What are the types of remote work software?

There are numerous types of remote work software including task management, time tracking, and video recording tools.

What task management tools are best for remote work?

ClickUp, iDoneThis, and Trello are all excellent tools for managing tasks remotely.

What are good video recording tools?

ClickUp, Loom, and Soapbox are simple-to-use tools for recording your desktop.

30+ Remote Work Tools to Make Work From Home a Breeze

Q: What are remote work tools?

Remote work tools help you communicate effectively with your team while managing your work remotely.

Are you working from home because of COVID-19?

The recent pandemic has forced tons of companies to go remote. But just because you’re not at your office doesn’t mean you can’t be productive!

In this article, we’ll highlight tons of remote work software that you can use to stay on top of your projects. In fact, we’ve listed so many remote work tools here that it’d make James Bond and Q jealous!

And while these tools might not help you fight off evil geniuses, it’s going to help you save the world.

How?

By staying productive and fueling a global economy that needs your help.

This Article Contains:

Let’s get started.

What are remote work tools?

Remote work tools…(drumroll)… help you manage your work remotely!

Remember, working remotely poses its own set of challenges. How do you

Communicate effectively with your team?
Conduct meetings?
Track project progress?
Ensure your team members aren’t watching Netflix during work hours?
Ensure your people stay focused and motivated?

Remote work software tries to address all of these remote job challenges.

And because there are more challenges than Bond villains, there are tons of different kinds of remote tools.

They range from free project management software to screen recording tools and remote access software!

The 12 types of remote work software

So what are all these types of remote work tools?

Recent ClickUp case studies have found that 42% of working Americans don’t feel their employers offer all the technology tools or apps they need to succeed while working remotely.

Don’t worry, we know you have tons of work to do so we’re not going to delay things further.

Here’s the lowdown on the 12 kinds of tools you need and the best tools under each category:

1. Task management and tracking tools

Task management apps function as your remote working hub.

If you were James Bond, all your assignments and cases would be stored here.

You could track:

Your tasks (in case of Bond – who you need to take down!)
What your deadlines are
What your team members are working on
What they’ve done
And everything else!

Similarly, task and remote project management apps help you manage everything about your projects, assignments and tasks!

Here’s are some of the best project management tools available today:

A. ClickUp

If you have a remote workforce, ClickUp is the only task management tool you’ll ever need.

Used by teams and companies of all types and sizes worldwide – it has all the features you need to stay on top of everything remotely!

(Rumour has it that Q got some of his ideas of Bond’s gadgets here, but we’re not at liberty to say!)

Here’s a simple workflow to manage your entire remote team with ClickUp:

1. Assign tasks to your remote team

ClickUp makes it super easy to assign tasks to everyone in your remote team.

You can:

Add tasks and assign them to specific team members
Add and assign subtasks within those tasks to make them easier to tackle
Assign priorities to everything to ensure that your tasks are attempted in the right order

However, that isn’t all.

You can even customize the access rights to your tasks to share them with full-time employees and non-team members. For example, you can share relevant tasks with clients and freelancers without worrying about compromising your privacy.

2. Easily check task statuses

Keeping up with your project’s progress is difficult when you’re working from home, right?

Not with ClickUp!

ClickUp comes with two handy project views to help you quickly keep up with your tasks. You can opt for:

A Board view: where your tasks are listed out as cards (like Trello boards)
A List view: where your tasks are presented in a list that can be checked off as you progress

As each of these views sorts your tasks according to the status they’re in, you won’t ever be confused about how things are moving.

3. Check who’s working on what all the time

ClickUp is the dream tool for any project manager.

Why?

ClickUp’s Box view sorts out tasks by assignee, so you can easily check on what everyone’s working on and how they’re progressing.

You can even check their workload from their profile.

It highlights the tasks that:

They completed
They’re working on
Will be working on

You can use this data to reassign items accordingly and distribute tasks more evenly!

4. Have conversations with your team

Every ClickUp task comes with its own dedicated comment section to facilitate real-time collaboration. They can share files, links and any other information to keep everyone updated.

You can even tag team members and assign comments to them to make sure they take action on your comments immediately.

ClickUp can also integrate with popular messaging apps like Slack to ensure that streamlined communication is just a click away!

5. Track your team’s productivity

ClickUp comes with native time tracking to help you track the time your team spends on each task. You can use these tracking reports to determine what’s taking your team so long and step in to help them with it.

ClickUp also integrates with apps like Unito to ensure that you can sync between multiple apps – irrespective of your tech stack!

Pricing

Free Plan: Unlimited tasks + users
Unlimited: $5/month per user — Includes “Free” features + Unlimited integrations + dashboards + goals + more
Business: $9/month per user —includes “Unlimited” features + 2-factor authentication + extra guests + more

B. iDoneThis

iDoneThis is exactly what it sounds like.

It helps you track what you’ve done!

You and your team can list down all your tasks and track how everyone is progressing.

Key Features

1. Daily status updates

iDoneThis sends you emails every day asking you to reply with the work you’ve done. This way, nobody (even the most forgetful members of your team) forgets to send an update of your daily work!

2. Morning digests

Every morning, iDoneThis sends you a digest summarizing the work completed by each member of your remote team. This makes it easy for everyone to stay on top of what everyone else is working on too.

007 can use it to check on what all the other secret agents are up to!

Pricing

iDoneThis has three pricing plans:

Standard: $9/month per user. Advanced reporting + 3 integrations
Plus: $22/month per user. Standard features + Searchable archive + unlimited integrations
Enterprise: $35/month per user. Plus features + Enterprise reporting + SAML SSO

C. HubSpot Task Management Software

While HubSpot isn’t a task management tool per-se, its CRM platform has project and task management capabilities, which are also available in the free plan.

