Essential Remote Collaboration Tools in 2020

It’s 2020, and more and more businesses are thinking outside of the box when it comes to workplace logistics. The idea that everyone has to be in the same building at the same time to be productive is being replaced with the fact that technology makes it easier for people to work from anywhere.

Innovative remote collaboration tools make it easier than ever to host meetings, connect with teams, and share information from anywhere—virtually. Whether working remotely is your new normal or you’ve been doing it for a while, these seven tools will help you stay connected and increase productivity no matter where you are.

Device Magic

Device Magic is a must-have resource for companies that are looking to simplify their documentation processes and want to take a step toward going paperless. Device Magic Mobile Forms allows you to create and complete custom forms from anywhere, even without an internet connection.

Use the simple drag-and-drop interface to customize forms for your needs. Then modify, save, and share data from your forms with your team, even when you are offline. Perfect for construction, logistics, retail, and facilities management teams, Device Magic is must if your team is often working remotely or frequents multiple off-site locations.

• The free membership gives you access to Device Magic on one device and access to unlimited forms and submissions.
• The Professional Option is $25 per month and allows you to add and remove devices as needed. It also integrates with advanced destinations like Google Drive, Dropbox, SQL and Salesforce.
• The Enterprise Option offers enhanced workflow and automation as well as live data resources for more accurate productivity projections.

Slack

Slack is a one-stop-shop for everything your team needs to stay connected. This is a messaging app first and foremost, allowing your team to organize conversations by topic, importance, and teams. Beyond messaging, Slack integrates with many of the platforms you’re already using, and the easy-to-use search filters helps you find information quickly.

• Slack has a free membership options for small teams
• The Standard Membership is ideal for small to medium size teams and is $6.67 a month
• The Plus Membership is designed for large teams or those with additional administration needs and is $12.50 a month

Basecamp

Basecamp is a project management tool that allows teams of all sizes to collaborate on projects in real time from anywhere. Send invites to projects, chat, share files and schedule meetings all in one place. The sleek design makes it easy to keep multiple projects organized. Things can get chaotic when everyone on the team is working off of different platforms and emails—Basecamp brings it all together so everyone is on the same page, no matter where they’re working from.

• Basecamp Personal is free but comes with limited features like a three project max and access for up to 20 users.
• Basecamp Business is $99 per month and gives you access to unlimited projects, users, and client interaction. You also have access to project templates and priority support.

Fellow

When working remotely, it can be challenging to find a way to host productive and organized meetings. Fellow makes it easy for teams to host meetings virtually. Whether you need to schedule team meetings or one-on-one meetings, you can schedule, host, record, and take notes during meetings from anywhere.

With Fellow you can track interactions company-wide and receive notifications in the morning for all of the conversations and meetings planned for the day. This allows you to schedule out your day ahead of time and make sure you don’t miss any important conversations.

• A free membership is available for small teams
• Fellow Pro is $4 per month per user

Zoom

Zoom is one of the most popular video conferencing apps being used today. Its innovative features allow you to schedule meetings, send invites, host webinars, record conferences, and share files and messages across the board. The seamless design allows you to customize the way you interact with other members.

• The free membership allows you to host up to 100 participants and unlimited 1-on-1 meetings with a 40 minute time limit on group meetings.
• The Pro option includes all basic features and no limit on meeting duration. This option is $14.99 a month
• The Business option gives you all of the Pro features plus dedicated phone support, admin dashboard and custom branding & emails—for $19.99 a month.

Asana

Asana is a work management platform that offers easy to use features to stay on track, hit deadlines, and update everyone involved on the status of a project. This remote collaboration tool allows you to map out a project step by step, assign specific people and teams to a task, and visualize the work as you move toward completion.

Asana is great for professionals who work better seeing their plans laid out visually, and the colorful charts and timelines help you to stay organized. Other useful features that make working remotely a little easier include real-time calendars, workflow management tools, and ways to track marketing strategies.

• The free membership is ideal for individuals and small teams, offering basic features and allowing you to collaborate with up to 15 people.
• The Premium Plan is $10.99 per month and gives you access to all of the basic features plus an admin console and access to private teams and projects.
• The Business Plan is ideal for teams and companies that need to manage work across various platforms. It’s $24.99 a month and gives you access to all of the Premium features plus other resources like portfolios, approvals and custom rules builder.
• The Enterprise Plan is for large companies that need more support, control and security. This option features everything in the Business Plan but puts an emphasis on branding and priority customer support.

Harvest

One thing many professionals have to get used to when switching to remote work is time management. The natural time flow of the office can help team members stay on track, but working from home means may require a learning curve for managing distractions and staying focused. Harvest is a time tracking tool that analyzes how long it takes you to complete a project and provides detailed time sheets that help your team to keep track of their hours, even when working remotely. Keeping all time reports in one place makes it easier to pay your team and send invoices to your clients.

• The free membership allows one person to manage a maximum of two projects.
• The pro membership is $12 per month and allows you to manage unlimited people and projects.

Closing Thoughts

Effective project management means finding ways to collaborate with your team. These essential remote collaboration tools make it easy for you to manage your time, meet deadlines, track workflow, and communicate with your team. We hope these solutions can help to make working remotely as productive and efficient as possible for your team.

Try Device Magic Free

Device Magic allows you to create custom forms and reports that your remote teams need to stay organized. The ability to access these forms even offline is what makes Device Magic such a game changer for teams who are always on the go. Device Magic integrates with the business platforms you’re already using and can help your company adopt more sustainable (and paperless) documentation practices.