7 Game-Changing Collaboration Tools for Remote Teams in 2024

Working remotely can present its fair share of challenges, particularly for teams that rely on seamless communication and collaboration. The great news is that many collaboration tools are available to make remote teamwork more efficient and keep everyone connected.

Whether spearheading a small team project or overseeing a vast, remote workforce, these tools are your go-to resources for staying at the forefront of your productivity game.

This article will explore some fantastic collaboration tools for remote teams. For each, you’ll find:

• In-depth descriptions
• Key features
• Potential limitations
• Pricing details.

We also had the pleasure of speaking with users of these platforms to gain valuable insights and reviews.

1. Hubstaff

Are you seeking a comprehensive solution to boost your team’s productivity, manage your workforce more efficiently, and gain actionable insights into your operations? Look no further! Hubstaff is your go-to, all-in-one workforce management solution to streamline business processes, enhance productivity, and drive profitability.

Features:

Time Tracking Made Easy

• Automate time tracking processes effortlessly.
• Little to no learning curve enables your team to start tracking immediately.
• Over 30 integrations with your favorite business apps for seamless integration.

Workforce Management

• Automate tedious administrative tasks to balance workloads, automate timesheets, and cut down on admin work
• Customize shifts, policies for time off, holidays, and more.
• Set weekly hours limits and receive notifications when team members approach them.

Productivity Metrics

• See real-time activity data to keep your in-office and remote teams on track.
• 20+ Reports to identify which projects are most profitable and which are draining your team’s time.
• Expense tracking and budget control to ensure projects stay on course.

Enterprise-Ready

• Scalable and secure setup for larger teams.
• Custom roles and permissions for precise control.
• Advanced reporting.
• GDPR & HIPAA compliant.
• SOC 2 Type II compliant.
• Single sign-on for enhanced security.
• On-premise/self-hosted options.
• Account provisioning.
• Background timer to ensure accuracy.

Cross-Industry Solution

Suitable for businesses in more than 100 different industries, including software development, real estate, e-commerce, and staffing.

Hubstaff also offers over 30 integrations with popular apps to fit seamlessly into your workflow.

Awards and Recognition

• Forbes Best of 2023 Award
• Capterra Best Ease of Use Award
• Capterra Best Value Award
• GetApp Best Functionality Award

Reviews

Trusted by over 95,000 businesses.

“We operate from Hubstaff, which is specifically designed for remote activity. If we didn’t use Hubstaff, we’d probably have to get six more people in payroll and ten more people in client services. We really might not even be able to do business if we didn’t have this.” – Jeremy Aspen, CFO at Anequim

“Hubstaff solved our pain point the moment we started using it. Compared to other tools we’d tested, Hubstaff is simple, easy, and synchronizes with the other applications we use.” – Andriy Sambir, CEO at LinkUp

“At NAKIVO, we use Hubstaff to manage and track our remote workforce efficiently. Hubstaff is a robust time tracking and productivity-monitoring software that helps streamline our company operations and ensure optimal productivity across our team.

With Hubstaff, we can easily track the time spent by our employees on various tasks and projects. It provides accurate and detailed insights into the time spent on specific activities, allowing us to monitor individual and team productivity levels. This helps identify potential bottlenecks or areas where improvements can be made.” – Veniamin Simonov, Head of Channel Marketing at NAKIVO Backup & Replication.

Limitations: 

The free trial is a great way to get started, but the full range of features is often only available with paid plans. The lack of features on the free plan can also be a limitation for smaller businesses or those on a tight budget.

Pricing: 

Get started with Hubstaff for free with a 14-day trial. No credit card is required during the trial period.

Pricing plans available to suit businesses of all sizes:

• Free ($0 per user/month)
• Starter ($7 per user/month)
• Grow ($9 per user/month)
• Team ($12 per user/month)
• Enterprise (Custom pricing available upon request)

Hubstaff also offers add-ons to power up your workflow:

• Insights ($2 per user/month)
• Tasks ($3 per user/month)
• Data retention ($2 per user/month)
• More screenshots ($3 per user/month)

For more details, check out our pricing page.