If you’re a marketer or a salesperson and you’re looking for an integrated tool, then you might consider HubSpot CRM because of the free marketing, sales, service and, of course, task management tools that are natively integrated.

Here’s how it works. Once you want to set a task for a contact, simply choose the company, contact or deal in the HubSpot CRM. Click “Create task” and add your details and notes; set a due date; set an email reminder, task type, and task owner (all optional); and then click “Save Task.”

When you want to plan your day, you can view your Tasks lists (or your team’s tasks), prioritise them and start tackling them one at a time. Because HubSpot is a CRM platform at its core, you have all the information you need in one place.

Key Features

1. Keep all your tasks, meetings, and contact details in one place

HubSpot’s task management software displays all contact details in the same place, so you can easily review them as you’re working on your tasks. If you connect your email to HubSpot, you can see a live feed of when your contacts are opening up emails, viewing web pages, or viewing sales collateral.

2. Connect tasks to your email

HubSpot’s integration with Gmail and Outlook allows you to create tasks directly from your inbox. Get to inbox zero and prioritize tasks within HubSpot so that you can follow up later.

3. Create tasks for your team

With HubSpot, you can assign or reassign tasks to your teammates for collaboration. Instead of everyone working off of their own to-do lists, teams can work together, with everyone’s tasks stored within the CRM.

Pricing

You can get started with HubSpot’s task management software for free.
If you are looking for more advanced features to help automate and scale your support operations, HubSpot offers premium features with its Starter ($50/month), Professional, and Enterprise options.

How do you communicate with your team if you’re all working remotely?

Sure, you could use email, but that’s like using a Motorola Razor instead of a smartphone!

Don’t waste time composing countless emails to get your point across.

Instead, just video call them and explain things – just as if you were in office with them!

Let’s take a look at one of the best video calling tools out there:

A. Zoom

Zoom is one of the most widely used video conferencing and calling tools today. You can quickly video call all your team members and even share your screen to help you get your point across.

Key Features

1. Powerful video conferencing

Zoom lets you add up to 1,000 participants in a video chat.

And no matter how huge your team is, we’re pretty sure 1000 is going to be enough!

Additionally, these video chats come with HD video and audio to maximize clarity.

Zoom supports screen sharing in all of its pricing plans.

But what’s that?

This means that participants can share their screens during the call.

So how does that help?

Screen sharing makes it easy to explain a process or task to someone. Instead of explaining what you’re talking about, just share your screen and actually show it to them.

It’s that easy!

Pricing

Zoom has four pricing tiers to suit your needs:

Basic: Free — Up to 100 participants + unlimited meetings up to 40 minutes long
Pro: $14.99/month per host — Includes “Basic” features + reporting + cloud storage
Business: $19.99/month per host (10 hosts minimum) — Includes “Pro” features + 300 participants + cloud recording transcripts
Enterprise: $19.99/month per host (50 hosts minimum) — Includes “Business” features + 500/1000 participants

Alternatives

Skype: Microsoft’s popular video conferencing app

Google Hangouts: Hangouts (or Hangouts Meet) is a text, audio and video communication tool included in G Suite

Bonus: Screen recorders for Mac!

B. Krisp

Krisp is a groundbreaking noise-cancellation app that makes your phone and video chats more clear and professional. It automatically cuts out background noise for improved voice quality during your calls.

Key Features

1. Effective noise cancellation

Krisp’s noise cancellation works through your device to remove background noise from both ends – whether you’re listening or speaking.

This way, you can attend to your calls at home without worrying about your dogs barking or kids screaming in the background!

2. Wide compatibility

You can use Krisp with any headset on Mac, Windows, Chrome, and iOS! This way, no matter what platform you use, Krisp can help you.

Pricing

Krisp has three pricing plans based on usage amount:

Free: 2 hours/week for desktops and Chrome, 4 hours/week for iOS calls
Pro: $3.33/month. Unlimited muting for desktops and Chrome, 4 hours/week for iOS calls, use up to 3 devices
Teams: $3.33/month. Includes “Pro” features + centralized billing + member management

C. MeetFox

MeetFox is an online meeting tool used by over 10,000 consultants and freelancers to book meetings, video conferences, and accept payments. We provide a secure and reliable way to speak with clients and monetize your meeting time.

Key Features

1. Simple Scheduling

You can customize the booking page to match your services. Get automatic SMS messaging & email reminders to help avoid no-shows.

You can integrate MeetFox on your website or share your link anywhere. You can tailor MeetFox as per your branding with customized colors and confirmation emails (white label).

2. Meet Online

MeetFox allows easy in-browser video conferencing (no downloads, PIN codes, or plug-ins). You can join a meeting from any device (in-browser compatibility). It supports screen sharing, file sharing, and chat.

MeetFox also supports video & audio recording. On MeetFox, you can do a conference/group call with up to 16 participants.

3. Get Paid Instantly

Connect to a Stripe account and accept credit card payments. Charge your clients per meeting or per minute. Customize your cancellation policies and charge for no-shows. Automatic invoices sent on your behalf.

Pricing

MeetFox has 3 pricing plans:

Starter (Free): 3 meetings/month, Scheduling, Video calling, Payments, Support – 7 days a week
Basic: $11/month. 20 meetings/month, Scheduling, Video calling, Payments, Support – 7 days a week
Pro: $29/month. Unlimited meetings/month, Scheduling, Video calling, Payments, Support – 7 days a week

D. Troop Messenger

Work together on a unified platform with Troop Messenger, with the facilities of chat, calling, file and screen sharing, and more. This team collaboration tool helps teams connect with their office and remote co-workers from all across the world through its mobile, web, and desktop apps.

