Working remotely as a team is becoming increasingly easy to organise thanks to the tools that have been developed to simplify collaboration. Whether teams are all together in one place, or if some are working remotely, these tools will revolutionise our way of working.
Here is a selection of practical and easy tools to simplify teamwork, even if some of you work remotely.
Simplifying collaborative teleworking
Modern working methods rely on collective intelligence to drive projects and improve performance. But to do so, everything must be organised to improve the flow of exchanges and collaboration. Bringing an entire team together for a project requires organisation, methodology and, above all, the means to make it possible. And it’s even more important when team members aren’t all based in the same place.
A number of tools are available to optimise collaborative teleworking and meet the following needs:
Simplifying communication and collaboration
Organising project management and boosting productivity
Storing data and sharing files
Organising remote meetings
There are many tools available on the market. We have put together the 8 tools that we use on a daily basis, to inspire you and help you improve collaborative teleworking.
The best collaborative tools
1. Microsoft Teams: the platform for teamwork
Teams is the platform for teamwork for Microsoft Office 365. It aims to simplify teamwork by combining a wide range of collaborative features in one place. For example, Teams includes PowerPoint, Excel, Word and Skype.
The tool enables teams to work together on a project in workgroups, wherever they are in the world. With workgroups, members can share files to view or edit them in real time, in Office 365 format. Teams can communicate using the messaging, audio and video conference options.
Creating a communication channel for each project helps colleagues to connect and move forward together in a dedicated space.
Perfect for both teamwork and telework, Microsoft has already attracted more than 44 million active daily users.
What’s more, the platform lets you add external applications to complement its existing features.
Zoom is the ultimate professional video conferencing tool. Zoom, which has been experiencing increasing success over the last couple of months, helps you organise video calls, lead videoconference meetings, organise webinars and interact using the instant messenger. It also enables colleagues to connect in a virtual conference room to discuss specific topics.
The interface is extremely easy to use and can be customised. Teams can join the virtual meeting room from their PC, tablet or smartphone.
Used by hundreds of thousands of companies throughout the world, Zoom is a collaborative tool that facilities work as a team with up to 10,000 participants!
3. Google Drive: store and share data
Google Drive can be used to store and share all of a company’s data in the cloud. The Drive is accessed via a Google account and can be synchronised with all the search engine’s other tools.
No matter where employees are located, they have access to the company’s Drive and all the data stored there by the teams. Each member can view, edit and add documents.
Streamlined and great for sharing, Google Drive also provides access to the office tools Google Docs, Sheet and Slides, to create presentations or work documents.
Team members can share the documents together and comment on them in real time. What’s more, they can also easily suggest modifications. Flexible and agile, Google Drive is a must-have for all organisations.
4. Slack: the collaborative messenger
Slack is without a doubt one of the best-known instant messengers, for both small and large businesses.
Using a computer or a smartphone, Slack enables all of a company’s members to access shared workspaces to interact. Public or private, team members can communicate using conversation channels that are classified by project or topic. Teams can share information, files and documents, with the aim of reducing the number of emails sent.
In addition, Slack allows you to integrate external applications to build on the tool’s existing features and create tasks to carry out actions.
As well as being great for teamwork, Slack is fun and helps unite internal teams.
5. Jira: agile project management
Jira is establishing itself as an agile project management tool.
Depending on the type of project managed by the team, managers can choose the best-suited methods and features, for example scrum tables or Kanban tables.
The interface was designed for efficient project management, with a system of tasks that can be sorted by project and assigned to team members. Workflows can be personalised to check on their progress. A report function helps monitor projects in real time.
The tool can be accessed by anyone, anywhere and contains all the necessary data for ongoing projects.
6. Monday: easily manage team projects
Monday offers all the features necessary to manage projects as a team, even when teleworking.
This project management tool is designed to help manage and track everyday tasks.
The best part? Workflows can be automated to improve the flow of information and save time.Monday provides an overview of all your projects’ progress, broken down by team.
Easy to use, Monday is tailored to all kinds of teams, from software development to marketing and sales teams and human resources, for example.
7. Trello: task management for everyone
Trello can be used to manage all kinds of projects.
With features than enable you to organise tables, lists and cards, the tool is suitable for all kinds of organisations.
Tables can be made public or private using the different settings available. Trello is known to be a task management tool that is very easy to use – so much so that it can even be used with friends and family!
8. Beekast: the tool to organise collaborative remote meetings
Beekast helps you organise effective, impactful and engaging meetings, even when teleworking.
Whether it’s for project meetings, brainstorming, training or even events, the platform is available wherever you are. The platform also forms part of an ecosystem of tools, alongside Microsoft Teams.
By configuring activities such as MCQs, word clouds and challenges, organisers can encourage participation in meetings and promote collective intelligence. Decision-making during meetings is simplified with functionalities such as Actions – decisions and automatic reports.
Extremely easy to use and implement, users do not need to adapt to the tool, since Beekast adapts to all its users and their everyday needs.
