For those of us who use it often, working remotely isn’t really an issue. And provided you organize your work well around the right tools, there’s no reason it should be any different for you. That’s why we offer you a selection of applications and services that are as essential as they are simple!
Google Sheets, Framacalc, Trello, Slack…: organize your teamwork
Your first goal is to organize your work as a team, otherwise you’ll be on your feet. There are several more or less complicated tools for this. They can be divided into two categories: simple but effective spreadsheets/tables and more complex but complete collaborative platforms.
Slack – the most complete option (but not the easiest)
In this second category we can mention Slack, an extremely popular platform. And for good reason: Slack lets you do almost everything in one central place. You can organize your work into channels around custom hashtags.
The platform also allows you to share files, discuss, hold meetings. You can also connect a number of services to make it a tool perfectly tailored to your workflow. The problem with Slack is that if you and your teams have never used it, it will probably take you some time to adapt or train.
If you need a solution in an emergency like many companies, therefore we recommend choosing separate and special tools. it’s more like your teams are used to using it.
Google Sheets, Framacalc – the easiest option for collaboration
Google Sheets and Framacalc are completely free cloud-based spreadsheets. The difference between the two is that Google Sheets is owned by Google and Framacalc is managed by an association.
Our recommendation is to create a new table where each employee will put their initials in the first column. In the second column, there will be a title question for each task.
In the following columns, you can put three boxes, for example, to be checked by the collaborator: one when the job is in progress, one when the task is finished, and the last in case of rejection or problems.
Trello – organize tasks into cards
Trello is another collaborative tool that helps organize things into boards. Each task causes a “card” to be created that you can move to other columns. For example, you can put to-do tasks in a “To Do” column.
Where the collaborator will move the cards to indicate the progress of his work, while the other three columns put “In Progress”, “Done” and “Rejected/problem”.
Google Calendar, Framagenda: collaborating on a common calendar
What if you had a shared calendar? This can, for example, allow you to set deadlinesMark the start of projects to track time, specify a schedule, and even help better manage your teams’ exits, vacations, and illnesses.
Both Google and Framasoft allow you to create collaborative calendars, i.e. calendars that you can share with your collaborators, so anyone can add/remove entries to the collaborative calendar.
Skype, Hangouts, WhatsApp, Wire: communicate with your colleagues
What to do now to communicate directly with colleagues? To optimize the working days as much as possible, it is recommended to open a central chat where everyone can exchange live. Lesser known apps like Skype, Hangouts, WhatsApp, and even Wire make this very easy.
You can also, for example, organize several thematic chats based on specific projects and prevent the whole team from wasting time on messages that are not of interest to everyone.
Transfer large files: WeTransfer, Dropbox, Google Drive, dl.free.fr
These attachments are too heavy to always be delivered in an email. Generally, mail servers do not accept files exceeding 20 to 25 MB, depending on your provider. So if you still want to send large attachments, you have to go through external services.
WeTransfer – for files up to 2GB
WeTransfer provides free uploading of files up to 2GB, all in an extremely simple and uncluttered interface. To use it, you just have to go to the site, add your files, the recipient’s email, a message, then click Transfer. It is 100% free, but for 12 € per month you can set a deadline when the file will be deleted and protect the download with a password.
Dropbox – the Swiss army knife of cloud storage
Dropbox offers up to 2GB of storage in the free version. For companies, it’s possible to take advantage of several terabytes of storage with one subscription. The cloud storage service, unlike WeTransfer, comes with an application where you can access your files almost like a network hard drive.
Google Drive – no introduction
Do you have a Gmail address? Then you already have a Google Drive account. Undoubtedly, it is this simple fact that will lead many players to choose Google Drive whenever they want to transfer files. Especially since it’s in the free version, Google Drive offers 15GB instead of 2GB since 2011, which is still more comfortable. Like Dropbox, the service is available through your browser or a dedicated app.
dl.free.fr – free service that is wrong to forget
Did you know that Free has been offering free file sharing services for years? The advantage of this solution is that it is possible to transfer all 10GB files at once via FTP with the software of your choice (eg Cyberduck).
Do you use tools not mentioned in this list on a daily basis? Feel free to tell us in the comments!
