Working Remotely? Try These Tools for Work from Home Collaboration

Communication is the key to any business functioning. Planning, strategizing, budgeting, customer service and all other processes demand a joined-up approach. However, in-person communication is not always possible, especially when your employees are working remotely from home.

In today’s digital era, there are many collaboration tools which are bridging distances and ensuring an effective business communication.

Table of Contents

What are Online Collaboration Tools?

Online collaboration tools are web-based platforms and mobile applications, which allow teams to collaborate through virtual meetings, video conferencing, screen sharing, online file sharing, etc.

What’s the Importance of Collaboration Tools for Business?

As per a study, around 85 percent of employees believe that the lack of communication is one of the major reasons for missed project deadlines or project failure.

Is the lack of business communication impacting your work-related projects too?

Online collaboration tools can help in improving the process of business communication in your organization and ensure uninterrupted audio and video conversations.

In this blog, we have listed the 15 top collaboration tools that can help improve team collaboration and the communication with your clients.

16 Best Remote Working Tools for Work From Home Collaboration

We have created an exhaustive list of team collaboration tools and platforms, which you can use to explore new business opportunities together.

Office 365: For For productivity management
Slack: For unified collaboration
Troop Messenger: For instant messaging and group chat
Asana: For project management
Loom: For work-related video messaging
GoToMeeting: For online meetings
Cisco WebEx: For video conferencing
AnyDesk: For remote desktop connectivity
TeamViewer 14: For remote desktop access
MindMesiter: For mind mapping
Wrike: For project management with 360 degree visibility
Canva: For creating amazing graphic design
Dropbox: For file sharing and collaboration
Podio: For team management
Flowdock: For group chat
Flock: For team messaging and online collaboration

List of 16 Best Collaboration Tools for Business: Remote Working Tools

Office 365

There are many Office 365 collaboration tools for project managers, which can make collaboration super easy in the time of lockdown and new business ideas during lockdown .

MS Office remote working tool allows teams to work together on presentations through PowerPoint and Excel reports. And there are other tools like OneDrive, Calendar, Planner, Teams and Skype for Business to share content, documents and ensure a hassle-free workflow.

Why Choose MS Office 365?

Advanced set of capabilities
Robust security measures
Compliance leadership
Promotes teamwork & productivity
Supports third-party integrations

Slack

Slack collaboration tool for business helps people across silos through conversations and file sharing. It creates a shared channel, allowing businesses to collaborate with people from other companies through messages, voice and video calls.

Slack can be easily integrated with popular platforms like Office 365 and Google Drive to streamline the work. Also, it comes with a Workflow Builder to automate routine tasks. Consider looking into some of the best slack alternatives!

Why Choose Slack?

No incidence of security compromises
Ensures higher scalability
Provides manageability & extensibility

Troop Messenger

Troop Messenger is a smart messaging app that assist in faster and effective team communication. This office chat app is used by small businesses and big enterprises for instant messaging, audio & video calling, screen sharing, audio messaging, and more.

From one-on-one instant messaging to unlimited group conversations, Troop Messenger never lets the communication flow break. You can also add external parties like your clients and vendors to your communication channels as Orange members for hassle-free collaboration.

Why Choose Troop Messenger Collaboration Tool?

Supports instant messaging with the options for message recall, copying single or multiple chat conversations, forwarding messages to multiple groups, etc.
Uninterrupted video calls to discuss about projects and deadlines with your team.
You can customize your chat background with interactive themes and wallpapers.
It helps receive and share crystal clear audio messages.
You will get private chat windows where messages will not be saved.
Also helps in live location tracking of your teammates.
Supports file sharing & screen sharing during one-on-one and group chats.

Asana

Asana is an effective project management tool, which allows tracking the work in progress by individual team members and task deadlines. Using Asana, you can manage all details of your work and map out every step for your team members.

Asana further assists with cross-team work management through request forms. Asana forms help define the task clearly for everyone to be on the same page.

Why Choose Asana Remote Working Solution?

Helps increase team accountability
Better communication about work
Helps define clear team goals
You can strategize on meeting deadlines

Loom

Loom is a screen recorder software, which allows users to record audio and video on their desktop and mobile screen and share interactive messages across. So, instead of attending in-person meetings, you can record your messages with expressions and share with your clients and customers.

Loom remote working tool ensures faster recording and instant sharing. If required, you can also trim your video and add call to actions. You can also check-out some of the best loom alternatives.

Why Choose Loom?

It’s one of the best free collaboration tools
Makes easy to demonstrate product details
Easier to explain the proof of concepts
Free unlimited cloud storage

GoToMeeting

Now, your employees can work remotely and still stay connected with GoToMeeting video conferencing software. It supports up to 250 participants and facilitates digital meetings through video to slides, unlimited recording, meeting transcriptions and call me features.

GoToMeeting work from home solution also supports screen sharing, conference calling, meeting recording and transcription.

Why Choose GoToMeeting?

