Top 13 Tools to Fuel Productivity, Collaboration, and Innovation in 2021
Check out the curated a list of the best tools and platforms that you can use to build your remote work tech in 2021 and beyond.
It’s been a year since COVID-19 brought the world to a grinding halt. Faced with health and safety concerns, organizations world over, embraced new ways of working. Work-from-home or remote working arrangements are expected to continue even as vaccination programs get underway. According to a recent report, by 2025, an estimated 70% of the workforce will be working remotely at least five days a month.
As we rethink work, the tools we use to work, how we communicate, and even the hours we work are changing. While a cobbled together stack of collaboration and productivity tools have served us well over this past year, as organizations transition to permanent remote arrangements, we need new purpose-built solutions and tools that can effectively support our new ways of working in 2021 and beyond.
With this in mind, here’s our list of top 13 tools for remote teams sorted by application type.
Learn More : 5 Ways Remote Teams Can Collaborate Better and Meet Business Goals
Top 5 Communication Tools for Remote Tools
1. Slack: Where Work Happens
Slack was a staple for many teams even before the pandemic. It continues to be one of the most popular communication tools around the world. Its intuitive UX coupled with easy file sharing capabilities and multiple integrations and plug-ins makes it one of the most effective chat solutions out there.
We love Slack because it’s a great tool for teams of all sizes and allows you to tinker around with customizations and integrations. It supports apps like Zoom, Google Drive, Github, Trello, and more. You can also create dedicated channels for everything – marketing, HR, birthdays, finance, product, and so on.
In terms of limitations, being a one-line-at-a time communications platform, users are often inundated with messages and constant notifications that could potentially lead to digital burnout or context dilution.
2. Zoom
Zoom is a video meeting and conferencing platform used by teams. Like Slack, it’s free to use and also allows users to record and store meetings. Zoom has an in-conference chat built into the platform and allows for screen-sharing too.
It is ideal for distributed teams that need to host larger conferences and webinars regularly.
3. Microsoft Teams
Teams is similar to Slack, but offers video conferencing features too. It is a collaborative communication tool where you can create channels, and perform day-to-day communication. Being a Microsoft product, Teams can be integrated with a host of other Microsoft tools. You can schedule meetings in the app, which links to Outlook.
Microsoft Teams is ideal for organizations using Microsoft products. Team makes it to our list because of its compatibility with Cortana (MS virtual assistant) and MyAnalytics that provides in-depth productivity and collaboration analysis.
While Teams runs smoothly alongside MS products, it doesn’t work well with other ecosystems such as Google Workplace.
4. UberConference
UberConference is a free-to-use video conferencing platform for teams on a budget. It is a no-frills, easy-to-use tool that offers features like screen-sharing, mobile access, and meeting recording. The platform is best for mid-sized remote teams and offers a sleek interface.
While most users report that UberConference offers great flexibility, it can only be used in Chrome for screen-sharing.
5. Join.me
Join.me is another video conferencing tool with minimal features best suited for small-mid-size teams. It’s a web-based tool that offers standard features like conferencing and video calling, screen-sharing, and customizable URLs and backgrounds.
It is a simple and straight-forward tool, so you don’t really need training or onboarding of any kind.
Top 5 Productivity Tools for Remote Teams in 2021
1. Monday.com
Monday.com is a project management platform designed specifically for agencies and businesses. It allows administrators or project owners to track progress and assign tasks to team members. It offers a few customizable features for marketing teams to track spend and budget allocation as well.
Monday’s mobile app makes it easy for team members to check and respond to updates, tasks, and comments on the go. It is a fairly simple tool with a short learning curve.
2. Jira
Jira is a project management tool by Atlassian, preferred by developers, IT support teams, and customer service reps with a ticketing system. Project owners or users can assign tickets to people and teams which are then “solved.”
Jira offers an intuitive mobile and desktop interface for project management on the go.
3. Bamboo
Bamboo is yet another Atlassian product that helps remote teams manage end-to-end software development projects. Atlassian calls it a continuous integration and deployment tool, meaning it allows software teams to deploy automated builds, test, and release software.
4. Notion
Notion is an all-in-one workspace that allows remote teams to document everything – tasks, wikis, calendars, and reminders. It is a versatile tool that different teams can use, such as marketing, software development, finance, and more.
We love Notion because it offers a unique proposition – remote workers often need to over-communicate, and Notion allows remote employees to note finer details of their ideas, thoughts, and processes to drive productivity.
5. ProofHub
ProofHub is a web-based project management tool that helps remote teams centralize all ongoing projects in one place. ProofHub enables users to interact seamlessly with clients and teammates. It features capabilities like chat to share feedback, online proofing, and remote project management.
Top 3 Collaboration Tools
1. Confluence
Confluence allows remote teams to collaborate, organize, and create projects in one place. Initially launched as a documentation platform, Confluence offers a host of features that make collaboration a breeze.
It allows users to create dynamic content by adding images with customizable sizes. Confluence is ideal for mid-large teams and offers unlimited virtual space for organizations. Users can compartmentalize this space for each business function or purpose.
Confluence also offers a host of formatting and customization options that can be used to create calendars, wiki pages, notes, checklists, and more.
2. Google Workspace
Formerly known as G Suite, Google Workspace is one of the most comprehensive collaboration platforms available to organizations. Users get access to a Gmail account (free) and tools such as Docs, Sheets, Slides, Calendar, and more.
3. Office 365
Microsoft Office 365 is the cloud-based version of the popular Microsoft Office package that comes with Windows. For those who are used to working on a desktop, this is the easiest transition there is since the learning curve is non-existent. As mentioned before, buying a monthly package also gives users additional space on OneDrive, which makes it a smart investment.
There you have it! While this list is by no means exhaustive, it should help you build a sustainable remote tech stack regardless of your team size or industry.
Here’s to your remote team success in 2021!