Key Features

1. Group Audio-Video conferencing

This tool provides a direct group call facility, helping teams to talk and exchange work files through its audio-video group calling. In addition, it schedules meetings, letting the guest users join the call alongside the in-house teams.

2. Forkout

Apart from the basic 1:1 and group chats, users can send a single message or an attachment to a large number of people in just one go, without creating a separate group.

3. Jointly Code

An exclusive developer-friendly feature that no other tool has, allows coders to code in the same editor at the same time while on an audio-video conference.

Pricing

Free trial: Try all the features of Enterprise for one month to get to know the efficiency of the tool.
Premium: $2.5 per user per month, comes with unlimited search history, guest user, wallpaper, attachment preview, browser pop-up, and many more.
Enterprise: $5 per user/per month, comes with all the features of premium, group calling, unlimited video conferencing, jointly-coded, and many more advanced features.

3. Video recording and screencast tools

No, screencasts aren’t the process behind writing the screenplay and casting the new Bond film.

Screencasts are basically screenshots – except they’re videos.

They allow you to record videos of your screen along with your voice audio.

Screencasts are especially useful to any remote team as you can record work processes and share the video with team members. All they have to do is then follow what the video says to get their work started!

Unlike screen sharing (the thing we mentioned in the earlier section), screencasts aren’t live – you record them. This means that they can be viewed in the future as well.

Let’s take a look at the best tool for creating screencasts:

ClickUp

Here’s a motto everyone should live by:

Why use two tools when you can use one?

Using hundreds of different apps may seem like fun, but it’s going to make coordinating things in a remote company super confusing.

Instead of using a separate screencast app, just use ClickUp.

After all, you’re already using it as your project management app, right?

(If you aren’t already using it, you should btw)

ClickUp’s Clip feature lets you record videos within your Chrome or Firefox browser.

Just open a task and click the record icon.

Bonus: Check out this guide on the best free screen recorders with no watermark! 💧

You can choose if you want to record:

The entire screen
Just the app’s window
The entire Chrome tab itself

Once you finish recording, click the record icon and it’ll stop recording. The tool automatically adds the Clip to the task’s comment, where your entire team can view it!

You can also easily share the recording URL with anyone you want by just clicking on “Copy Link.”

Alternatives

Loom: a simple, free-to-use screen recorder for desktops

Vidyard: a video marketing platform for small businesses

Soapbox: a free webcam and screen recorder for Chrome

Learn more about the the top 12 screen recording tools

4. Screenshot tools

If screencasts were Daniel Craig’s Bond films, screenshots would be Sean Connery’s.

They’re far older, but they’re just as amazing.

While screencasts are videos, screenshots are just pictures.

Screenshot tools instantly capture everything on your screen and save it as an image that you can further edit and share.

How do you use them?

Screenshots help teams that work remotely point out errors and share information quickly.

With screenshots, you don’t have to to explain things to your team manually. Instead, you’re actually showing them what you’re talking about!

Here’s the best screenshot app available:

ClickUp

ClickUp? Again?

I know.

We’re being completely honest here.

We wouldn’t highlight ClickUp if it wasn’t the easiest tool to use in this category.

But when you have so many features that are so handy, we have to highlight it!

ClickUp’s handy Chrome Extension makes taking and sharing screenshots a piece of cake.

Click on the monitor icon in the extension.
You’ll get two options – capture screen (screenshot everything) or capture area (screenshot a part of the screen)
Choose the kind of screenshot you’d like to take, and voila!

You’ve captured your screenshot.

You can now post these into a task and even draw or write on the screenshot itself!

This makes pointing out bugs, errors or even features super easy.

By posting the screenshot in a task, you keep it clipped there for easy reference any time you want.

Alternatives

Fireshot: creates a screenshot of your screen that you can save as an image or pdf

CloudApp: a screenshot and screencast tool designed for quick image sharing

Manual: if you’re looking to take a simple screenshot without any of the bells and whistles of a dedicated tool, check out these guides:

5. Instant messaging tools

You use instant messaging tools for… instant messaging!

(Surprise of the year over there)

But how do these real-time messaging tools help teams that work remotely?

These communication tools are perfect for quick discussions over queries and clarifications.

Need an update on something quickly? Message them
Want to know what someone was working on during the last hour? Message them
Looking for a little more clarity from someone? Message them

Instant messaging tools bridge the gap between remote coworkers by giving them a fast-track channel for quick communication.

Here’s the most popular instant messaging platform for distributed teams:

Slack

Slack is a real-time messaging and remote communication platform that’s used by remote teams worldwide. It has a super user-friendly interface – ensuring that you and your team can pick it up in no time!

Key features

1. Channels

Slack can categorize all your conversations into separate channels. For example, you can create independent channels for different teams, different projects – the list goes on!

How does this help?

As you’re categorizing everything, your conversations are ordered – making it easy for your team to make sense of it all.

2. Audio and video calls

Messages are great – but sometimes they’re not enough.

But don’t worry!

Slack lets you make calls to your team for conversations and clarifications that are impossible over text.

This way, if 007 is confused about an assignment, he can quickly call M for further clarification!

3. ClickUp integration

Slack integrates with task management tools ClickUp to instantly connect your conversations with your task and projects. This way, all your comments are neatly ordered inside your task management tool too!

Pricing

Slack has two pricing tiers:

Standard: $2.67/month per user — unlimited archive + apps + group calls
Plus: $5/month per user — SAML-based SSO + corporate exports for messages

Alternatives

Fleep: a real-time messaging platform that integrates with your email

Microsoft Teams: a communication software that is a part of the Microsoft Office Suite

6. Employee monitoring and time tracking tools

Remember when James Bond faked his death and went AWOL?

