The Remote Toolkit: Must-Have Tools for Seamless Collaboration
As a small company with a hybrid work environment that strives to provide in-depth support to fellow small businesses, working collaboratively in an organized manner is important to promptly and accurately attend to clients’ needs. Remote work, though presenting its challenges, can be greatly facilitated with the right tools. Of course, tools should be tailored to your business type and organizational needs, but we found some tools that may help you transition from a traditional workspace to having an efficient virtual work hub. Here are some tools that have proven beneficial for Mastiff in running its operations smoothly:
Notion
Notion is a versatile productivity tool known for note-taking but offers much more. With a tailored fit space for your business, it can serve as a centralized hub for your team’s collaborative efforts, allowing you to manage databases, tasks, and customize templates for various workflows.
What I like about this, aside from its versatility, is that we can incorporate our creativity into organizing the company with style. Something I hope they can improve is their mobile app functionality. It is quite functional, but I mostly just use it for viewing information from pages because it does not match the richness of the desktop version, especially for complex tasks.
Basecamp
Basecamp is web-based project management software that organizes multiple projects by providing designated spaces for each one. Its features include assigning to-do lists, group and one-on-one chats, and setting up people working on the project - whether employees, outside collaborators, or clients.
One thing that gives me peace of mind is having a place for everything and everything is in its place. With Basecamp’s feature of allowing us to create specific spaces for a certain project, we can organize files, people who are working on it, and everyone can see the project’s progress. I just hope it can be integrated with more online tools without having to use a third-party app.
HubSpot
HubSpot is a comprehensive CRM platform with customizable plans based on your intended usage. It's excellent for logging customer interactions, tracking sales, and executing effective marketing across different platforms.
Miscommunication can be a challenge in a remote work environment, so we try as much as we can to be on the same page, especially in client interactions. HubSpot has a feature that allows us to log every email, call, text, and even communication-related task on every contact we have saved.
Connecteam
Connecteam is a mobile workforce management platform with a clean interface. It's great for an employee directory and engagement, featuring a time clock for schedule management, customizable forms for evaluations and feedback, and an updates feed for schedule-related announcements.
This tool is small business-friendly. With their free plan, you can access a great deal of access to their features good for 10 members. It may be overwhelming at first, but they provide short demos for every feature.
Bitwarden
Bitwarden is a password manager designed to securely store and manage information. It includes a tool for generating strong, unique passwords to reduce the risk of cyber threats, along with two-factor authentication (2FA) for an extra layer of protection.
Everyone has at least once struggled to remember their passwords, and I did too. I work mainly on keeping the company organized and deal with a lot of information; having a secure place to put sensitive information is one less thing to worry about.
Great news! All of these have their own mobile applications, allowing you to access them at your fingertips and work on the go. It is important to know your organization's needs before searching for tools so they will fit your intended usage, but these are some of the tools that have contributed to Mastiff Systems' progress in its mission to be organized from within, allowing us to provide seamless service that establishes and maintains successful client relationships.
