The pandemic and subsequent quarantine have moved many of us online. Many software developers, designers, and others already preferred working from home before this. Many people will continue to work from home into the future. Here are seven tools to make working from home collaboratively easier and more productive for everyone on your team.
1. Slack
Slack is one of the best tools for team communication. Slack makes it easy to be in touch with your remote coworkers and know their status in real-time. This communication can be through emojis or message pings, sharing screenshots or other images, or sending polls to get feedback or elicit opinions. These apps can allow for updates on product development, customer interaction, and employee status, such as receiving feedback, celebrating a success, or letting others know that you are focusing and do not want to be disturbed.
2. Zoom
Most of us are probably familiar with Zoom by now; even if you haven’t used it, you have likely heard of it. This video conferencing software allows employees to have group video conferences, from just two people to several hundred. Zoom allows you to schedule conferences or meetings at select times. The chat function allows those who dislike speaking up in groups to write questions or comments. You can also share documents via chat. There is also an option for password-protected meetings so only those with the password can get in. The Waiting Room function allows moderators to ensure no uninvited guests come to a meeting. You can set up personal meeting rooms for ad hoc meetings as well.
3. InVision
When working on a document or brainstorming ideas, InVision Freehand is an ideal online whiteboard where multiple people can write on and add to a document together, such as a presentation, whether asynchronously or as part of a group meeting.
4. GitHub
GitHub is a reliable, collaborative software development tool. It allows teams to host and review code, build software, and manage the software development process.
Atlassian JIRA is also a good alternative as it integrates with InVision.
5. Trello
Trello is an easy-to-use project management platform. It uses visualizations and integrates comments from team members to make it easy to track progress in finishing projects and helps remote users keep track of their and their team members’ progress. You can categorize tasks into various statuses, such as “to do”, “doing”, and “done”. You can also put projects and sub-tasks onto individual cards and send reminders on these tasks to employees.
Due to Trello not requiring a lot of information, it is user-friendly and flexible in what it can do, which makes it ideal for fast-paced start-ups. Trello also integrates well with Slack and Google Drive.
6. Google Drive
Google Drive has the best file-sharing app around. Its cloud storage allows you to share files with others. You can also view, comment on, or edit certain files.
7. Flowdock
Flowdock is a messaging platform for groups wherein you can set up private chats. It also allows you to integrate notifications for other platforms, such as Slack, so that you can receive all your team messages in one place.
Conclusion
The above collaborative tools can make working in a team remotely easier and more efficient, both as a team member and as a project manager. Sadly, we could not include every management tool; other tools that offer services such as SAP migration also allow you to migrate and manage data without having to write your own code, as well as cleanse, enrich, re-express, filter, and normalize your data as required.