While your remote employees won’t go to that extent, there’s no guarantee that they’ll remain productive at home. To make matters worse, there’s no easy way to monitor them remotely to ensure that they’re actually working.

Luckily that’s precisely why you have employee monitoring tools!

These tools allow managers to:

Keep track of what employees are working on
Determine how long they’re spending on these tasks
Monitor what sites and apps they’re accessing during work hours

Bet M wished she had that to manage Bond, right?

Here’s a look at the best employee monitoring tool for 2021:

Time Doctor

Time Doctor is a time tracking and productivity management platform that allows managers to monitor the productivity of their remote employees.

The best part about the app? It’s a simple onboarding process.

All an employee has to do is type in the task they’re working on, start the timer and start working! Once they’re done working or are on a break, they can pause the timer, and the tool will stop monitoring them.

Note: Time Doctor only tracks activity during work hours, when the employee has voluntarily turned the tool on. It doesn’t monitor anything without their consent.

Key features

1. Detailed reports

Time Doctor tracks the activity of your remote employees during work hours and generates tons of reports based on that data such as:

Total number of hours worked
Time spent on each task and project
What sites and apps were accessed

How does this help?

Managers can use these to analyze the productivity of each remote worker and identify areas for improvement. For example, you’ll know if someone’s wasting time browsing social media and step-in to take appropriate measures.

Bonus tip: ClickUp integrates with Time Doctor to connect these stats with your projects and tasks.

2. Idle Time Tracker

Time Doctor can prevent your remote workers from marking idle time as time worked.

What’s idle time?

Idle time is when your employee runs the timer but doesn’t do any work!

How does Time Doctor guard against this?

Whenever there’s been no keyboard or mouse activity for three minutes, the tool assumes the employee is on a break and automatically pauses the timer.

Note: Time Doctor does not track what keys were pressed to determine activity – it only monitors if any keys were pressed or not.

Pricing

Time Doctor costs $9.99/month per user for all features.

Connecteam

The Connecteam app has everything for frontline and deskless employees, but also has a desktop and web-based app, ideal for managing your remote employees, all in one place. Employees can work remotely from any device.

From a one-touch time clock (keep those work hours error-free!), to seamless employee scheduling (including automatically alerting you to scheduling conflicts, unavailability and more), via automated checklists and self-guided forms. There’s an in-app chat too, meaning no more messy WhatsApp/SMS/’insert messaging platform here‘ cross-platform conversations!

Key features

1. Time Management

Schedule your team’s time perfectly from planning to execution, track work hours across multiple projects, all the while easily managing timesheets and avoiding time theft.

2. Communication

Communicate with your teams wherever they are, from whichever device they’re on. Enjoy built-in chat features, social feed, newsletter, suggestions and more.

3. Operations

Quick tasks allow you to smoothly operate everything: delegate tasks, track execution, create digital forms and checklists via drag and drop builder!

Pricing

Connecteam offers five pricing options, all of which are fixed for the first 50 users:

Free: for up to 50 users, includes time tracking, scheduling, and communication
Basic plan ($39/month): time tracking includes all report types, GPS and unlimited jobs, communication fields, and filter dates for more than 30 days
Advanced plan ($79/month): includes geofence, smart groups, admin permissions, schedule templates, advanced settings and filtering
Expert plan ($159/month): includes process automation, in-app links, building custom reports, custom onboarding, multi-location management
Enterprise: contact a rep for pricing (includes API access)

3. Hubstaff

Hubstaff is a time tracking app that has several productivity features that enable teams to focus on getting work done instead of tracking it.

Its intuitive app streamlines the entire process of tracking work and removes the need for guesswork. Because let’s be honest: nobody appreciates being asked by their manager what they worked on every day.

Key features

1. Activity monitoring

Hubstaff provides team leaders and project managers with productivity statistics based on their team’s tracked time.

How does Hubstaff track employee productivity?

While productivity isn’t a quantifiable measure, Hubstaff has multiple features that are designed to help you understand how your team performs:

Keyboard and mouse activity monitoring
App and URL tracking
Optional screenshots

You can use these time tracking data to identify both strengths and weaknesses in the way your team works.

Is an employee able to meet 40 hours a week but is barely beating deadlines? Maybe they need help with prioritizing their tasks. Are there employees that are consistently working overtime but your projects are still moving slow? Hiring an additional team member might be necessary.

2. Online timesheets

Inaccurate timesheets — paper- or spreadsheet-based ones — cost businesses lots of money.

The issue with these types of timesheets is that they’re easy to manipulate and prone to inaccuracies.

But managers can always double-check, right?

Yes, they can, but investigating such discrepancies will consume additional time.

Hubstaff’s timesheets have everything you need in one location. You’ll be able to see all the time that your team has tracked and if they manually added hours to their timesheets. Managers can easily approve or reject them from there.

3. ClickUp integration

ClickUp’s Hubstaff integration lets you track time directly to your ClickUp tasks with Hubstaff.

ClickUp tasks will automatically appear in the Hubstaff time tracker, and you’ll be able to see the time you track to each of them. Being productive has never been easier — setting the integration up takes less than five minutes!

Pricing

Free
Basic: $7/month per user
Premium: $10/month per user
Enterprise: $20/month per user

Hubstaff Alternatives

Toggl: A time tracking and reporting app for mobiles and desktops

ClickUp: The Chrome Extension tracks your time usage and adds it to your ClickUp tasks

7. Cloud storage tools

Cloud storage apps are so popular that they’re no longer solely associated with distributed teams.

Well 007, it’s because everyone – and we mean everyone – uses cloud storage apps like Google Drive and Dropbox today!

