How to stay connected with a fully remote team
It’s safe to say that we don’t yet know how long the COVID-19 situation will continue, but it has already had a major impact on every aspect of our lives. From learning to work fully remote to learning to homeschool our kids, we’re all adjusting to this new way of life.
First of all, let me just say that we’re very fortunate that this happened in 2020 and not 2000. Imagine trying to move to a fully remote workforce 20 years ago, it would have been unthinkable — we would all have been on AOL listening to the dialup tones (ok, maybe not quite that bad, but it would have been difficult!)
Starting out as a partially remote team across three countries, we’ve spent the last 2 years figuring out what works for us. It was an adjustment and, we know that remote work can be a tough task, especially when you have to go all in. To help you get used to the new normal, we’ve put together some of the tools we use to help manage remote work as well as a few additional tools that we’ve heard work well. Ok, let’s get down to business.
THE BIG G: Editing Together & Video Calls
This may seem obvious, but G-suite is fantastic. Not only can you edit documents together on the fly, but you can automatically add video calls (Hangouts) to your calendar invites. While there are a lot of other great video conferencing tools out there — so far we’ve loved Hangouts it’s built-in with no need to download any plugins. On top of that, G Suite is available free for nonprofits! G Suite for Nonprofits is part of the Google for Nonprofits program, which also includes grants for ads and perks for YouTube and Maps — you can check your eligibility and apply here.
While we’ve been using Hangouts to date, there are a lot of great plugins that you can use too. My two favorites are UberConference and Zoom. Why Uber conference and Zoom? UberConference for its awesome hold music, easy signup process and because they make it easy to get into your call without having to download any additional software. And Zoom for the ability to add fun background images so you can actually make your call fun (and don’t have to share your messy kitchen with everyone on the call!).
SLACK IT TO ME: Bringing the team together, wherever you are
Slack is our go-to tool for all-day communication, the basic version is free and they offer a free or discounted plan to eligible nonprofits! So, what do we love about Slack?
- Slack lets you create channels to help keep all of your messages organized. Channels can be divvied up by team, project, client, or whatever else is relevant to your organization, and Team members can join and leave channels as needed.
- Slack has over 2,000 apps you can integrate into Slack. This means that you can share things quickly and easily and get updated when changes are made to documents outside of the app!
- Talk it out over voice or video calls directly from Slack! And if you need to show your work, you can share your screen, too!
Whether it’s a quick message, a long query, sending doc or just saying hi — Slack is our go-to tool for communication. There are so many great features on Slack, we probably only use a fraction.
While Slack is our day-to-day communication tool, there are lots of other great tools out there. Check out the list below:
Hangouts Chat has direct messaging, threaded conversations, and can integrate with G Suite apps and third-party companies. While Hangouts Chat isn’t free, it is cheaper than Slack (if you’re looking at a paid version)..
Chanty is a free, simple, and intuitive team chat for small- to medium-sized teams with unlimited, searchable message history. It also has the ability to provide private, and one-to-one conversations and it organizes your files, links, tasks, and messages into folders in a feature called Teambook.
Microsoft Teams is especially great if you already have access to a Microsoft Office 365 plan. If you do you can already use Microsoft Teams, if not, you can start with the freemium version of the tool for up to 300 users. The free plan includes all of the main features like instant messaging, audio and video calls, and third-party integrations.
PROJECT MANAGEMENT FOR THE WIN: Our favorites to help see the trees from the forest
There are a lot of great project management tools out there. From Jira to Asana to Trello, we’ve tried a bunch! Ultimately, we settled on Jira for project management of design tasks due to our technical needs. JIRA is a for agile testing as well as project management which is how we settled on it. If you need a high level of project management functionality, Jira may be for you. If you’re a registered charity or nonprofit, Jira runs a need-based structure, so Jira and other Atlassian products may even be free. On top of that, the Atlassian Cloud service is available for registered non-profit charitable organizations for 75% off commercial prices. Check it out and apply here.
While we’ve found Jira to be great, if you’re an organization that is less tech-focused, you may find one of the earlier platforms we tried out might be a bit better for your needs. You may have heard of Asana and Trello — the two best-known project management tools out there. So what’s the real difference here? Well, Trello is a card-based task/project management tool which can be used to help track projects across a team/teams. Trello literally looks like a board, allowing you to move virtual cards from section to section. While Asana is a more task-oriented platform and offers better overall workflow functionality. Trello is easy to work and really quick to set up, but Asana has more features. So which one do you use? Well, that likely depends on the number of projects and level of detail in each. Asana is intended for projects which have a rigorous process associated with them and is typically used by small teams working on projects together.
Not only are they all great options, but they all also have great discounts for charities and nonprofits! Asana offers eligible nonprofits a 50% discount on Asana Premium or Asana Business (register here). While Trello offers eligible nonprofits a 75% discount on Trello Business Class and Enterprise (details here)!
THE POWER OF NOTIONS: Write, plan, collaborate and get organized
Notion is the newest addition to our suite of remote work tools and for good reason!
While these tools are fantastic, the sheer volume of information can be hard to sift through at times — particularly when strewn across so many platforms. Between Slack, Google Docs and email, it can be hard to keep track of what’s been put where. As a result, we’ve used Notion to create our own internal wiki — a central place where only the most important, top of mind information is stored.
Notion’s own site says it best — Notion duct-tapes everything together with emails, copy/paste, and countless open tabs. They are blending much of your workflow into an all-in-one workspace. Want a task list? A product roadmap? A design repository? They are now all in one place. You can even customize your own workspace from dozens of LEGO-style building blocks. Solve your problems your way, bounded only by your imagination.
We’ve used it to keep up to date on weekly meetings, create a completely transparent roadmap, and most of all, ensure that our mission and vision are always visible and at the forefront of everyone’s mind!
LET’S RECAP
A quick recap, and a brief list of (free or freemium) alternatives.
Video Calls
All-day Communication
Project Management Tools
Company Wiki
