Top-notch collaboration tools are critical for remote teams. These remote work tools can make distributed teams more productive.
More than 20% of the workforce could work remotely three to five days a week as effectively as they could if working from an office, according to findings by McKinsey & Company. Their recent analysis of 2,000 tasks and 800 jobs in nine countries indicates that this would translate to three to four times as many people working from home than before the pandemic. In 2023 and beyond, distributed teams will need extraordinary tools for digital adoption, collaboration, productivity, scheduling and meeting.
Calendly for teams is a web-based scheduling tool that makes it easy for everyone to set meeting times inside and outside their organization. Companies can display their entire company availability or each department’s availability on one page (Figure A). Invitees can schedule a time to meet, which can automatically be assigned to a team member with availability.
Figure A
Image: Calendly
Key features
Automated availability checks can be scheduled for up to six calendars.
Automated distribution of meetings to your team based on availability and priority.
Artificial intelligence to help nondata scientists prepare data and build machine learning models.
Time zone that displays availability in each invitee’s time zone.
Insight on invitee engagement and tracking of campaign scheduling activity.
Pros
Integrates with Google Calendar.
Allows you to book different meeting types.
Customized schedule blocking.
Automatically creates Zoom meetings.
Simple canceling and rescheduling.
Cons
Multiuser scheduling isn’t intuitive.
Basic plan is very limited.
The mobile app isn’t user friendly.
Pricing
Basic: Free.
Essentials: $8 per seat per month, billed annually, or $10 per seat billed monthly.
Professional: $12 per seat per month, billed annually, or $15 per seat billed monthly.
Teams: $16 per seat per month, billed annually, or $20 per seat billed monthly.
WalkMe provides companies with a starting point to plan and implement digital collaboration options. This digital adoption platform can help your company plan its digital adoption strategy based on actual user data. By analyzing and isolating business-critical applications, companies can optimize digital experiences and create customizations across applications and business processes. WalkMe increases visibility and clarity for leaders and helps overcome unique business challenges (Figure B).
Figure B
Image: WalkMe
Key features
No coding required for nontechnical users.
Data import, export and synchronization.
Access to conversion optimization tools.
Process automation to simplify digital adoption.
SOC 3 enterprise-level security.
Pros
Highly customizable.
Easy to create custom tutorials.
Allows deep integration into your company website.
Slack is a digital team collaboration tool that makes it easy for teams to come together and collaborate in real time using channels that house all project-related team activities and communications. Everyone within a channel can access the same messages, allowing them to all stay on the same page (Figure C). Teams can share ideas, make decisions and make progress with a common purpose and place.
Figure C
Image: Slack
Key features
Stop, Stick and Roll features.
Slack Connect works with multiple organizations within a channel.
Messaging to allow private chat with team members.
Video conferencing for sharing information face-to-face and more efficiently.
Historical data that is searchable.
Pros
Powerful collaboration tools.
Workspaces and channels make for easy teamwork.
Numerous third-party integrations.
Slackbot simplifies automation.
File archives and searching.
Cons
Video share isn’t always reliable.
Busy channels can get overwhelming without using filters.
Users are randomly signed out of workspaces.
Pricing
Free.
Pro: $7.25 per person per month, billed annually, or $8.75 per person billed monthly.
Business+: $12.50 per person per month, billed annually, or $15 per person billed monthly.
Previously known as G Suite, Google Workspace offers companies a web-based suite of business productivity and collaboration tools for companies of all sizes. It combines custom email for businesses and other collaboration tools like Gmail, Calendar, Meet, Chat, Drive, Docs, Sheets, Slides, Forms and other apps (Figure D).
Figure D
Image: Google
Key features
Custom and secure business email.
Video meetings from 100 participants, up to 250+ participants with recordings.
From 30GB cloud storage per user up to unlimited storage.
Security and management controls.
Product support.
Pros
Plenty of third-party integration.
Secure email.
Domain alignment.
Anti-spam tools.
Plenty of cloud storage.
Easy account creation.
Built-in collaboration tools.
Mobile apps.
Cons
Complicated data migration tools.
Limited desktop apps.
Contacts app lacks customization.
Tasks app is limited in functionality.
Limited chat integrations and options.
Google Dashboard is limited and cannot be customized.
Pricing
Free.
Business Starter: $6 per user per month, billed annually, or $7.20 per user billed monthly.
Business Standard: $12 per user per month, billed annually, or $14.40 per user billed monthly.
Business Plus: $18 per user per month, billed annually, or $21.60 per user billed monthly.
Zoom meetings provide teams with access to an online high definition video and audio collaboration solution that lets groups of all sizes collaborate inside and outside of your organization. Meetings can be synchronized with your calendar system to deliver enterprise-grade video conferencing from your computer or mobile device (Figure E). Zoom also offers robust security and disruption-free settings.
Figure E
Image: Zoom
Key features
Encryption, role-based security, passcode protection, waiting rooms and more.
Recording and transcripts can be saved locally or to the cloud, with searchable transcripts.
Streamlined calendaring that syncs with Outlook, Gmail or iCal.
Team Chat with searchable history, integrated file sharing.
Pros
Supports large audiences.
Meetings can be streamed on Facebook.
Can be used for free, with limitations.
Google Calendar integration.
Scalable from small to enterprise businesses.
Cross-platform applications.
HD for video and audio.
HIPAA compliant.
Cons
Can be pricey when at scale.
No comment control.
App is required for use.
Saved recording file size can grow very large.
Pricing
Basic: Free.
Pro: $149.90 per user per year, or $15.99 per user, billed monthly.
Business: $199.90 per user per year, or $19.99 per user, billed monthly.
Business Plus: $250.00 per user per year, or $25.50 per used, billed monthly.
