That is because more and more businesses are now hiring virtual assistants to streamline their operations. So it becomes important to ask the right interview questions for a virtual assistant

Virtual Assistants work as an extended team, automating repetitive tasks and saving valuable time for your team. Moreover, their cost-effectiveness makes them an attractive choice as they seamlessly adapt to schedules and task variations, ensuring consistent and dependable support. 

Hiring a virtual assistant can open doors to a global talent pool, providing businesses access to specialized skills without geographical constraints. 

Your workflows will be simplified, costs reduced, and productivity will be significantly boosted. So if you are also considering hiring a virtual assistant for your business, read below to find out the right questions you should ask.

Things to consider before asking interview questions to a virtual assistant?

But before you start interviewing virtual assistants, knowing your requirements is important. Only then can you find a balance between concise questions, defining your objectives clearly, and ice-breaking questions to know them better.

Also, remember to tailor your language to your candidate. Keep things simple without losing focus on the technical details needed for the role. Ask questions with genuine curiosity for a positive and engaging conversation. Read below to find out the right questions to ask a virtual assistant.

Bringing a Virtual Assistant into your team is a smart move for smoother task management. Beyond skills, understanding their education and work history is key. Let’s explore some essential questions to ask when bringing a VA on board, ensuring they not only have the right qualifications but also fit seamlessly into your team’s needs and dynamics.

Educational Background:

Explore the VA’s academic journey. What they studied can give insights into their foundational knowledge and how it aligns with your needs.

Work History:

Dive into their work history. Understand the roles they’ve taken on before to gauge their practical experience and how well it fits with your team’s requirements.

Achievements and Projects:

Inquire about any notable achievements or projects. This reveals their capabilities and problem-solving skills in real-world scenarios.

Adaptability and Learning Style:

Assess how adaptable they are to new tasks and technologies. Understanding their learning style helps anticipate how quickly they can adjust to your workflows.

Experience and Skills-Related Questions 

Bringing a virtual assistant (VA) on board has become a powerful move for businesses to ensure smooth task management. Although skills and qualifications matter, digging a bit into a VA’s education and work history can be a game-changer. 

These must-ask interview questions for virtual assistants serve as your guide, going beyond the routine to uncover the essence of a potential Virtual assistant’s capabilities. They will provide you with insights that extend beyond the resume, providing a comprehensive view of their adaptability, problem-solving skills, and communication dynamics.

So let’s have a look at these must-ask questions as you bring a VA into your team:

1. How would your coworkers describe you?
2. What motivated you to become a virtual assistant?
3. How do you make sure your skills are up to date?
4. What’s your preferred work schedule?
5. Where do you want to be in the next 5 years?
6. What’s your strength as a virtual assistant?
7. What’s your weakness as a virtual assistant?
8. What initially attracted you to working as a virtual assistant?
9. Tell me more about your life outside of work.

Educational Background and Professional Experience Questions

Bringing a virtual assistant (VA) on board has become a powerful move for businesses to ensure smooth task management. Although skills and qualifications matter, digging a bit into a VA’s education and work history can be a game-changer. 

These must-ask questions serve as your guide, going beyond the routine to uncover the essence of a potential VA’s capabilities. They will provide you with insights that extend beyond the resume, providing a comprehensive view of their adaptability, problem-solving skills, and communication dynamics.

So let’s have a look at these must-ask questions as you bring a VA into your team:

1. What software applications and tools are you familiar with? (MS Word, Adobe, Google Docs, AWeber, Infusionsoft, WordPress, etc.)
2. Mention your favorite tools to use in communication, calendar, and project management.
3. What is your core expertise?
4. What techniques and tools do you use to keep yourself organized?
5. What are you most proud of?
6. What are your career goals?
7. Will you be able to provide references from past clients or employers?
8. Why should I hire you?

Behavior and Personality Questions

Understanding how a candidate tackles communication challenges and supports teamwork reflects their compatibility with the role.

These questions about work-life balance and motivation will shed light on the candidate’s self-awareness and commitment to sustained productivity and well-being. Also, when situations have unclear feedback and are a bit confusing, they show how good someone is at working with others and solving problems, which are really important for being good at virtual assistance. That’s why it’s important to ask questions that focus on these areas, too.

1. How would you rate your time management skills?
2. What if you received a task you were unfamiliar with, what would you do?
3. Explain the process of prioritizing your work.
4. Can you work individually with minimal guidance?
5. How do you stay motivated and focused when working remotely?
6. How do you handle situations where there is a lack of clear guidance?

