There is a big push across many industries over the last decade to make remote work opportunities more accessible.
Still, with recent worldwide developments, successful remote operations have suddenly gone from a competitive advantage to an absolute necessity for many companies.
That means a lot of people are making the adjustment to a new way of working. Numerous managers are figuring out how to get the performance they need in this vastly different environment.
If you are depending on web conferencing to manage your team projects, you may need some additional tools to make sure everyone can participate, and all the right work gets shared on time.
Here is how you can do just that, with a seven-part online toolkit that supports every stage of online collaboration.
1. Your Web Conferencing Software
Let's start with the most essential tool in the kit, your web conferencing software. There are a lot of choices out there. Some of have been providing excellent video chat solutions for years.
Skype was one of the first free web conferencing tools with optional additional premium services available.
It has become a dominant choice for many consumers for face to face video chats because of its free service tiers.
Of course, Zoom has momentarily eclipsed it as an institutional go-to because of the app's rapid adoption by those looking for an easy solution they can run with a quick orientation.
It is worth your time to take a look at both of those front-runners. It's also a good idea to check out other options, both for their ability to integrate with other collaboration tools and to get a clearer view of the advantages and disadvantages of your platform of choice.
2. Project Management Tools
Online web conferencing tools might be the best place for you to make decisions and gather information from team members.
However, they aren't designed for the step-by-step process management that comes with delivering a project.
This is especially true when you need to coordinate a team that needs to be able to contribute its part at the right time.
Finding the right project management app will help you track different stages of development, set up monitoring for parallel steps, and coordinate deadlines across different working groups.
3. Workflow Management
This resource is vital for every team member on a project because your workflow tools are often your document sharing resources as well.
You are going to need a reliable, secure app that provides you with enough storage to coordinate every version of every file you need while tracking the progress of various team members and smaller working groups.
With the right project management tool, this addition to your setup can make passing information and work product between employees easy.
4. Time Management Tracking
If your team needs to work remotely but not asynchronously, then these tools are especially necessary.
Some video conferencing software even has time management functionality built-in, as do some workflow management tools, for this reason.
Of course, asynchronous teams running on a deadline-based schedule instead of regular live collaboration often need these tools as well.
They need to track time spent on different projects or dedicated to different customers. This helps with accurate billing as well as other essential aspects of team management.
5. Productivity and Reporting Apps
Whether you're tracking project time or not, reporting and productivity are important, and not just for your internal team.
Consultants and outside contractors can also contribute to collaborative efforts and send information along to your whole team with the right communication tool. This makes it easier to coordinate your online marketing efforts and other operations.
6. Cloud Storage
Cloud storage is a category that could be covered as part of another tool or as a stand-alone product.
Many project and workflow management tools and some productivity and collaboration tools have file storage and exchange capabilities.
Still, it's usually also a good idea to implement a full cloud storage space where you can collect art assets and store data long-term. This is especially true if your operation will keep operating remotely into the long term.
7. Credentialing and Password Control
One step many companies miss is the need to control access to its tools. With the right online infrastructure and password controls, you can set up a portal to make sure the right team members have credentials with the correct access levels on each tool.
Even without a central password exchange, coming up with credentialing and access tracking is essential so you can keep your private projects confidential.