Why?

Because they’re so convenient!

Instead of storing documents or files on your device – just store them on the internet where other people can collaborate over them easily.

But easy real-time collaboration isn’t the only benefit you get.

By storing all your documents and files in the cloud, you save on so much space in your device – ensuring that you don’t slow it down!

Here’s our top cloud storage recommendation:

A. Google Drive

Google Drive is Google’s cloud storage solution.

And like most things associated with Google, it’s a great tool!

With user-friendly storage limits and tons of integrations, Drive is one of the best cloud storage platforms for remote workers.

Key Features

1. Access files anywhere

Google Drive syncs and updates your files in real time.

This means that everyone gets remote access to the latest version of every file, all the time.

The benefit of this?

Nobody is left viewing an outdated version of the file.

For example, your remote developers can all view the same version to ensure that they’re working on the same thing!

Additionally, Google Drive comes with powerful browser and mobile apps to make managing your cloud much more convenient!

For example, if Bond was chasing a villain and needed an update on his usual spots, he could power-up Drive on his phone and quickly check what’s listed down.

2. Numerous integrations and wide compatibility

Drive can integrate with tons of other remote work software to make file sharing and management simpler.

It doesn’t matter if you’re using Evernote, Slack or ClickUp – Google Drive can connect with them to make managing your storage easier.

For example, the ClickUp integration lets you attach Drive files to tasks and create new documents without leaving the app itself!

Pricing

Drive is included in all three plans offered by G Suite:

Basic: $6/month per user — 30 GB storage
Business: $12/month per user — unlimited storage + smart search across G Suite
Enterprise: $25/month per user — includes “Business” features + smart search outside G Suite

B. Litify

Litify is a fully integrated SaaS platform built for law firms and legal teams. Their practice management software combines legal case and legal matter management, document generation and management, intake, and reporting to help law firms run more efficiently.

Their software is also built on Salesforce, which enables users full access to all the integrations, resources, updates, and capabilities that come with secure cloud technology.

Key Features

Here’s a look at how Litify helps law firms more effectively manage their practices:

1. Legal Case & Matter Management

Litify can be used to manage every aspect of a legal case or legal matter—the initial intake, communications with clients, task management, scheduling, and more. By managing the entire case or legal matter in one place, law firms can operate more effectively.

2. Legal Document Management

Litify offers document management software that gives law firms the ability to upload, edit, manage, and create new files in one place. It offers a unique design that eliminates any confusion and allows users to have a better workflow.

3. Reporting

With Litify, you can create custom dashboards and reports to give you insights across your entire firm. You are able to access real-time and automated reporting that helps increase transparency across your firm while bringing in results for your clients.

Pricing

Litify is priced on a per-user/per month basis. The price per user is determined based on the unique needs and functionality required for each Litify account.

Alternatives

Dropbox: a popular file hosting service with cloud storage and personal cloud

Microsoft OneDrive: a cloud storage and synchronization service part of the Microsoft Office Online suite.

Clio: practice management software for solo law firms

PracticePanther: mobile-friendly practice management software

ClickUp: document storage, practice management for legal teams, and sharing functionality to allow guests to collaborate.

8. Document collaboration tools

Document collaboration software are closely tied to cloud storage tools.

In fact, cloud storage tools fall under the document collaboration umbrella!

These tools allow remote workers to, you guessed it, collaborate on the same documents efficiently.

They include a variety of features, such as:

Real time updates
File sharing
Cloud storage access/compatibility
Comments and suggestions

Let’s check out one of the best document collaboration tools:

A. G Suite

G Suite is Google’s suite of online collaboration and file sharing tools.

It includes a variety of software such as:

Google Docs: a word processor similar to Microsoft Word
Google Sheets: a collaborative spreadsheet similar to Microsoft Excel
Google Slides: a presentation program similar to Microsoft Excel

Think of G Suite as an online replacement for most of the standard Microsoft tools you’re so used to using.

It’s faster, more powerful and far more convenient!

Additionally, with Google Drive’s cloud storage, G Suite becomes an all-in-one collaboration tool for all distributed teams.

Key Features

1. Real time syncing

G Suite syncs and updates all file changes in real time.

Files are automatically updated for all team members, which lets your team make changes simultaneously and collaborate in real time.

This way, all the secret agents could access the same info – ensuring that Bond isn’t the only one who can save the day!

2. Collaborative features

All G Suite tools come with tons of real-time collaboration features to make working on them a piece of cake.

Comments and suggestions allow team members to recommend edits and revisions without making permanent changes. This way, the file owner can take a look before deciding whether or not to accept or reject these.

Additionally, sharing permissions allow you to decide who gets to view, comment or edit each document. This way, you can share files with whoever you want without worrying about privacy!

For example, if you were working on a software project, you could share your files with a freelance software engineer and the client – without worrying about a thing!

Pricing

G Suite has three pricing plans. All three support Docs and Sheets functionality:

Basic: $6/month per user
Business: $12/month per user
Enterprise: $25/month per user

B. Fellow.app

Fellow.app is a one-on-one meeting tool that helps teams collaborate to have productive team meetings and meaningful 1:1s, build collaborative meeting agendas, record decisions, and keep each other accountable. The various features and integrations will help your team build successful meeting habits and a strong feedback culture.

Key features

1. Track action items

By tracking action items, your team will be kept organized and held accountable. This will help your team build great meeting habits through collaborative agendas and real-time note-taking.

2. Give and request meaningful feedback

The instant feedback feature allows you to request or gather real-time feedback from your team. Facilitate growth opportunities within your team

3. App integration

Fellow integrations with dozens of apps, ranging from basics like Google Calendar to HR platforms like Workday. It is also a great complement to your project management app.