Best Practices to Hire a Virtual Assistant

We believe that finding the right Virtual Assistant for your team doesn’t have to be a challenge. Make the process a breeze by following the right strategies. Cultivate a strong working relationship, ensuring tasks are efficiently accomplished. 

This guide will help you simplify your hiring process and set the stage for a productive collaboration with your new virtual assistant. Follow these when hiring your VA to build a good work relationship with them and get things done.

1. Specify Tasks: Kickstart the process by defining the precise tasks and responsibilities you want to delegate to them.
2. Thorough Candidate Assessment: Check resumes, portfolios, and references to pinpoint virtual assistants with a proven history of reliability, time management, and adaptability.
3. Prioritize Clear Communication: Maintain clear communication channels, working hours, and reporting protocols to promote a seamless workflow and mitigate potential misunderstandings.
4. Collaboration Tools: Use secure platforms for task management, file sharing, and communication, streamlining virtual collaboration to bolster overall productivity.
5. Establish Realistic Expectations: Transparently communicate workload, deadlines, and performance metrics to avoid potential misunderstandings and align expectations for both parties.
6. Foster Feedback Culture: Regularly evaluate performance and provide constructive feedback to sustain a positive and mutually advantageous working relationship.

Conclusion

Crafting the right questions during the virtual assistant hiring process is paramount for securing a candidate who seamlessly integrates into your team. Evaluating their skills, experience, and communication style ensures they are an optimal fit for your business needs. Remember, transparent communication, well-defined expectations, and a shared understanding of responsibilities are non-negotiable when seeking a virtual assistant. Follow the right hiring approach and ask the right questions to yield the desired results!

The post Questions to ask from a Virtual Assistant appeared first on Pros Marketplace.

So, why use video during the recruitment process? Also, how should you go about incorporating it into the entire process?

Read on for our takeaways and insights…

So, why use Video during the Recruitment Process?

If a picture is worth a thousand words, then the video is almost priceless. Because of the popularity of online video platforms like YouTube, Vimeo, and others. Companies that create video content to showcase their culture, remote work environment, and job opportunities can attract qualified candidates more effectively. Here are a few specific reasons why utilizing video is critical to your hiring strategy:

Reach candidates regardless of location

Globally, remote work has grown by leaps and bounds. As a result, companies have had to become more strategic in how they reach potential candidates. Physically meeting with them, or having them walk into your office is unfeasible. So, video is the next best thing. Suppose you post a video describing the job and the requirements in a video interview. In that case, these actions can be carried out whether a candidate is in Latin America or in the United States. In all, video provides unparalleled access to talented remote workers all over the world.

Connect with candidates in a meaningful way

It is one thing to write a description of your company culture. However, It’s another thing to talk on video instead of describing text. Capturing video footage of your offices and describing your work culture and expectations in a video is significant.

It allows candidates to hear directly from you. Humans are social, and we respond favorably when we can talk with one another face-to-face. Having the ability to connect through video facilitates this need and can increase trust. Plus, the video gives potential candidates something to refer back to when deciding if they want to work for you.

Read physical cues

This act relates more to a video interview for recruitment process than an individual video posting. Humans are wired to read physical cues in addition to listening for audible information. It has been said that in some situations, non-verbal cues can make up between 60 to over 90 percent of communication. It is impossible to read this same communication over the phone or email. You can tell if a person is being genuine, is nervous, or is unsure of what they are saying by seeing them speak on camera. Paying attention to these physical cues can help you decide whether they are the right fit for what you need.

Streamline Onboarding

One of the more challenging aspects of starting a new job is having to go through all of the previous paper documents and online files.

Fortunately, a video-based online interview can help with this. You can direct new workers on where they can find things, provide examples of how to use specific tools, and even personally welcome them to the company. Not including a video to onboard your employees is a failure to acknowledge that everyone learns differently. You may have new employees who are visual learners and need videos to help them better understand the specifics of the job.

Receive more Job Applicants

Creating a video is a great way to capture candidates’ attention. A survey by CareerBuilder revealed that job descriptions that included videos saw a 34 percent uptick in applications. Again, video adds a personal element to a company’s approach. Candidates want to know what they are signing up for, and video allows them to gain more insight into how your company does things.

