Best Remote Work Tools for Teams

Empower your remote team with the right collaboration software.

We have always believed that remote work and distributed teams are the future of work. It has been an ongoing trend across the world, as more and more companies embrace the idea of a virtual team. Yet in light of the global pandemic of COVID-19, for many, remote work has become an instant necessity.

If your team has never worked remotely before, you may be struggling to maintain the same level of productivity and stay connected to your colleagues. Managing virtual teams is not easy and requires fundamental adjustments to your workflow.

Fortunately, there are remote work tools that can make the transition much easier. Being a remote team ourselves, we have evaluated dozens of remote work tools and put together a list of our top picks.

Best knowledge sharing & document collaboration tool: Nuclino

Remote work tooks for collaboration and knowledge sharing Nuclino

One of the first remote work tools your distributed team will need is an internal wiki or an intranet portal. A common mistake for teams going remote for the first time is to try and share information over email and chat. A remote team can't stay aligned and organized when internal knowledge is scattered across threads and channels. More than ever, you need a single source of truth.

Nuclino is a great choice for remote teams looking to build their internal team knowledge base. In addition to making it easy to organize and share knowledge, it supports real-time collaborative editing, making it a handy tool for all your team's meeting notes, operating procedures, and project documentation.

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Best communication tool: Twist

Remote collaboration and communication tool Twist

Chat and messaging apps have successfully replaced email at most companies. For remote teams, having a dedicated communication tool is no longer a mere convenience, it's a fundamental part of their toolset.

The most popular communication tool among remote teams is undeniably Slack. Thousands of teams are using it daily, always ready to switch our attention to the brightly colored pop-up notification accompanied by a satisfying sound alert.

Yet we realized that while we certainly enjoy using Slack, it's not making our remote team more productive. In fact, it accounts for most of the distractions we experience during the day. Instead, we recommend using Twist. Unlike Slack, Twist facilitates a more structured, organized, and thoughtful approach to communication, minimizing distractions and allowing remote teams to communicate asynchronously.

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Best project management tool: Asana

remote project management tool Asana

One of the most challenging parts of running a remote team is keeping projects on track and making sure progress is made on time. Fortunately, there is an ever-growing number of remote work tools build to address that.

There are many project management solutions to choose from, including Asana, Basecamp, Trello, Jira, and more. All of these tools could be a great option for managing your team's work, however, our favorite tool has been Asana.

Asana's strength lies in its advanced visualization and automation features. Its flexibility allows you to adapt it to your remote team's unique workflow, making it a suitable project and task management software for any remote team, regardless of size.

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Best file sharing tool: Google Drive

File sharing tool Google Drive

Shared file storage is one of the fundamental remote work tools every virtual team needs. There are several reliable tools, the most popular of which are Google Drive, Dropbox, and OneDrive. All three offer robust solutions specifically designed for businesses that could address your needs equally well.

Our own team recommends Google Drive because of its tight integration with a broader collection of Google apps that work better in tandem.

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Best shared inbox & customer support tool: Front

Remote customer support tool Front

Successfully addressing customer support requests is often a team effort. Discussing the query, collectively finding a solution, and collaborating on a response draft are all easy tasks when you are sharing an office, but may become a challenge when you are working remotely.

While there are many great tools to choose from, our team's favorite is Front. Unlike many conventional help desk solutions, Front is lightweight. It's easy to set up and customize, allowing your remote team to manage emails, support tickets, live chats, and more in one collaborative inbox.

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Best video calling & screen sharing tool: Google Hangouts Meet

Video conferencing tool Google Hangouts Meet

Working remotely, we try to minimize the number of meetings we have and communicate asynchronously most of the time. However, in some cases, a synchronous, face-to-face discussion is the quickest way to address an issue.

Such virtual meetings require a dedicated tool. There are many great video conferencing and screen-sharing solutions, including Zoom, Skype, GoToMeeting, and many more, however, our team has settled on Google Hangouts Meet as our virtual meeting tool of choice.

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Other remote work tools

Working as a remote team may bring with it unexpected challenges. While the remote work tools listed above should address most of your needs, you may find a few of the following solutions to be a nice addition to your toolset.

In the end, the right combination of remote work tools depends on your team and your workflows. If you have just started transitioning to a fully remote team, you may be feeling overwhelmed right now, but none of the challenges you are facing are impossible to tackle. Find the right tools, trust your team, and continue iterating on your remote workflow.

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