Pricing

Fellow is free for a maximum of 10 users. The Pro plan is $5 per user per month, and custom-priced plans are also available.

Alternatives

Office 365: an online subscription version of the Microsoft Office suite.

Splashtop Business Access: a remote access software that helps teams collaborate across remote desktop platforms

9. Document scanning and signing tools

It’s easy to share physical documents in traditional offices — just hand them over!

But you can’t do that in a remote team, right?

That’s where document scanners and signing software help you out.

These tools easily convert documents into digital formats that you can share for remote access.

Okay, but what if I want to sign on these docs?

How am I supposed to sign virtually?

That’s where signing software comes in.

It allows you to digitally sign these documents – ensuring that your docs have all the authorization they need!

Here are a few tools that can help you out with this:

A. Document Sign by Adobe

Need to sign-off on something but don’t have the physical document with you?

No problem!

Adobe Sign is a digital signature tool for digital documents.

You can add your signature via text, draw it or upload an image of it. Once you enter your signature, its securely saved as a cloud signature for easy sync and access!

Key features

1. Wide compatibility

One of the best things about Adobe Sign is that you can use it on all your devices.

It doesn’t matter if you’re working from your laptop or mobile phone – if you need to sign something, Adobe Sign can help!

Additionally, it integrates with tons of tools like Microsoft Outlook and Dropbox – making it easy to instantly add your digital signature without even leaving these apps!

2. Simple and secure signing

Worried that your digital signatures aren’t safe and can be misused?

Don’t be!

Adobe comes with industry-leading security measures that even James Bond would be impressed with!

These include:

Digital ID and pin: this safeguards login access
Proof of signing: the signature is bound to the document via encryption
Validation: occurs through trusted certificate authorities or trust service providers

Pricing

Adobe Sign has an individual and a team pricing plan:

Single user (Acrobat Pro with E-Sign): $14.99/month
Multiple users (Sign Small Business): $29.99/month per license (for up to 9 users)

B. SignWell

SignWell is one of the simplest ways to electronically sign documents.

It’s free to start, and can be used on any device.

To get documents signed, simply upload your document, add signature fields, and send.

Recipients will be notified and guided through the signing process. You’ll know when others have started signing, and when documents have been completed.

SignWell has quickly become one of the best electronic signature apps due to its simplicity and affordability.

Key Features

1. Legally binding and secure

SignWell is fully compliant with all US and International e-signature laws. Each signed document includes a detailed audit page and is protected from further changes.

SignWell signed documents are as legally valid as pen-and-paper documents.

2. Free for light use and affordable for teams

SignWell has a generous free plan for those that need to sign documents from time to time. Even on the free plan, you’ll get signing reminders and full audit reports.

Adding team members is affordable and team features include several permission levels for enhanced security.

Pricing

Free plan – 3 documents a month and signing reminders.
Personal: $10/month – Unlimited documents, template links, 1 user, and advanced preferences.
Business: $30/month – Includes “Personal” features, unlimited documents, unlimited templates, 3 users ($10 each additional team member), custom branding, and more.

C. CamScanner

CamScanner is a simple mobile scanning app that allows you to scan documents quickly via your mobile. Every team member can easily use the tool to scan and share documents when they like.

Key Features

1. Multi-feature scans

CamScanner supports OCR (optical character recognition) to easily convert scanned images into text documents. It also lets you add annotations, watermarks and e-signatures for quick edits.

You can easily share your scans with team members and allow them to add comments. Additionally, it can automatically upload your documents to popular cloud storage platforms, including Google Drive, Dropbox and Microsoft OneDrive.

Pricing

CamScanner has three pricing tiers:

Basic: Free — Custom watermarks + document sync + ten collaborators
Premium: $4.99/month per user — Includes “Basic” features + 40 extra collaborators + auto uploads
Business: $9.99/month per user (on discount for $6.99) — Includes “Premium” features + group folders + admin settings

10. Distraction management and productivity tools

While we may like to complain about how boring our office decor is or how annoying the commute might be, going to a physical office has one key benefit:

It forces you to be productive.

Why?

Your brain doesn’t associate your office with leisure time – making it easy for it to quickly adjust to work-mode when you get there.

But when you’re working on your tasks remotely, that can be a problem.

Remember, your house is where you sleep, throw parties and hang out – it’s not where you work!

Even James Bond finds it hard to focus when he’s at a bar!

(He has no problem focusing on Vodka Martinis though)

That’s why it can be hard to focus and stay productive when working remotely.

Luckily, there are a lot of productivity tools that can help you stay focused at home.

Here are some of our favorites:

A. StayFocusd

StayFocusd does precisely what its name says.

It’s a Google Chrome extension that helps you stay focused.

How does it do this?

It limits the time you can spend on “time-wasting websites”, like social media, to help you stay more focused on your work.

Here’s how it works:

You compile a list of these distracting sites you usually use like social media websites such as YouTube or Twitter. You then set a time period for when you’ll be working.

These sites will then be unavailable on your browser for the set period!

Don’t worry.

Once the time is up, the sites are unblocked and you can get back to watching those cat videos on YouTube.

Pricing

StayFocusd is free to use and available on the Chrome Web Store.

B. Brain.fm

Brain.fm isn’t a radio channel to help you learn stuff.

It’s an iOS and Android mindfulness app that uses functional music to boost focus, sleep and relaxation within fifteen minutes!

Based on scientific research, it’ll help you instantly improve your productivity throughout your day. Just switch it on and start working!

Pricing

Brain.fm offers five free trial sessions.

Unlimited access costs $6.99/month or $49.99 for the yearly plan.

