Rachel Beider in HuffPo: Essential Ways to Keep Your Remote Team on Track

With more tools and programs than you could count now available to connect people from around the globe, remote teams are more in touch and telework is easier than ever. We talked to 14 entrepreneurs to find out what tools keep their remote teams productive and on the ball, from communicating across a country to ticking off tasks with ease.

A. Asana

I love using Asana to manage tasks for my team. We work very closely with each other on projects, so when employees are remote, Asana helps divvy up tasks, create timelines and keep us on track. - Leila Lewis, Be Inspired PR

A. Basecamp

Basecamp has brought transparency, structure and accountability for our teams across time zones. For various types of projects, we have defined sample to-do lists in Basecamp; every time a new project is kicked off, teams can replicate those steps. I love the automatic check-ins that one can set up to remind team members. Also, via the Schedule feature, you can quickly spot whether your team has missed any milestones. - Shilpi Sharma, Kvantum Inc.

A. Bookend Meetings

We start and end every week with two critical meetings. Monday is focused on planning out the week, delegating tasks and ensuring everyone has a game plan. Friday is focused on reflecting on the week, noting any lessons learned and areas of improvement. This regular check-in cycle is critical to keeping everyone on track. - Ross Beyeler, Growth Spark

A. Cloud Tools

We’ve been managing remote employees since 2002, and cloud-based services (public and private) have kept this productive. Using online customer relationship management tools like Salesforce.com or Pipedrive, communication tools such as Skype and Slack and infrastructure services like AWS and Ring has made it possible to keep our team of over 30 members cohesive even though we’ve never shared an office. - Tim Maliyil, AlertBoot

A. Confluence Wiki

We use an active Confluence wiki to keep everyone connected and focused on the tasks at hand. It provides us with one written record of the decisions from our meetings and one version of product specs. If anything changes, everyone gets automatically notified because Confluence sends out an email for wiki edits to the relevant parties. - Brian David Crane, Caller Smart Inc.

A. G Suite

We set up remote teams for a number of companies and we then integrate into the platform that they use. G Suite is definitely the most used platform among the companies that use our services. When we ask our employees which platform they most enjoy using, G Suite is the winner there as well. Google has done a great job of integrating everything our employees need to work with the companies. - Scott Kacmarski, Reps Direct

A. JIRA

JIRA has been the most effective tool for managing team members by departments, improving our development workflow and allowing us to keep communication centralized to increase accountability. It’s the single best platform for managing a team with multiple skill sets and with integrations for numerous other business applications that we utilize daily. - Blair Thomas, eMerchantBroker

A. Podio

I love the Podio management software for engaging with our remote team members over multiple locations of my business. It enables us to come together on projects, assign tasks and troubleshoot issues as a group with all of the knowledge in one place. I also love using it for company culture; we have a book club through Podio! - Rachel Beider, Massage Greenpoint, Massage Williamsburg

A. Slack

Slack is one of the best tools for keeping team members connected, but it can be distracting without the right organization. If you want to use Slack for your team, I really recommend making full use of channels to separate different clients/topics/projects, because that will make everything more efficient. I recommend getting the subscription, because it allows you to keep old messages. - Adam Steele, The Magistrate

A. Teamweek

Teamweek is a great tool that lets you know what your team members are working on and vice versa. It’s especially great for osmotic teams whose work may overlap more often than not. When your team has a tight deadline, you want to make sure that you’re gelling all on the same page and being efficient, and Teamweek makes it easy to synchronize with one another. - Reuben Yonatan, GetVoIP

A. Telegram

We have found that the simplest and fastest ways to communicate are the best. Telegram is a great and secure way to communicate in small teams if you’re running time-constrained day-to-day operations, because you can organize into groups, easily find past conversations and quickly share files and information. It’s also very easy to onboard new people. We complement that with Asana for ongoing projects. - Patrick Linton, Bolton Remote

A. Timedoctor

We use Timedoctor to define project tasks and track the time and activity of remote teams. Timedoctor is a very strong tool: It can capture screenshots, track keyboard activity and pauses taken by remote workers. It will automatically detect a break and also analyze the type of websites and applications used. This helps us manage the team as if we were all in the same office, and it is also a very affordable tool. - Piyush Jain, SIMpalm

A. Trello

Hands down, Trello wins for us. Their free plan is more than enough for our team, but we organize every project using it. Nothing is better than content teams knowing where development teams are without having to ping them for an update. It’s fantastic for a meeting-less culture, but it takes discipline to truly make it powerful. Our team of 20 remote workers has fully embraced it, and we aren’t looking back. - Nick Reese, BroadbandNow

A. Zoom

Zoom is the best and most stable conferencing tool that I’ve found. It’s very good for video conference calls that won’t take forever to set up because someone’s sound is not working. You can also set Zoom up in the background and everyone can “co-work” from different locations, but be virtually together in a room. - Adelyn Zhou, TOPBOTS

These answers are provided by members of Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC), an invite-only organization comprised of the world’s most promising young entrepreneurs. In partnership with Citi, YEC recently launched BusinessCollective, a free virtual mentorship program that helps millions of entrepreneurs start and grow businesses.

