So you want to build a remote workforce. When you want remote work to work for you, you’re going to need good software to back you up and keep your workforce both connected and productive. What are the best productivity apps for remote workers? We’re glad you asked. We can give you a rundown of what you should be thinking about and what we use in our day to day work with our remote teams. That’s right, not only do we believe in remote work, but we also rely on it for our own business. After all, that’s just part of what makes us different.
Best Chatting App for Remote Workers
Even in an office, how often have you just sent a message to the person sitting next to you just because it was easier? You both have headphones in, they might be busy with something, and memes just land better in chat. A Chat tool is an integral part of any tech workforce, and that goes doubly so for your global team. Don’t have a global team yet? Have you heard of Truss? We can help with that! Anyways, there are a ton of chat tools out there. You have Microsoft Teams, Rocket.Chat, Discord, Slack, Mattermost, and about 2 million others. Maybe we exaggerated a bit, but not by much. Choose wisely. If your chat tool sucks, people are just not going to talk, and who wants that?
Truss Pick: Slack
We simply love Slack for its versatility, its ease of use, and all the GIFs we can unleash on our coworkers. Did you know NASA uses it? We’re basically NASA.
Best Video Conferencing App for Remote Workers
The pandemic wasn’t fun for anybody, but do you remember all the amazing videos of people suddenly switching to work from home? People forgetting they were on camera, kids bursting into home offices, and even pantsless bosses. The rest of the pandemic was all bad, but that was amazing. It also got people to take video conferencing seriously. You’re going to see a few repeats from the last category on this list like Slack and Microsoft Teams but there’s also GoToMeeting, WebEx, Skype, and more. Again, here you want to make the right choice. The easier your video chat tool is to use, the more people are going to use it. More face-to-face time for a remote team is a big win.
Truss Pick: Zoom
Yes, we could use Slack here too, but the big advantage of Zoom is that it’s robust, fully-featured, and almost everyone has it. Those that don’t have it at least know what it is.
Best CRM for Remote Workers
The number of CRMs out there has just exploded in recent years. You have Agile, Zoho, HubSpot, Streak, Insightly, and Salesforce. That’s just to name a few. When you have customers, leads, and relationships to manage that go into the hundreds or even thousands, you and your team are going to need a way to track all that and ensure that you’re all on the same page when it comes to who should be talking to whom and when.
Truss Pick: HubSpot
Hubspot is simple, easy to use, scalable, integrates directly with our email accounts, and it has a cool name. That’s always a plus in our book.
Best Project Management Tool for Remote Workers
There are so many project management tools out there. When you have a remote workforce, you want to make sure you pick the right one because this is where a lot of the collaboration will happen. Trello is often used as a lightweight solution, you can ramp up with Basecamp, Asana, and Wrike which are all great too. The heavy hitters here though are Jira and MS Project. Company demands may demand a different tool, but the important thing here is that you have a tool.
Truss Pick: Jira
Another cool name, but that’s not why we picked Jira. Okay, not the only reason why. It’s extremely customizable, has a lot of integrations, and has a scrum and sprint workflow which our developers love. The key to a happy company is happy developers!
Best Remote Worker Apps: The Big Takeaway
Now that you are here, you may be thinking, “Wait a minute, I already use a bunch of these.” We knew you’d catch on eventually. All of these apps are common off-the-shelf solutions, but they are common for a reason. They are good, and the best apps are often the ideal solution whether you are building a team to work in Pawnee, Indiana, or a truly world-class global team.
What to Consider When Partnering With a Remote Talent Expert