C. Fyle

Fyle is an expense management software that helps boost employee and financial productivity. With Fyle, Finance teams and employees can enjoy seamless expense reporting, real-time card feeds, effortless card reconciliations, and more.

It also comes power-packed with seamless expense tracking, automated compliance, and integrations with accounting softwares like Sage Intacct, NetSuite, QuickBooks, and Xero.

Pricing

Standard ($4.99/active user) – unlimited receipt scanning with automated data extraction, unlimited expense tracking and reporting from Gmail, Outlook, mobile app, Slack, phone gallery, mileage, Per Diem, personal card management, and more.
Business ($8.99/active user) – Standard plan benefits and VISA real-time notifications, corporate card management, including automatic reconciliations, bank feed setup, multiple card program management, and more.
Enterprise at custom pricing – Business plan benefits and VISA real-time notifications, IP whitelisting of admin accounts, Single Sign-On (SSO) with AD and Okta, Branded account and emails, dedicated Enterprise Account Manager, and more.

D. Noisli

Noisli sounds like the word noisy.

And noisy isn’t something you relate to productivity, right?

While that is sound logic, Noisily can help you boost productivity.

Trust us!

It’s a background noise generator to help you focus and stay calm when you’re working.

Unlike most other “noise”, Noisily has ambient sounds like coffee shop chatter, falling rain, rustling leaves, a running train and many more that help your brain attain a state of focus and boost productivity.

Pricing

Noisli offers three pricing plans to suit various needs:

Individual
- Free: 16 sounds + 15 hours/day
- Pro: $10/month — 28 sounds + unlimited streaming
Team
- Business: $12/month per user — includes “Pro” features + team management + central billing

E. Headspace

You’ve seen the ads.

Headspace is a mindfulness and meditation app that helps you deal with stress and increase focus at home.

This great tool has tons of guided courses and lessons along with ambient “Sleep Sounds” to help you calm down at the end of the day.

Unlike most other apps centered around courses, Headspace can be tailored to fit busy schedules – making it perfect for unpredictable and flexible roles like:

Pricing

Headspace is priced at $12.99/month with monthly billing, or $69.99 when billed yearly.

F. Take A Break, Please

Take A Break, Please sounds like the opposite of a productivity app, right?

But trust us, it definitely boosts productivity.

How?

Staring at a computer screen too long or focusing on the same task can harm your eyes and tire your brain.

Apps like Take A Break, Please give you time to move about or just close your eyes to relax for a minute.

This ensures that your brain and eyes get the breaks they need to stay productive throughout the day. Just take these mini breaks and then return to work refreshed and energized!

Pricing

Take A Break, Please is available at a one-time purchase for $0.99.

G. Vitamin-R

No, Vitamin-R isn’t the vitamin you’re not getting enough of in your diet.

(Although vitamins play a big role in productivity, so make sure you get enough!)

Vitamin R is a productivity tool that helps you divide your work into timed chunks with breaks in between. Like Take A Break, Please, this helps you sustain your focus throughout the day and not burn out quickly!

This way, Bond can take breaks to focus on other activities instead.

Pricing

The entire software is available for a one-time purchase at $27.95 for Mac, which supports future versions and licenses.

Add $28/month – Family Plan
Add $84/month – Small Business
Add $224/month – Business
Add $664/month – Enterprise

H. Make

Make, formerly Integromat, is a helpful integration and automation platform used to well, make and automate apps, tasks, and workflows.

In fact, Make prides itself as a space to develop more visual workflows than “traditional no-code integration and automation platforms.” The platform also works for various teams like marketing, operations, HR, and sales.

ClickUp integrates with Make so users can choose from thousands of different “ready-made apps.” You can also use its no-code toolkit to link other apps that aren’t in Make’s library just yet.

Pricing:

Free Forever Plan: $0/month
Core: $9/month (billed annually)
Pro: $19/month (billed annually)
Teams: $29/month (billed annually)

11. Calendar tools

The problem with working remotely is that you can lose track of time.

And I don’t mean spending over 10 hours a day binging Netflix shows you never knew existed.

As you’re stuck at home, it’s hard to keep track of what day it is – which makes it hard to keep track of your deadlines and schedules.

Luckily, that’s what you have calendar tools for.

They help you easily keep track of your deadlines, reminders and events – to help you stay on top of everything at home.

Here are the best calendar tools available in 2021:

A. Google Calendar

Google Calendar is one of the most widely used Calendar apps today.

Google Calendar has a clean, user-friendly UI that allows you to view your entire day, week or month at ease. You can even create a group calendar so that each remote worker can add and keep track of their deadlines and meetings.

Another great part about Google Calendar is that it can integrate with tons of apps – making it easy for you to track your schedules and deadlines across apps.

Pricing

Calendar is available with all the G Suite plans:

Basic: $6/month per user — 30 GB storage
Business: $12/month per user — unlimited storage + smart search across G Suite
Enterprise: $25/month per user — includes “Business” features + smart search outside G Suite

B. Calendly

Think you need an assistant to schedule your appointments?

Nope!

Calendly is an online appointment scheduling software that works just as well. It integrates with several popular apps and calendars to check your availability and effectively schedule all your meetings.

Although we have to be honest, no scheduling app can ever outshine Miss Moneypenny!

Pricing

Calendly is available at 3 pricing tiers:

Basic: Free — 1 calendar/user + 1 event type + automated notifications + calendar integrations
Premium: $8/month per user — Includes “Basic” features + 2 calendars/user + unlimited event types +group events + metrics and reporting
Pro: $12/month per user — includes “Premium” features + 6 calendars/user + invitee redirects + advanced integrations (SalesForcce, PayPal, Google Analytics)

C. Doodle

Doodle is the meeting scheduling software your team has been dreaming of.

