Editor’s note: This article was first published in May 2020 at the start of the COVID-19 lockdowns. Product details reflect that moment, such as Zoom’s free plan (100 participants, 40-minute meetings) and WeTransfer Pro (100 GB). Some tools have since been discontinued or changed; the Atom editor was retired in 2022 and Pocket was shut down by Mozilla in 2025.
Remote work has become a necessity because of the social distancing we are all living under, and not everyone knows the tools available to them for working remotely. Many companies aren’t ready to make the move, which is a new challenge for workers and employers alike as they adapt.
Some of our routines are changing, such as face-to-face meetings and the commute to the office, although not everyone, and not every company, has the means to keep productivity from slipping. Of course, these days it’s easy to keep things running, because there are all kinds of tools that make our work easier, and most of the tools your company needs are free.
To help, Monte Mansilla, a lecturer at Spain Business School, has put together all the tools companies and workers need to work from home.
Essential remote work tools
When you work remotely, you may literally be miles away from all your colleagues at head office. Or you may work in a remote team where every member is in a different location. Being part of a group like that requires fast communication.
There are many remote work tools that can help with this. Which ones suit you will depend largely on the type of business you’re in and what actually works best. With that in mind, here is a summary of some of the best tools to help you do your job well.
Tools for team communication
- Slack is a very popular tool that combines text chat, audio and video. Conversations can be organized into channels based on team members, projects or anything else relevant to your organization. Team members can leave or join those channels at any time, unlike long, cumbersome email chains. Slack also has a searchable history, so users can quickly find past chats and shared information. This communication app even lets you share documents such as PDFs, images and videos.
- Alternatives: Google Hangouts Chat, Chanty, Microsoft Teams, Aircall and others.
Tools for storing and sharing files
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Google Drive is an online service for storing and sharing digital files for free. It’s a useful tool in any case, but especially if you’re also using other Google products such as Docs or Gmail. It can also be used to store and work with files from other systems, such as Microsoft and Apple. Google Drive is cloud storage where we can:
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Access files offline from mobile devices, and organize them by project type and priority.
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Set different sharing permissions for each document, folder or user, and make sure files are available to the right people.
Tools for sending files
- WeTransfer is a cloud-based online platform designed to let you transfer different types of files to other internet users for free. Its main advantage over similar services such as Dropbox or Box.net is that WeTransfer doesn’t make you create an account to use it. Nor does the person receiving the file need an account. The WeTransfer Pro plan also gives you your own personal cloud with up to 100 GB of space, the option to password-protect your files, and the ability to customize your emails or the look of the page recipients download files from.
- Alternatives: Ydray and others.
Tools for meetings and conferences
- Zoom is a cloud-based videoconferencing service you can use to meet others virtually, by video, audio or both, while chatting live. The basic plan is quite complete: you can host up to 100 participants and unlimited meetings of up to 40 minutes each. It offers videoconferencing features such as screen sharing, the ability to dial in from a phone and, most importantly, virtual backgrounds and touch-up effects. You can also record your meeting, schedule meetings with Chrome extensions, send group messages and use a virtual whiteboard.
- Alternatives: Adobe Connect, Cisco Webex, Whereby and others.
Project management tools
- Trello is a collaboration tool that gives a visual overview of everything that’s under way, who is working on it and how far it has progressed. Each task is organized on a card, to which you can attach checklists, links, content and due dates, sort with labels, and mention the members involved. The platform is loosely inspired by the Kanban board system developed by Toyota as a good way to manage flexibility while keeping production levels high.
- Alternatives: Asana, AirTable, Monday, Hibox and others.
Email clients
- Spark is a smart app with a wide range of features. It can sort incoming email into types such as Personal, Pins and Newsletters. Spark also lets you limit notifications, so you can set it to alert you only to important emails. It also offers follow-up reminders, email scheduling, smart search, a customizable sidebar and several collaboration tools.
- Alternatives: Mailbird, Spike, ThunderBird or Inky, among others.
Time management tools
- Google Calendar is a powerful, free service you can use to organize your schedule and coordinate events with other users. It has many useful features, including the ability to share calendars with others and easily change what’s displayed in real time. You can access your calendar from any computer or mobile device as long as you’re signed in to your Google account. It’s an excellent time management tool that lets you keep your own schedule and coordinate teams for meetings and work sessions.
- Alternatives: IDoneThis, RescueTime, GetPocket, Toggl.
Design and development tools
- Github is a platform for software and code development built around teamwork. It lets users take on roles in teams and grant permissions within them. It has a chat with moderation tools to keep track of projects. It’s open source, and its features include an option to set community guidelines or codes of conduct. GitHub’s big advantage is that it stops you from accidentally overwriting someone else’s work (or even your own), and it keeps a history of changes so you can go back to them if you need to.
- Alternatives: Adobe Creative Cloud, Chrome Dev Tools, Figma or Atom.
Productivity tools
- Teamleader is a platform that combines an online CRM, project management, invoicing, and support and ticketing. It focuses more on customer relationship management than on teamwork. It lets you manage your database of contacts and customers, send or automate professional invoices and manage projects. In other words, it shows you which projects are going well and which need more attention, and records the time spent on each one so you can improve profitability.
- Alternatives: Focusmate, TimeDoctor, Chimp or Champ and others.
Tools for writing and editing text
- Microsoft Office Online offers users a free, cloud-based version of Office. Besides Word, you’ll find other popular tools such as Excel and PowerPoint. It’s fully integrated with OneDrive, so your documents are always accessible. It has most of the features of the regular version of Microsoft Office, which makes it one of the best free options for working with your files. There are apps for iOS and Android.
- Alternatives: Google Docs, Evernote, Libre Office, Authorea and others.
We hope this list of the most representative remote work tools helps you save effort. It’s important to choose the ones whose features best meet your business’s needs. They will help you stay connected and keep proper track of your tasks and projects, as well as of all the team members working in the same virtual environment.
See also: Marissa Mayer against remote work
See also: 6 things companies can do to improve during the coronavirus crisis
Featured image: Microbiz Mag, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