2. Slack

Are you tired of juggling multiple communication tools and losing track of important conversations? Slack could be your all-in-one platform to streamline teamwork, enhance productivity, and simplify work communication.

Make faster decisions by centralizing conversations and documents. Then connect, share, and work seamlessly with external partners, clients, and suppliers.

Features: 

• Collaboration at Your Fingertips: Bring all your work communication into one place, ensuring everyone stays on the same page. 
• Slack Connect: Collaborate with teams at other companies just as effortlessly as you do with your in-house teams. 
• Channels for Every Need: Organize your discussions with channels to make focusing on specific topics or projects easier.
• Messaging Made Easy: Send direct messages, share files, and engage in real-time conversations.
• Apps and Integrations: Streamline your workflow by connecting Slack with over 2,200 apps and services. You can then easily access and share documents from platforms like Google Drive and Office 365.
• Workflow Automation: Automate routine tasks and communication with Workflow Builder. Free up time for more meaningful, human-centric work.
• Scalable for All: Whether you’re a small startup or a global enterprise, Slack caters to teams of all sizes.
• Enterprise-Grade Security: Slack prioritizes data security with robust measures at every layer. Enterprise Key Management offers complete control and visibility over your data.

Reviews:

“The Huddle feature is absolutely incredible. It’s like being with the team in real life, and it’s quick and easy. We also love the voice recording feature. When messages are getting a little too long, it’s really helpful just to record your thoughts and have the team tune in. Slack is a MUST-HAVE for Palmer Public. With team members in practically every timezone, it’s critical we have a reliable messaging system with advanced features, and Slack fits the bill.” – Lindsey Stecki, Founder and President Palmer Public Inc.

“Slack is the heart of our communication. Channels help us stay organized, while direct messages facilitate one-on-one convos. We’re all about the integrations, too; it connects seamlessly with other tools we use, providing notifications and updates without switching platforms. The search functionality is a lifesaver, helping us quickly locate past discussions or shared files.” – Emery Bowles, World Traveler and Remote Work expert.
“Slack is all about real-time chatting and collaborating, which remote teams love. We dig the channels and direct messaging—it makes sharing info and talking a breeze. Plus, it hooks up with other apps, so we can automate stuff like file sharing and notifications, making remote work smoother. One thing to watch out for is that Slack can get cluttered with too many channels and messages if you need to be more organized. Finding old messages or files can be a bit of a hunt sometimes. And if you’re on the free version, there are limits on integrations and message history.” – Kraig Kleeman, CEO at The New Workforce.

Limitations: 

Slack’s real-time nature can lead to information overload, with users receiving constant notifications and messages. Managing and prioritizing these messages can also be challenging.

“It’s easy to get overwhelmed with a flurry of messages if not managed properly. It’s crucial to set boundaries and use the “mute” or “do not disturb” feature to avoid distractions. No one wants to be bugged by work tools when they are off the clock (not even me!)” – Emery Bowles, World Traveler and Remote Work expert.

“One thing to watch out for is that Slack can get cluttered with too many channels and messages if you need to be more organized. Finding old messages or files can be a bit of a hunt sometimes. And if you’re on the free version, there are limits on integrations and message history.” – Kraig Kleeman, CEO at The New Workforce.

Pricing: 

• Pro: $8.75 per user/month
• Business+: $15 per user/month
• Enterprise Grid: Contact Slack 

3. Asana

Are you looking for the ultimate software solution to align your company-wide objectives? Asana could be the ideal project management platform to turn your company goals into reality. 

Features:

• Drive Cross-Team Efficiency: Streamline projects with Timeline, Board, and List views. You’ll also gain clarity on bottlenecks and allocate work with ease.
• Automate Processes: Systemize intakes with Workflow Builder and Forms, reducing manual work with custom Rules and seamless integration with 200+ apps.
• Get Real-Time Insights: Monitor progress across teams effortlessly, create personalized visualizations with Custom Fields and Charts, and save time with an extensive Charts template library.
• Protect Sensitive Data: Asana ensures data security with two-factor authentication, SSO, and SAML 2.0. You can also support data compliance and governance with data export, deletion, E2E encryption, regional backups, and Enterprise Key Management (EKM).
• Manage Permissions and Settings: Centralize control over permissions, privacy settings, security requirements, and more. Then use SCIM to manage access with user and group provisioning and de-provisioning efficiently.
• Set Goals and Drive Alignment: Foster organizational alignment and inspire ownership with Goals. Then track all your team’s projects in a single view with Portfolios and effortlessly monitor the status of key projects.

