It's no secret that more people are transitioning from office to a work-from-home setup.
Remote work isn’t a trend. It's here to stay.
In fact, Buffer’s “2021 State of Remote Work” report found that 97% of workers would like to work at least some of the time remotely throughout their entire career.
And the biggest benefit they see is the flexibility it offers. Being able to pick up and go to a remote location while still being able to work is a massive game-changer for people.
But it’s also a game-changer for businesses. You get access to a wealth of talent. You reduce overheads, and it allows you to build a lifestyle business. You can wear whatever you want, live anywhere you choose, and work at your own pace. So virtual teams are a must. Great. Now what?
If you've got team members living in different places, you need tools to run your entire remote team effectively. This is really important to get right, so I’m going to share the tools you’ll need daily to successfully run a virtual business.
The best tool is the tool everyone can use.
Don't get me wrong. There are a ton of tools meant for to-do lists, time management, and other areas. But I’m going to focus on the essential tools that will keep your remote team productive and connected.
Remote work also presents a whole bunch of challenges.
As your team works remotely, you can't just go to a colleague's desk and ask for an update. It's hard to organize documents if they're all coming from emails being sent to you. And, there's no guarantee that you can schedule emergency meetings because your team might be in different time zones.
Thankfully, everything becomes possible with a project management tool.
There are a few popular tools to choose from, but Asana is my team’s favorite (and we’ve taken a few for a spin). We’ve found that it’s a great platform to manage even the largest and most complex projects.
Systems play an integral role in running a remote team successfully. And project management tools like Asana are the right solution for creating and managing a centralized system. A review of Asana showcases its integration capabilities, allowing teams to connect their favorite tools for improved workflow. With your team, you can collaborate in one space. Its main features allow you to:
Slack is a virtual messaging tool that remote workers love. It's a communication platform that helps your teammates collaborate—to share ideas, comments, and other real-time updates.
It also takes away the necessity for email within your organization, which is not really that bad, but communication tools like Slack notify you when someone sends you a message. It has other integration features too.
Slack basically allows you to:
I still see a lot of people using Microsoft Office, and while it’s the best tool for office set-ups, it won't work when running a team remotely.
It can feel daunting switching from MS Office to G-Suite, but it will be the cornerstone of your team's ability to create assets, share files, and keep everything centralized. And once you’re up to speed on how to use it, you’ll never go back.
These are the G-Suite (now known as Google Workforce) applications my team uses and loves:
Since G-Suite is cloud-based, every single application under it allows your remote team to:
Since in-person meetings are not possible when working remotely, Zoom is a great tool for scheduling weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly meetings with your virtual team. On these calls you can:
Even if you haven't met your team members in person yet (or may never if you live oceans apart), virtual meetings bring the human element to the remote workplace.
So aside from talking about work, allot time for some chit chat—this will help cultivate relationships and build trust within your team.
And don't forget to put together business systems for your team. These are step-by-step instructions on how to use each of the tools mentioned above. You'll thank me for it. Learn what is a business system here.
If you have to schedule a meeting or event with anyone from the team, you can use World Time Buddy. This is a popular world clock and time converter. It's the perfect solution for dealing with time across multiple time zones.
My team is spread across multiple time zones. I also have clients from other parts of the world, so I keep this open at all times to ensure I’m not scheduling calls for 3 am.
Loom is a Chrome extension that enables you to record your screen and share the video through a link in just a few clicks. It's basically a video messaging platform for work.
So for example, if you want to train someone from your team, you can simply record yourself while doing a specific task then share the link and they can access it anytime. This is also helpful for addressing urgent matters, especially among teams working across different time zones.
Gone are the days when you have to manually write emails to each team member about the upcoming meeting schedule. Calendly offers a powerful and versatile set of features that allow you to schedule one-on-one appointments, group events, and team meetings.
It’s also great for setting up meetings with clients, consultants, vendors, media, whatever. You can just share your link and they’re able to choose a time that suits them and you.
As an influencer, podcaster, content creator or expert authority, you're required to jump on to Zoom calls or put out new content weekly.
How you present yourself online matters.
If you're using a crappy camera, or audio that crackles, it’s the equivalent of you showing up to speak at a stadium with a big stain on your shirt. That would be really distracting to your audience.
So you need to level up your audio and visual game, and that requires thinking about your home studio setup.
You can find everything you need to know about setting up your home studio in this article.
These remote work tools are a necessity for your business's success. They enable:
It's up to you to try them out. And don't hesitate to explore more options. Use what's best for your team. The good news is, most of them are free, and some have free trial versions, so you can decide before committing to them.
But giving your team the tools they need to do a great job won't guarantee they deliver the goods. You also need to build a strong work culture. Here's how.
Now I'd like to know what you're currently using. Did some of your favorites make the list? Is there anything you want to try?
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