As mentioned in a previous TM360 post, employers with a remote team or even just a few remote employees have more tools at their disposal than ever before that allow them to collaborate and work together just as effectively as if they were all in the same office together, even if they’re separated by continents.

Here’s our roundup of the top cool tools you can take advantage of right now:

1. Sqwiggle—This is an online collaboration tool that allows remote teams to work together and feel more connected on a daily basis. Just a few of the features that set Sqwiggle apart from the competition, including Hangouts and Skype, are the photo snapshots sent throughout the day to increase the sense of connectedness between team members, the secure file sharing capabilities, and the optimization to utilize minimal bandwidth. Sqwiggle also offers easy on-demand chat functions, group chats and really comprehensive support.
2. Slack—Slack’s motto is “Be Less Busy.” This platform is designed to optimize and streamline team communication. With this tool you’re able to create custom communication channels and then share them with only the team members that need access, plus you can tag users and let them know a message is coming their way. You can really focus on tailoring communication channels so they’re only relevant to the projects an individual is working on, and you can search conversations for easy reference. To share files during a conversation, just drop them straight into the chat. Slack really prides itself on not only its inventive communication offerings, but also how easily it integrates with other popular platforms used daily by many businesses.
3. Kanban Flow—This Japanese-based company is designed to assist with lean project management. One of the primary features of Kanban Flow, is the ability to see what other people in your team are working on at any given moment, as well as providing an easy way to see what’s been completed and what tasks are upcoming. You can divide tasks into subtasks to help get more specific work done and there are tools for analyzing your overall work process. With Cumulative Flow you can find lead time charts to discover where your work could become more efficient and productive and once you make changes in your methodology, you can check back in to look at the statistics and see the impact of the changes.
4. Pidgin—Pidgin is a chat program and it lets users utilize multiple chat accounts at one time so you can keep track of conversations happening across multiple channels.
5. Small improvements—This is a platform that provides simplified performance management tracking. You can quickly and easily create and implement a customized performance feedback system for your organization, include details like mentor reports and even the ability to recognize and congratulate employees when they do something well. You can also use some of their detailed tracking features like pie charts that will show you how everyone is progressing, sent reminders or “nudges” and identify potential problem areas.
6. Doodle—Simplify scheduling with this easy-to-use tool that’s often likened to having a personal assistant manage your appointments for you. You can enjoy a number of powerful features including the ability to connect all of your calendars within Doodle, the ability to use MeetMe which shows your employees, colleagues and friends when you’re available, and access to Doodle Mobile which lets you use your mobile device for scheduling on-the-go.

These are just a few of the game-changing tools ideal for use by employers managing remote employees—what are your favorite tools to collaborate, stay connected and manage your offsite employees?

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