Six Ways to utilize Video before, during, and after the Recruitment Process

1. Create a Video-Based Job Description

As described in an earlier entry, job descriptions that are accompanied by video create an uptick in applications. So, it is a great idea to utilize this method. It doesn’t have to be of high production value or involve a lot of different graphics. A five-minute video of you describing the company, discussing what you expect of potential candidates, and having other workers give their experiences of working with you can go a long way in attracting the right talent.

2. Encourage Candidates to submit Video Resumes

Before you set up the video interview for recruitment process, invite candidates to submit video resumes. Many candidates have started to get in on this trend and for a good reason. It allows you to begin to pick up on physical cues and get a sense of whether this person is the right fit for your company. It is easy to forget the information you read on a resume or a cover letter. So, it is also an excellent way for you to retain information about potential candidates. Allow your candidates to stand out by having them submit a creative and informative video resume.

3. Create Videos that provide insight into your Company Culture

While it is a great idea to create a video job description, a video just focusing on your company culture is another excellent step. In today’s remote work environment, candidates want to know they are working with companies that are organized and adept at good communication. Why not show this in action by using video? Show what a typical day of working with you is like. Discuss your company’s policies and values, and let potential candidates know about communication procedures. Take the mystery away of what they can expect.

4. Conduct Video Interview for Recruitment Process

This entry is one of the most pivotal ways you can incorporate video into the interview process. Video interview for recruitment process allow you to pick up on physical cues, invite other colleagues to participate, save time, and even record conversations for later viewing. You want to start the working relationship with the expectation that video meetings will be a regular practice. So, highlight this by incorporating video interview for recruitment process early on.

5. Create Training Materials

Ninety percent of the information transmitted to the brain is visual. Also, individuals are more likely to remember 95 percent of video content. So, training that incorporates visual learning is essential. There are a variety of tools available that enable you to easily and quickly create detailed training videos. Whether you need to record your screen or speak directly into the camera, your job training should incorporate video whenever possible.

6. Have a Video-Based Onboarding Experience

Once you hire your ideal candidate, you need a way to introduce them to the company policies, inform them of where to find shared files, and acquaint them with the duties of the job. This step is where video onboarding can come into play. A thoughtful and well-produced onboarding video can answer most if not all of an employee’s questions. New hires can also watch pre-recorded onboarding videos again since they continuously have access to information.

Final Thoughts

It is almost impossible to access the internet without having to interact with some type of video content. Today’s customers are drawn to companies that utilize video in marketing their products and services. This shift has also impacted the job recruitment process. You, as an employer, have a lot to gain from using video during the recruiting and hiring process. Not only can you stand out in a job seeker’s market, but it also enables you to convey expectations and company policies more clearly.

Remote work requires a higher level of collaboration, communication, and clarity. The usage of video makes handling these concepts much more manageable. Video allows you to maintain some level of connection and socialization. As a result, it is essential to incorporate video throughout the recruitment process. The money and time saved as well as the strengthened connections produced or through video are worth the investment.

The post Why Should You Use Video During the Recruitment Process? appeared first on Pros Marketplace.

Writing a job posting is a lot like marketing your business. In both cases, you are trying to reach your target audience and encourage them to interact with you.

You might’ve heard that people buy on emotion first, and then rationalize their purchases using logic.

Applying for a job is a lot like making a purchase. Clicking the “APPLY NOW” button is an emotionally charged decision.

So, how do you grab the attention of the candidates you want to attract?

Step 1. Get to know them

When writing a job posting, tap into emotions by learning everything you can about your target candidates. What are their professional goals? What are their aspirations? What makes them happy?

Getting to know your target audience will help you reach the right candidates and is the starting point to create a great job description.

Just as you would create a buyer persona to define the target customers for your product or service, create one for your ideal remote worker.

A fictional character, whom you shape with bits of information like experience, education level, skills, certifications, and even a name and personality traits. This helps you conceptualize and “talk to” the candidates that apply to your job post.

Step 2. Know what you are looking for

Before you post a job on our site and you start to craft a job description, be sure you know what you need.

Knowing what you are looking for (and what you’d like to avoid) makes the search more targeted and the filtering process more streamlined.

This step is very important and will require some forethought and investigation on your part but be sure to do your research regarding the skill set, education and experience level you may need remote workers to have.

Define what you need before you even begin writing your job description.

Step 3. Headlines matter!

Take the time to create a click-worthy job title that is clear and also conveys something interesting about the position.

