team members. The user has full rights to who he shares the files with and can easily turn on and off the features.

Time Management

Time is another important element of project management which is one of the bases of a team’s compensation. Accuracy and transparency in time tracking breed trust and fosters stronger work relationships between project management teams and clients.

  • When I work – When I Work is popularly used by many remote teams in tracking their time. It works in a very simple way and lets teams see every member’s weekly schedule. Users can tweak the schedules by simply dragging and dropping them to avoid conflicts and maximize efficiency.
  • Hubstaff – Hubstaff is one of the preferred time tracking tools because it provides random screenshots of the team’s work.
  • Harvest – Harvest is a useful app for tracking a team’s progress and daily activity. Moreover, it can run reports for clients, tasks, or individual team members. Aside from letting users get timesheet approval and log expenses, it can also easily integrate with PM software like Trello.
  • Paymo – Users of Paymo benefit from how their time is easily counted in the background. They simply have to log into the app and let it monitor their hours. Users can also access tasks and performance with the click of a button. (12-15)

Conclusion

Working remotely may seem convenient but due to time and distance factors, it is actually a challenging set-up. Remote teams have to work hard to prove their worth by delivering timely and quality outputs. They can better achieve these through these tried and tested apps which are also highly recommended by many remote teams worldwide.

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