This is particularly useful for when you have to host 3-way calls between employees. Audio calls have a chance for error as people can talk over each other or have a poor connection. Video adds necessary transparency to the process, increasing effective communication.

It also has features that make it stand out as a tool for designers, including everything from prototype development and vector editing to digital whiteboards and shared design libraries. The best remote teams use a combination of asynchronous and real-time channels, including text, audio and video. Employees should be supported to reach their team https://remotemode.net/ members however they see fit with different options depending on the subject, project and urgency. But remember that no tool solves all collaboration issues on its own — the way you use the tools ultimately determines the success of your collaboration efforts. Get an in-depth look at the dozens of communication tools available for remote teams.

Establish Clear Communication Channels

Shared word processing services, file-sharing hubs, video conferencing, and general project management interfaces are just a few examples of features that may be required from remote collaboration tools. Trello is a project management software with a few remote collaboration tools to assist teams in organizing tasks and projects. Teams can build cards for each task or item on the board https://remotemode.net/blog/10-best-remote-team-collaboration-practices/ and shift them between columns to demonstrate different stages of advancement or organization. Remote workers can also utilize cloud-based collaboration software that allows them to work on the same document at the same time. Such software allows for real time changes to occur when an individual edits a document, so that everyone can be involved in the creation or editing process.

If you’re not already storing all of your documents in the cloud, what are you waiting for? Google offers numerous powerful productivity and organizational tools combined in its G Suite by Google Cloud to power your remote collaboration. You can use Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, and their other commonly used applications. Bit includes a central content hub known as the content library where you can save your organization’s content in one place. You can bring together files, images, embeds, and web links into one central repository to ensure smooth remote collaboration. Everyone on your team is trying to be effective, together—even if we’re all practicing social distancing to varying degrees.

Improve meetings

However, acknowledging these difficulties and working together to find solutions, such as working asynchronously, can help teams overcome these challenges and come up with new, innovative ways of working together. Many services also offer productivity-enhancing features like real-time collaborative editing of text documents and spreadsheets so you can edit a report as you discuss it with your team. And if you’re worried about team members getting their hands on documents they shouldn’t have access to, most cloud storage services allow administrator accounts to customize who has access to what files. It’s important to note that overcommunication in this context does not mean communicating overly frequently. Excessive micromanaging of your virtual team through frequent check-ins and messaging can be distracting to your team members. It also shows a lack of trust in the capabilities of your team to finish their work to spec and on time, which can be destructive to your remote collaboration environment.

You can establish pre-approved guidelines that will help employees set boundaries for effective collaboration. You can ensure that employees follow these rules by setting certain penalties if necessary. The hybrid model is an onsite-offsite arrangement where employees can work from home and from within the office. Think of this as taking work-from-home days whenever you want or when the company allows it.

Establish norms and communication guidelines for remote team collaboration

Chat is Google Workspace’s tool for direct messaging that’s often used as an alternative to Slack or Teams’ chat functionality. It can’t sustain collaboration on its own either, but it provides chat rooms where teammates can discuss the working process and share content from Drive. Teams allows for screen-sharing and offers the option to raise a hand when you want to speak up, while notes can be taken with OneNote.

Managers of remote teams should lead by example and participate to improve personal connections and productivity, rather than as a top-down mandate. Time tracking, resource management, shared dashboards, and reporting make it easy to hit targets and stay on track. Break down projects into smaller tasks and create workflows that optimize remote team collaboration. These remote work tools help teams seamlessly communicate and collaborate wherever they are located. In a post-pandemic world, remote collaboration tools are no longer a nice-to-have. Below, we’re breaking down some of the best remote work tools for managers navigating the new normal of teleworking in a post-pandemic world and outlining remote collaboration tools perfect for project management.

Here’s a video guide to help you create interactive presentations using Visme. You’ll find a separate category for interactive presentation templates in Visme’s library. Choose a template that fits your needs and customize it to create your own. This will not only save you time but also help you eliminate most of the errors that occur at the workplace. According to a recent survey, poor communication accounts for 70% of corporate errors.

This collection of powerful features make simultaneous group access, hosting brainstorming sessions, or simply conducting quick check-ins easy and effective. In terms of collaborative hardware, ViewBoards are collaboration displays specifically designed with teamwork in mind. ViewBoard interactive flat panels like the ViewSonic IFP 7550 offer the ability to import files, make on-screen annotations, conduct video conferencing, record live, and save all on-screen content. While ViewBoards are geared towards group collaborations in meetings, in a remote collaboration setting, they could be used as a means of facilitating remote collaborations from one centralized device. A clear communication protocol defines which remote collaboration tools the team uses for work-related communication.