Job titles have a big impact on whether qualified candidates will read or apply to your open roles. So remember this when you’re writing a job posting.

via GIPHY

Step 4. Start with a (brief!) background of your company

A good company description is your first opportunity to make a great impression on new candidates.

In two concise but strong paragraphs, cover the basics of your company. But don’t simply copy-paste your business’s “About Us” boilerplate description into your job listing. Your “Company Summary” should help to put the job for which you’re hiring into context for the applicants.

This step will require a bit of a balancing act. You want to share the values and principles of your company while providing some insight into how your company functions.

However, you don’t want to overload candidates with too much information about your company.

 Step 5. List the Benefits  

You would normally add benefits at the end of your job description but is a good idea, now that you have the candidate’s attention, to draw him or her deeper into the ad with a section dedicated to the benefits.

Use this section to give the perks that come with the job (compensation for reaching targets, paid holidays, learning, growth and development opportunities, extra bonuses given at Christmas, for example…).

The benefits are often one of the most significant driving factors for a company if they are interesting, especially bonuses, as they can often increase a salary considerably and are very attractive to potential recruits.

This is your chance to wow candidates and you should motivate them to apply by presenting a great list of benefits.

Step 6. Explain your Requirements and Expectations

Responsibilities and duties are essential for remote workers to understand the role. They also set expectations and can be used as a baseline for performance reviews down the line.

The detailed task list is perhaps the easiest approach and the more traditional way of describing job responsibilities.

To create the perfect task list for a job, you should go through a typical day on the job and write down the tasks that are performed.

But don’t hunt for unicorns! Some job postings describe a job with enough work for an entire team, and yet, one person is expected to do it all.

Don’t be that company! If your requirements are unrealistic, your recruitment won’t be successful. Job seekers will either think you don’t understand the workload or that you intend to work them to death and that you do not value your employees.

“Hey there, I am your dream marketing manager! But i am not looking for a job though”

Step 7. List Hard Skills and Soft Skills

These are usually presented as a list of the Hard Skills and Soft Skills a candidate needs to be considered for the role.

In a broad sense, hard skills may refer to proficiency in any complex task: fluency in a second language, knowledge of PhotoShop or PHP for example.

Soft skills are those that help with interpersonal issues. In other words, dealing with people. That might sound very general, and it is. Soft skills are notoriously difficult to define. But they include such areas as being able to clearly communicate, listen, be empathetic for example.

You can select a broad number of ¨Soft¨ and ¨Hard¨ skills from a dropdown menu when posting your job with us.

Step 8. Full-Time or Part-Time?

Decide, depending on your hiring needs, whether the job you are offering will be a full-time or part-time position.

Workers are considered to be part-time if they work 10 to 20 hours per week while full-time workers generally work 30 to 40 hours per week.

Also let candidates know if there are:

1- A start date. Let them know when they can expect to start if they are hired.

2- A trial period. Explain to candidates if they are expected to work for a trial period. Also, specify how long this period will be. PLEASE NOTE: during the trial period you should pay people for their time. Do not expect people to work for free just because you are promising them a full or part-time position. If you are averse to paying a person because you are not sure that they can do the job, then perhaps you need to interview another candidate who can demonstrate through their experience that they can do the tasks that you require.

Step 9. Compensation

Have you ever listed ‘NOT DISCLOSED’ in the salary section of a job ad because you simply have no idea what the salary range is?

Surprisingly, this happens quite often. So if you don’t know how much you should pay your new hire, then perhaps you should first do some research on salaries for that skill set. Latin American salaries are affordable when compared with the US and Europe or even some other countries such as the Philippines or India.

However, some employers don’t want to disclose the compensation for the position.

The question of whether or not to disclose salaries in job descriptions is one that generally sparks much debate. 

We strongly recommend disclosing the monthly salary when posting a job on our website because you should take into consideration that 74% of job seekers expect to see salary on job descriptions, and 61% name compensation as the most important thing. Of course, you don’t want to hire somebody whose first concerns and questions are regarding salary but people want to know how your company compares to its competitors, and they certainly don’t want to spend a lot of time interviewing only to find that what you’re offering doesn’t meet their needs.

Extra Tips

-Average word count. It’s best to keep your job ad in the 500 and 750-word count range, but it’s okay to go a little over. 