Reviews:

“Asana is a great project management tool for dispersed teams. I like that they offer the ability to check off tasks as they are completed. Asana also enables users to break complicated tasks into more manageable steps. It offers excellent collaboration features for team project management.” – Aubrey Nekvinda, Content Marketer at Hubstaff.

“Its visuals and ease of use make it exceptionally simple to use; structuring processes around projects also aids in maximizing productivity. I appreciate the openness across the many initiatives I am participating in since it allows me to see how my work affects others and vice versa. I also like how we can combine many technologies to provide a single source of status information. It also comes with all the tools you need for proper project monitoring, including task cards and checklists.” – Jannie Padberg via G2.

Limitations:

Asana’s feature-rich environment can be overkill for simple tasks or small personal to-do lists. It’s often more suited for teams and complex projects. Asana’s rich feature set can also make learning and navigating challenging for new users. Teams may need some time to get used to the platform.

“At first, it was a little tricky to figure out, and I did battle a bit to grasp the features. Another challenge is maintaining a clutter-free workspace. It requires consistent effort to tick off tasks, and tasks can accumulate and lead to a sense of task overload, which looks overwhelming and feels it too.” – Sharne M. via G2.

Pricing:

• Basic: Free
• Premium: $13.49 per user/month (billed monthly)
• Business: $30.49 per user/month (billed monthly)

4. Zoom

At the heart of modern communication lies Zoom, a platform that’s been connecting distributed teams long before remote work became popular. Zoom’s mission is clear and heartfelt – to connect people by fostering happiness through shared experiences. Zoom is a game-changer, an intelligent collaboration platform that redefines how businesses connect.

Features: 

• Seamless Connectivity: Zoom offers effortless, high-quality communication. Use it to connect with your team, clients, and loved ones, regardless of location.
• Immersive Meetings: Crystal-clear video and audio quality, screen sharing, and interactive features make virtual meetings engaging and efficient.
• Team Collaboration: Zoom provides integrated chat, file sharing, and real-time collaboration tools, making teamwork seamless.
• Omnichannel Cloud Contact Center: For businesses, Zoom’s omnichannel contact center solutions enable exceptional customer service and support across various channels.
• Smart Recordings: Meetings and webinars are easily recorded and stored, allowing you to revisit important discussions and share content effortlessly.
• Interactive Whiteboard: Enhance presentations and brainstorming sessions with a digital whiteboard that fosters creativity.

Reviews

“Remote team tools are particularly valuable to an organization such as Beyond Academy. We have offices in Europe, the US, Australia, and Asia and deal with clients across the globe. A key tool for us, as for many businesses these days, is Zoom.
Our clients, interns, and potential interns may not always have access to the same software. Zoom makes it easy to connect parties across time zones and multiple types of devices. This is something that is not always so easy, or glitch-free, with competitor software.” – Ryan Walker, CEO of education platform Beyond Academy.

“Zoom is the go-to choice for video meetings, offering high-quality video and user-friendly features. While it’s fantastic for teamwork, watch out for “Zoom fatigue” and connectivity issues in areas with slow internet.” – Kraig Kleeman, CEO at The New Workforce.

Limitations:

Zoom is a great tool, but it’s declining in popularity as tools like Google Meet and Slack’s Huddles feature have started to catch up. The primary limitation is Zoom fatigue — an issue that plagues users on Zoom’s competitor platforms as well.

“One thing to be wary of is “Zoom fatigue” from too many video meetings. There were some security issues, but Zoom has worked on fixing those. Connectivity and performance might hiccup with slow internet.” – Kraig Kleeman, CEO at The New Workforce

Pricing:

• Basic: Free
• Pro: $15.99 per user/month
• Business: $19.99 per user/month
• Business Plus: $25 per user/month
• Enterprise: Contact Zoom’s Sales team. 