Say goodbye to sending everyone emails asking them about their availability!

How?

Doodle gives you a visual representation of when everyone is free. You can then send a time proposal that each participant accepts or rejects. This makes it super easy to schedule meetings and get things done.

Pricing

Doodle offers various individual and team plans:

Individual
Starter: $4.49/month — calendar sync + reminders + track invitations + Zapier integration
Pro: $5.99/month — includes “Basic” features + custom branding + personalized scheduling URL
Team: $6/month per user — includes “Pro” features + Doodle bot for Slack + multiple user management

D. 10to8

10to8 is for businesses that want a powerful tool to coordinate with external clients and internal teams. The flexibility of customization for complex set-ups makes 10to8 the perfect solution for Universities, Healthcare Organizations, Retailers, Gyms, Therapists, Counsellors, and other businesses with complex needs.

Key Features

Two-way chat, automated email and text reminders, and personalized booking pages.
Online payments – Take payments online with PayPal, Stripe or Sage Pay at the point of booking.

Effective coordination
Coordinate multiple staff, calendars, rooms, and locations seamlessly. The enhanced availability mode can handle both complicated and recurring working hours as well as staff members working out of multiple locations on different days.

Over 1,500 app integrations
Integrate the 10to8 online booking system with your favorite apps and automate more tasks. 10to8 has native integration with Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Google Classroom, and Salesforce, You can also embed the 10to8 booking widget on any website.

Pricing

Free Forever: SMS INCLUDED, 100 appts/month, 2 staff logins, Branding & SMS: N/A, Support: Online
Basic: $9.6 / month (USD), SMS INCLUDED, 100 appts/month, 2 staff logins, Branding: Customisable, Support: Online
Grow: $20 / month (USD), SMS INCLUDED, 300 appts/month, 3 staff logins, Branding & SMS: Customisable, Support: Online
Bigger Business: $40 / month (USD), SMS INCLUDED, 600 appts/month, 6 staff logins, Branding & SMS: Customisable, Support: Online
Enterprise: BESPOKE / month, SMS INCLUDED, Bespoke appts/month, Bespoke staff logins, Branding & SMS: Customisable. Tools for HIPAA, Signed BAA, Support: Phone & Online

12. Time converter tools

Remote teams often deal with clients and team members from around the world.

And that’s great!

But there’s one problem.

How do you efficiently coordinate with each remote worker across different time zones?

With time converters!

They allow you to visualize everyone’s working hours together so you can create an overlapping schedule.

Let’s have a look at some of the most popular time converter tools:

A. Worldtimebuddy

Worldtimebuddy is a free online tool that helps you coordinate time zones with ease.

Here’s how it works:

Select the locations/time zones your team members and clients are based in
The tool then creates an interactive table of the time comparisons
Use this to identify when everyone’s schedule overlaps and select and view that slot
Quickly share that slot with everyone to set things up!

This way, M can easily keep track of Bond – irrespective of where in the world he is!

Pricing

Worldtimebuddy is free.

B. Miranda app for iOS

Miranda is a great tool that helps convert time zones in the iPhone and iPad devices. It features a time wheel and an interactive map to help you schedule the best time for all members.

Miranda lets you add meetings to the calendar, as well as share these via email for smooth coordination!

Not only is Miranda completely functional offline, but it also has day and night modes for added customizability!

Pricing

Miranda is free to use.

Conclusion

We get it.

Going remote is a massive shift for most people.

But it’s something that has to happen because of the pandemic.

However, going remote doesn’t mean that your work processes have to get disrupted.

There are tons of remote tools available that can help any team with whatever they’re working on.

Whether you’re a manager, a marketer, a software developer – it doesn’t matter!

There are tools out there that can help you work from home!

Just go through the tools we listed here and before you know it, you’ll be dealing with projects as quickly as James Bond deals with supervillains!

To get started, sign up for ClickUp today and see your productivity skyrocket in no time!

Questions? Comments? Visit our Help Center for support.

Remote Work

30+ Remote Work Tools to Make Work From Home a Breeze

What are remote work tools?

The 12 types of remote work software

1. Task management and tracking tools

A. ClickUp

1. Assign tasks to your remote team

2. Easily check task statuses

3. Check who’s working on what all the time

4. Have conversations with your team

5. Track your team’s productivity

Pricing

B. iDoneThis

Key Features

1. Daily status updates

2. Morning digests

Pricing

C. HubSpot Task Management Software

Key Features

1. Keep all your tasks, meetings, and contact details in one place

2. Connect tasks to your email

3. Create tasks for your team

Pricing

2. Video calls and screen sharing tools

A. Zoom

Key Features

1. Powerful video conferencing

2. Convenient screen sharing

Pricing

Alternatives

B. Krisp

Key Features

1. Effective noise cancellation

2. Wide compatibility

Pricing

C. MeetFox

Key Features

1. Simple Scheduling

2. Meet Online

3. Get Paid Instantly

Pricing

D. Troop Messenger

Key Features

1. Group Audio-Video conferencing

2. Forkout

3. Jointly Code

Pricing

3. Video recording and screencast tools

ClickUp

Alternatives

4. Screenshot tools

ClickUp

Alternatives

5. Instant messaging tools

Slack

Key features

1. Channels

2. Audio and video calls

3. ClickUp integration

Pricing

Alternatives

6. Employee monitoring and time tracking tools

Time Doctor

Key features

1. Detailed reports

2. Idle Time Tracker

Pricing

Connecteam

Key features

1. Time Management

2. Communication

3. Operations

Pricing

3. Hubstaff

Key features

Pricing

Hubstaff Alternatives

7. Cloud storage tools

A. Google Drive

Key Features