-Bullet points and formatting. Bullet points are easier to scan than long-form copy and are the preferred choice.

via GIPHY

Avoid corporate jargon. Be personal. Don’t feel that you always have to maintain a corporate tone. Be warm and friendly in how you describe what you are looking for your candidates to do. Spell out all acronyms and refer to processes and things as they are. Instead of this: “The ideal candidate excels in a fast-paced work environment.” say this: “You’ll love it when things get busy.” 

Avoid Typos! You would disregard applicants with typos on their resumes and applications and candidates are no different. Remember to give your job description a final grammar and spell check using a grammar checker or have someone else proofread it before publishing. A second set of eyes is often all it takes to spot errors or typos.

Final Comments

Hiring an excellent remote worker from Latin America or from anywhere else in the world depends on your ability to clearly and concisely let your potential new remote workers know what you need. If done correctly, the job description can weed out those who are not the best fit and attract those who are going to be the right person for the job.

Good Luck and Happy Hirings…

The post 9 Steps to Writing a Job Description that Attracts the Best Candidates appeared first on Pros Marketplace.

One of the questions to ask in an interview is for their Facebook profile so that you can get to know the candidate that way. You can look through photos, information, interests and in a remotely based interview that saves you a fair amount of questions.

One technique that you can use as part of the interviewing or recruitment process is to give candidates a trial task to complete you could try here. If you are confident enough that they have the skills or they, exhibit the right behaviors, you can train them, give them a basic task to do, and test out their skill sets. A great asset you want to look for is communication, so use “trial work” a lot and use that as a basis for establishing how well this potential team member will communicate with you. We are not talking only about language, but rather about the frequency of reporting, sending emails, and being available on instant chat messenger. If they take too much time to reply to your emails, you can bet they’ll do the same after you hire them.

Please note, that with trial tasks, it is fair to pay people for their time. Do not expect people to work for free just because you are promising to hire them full-time. If you are averse to paying a person because you are not sure that they can do the job, then perhaps you should interview another candidate who can demonstrate through their experience that they can do the tasks that you require.

It does take more time than a single interview in some cases. This is not only because interviewing over the internet can be slower but also because it may take some time for you to establish a relationship with the person to the point where you are confident you want them to join your team.

The post How do I Interview a Remote Worker? appeared first on Pros Marketplace.

The post How to Conduct a Virtual Interview appeared first on Pros Marketplace.

Productivity tools allow you to take many of the seemingly unmanageable elements of your professional life and organize them in a way that enables you to thrive. Fortunately, we live at a time when entrepreneurs and companies are developing a variety of tools and resources that let you handle essential tasks.

If you are new to remote work or are looking to become even more effective in how you tackle your day, we are here to help!

Below is a list of the 16 best collaboration tools for remote teams that will help remote workers efficiently achieve more.

We invite you to take a look, as your next go-to productivity tool may be found on this list.

Communication Tools for Remote Teams Collaboration

Email has always been the standard for workplace communication. However, remote workers do not have the benefit of dropping by someone’s office if they fail to reply to an email. This makes the need for simple communication systems, and video conferencing essential.

These tools can help mimic the instantaneous dialogue and physical interactions that occur in the office while offering workers the opportunity to stay connected from various devices.

Staying productive requires smooth communication. Remote workers cannot properly collaborate with team members or complete projects that need input without it.

Below are some popular communication tools that should round out a remote worker’s collection of productivity tools:

Skype

Pricing: Basic: FREE, Business Essentials: $6/per user/per month, Business: $10/per user/per month, Business Premium: $15/per user/per month

Skype for Business is a premier video conference option for businesses large and small. Subscribers can enjoy unlimited meetings, URL invites, and built-in instant messaging capabilities. They also can join meetings from any device. Skype for Business is also known for features that allow for seamless meeting collaboration in the form of whiteboard drawings, PowerPoint uploads, and screen sharing.

Notable Offerings:

• 24/7 Phone Support
• Real-time collaboration with up to 250 people
• Polling capabilities
• The ability to record meetings for later viewing

Zoom

Pricing: Basic: FREE, Pro: $14.00/per month/per host, Business: $19.99/per month/per host (minimum of 10 hosts), Enterprise: $19.99/per month/per host (minimum of 50 hosts)

While Zoom is excellent for video conferencing, this program also offers additional resources to facilitate more natural opportunities for communication and learning. Users can manage online meetings while also taking advantage of creating video webinars and collaboration-enabled conference rooms. Instant messaging and file sharing are also included features. Many are impressed with Zoom’s capabilities as the service is used by 20th Century Fox, Uber, and Zendesk.

