7 TOOLS FOR REMOTE COLLABORATION

Working remotely has been gaining popularity over the past decade — even becoming a perk employers use to recruit new talent. But as a result of the pandemic, many companies have now embraced a remote workstyle.

Employees are now free from the commute and can log in from practically anywhere. And while productivity and work/life balances are on the upswing, collaboration at some companies has taken a hit. So to help teams get back into a collaborative groove, we compiled a list of our favorite collaboration tools for remote and in-office teams.

Zoom

Zoom is a great virtual conferencing tool for client and internal meetings. You can easily share screens, collaborate on work and record important presentations. Plus, it allows you to see everyone’s face — giving you that extra element of human interaction. To help you through your next virtual meeting, our marketing partners at PM have compiled a list of tips for successful video conferencing.

Slack

We like to think of Slack as the virtual watercooler, ideal for the drive-by chat. You can even use the video call feature to hold quick face-to-face meetings, which is what we do for our daily standup meetings. And during a screen share, you can use the draw tool to callout specific areas for those on the call. The only “watch out” we have with Slack is that the constant stream of communication can easily become a distraction. That’s why we recommend adjusting your notification settings accordingly.

Google Drive

If you need an easy file sharing solution, we suggest Google Drive. It’s a cloud-based storage tool that allows you to save all of your files in one place, giving your team easy access to documents when working remotely. Team members can also collaborate on a document — leaving comments, tracking changes and making edits simultaneously.

Jira (Atlassian)

Jira is a project management software tool that allows you to plan and track project workflows. You can create scrum boards, organize kanban boards, set up project roadmaps and collect insights on how your team is performing from sprint to sprint. We’re big fans of Jira and use it to manage client work and internal tasks as well as for sprint planning and project retrospectives.

Github

Our code-hosting platform of choice, GitHub can arm you with the tools you need to get your job done efficiently. Github is a decentralized service, meaning developers never have to be in a physical location to access the source code. You can contribute to your (and third-party) codebases, tag teammates for discussion, review code and ultimately ship code to production — making it a strong tool for collaboration during development. Github also maintains the historical context of any and all code changes. This helps you keep track of changes as well as understand why they were made and who made them.

Figma (UX,UI Design)

It wasn’t too long ago that Sketch was the go-to web design tool. However, Sketch requires the use of other tools like InVision or Abstract and doesn't allow for real-time collaboration that’s often necessary for design projects. That’s what makes Figma different. Figma is an “all-in-one” web design tool that provides cloud-based file sharing and allows design and copy changes to be made simultaneously from multiple members of the team. Plus, Figma can be used to create prototypes, which can be used to help clients better visualize the interactivity of a website or app.

Lattice

If you’re searching for a way to track your employees’ growth and performance, we recommend looking into Lattice. Lattice is a performance management tool that can help you facilitate internal peer reviews, career pathing and more.

As you consider adding a collaborative tool to your company’s arsenal, keep your goals top of mind. What are you hoping to achieve? What problems are you trying to solve? Answers to those types of questions will help you determine if a tool is ultimately the right fit before you make the move to invest. And if you ever need help weighing your options, we’ll be here to help.