Article Seen on: HuffPo

15 Tools and Practices for the Successful Management of Remote Employees

More and more companies are offering employees the option to work remotely. Not only does this give employees more freedom and flexibility, it also allows business to secure top talent from around the world. These remote teams need special attention when it comes to managing employees as the distance can often make it hard to connect.

Here are 15 tools, resources and company practices that entrepreneurs find indispensable to successfully managing their remote teams.

A. Time Management Software

Time management software is essential. You really can’t rely on the honor system when managing a remote team. Effective time management software can help you monitor productivity, track hours and much more, to ensure your remote workers are performing consistently and continuously. - Andrew Schrage, Money Crashers Personal Finance

A. Zoom Video Conference

Zoom has single-handedly changed the way I work with my remote team. In the beginning of my remote experience, we tried to handle all communication through Slack or Trello. We found that deep collaboration suffered when relying solely on these tools. Zoom changed this by combining the reliability of legacy conferencing with cool/useful features that new age startups love. - Lawrence Watkins, Great Black Speakers

A. In-Person Retreats

Our company has always been composed of remote team members ... but each year we have at least one in-person retreat. Not only do we power through important topics and company issues, but it also opens so many doors of communication between each team member. We experience a huge boost in productivity that lasts months after we’ve all gone home. - Nathalie Lussier, AmbitionAlly

A. Reflective Conversations

It’s important to have frequent communications related to day-to-day tasks within the company. In addition to Slack and regular huddles, it’s also critical to set aside time for conversations that are just focused on “reflection” within the company. Whether it’s on a regular basis or after key milestones/projects, make sure the team has a chance to voice these insights collectively. - Ross Beyeler, Growth Spark

A. Set Communication Times

Establish a protocol that works on when to have one-on-ones and team meetings. Ensure that these are regular but that don’t become a burden to your remote team. Also, make sure to add them to company updates so they feel included in everything. This can be done through tools such as Slack or Skype. - Andrew O’Connor, American Addiction Centers

A. A VoIP Service

You want to stay in constant contact with your scattered Fellowship of the Brand. If that’s the case, you’ll need a digital communication option that works in any situation and any place you can connect to WiFi — yes, even the skeevy Motel 6 that was the only motel your site’s IT guy could find off of Route 66. You’ll have to understand that your wayward remote employees chose the nomadic lifestyle. - Baruch Labunski, Rank Secure

A. Localized Emergency Response Plans

With a distributed team, tracking who may be affected by a natural disaster can be harder. Putting in the time in advance to have up-to-date contact information (beyond a cell phone) is a good first step. Putting more concrete plans into place (as well as encouraging your employees to put their own personal emergency response plan into place) can help keep a distributed team functioning long term. - Thursday Bram, The Responsible Communication Style Guide

A. Weekly Phone Calls

Programs like Slack and Skype are great for getting in touch with remote team members instantly, but there are limits to what can be communicated through these platforms. Skype is a bit better since you can chat using VoIP, but most people use built-in microphones or headsets that can sound garbled. The best form of communication in these situations is a regular phone call every week to catch up. - Bryce Welker, Beat The CPA

A. Set Hours

I have team members all over the U.S., and working around time zones and schedules can be tricky. We’ve implemented a block of set hours for every person on our team. We use that time to collaborate as a team, bounce ideas back and forth, catch up on project status, etc. It’s important to have time everyday where all of your employees are available to you and to each other. - Leila Lewis, Be Inspired PR

A. Asana

Asana has been a great tool for us. We have a relatively flat remote team hierarchy, so we rely on Asana to assign tasks and keep each other accountable. It’s a collaborative project management tool that gives transparency throughout the entire organization. - Jared Atchison, WPForms

A. Confluence Wiki

Our team is spread across four continents in five time zones. To keep everyone on the same page, we use a Confluence Wiki. It’s like Wikipedia for our company. Meeting notes, project specs, brainstorming sessions and ongoing processes are all held there in different, interlinking areas. Maintaining one wiki also allows to bring on new talent faster (and it reduces email). - Brian David Crane, Caller Smart Inc.

A. Podio Software

I love Podio management software to keep our team all on the same page. It’s awesome to have all of our information in one central location so that when issues arise, we can come together as a team to handle them. Podio also helps us work collaboratively on projects, as it allows for flexibility with communication styles and accountability for deadlines and tasks. - Rachel Beider, Massage Greenpoint, Massage Williamsburg

A. Slack

Slack makes communication so much faster and efficient it eliminates the need to work out of the same location. It takes the best of real life communication and technology. For example, it’s clear if you’re interrupting someone on Slack because they can press the “snooze” button but in real life, it’s not always so clear. In many ways, Slack has revolutionized work communication. - Syed Balkhi, OptinMonster

A. Skype

Skype works exceptionally well with international remote workers and provides a low-cost way to stay on top of what everyone is doing. It’s reliable and provides file transfers, video, audio, as well as messaging capability. - Peter Daisyme, Due

A. Google Docs

Google’s suite of office applications makes collaborative editing a breeze. Team members can work on the same document or spreadsheet simultaneously or take it in turns. It’s easy to limit access to the people who need it. Docs and Sheets are much more efficient and productive than collaborating over email threads with documents in multiple versions being passed between workers. - Justin Blanchard, ServerMania Inc.

Article Seen on Huffpo via the YEC