Notable Offerings

• Available as an app on iOS and Android phones
• The option to integrate with a variety of other apps and programs
• Group messaging

Slack

Pricing: Basic: FREE, Standard: $6.67/per user/per month, Plus: $12.50/per user/per month

Zoom and Skype for Business are excellent for video meetings and collaboration sessions. However, Slack is an exceptional daily communication and productivity tool for workers in and outside of the office. Slack is known for allowing users to create channels for organizing conversations around a specific project or topic. The platform has even evolved into facilitating face-to-face discussions and file sharing.

Notable Offerings:

• Easy channel sharing
• Searchable conversations
• The ability to integrate over 1,500 apps listed in the Slack App Directory
• Create custom apps with the help of Slack’s APIs

Customer Support Best Collaboration Tools for Remote Teams

Today, most customers will pay more money to have a pleasant customer experience. Many of today’s companies are figuring this out, and are using a slew of productivity tools to provide excellent customer support.

At the same time, many customer service and support positions are remote, and entrepreneurs and business owners have had to figure out how to allow workers to collaborate to offer excellent service. Today, forward-thinking companies have answered the call to provide unique customer support software solutions.

From more efficient help ticket tracking to easier team collaboration, the support productivity tools below will allow remote workers to thrive.

Intercom

Pricing: Essential: $87/per month, Pro: $153/per month, Premium: Contact for price

Intercom is an all-in-one customer support solution for companies of any size. Users can use chatbots to answer questions in real-time and send targeted emails to customers. They can also use the program to create help desk tools and knowledge base libraries. The program not only incorporates resources to support clients, but it also includes a variety of tools to drive sales and move customers through the buying process. This offering definitely can increase productivity for remote workers in charge of support and upselling.

Notable Offerings:

• Emphasis on driving sales as well as support
• Professionals can offer 24/7 support with the use of automation and live bots
• A team inbox that allows remote workers to collaborate on customer inquiries or complaints quickly.

Project Management Tools for Remote Teams Collaboration

Nothing can kill productivity faster than poor project management. It is an area where many business owners and managers still struggle. It is understandable, as project management can come with a variety of moving parts. Whether one is dealing with budget management, task delegation, or reporting, project management-based productivity tools are necessary.

The right productivity tools can allow remote teams to save time, money, and other valuable resources. The list below details some popular and widely used project management productivity tools for those looking to organize their short and long-term tasks.

Hubspot

Pricing: Basic: FREE, Starter: $50/per month, Professional: $800/per month, Enterprise: $3,200/per month

Today, customers are expecting multiple touchpoints and interactions. Fortunately, Hubspot is capable of allowing companies to better manage their digital marketing projects. From content creation tools to email marketing and predictive scoring, Hubspot has a variety of marketing project management features. In addition to digital marketing, Hubspot also provides a CRM, sales, and service hub.

Notable Offerings:

• Google Search Console integration
• Free CRM solution
• Customer support options
• Marketing automation

Bitrix24

Pricing: Basic: FREE, CRM+: $69/per month, Standard: $99/per month, Professional: $199/per month

Bitrix24 makes group task management, project planning, collaboration, and client management seamless and streamlined. As a result, Bitrix24 is a reliable productivity tool. This program even allows for more intensive project management methods like the use of Gantt Charts. At its core, Bitrix24 is an all-in-one project management tool that can help remote workers better manage their day.

Notable Offerings:

• Project workspaces
• Extranet groups for external users
• Task dependencies
• Time tracking
• Video conferencing

Trello

Pricing: Basic: FREE, Business Class: $9.99/per month, Enterprise: $20.82/per month

Unlike many other project management apps and platforms, Trello emphasizes the importance of visual organization. Trello allows users to create boards for various projects and corresponding cards for each task. As tasks are completed, users can move them to another board or category. To help with organization, users can add comments, attachments, and due dates for better organization.

Notable Offerings:

• Multiple integration options for higher productivity and organization
• The ability to integrate Trello across a variety of tools
• Attach files and checklists to cards

Basecamp

Pricing: $99/per month

Basecamp is an excellent alternative to project management tools like Bitrix24 and Hubspot. Basecamp’s offering centers around to-do lists, calendars, and message boards. Users can assign to-dos to various team members, utilize internal message boards for project discussions, and easily share calendars with teams. Basecamp also allows users to work with clients and team members on the same platform for ease of use.