5. Basecamp

Basecamp is more than a project management platform — it’s a catalyst for small teams to reach new heights. Designed with your success in mind, Basecamp empowers you to work smarter, manage projects efficiently, and enjoy the journey of collaborative work. Basecamp can make your daily work more enjoyable and productive.

Features:

• Card Table: Manage your processes and track progress seamlessly with Basecamp’s unique take on Kanban through the Card Table.
• Hill Charts: Say goodbye to ambiguous “percent done” figures and gain a visual, intuitive sense of your project’s status with Basecamp’s Hill Charts.
• Project Centralization: Every project has an easily accessible page where information is tracked and organized, ensuring everyone knows where to find what they need.
• Clear Task Management: To-dos in Basecamp are straightforward, simple, and clear. They also allow you to create lists, delegate tasks, and stay informed about work progress.
• Chat Integration: With real-time Chat integrated into every Basecamp project, you can streamline communication — which means you can leave other chat apps behind.
• Lineup: Basecamp’s Lineup provides a clear, single timeline view of where each project stands, from start to finish.
• Docs & Files: Every project has its own Docs & Files library to organize, share, and store documents, files, and images.

Reviews:

“Basecamp is a simplistic way of ensuring all information (internally and client-facing) is stored in one location. It prevents documents, files, and conversations from getting lost in email and organizes information in a customizable way based on the company’s needs. It’s incredibly user-friendly, and I love that it provides daily updates on everything occurring within specific projects. It’s rare that we miss a critical piece of conversation or request by using Basecamp.” – Annie Raygoza, Director of Client Services at Clear Digital.

“We were in a rapid search for a platform to display all of our projects, assignments, and schedules, at the time of which Basecamp has helped us in organizing these requirements for our work at our fingertips. Its storage facility has helped us in storing and collaborating with each other on documents, files, etc. All of its features like the schedule display were easy to implement and keep us up to date without progress.” – Abhinash B. via G2.

Limitations:

There may be a learning curve for those new to project management software as you explore and utilize Basecamp’s many features. While Basecamp has a mobile app, some users might find that it has a few limitations compared to the desktop version.

“It can become a bit cumbersome for technical/development requests that come in. With an extensive amount of back-and-forth conversations, you have to be strategic about keeping it in one location or breaking it out into another conversation. As conversations expand, so can the length of the Basecamp message, making it difficult to find original requests. This limitation can be resolved by the restructuring of the Basecamp project by employees.” – Annie Raygoza, Director of Client Services at Clear Digital.

Pricing:

• Try It for Free
• Basecamp: $15 per user per month.
• Basecamp PRO UNLIMITED: $299 per month per month.

6. Invision

InVision is on a mission to redefine how people work together, making collaboration smarter, faster, and more accessible than ever before. With a commitment to connecting teams across distances and disciplines, InVision empowers global enterprises and small teams to achieve transformative collaboration. 

Features:

• Prototyping: InVision is renowned for its powerful prototyping capabilities. It allows designers to create interactive and animated prototypes of their web and mobile app designs. 
• Collaboration: It provides tools for commenting and annotating designs, making it easy for team members to provide feedback, suggest changes, and collaborate on design iterations. InVision also supports real-time collaboration, allowing multiple users to simultaneously work on a design project.
• Design System Management: InVision enables the creation and management of design systems, which are collections of reusable design elements, components, and styles. Design systems also help you maintain consistency across projects. Use these systems to make creating cohesive and brand-compliant designs easier for teams. You can also simplify the creation and maintenance of design systems with InVision’s Design System Manager.

Reviews:

“Invision’s a winner for remote design teams. It’s tailor-made for design collaboration and feedback. Remember, it’s best for teams deep into design work and might not be everyone’s cup of tea. Invision caters to design teams, enabling interactive prototypes and collaboration. It’s a boon for design-centric remote teams, but it might not be as versatile for other projects, and its cost can be a hurdle for smaller teams.” – Kraig Kleeman, CEO at The New Workforce.

