Tools Every Remote Team Needs For Success

The COVID-19 pandemic knocked the entire world for a loop.

But along the way many of us found ways to adapt in order to continue to live in a somewhat normal manner even as the world was going through extraordinary circumstances.

Remote work became the approach of choice for most companies because assembling in offices and attending conferences became impossible under the circumstances. Many times through trial and error companies found the best way to march on without employees and management getting together.

We at Creative2 were lucky. We had a head start on remote work.

Creative2 was founded in 2009 and began working remotely right from the start. This allowed us the flexibility to hire the best talent regardless of location and spare our workers from dealing with the obstacles to productivity like commuting.

Based on our longevity and our lengthy list of satisfied clients, you can tell we’ve made it work.

In the post-COVID world many companies will try to continue remote work for various reasons. Here’s a look at five tools we at Creative2 think will help you duplicate our success as a remote company:

External communication

Although much of the Creative2 team is working from home, our clients don’t see a difference because we’re still sure to communicate with them as though we’re all in an office. Collaboration is important in any business, and we make sure we’re in full contact with our clients as often as necessary to get the job done.

What does Creative2 use for external communication? Zoom, Outlook

Other popular examples: GoToMeeting, Skype, Google Meet, BlueJeans, Whereby

Internal communication

It can be a challenge to keep everyone on a remote team on the same page during projects. The No. 1 thing we have found to make sure there are no communication hiccups has been a consistent team meeting. Every day we set aside 15 to 30 minutes to debrief on what’s going on at Creative2 and to make sure any team concerns are answered.

What does Creative2 use for internal communication? Slack, Zoom

Other popular examples: Twist, Workplace, Quip, Rocket Chat, Flock, Threads

Project management

Like most companies, Creative2 relies on smooth workflow. You want to make sure everyone receives their assignments and tracks their progress. And you need to monitor productivity to be sure you’ll accomplish your goals on time. If things seem to be slowing down, you can pinpoint the issue and get your project back on track.

What does Creative2 use for project management? Monday

Other popular examples: Asana, Trello, Jira, Todoist, Basecamp, ProofHub, GitHub, ClickUp

Information management

Creative2 wouldn’t be able to succeed as a remote workforce without tools to collaboratively edit and update documents and files in real time. We also have to be able to store and share deliverable, company records, employee paperwork and other documents to make sure everyone is on the same page. Cloud-based solutions seem to work best and there are numerous ones to choose from.

What does Creative2 use for information management? DropBox

Other popular examples: Google Drive, Airtable, Box, OneDrive, Notion, Kintone

Time tracking & reporting

Administrative tasks are critical to any company. We at Creative2 have managed to enjoy the benefits of remote working while using tools for time tracking, invoicing, expense tracking and time-based reporting without missing a beat.

What does Creative2 use for time tracking & reporting? Harvest

Other popular examples: Hubstaff, TimeCamp, Journyx, QuickBooks Time

Our team at Creative2 has managed to remain connected and aligned to a common goal, even as it has remained remote throughout our existence. Virtual offices are composed of software and processes that make a remote team efficient and effective and we’ve put them to use while fulfilling our clients’ goals and forging a family-friendly culture amongst our team.

As Creative2’s operations manager, the best advice beyond these tools is to just keep it simple. If you know exactly what you want a tool to do, then use it and focus on its functions rather than its features.