One-click meetings
HDFaces video conferencing
Desktop/application sharing
Virtual whiteboard
Drawing boards

Cisco WebEx

Online meetings and video conferencing become much simpler with Cisco WebEx. With this online collaboration tool, you can connect with people across your company and hold events, webinars, meetings, etc.

Also, you can connect with your customers and prospects remotely to provide remote support and online product demonstrations.

Why Choose CiscoWebEx Remote Solution?

Support for multiple languages
Content storage integration
Meeting capacity
Personal rooms with advanced features
Video conferencing capabilities

AnyDesk

AnyDesk remote desktop software is an important tool for IT professionals to access a computer remotely. This helps in fixing issues, if any, to ensure uninterrupted workflow. Other employees can also use AnyDesk remote desktop software to hold online meetings, transfer files and record the sessions.

Why Choose AnyDesk Remote Working Tool?

Home office
Remote support
Encryption technology
Multi-platform support
File transfer
Remote printing

TeamViewer 14

TeamViewer 14 is another popular remote desktop software, which allows employers to set up connection between computers and access files, programs and networks. It further automates repetitive processes and ensures data transfer at a much faster speed.

TeamViewer is widening the scope of providing remote support to your customers and provide them visual guidance to fix issues faster.

Why Choose TeamViewer Remote Desktop Solution?

Remote desktop
Remote monitoring
Remote access
Secure unattended access
Online meetings & presentation
Online teamwork
Training session

MindMeister

MindMeister online mind mapping tool is popularly used by remote employees to brainstorm and get the creative ideas flowing. This mind map editor provides exclusive features for project planning, note taking, presentations and mind map sharing.

Project managers can collaborate with as many members as they want and share mind maps with them to brainstorm together. Project managers can largely benefit from this tool to discuss ideas, share comments and take vote on ideas.

Why Choose MindMeister?

Helps organize thoughts and ideas
Multi-platform support
Free option of MindMeister is available
Export feature is there
It’s easy to use

Wrike

Wrike online project management software is already in demand among project managers working remotely. This work collaboration software is used by project managers to manage their resources better and track the work progress.

Wrike remote tool also helps analyse project barriers and take immediate steps to bring the team back on track.

Why Choose Wrike Project Management?

Cross-project prioritization
Real-time collaboration
Professional project management solution
Provides task management tools & templates
Integration with Google Docs

Canva

Canva is one of the best collaboration tools for designers, which is extremely simple to use with its drag and drop features. It provides in-built professional layouts, free filters, multiple fonts, and free icons and shapes to help your employees collaborate and share their ideas through interactive designs.

Why Choose Canva?

You don’t need design expertise to use it
Designs can be shared with teams with edit access
Provides designs for different social media platforms
You can use the free account of Canva

Dropbox

Dropbox is a productivity tool, which helps freelancers and employees working from home to stay focused and organized. This file storage and sharing platform keeps documents in customized files and folders.

Thus, you team will spend less time on file searching and focus more on pushing projects forward.

Why Choose Dropbox?

You can upload & save your files
File sharing options
Create folder to share multiple files in one go
You can share links with non-Dropbox users

Podio

Podio work management software is trusted by businesses and leaders across the world to manage their workflow smartly. It ensures tighter collaboration between remote teams and make conversations and content sharing easier.

You can clearly define roles of your team members to ensure faster communication and an improved delivery time.

Why Choose Podio Workflow Management Software?

Helps with project planning & development
Workflow management & collaboration
Runs on both, web and mobile apps
Helps with expense reporting

Flowdock

Flowdock promotes group chats for teams and helps bring all conversations on a single platform. Now, remote teams can come together virtually to brainstorm, prioritize work and remove any hurdle in project completion.

Why Choose Flowdock?

Organized collaboration
Integration inbox
You can customize your tool belt

Flock

Flock collaboration software makes communication effortless through video calls, powerful tools, powerful search and app integrations. Its not just a communication platform but also provides productivity tools to manage work from a central platform.

Along with personal and group chats, you can also initiate video calls through Flock’s video conferencing tools.

Why Choose Flock Software?

You can discuss projects
Achieve real-time project completion
Have a direct chat or connect with a group
Attend video calls with just a click

Popular Features of Collaboration Tools

Collaboration between an organization and its employees and clients is important to share ideas and achieve bigger goals. With the following features, collaboration tools speed up these processes:

Document Management
Task Management
Project Management
File Transfer or Sharing
Content Creation
Internal Communication
Social Communication Management

How to Pick Right Digital Collaboration Tool for Business?

Not all work management tool and enterprise collaboration system provide the same features. It’s important that you find the right collaboration tool that can be used seamlessly by your remote employees. To get an effective digital collaboration tool, you need to look for the following functions:

Check for security features, as your organizational data must not go in wrong hands.
See if a given collaboration tool is compatible with existing solutions in your organizational ecosystem.
Create a checklist of features, such as meeting schedules, shared calendar, project tracking and due dates, etc.
Don’t go for the latest tool, see what’s popular among other users.

Summing Up

Even in the time of uncertainties, the business must go on! And with the help of these best collaboration tools, you don’t need to bother about managing remote employees. Just collaborate online and stay on the top of your game.