Remote Work? — It's not about the tools

​Are you one of the gazillion teams looking to work remotely? Do you need to make sure your team is all on the same page? Wondering which online apps will make your team hyper-productive? Well, we have good news and bad news.

The good news? Working remotely has never been easier or cheaper! As you all well know, connectivity is everywhere and the interwebs is rife with apps to help you collaborate. You can organize and share everything online, from your home shopping list to massive multi-timezone big team projects. No endeavor is too small or too big. It can all be done online, in real time. Some apps are pretty expensive, some are great deals, and some are even free! Woohoo!

The bad news? None of the above matters in the slightest unless you get everyone on your team to fully buy in. Simply put, make your selected remote working platform the only way to communicate, and in time you’ll reap all the benefits. If however your team refuses to get with the program, and continues to collaborate via emails, texts, post-it notes, and other assorted off-platform channels; then all your efforts will be for naught. What’s the point of collaborating if half the info you need is not easily available? It won’t matter how great your platform is, it won’t work unless it’s used. We like the simple team rule; if it’s off-app, it’s not real. If you ask me to read or do something team/project related off-app, I won’t even respond. It’s like training a puppy. Be strong.

So, good news (again). Pick any platform you like. Don’t even overthink it. There are a lot of truly excellent online tools out there, for all teams across many price ranges. Just remember to focus on what’s truly important though, which is getting everyone to actually use it.

​What are our favorites you ask? Here are just a few. Basecamp, Slack, Paper (by DropBox), and the ever wonderful suite of Google Docs. Need more in-depth info? Ping me anytime.

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Dirk Reynolds // ZWARM Intelligence // Tech Whisperer
Dirk is a founding Geeksharks member. For his day job he runs ZWARM Intelligence, a California based firm that provides its clients with custom Filemaker (Claris) solutions, websites, marketing/design campaigns, and comprehensive tech strategy tailored to small- and medium-sized businesses in Europe and the US.