“InVision is a great tool to showcase the new features and tools our Product team is building. I use InVision to upload my potential product designs to bring to my user interviews. InVision makes it super easy to share a prototype link with a potential user to have them click around what the product might look like and give real-time feedback.” – Karly M via GetApp.

Limitations:

Like other tools on this list, InVision’s capabilities are vast, and users may need time to explore and fully leverage all available features. As with any software, teams will likely experience a learning curve in the user onboarding and adoption phase.

“InVision is less versatile than some project management tools since it’s mainly for design collaboration. If you’re new to design tools, it might take a bit to get the hang of it. The cost could be a hiccup for smaller teams or startups.” – Kraig Kleeman, CEO at The New Workforce.

Pricing:

Freehand:

• Freehand Free: $0 
• Freehand Pro: $4.95 per user/month (billed monthly)
• Enterprise: Contact InVision

InVision Cloud (Prototype)

• Free: $0
• Pro: $9.95 per user/month (billed monthly)

7. Notion

Notion is an integrated workspace where seamless collaboration and productivity thrive. With Notion, you’ll experience the power of a connected workspace that caters to diverse needs, leverages AI, and helps teams achieve more together. 

Features:

• Wiki: Centralize your knowledge effortlessly. In Notion, wikis become information hubs, enabling swift navigation and easy access to everything your team needs.
• Docs: Create documents that are simple, powerful, and aesthetically pleasing. With next-generation docs, you can communicate more efficiently and elegantly than ever.
• Projects: Manage projects efficiently and without needing a separate, clunky system. Unlike other note-taking tools, Notion streamlines project management, keeping you on track and on top of your game.
• Notion AI: Unleash the limitless potential of AI right within Notion. AI capabilities empower you to work smarter and uncover insights that drive progress.

Reviews:

“Ability to use it to store all project information, documents, and boards in one place. Plus, edit live to make sure everyone is working off the same document, and we have one single source of truth.” – Tasmin Lofthouse, Conversion Copywriter and Messaging Strategist at Fika Digital.

“Notion is a powerful tool that allows us, in a single access point, to manage all aspects of the execution of each project that we carry out with our staff, with the aim of increasing efficiency and delivering the product in the time offered to our customers. In Notion, all project work is managed interactively, with effective schedule organization for deliverables, saving us time and keeping budget on schedule.” – Marianela Fernandez via TrustRadius.

Limitations:

While Notion offers offline access to your documents and pages, it’s less robust than other dedicated offline tools. You may find that certain features are unavailable or limited when working offline.

There are also some formatting and layout rendering issues that may cause your content to appear incorrectly on mobile devices or when using the mobile app. While other tools allow you to seamlessly design views for both web and mobile, you may need to make adjustments in Notion when creating content for mobile consumption.

“While I appreciate many aspects of Notion, I find a few areas somewhat disappointing. One of the things I dislike about Notion is its steep learning curve. It can be overwhelming for new users to understand all the features and functionalities, hindering the onboarding process. Additionally, the initial setup and customization options can feel complex and time-consuming. Another aspect that I find limiting is the lack of offline access. Notion heavily relies on an internet connection, and while it offers a mobile app, the offline functionality is quite limited. This can be inconvenient when I need to access my notes or documents in situations with poor or no internet connectivity.” – Samiran K. via G2.

Pricing:

• Free: $0
• Plus: $10 per user/month (billed monthly)
• Business: $15 per user/month (billed monthly)
• Enterprise: Contact Notion for custom pricing

Conclusion:

With the rise of remote work, these seven remote collaboration tools may be just what you need to keep your distributed teams connected and productive.

Hubstaff offers comprehensive workforce management, Slack centralizes communication, and Asana streamlines project and task management. Zoom ensures high-quality video communication, Basecamp empowers small teams, and InVision aids design collaboration. Notion’s integrated workspace caters to diverse needs.

While each tool excels in specific areas, choosing the one that aligns with your team’s unique workflow and requirements is crucial. These tools are also instrumental in ensuring remote teams stay efficient, engaged, and connected in the evolving work landscape. While there may be some overlap, each one of these tools would make a terrific addition to most teams’ tech stack.

Have any other collaboration tools you’re using on your remote team? We’d love to hear about them!