There used to be a time when working remotely raised concerns that teamwork might suffer. Still today, working from home is all about how well organised, productive, and informed teams are. 

However, performing together as a team isn’t an issue for remote workers anymore. Instead, it’s deciding which platforms to use. There are many and diverse tools that encourage collaboration and facilitate communication among teams. We’ve picked out the most popular ones for you to consider. 

Microsoft Teams

Part of the Microsoft Office 365 suite (available from Nashua as part of our remote work package), Microsoft Teams bring you all the productivity programmes such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint, SharePoint, OneNote, Planner, Power BI and Delve. It also supports group chat as well as video and audio calling. So you get all the features needed to work alongside and stay in contact with your teammates. 

Trello

It’s important to make sure everyone knows who’s working on what and that they stick to the deadlines. This is where Trello comes in. One of the many life-saving project management tools out there, it comes as a basic version (free or zero pricing) and a paid plan. Of course, the paid plan offers more features. But, if you’re looking for a platform where you can keep projects organised in one place, can easily access files and documents, and stay on top of workloads and deadlines, Trello is definitely a tool worth investing in.  

Google Drive 

A free, simple yet powerful online tool, you can do pretty much anything with Google Drive. Want to create a document that can be shared with and edited by others in your organisation? Looking for a secure cloud storage for photos, videos, presentations, PDFs – and even Microsoft Office files? Simply create a Google account, if you don’t already have one, and you’ll automatically get access to a personal or shared drive. Google Drive comes with 15 GB storage and you will need to upgrade to a paid plan to get more storage space.

TeamViewer

Rather than going through the effort of sending files, why not just let your coworkers view them directly on your screen? Available freely for private use and at a fee for corporate use, TeamViewer allows you to share the contents of your screen with another device or multiple devices. This includes presentations, documents, images, and even videos. You have complete control over what others see, so if you only want to show one window, this app will take care of it. TeamViewer comes in handy for tasks that require quick collaboration. 

Teambuild.co.za 

Isolation can take its toll on employee morale and could lead to lower productivity.  

Online team building activities not only help forge stronger social bonds and combat loneliness, it can actually help employees perform more collaboratively on projects. There are many collaborative gaming apps and quizzes you can download, but we’ve chosen Team Build as it offers over 50 fun challenges to be completed at home from their app – from quizzes to cook-off challenges.

When you work remotely, there is no excuse not to pull your weight. Modern technology has helped to close the distance gap, streamlined processes, and improve productivity. With these inexpensive tools at everyone’s disposal, the entire remote force will be able to bring their best to the table –  everything from instant messaging to file sharing.