Notable Offerings:

• Real-time group chat
• Easily link Google Docs
• Track work done with Basecamp’s Hill charts
• Take advantage of organized check-in question threads

Cloud Storage & Collaboration Tools for Remote Teams

No productivity tools list for remote workers is complete without cloud storage and collaboration tools. The very nature of remote work requires tools that facilitate flexible storage solutions. Productivity and engagement can easily take a hit when remote workers cannot easily access or work on projects with others.

Cloud storage makes location-independent work possible. Fortunately, there are a variety of tools in this category that can lead to an uptick in productivity. Below are some of the most well-known and highly regarded tools in this space.

Onedrive

Pricing: Basic: FREE/5 GB, 50 GB/$1.99/per month, Office 365 Personal: $6.99/per month/1 TB, Office 365 Home: $9.99/per month/6 TB

While Gmail is continuing to rise in use among larger enterprises, Microsoft Outlook still reigns supreme for many. Since this is the case, many remote workers will likely have to use OneDrive, a worthy competitor to Google Drive. Much like the latter, OneDrive enables users to edit and access files from any device whether they are on or offline. Users can also easily share files and folders by sending links via email, text, iMessage, or Facebook.

Notable Offerings:

• Scan documents using a mobile phone for direct storage on OneDrive
• Set time limits for links to expire to increase security
• Collaborate with team members to edit files in real-time

Google Drive

Pricing: Basic: FREE/15 GB, $1.99/per month/100 GB, $2.99/per month/200 GB

Much like Dropbox, Google has helped to pave the way for cloud-based storage and collaboration. For years, users have taken advantage of a freemium package that offers large storage sizes and unprecedented collaboration opportunities.

Today, things are no different. Google Drive enables remote workers to easily store—or edit—multiple file types. Similarly to OneDrive, users can access or edit files from any device. Also, instead of sending large files or emails, remote workers can send a link for team members to access and begin editing files.

Notable Offerings:

• Quickly send email attachments to Google Drive with a one-click
• Efficiently gather information with Google Forms
• Create diagrams and flow charts with Google Drawings

Dropbox

Pricing: Dropbox has a variety of pricing plans from $19.99/per month for individuals to $20/per user/per month for businesses.

Dropbox is an excellent alternative for those who may not want their email client tied to their cloud storage solution. Remote workers can store files in one central place so that all team members can easily access related projects or documents. Users can share files and folders with anyone. Also, Dropbox’s Paper feature allows team members to collaborate on projects, brainstorm, or share rough drafts in one easy-to-access location.

Notable Offerings:

• Plans and pricing tailored to freelancers, solo workers, and large teams
• Edit and collaborate directly on the Dropbox mobile app

WeTransfer

Pricing: Basic: FREE, Plus for big ideas: $12/per month, Plus for bigger ideas: $19/per month

WeTransfer is a cloud-based file transfer program. With it, users can send files as large as 20 GB around the world. The company started in 2009, and since then, has grown to offer additional cloud storage options. Users can store large files, work on new ideas, or group documents and data in one place. While the core offering is free, users can increase storage size as well as the size of files they can send by upgrading to a paid account.

Notable Offerings:

• Access file sending history to resend or delete transfers
• Password protected access
• Integrations with apps like Slack, Chrome, Firefox, Command Line, and Sketch

Time Trackers and Team Monitoring Best Collaboration Tools for Remote Teams

In the office, managers and leaders can get a feel for how and when employees are working. The same cannot be said for remote workers. Much like collaboration and communication software, time trackers and team managing software are essential for remote teams. Both sets of tools aid in helping remote teams improve their overall productivity.

As a result, many companies—remote and office-based—are realizing the importance of having tools that allow them to track time spent on projects. The companies below have recognized this and are providing exceptional time tracking and team management tools.

Hubstaff

Pricing: Basic: $7.99/per month/per user, Premium: $10.99/per month/per user, Enterprise: $20.00/per month/per user

Hubstaff is an excellent tool for companies that may have a lean HR department. Hubstaff allows users to track time, conduct payroll, invoice contractors, and even screenshot employee progress all within the platform. Hubstaff also helps teams improve productivity with daily activity scores and progress reports. This tool’s robust set of features makes it easy to ensure workers are staying productive wherever they are.

Notable Offerings:

• Employee scheduling feature
• GPS tracking for monitoring time spent driving vs hours worked
• Project budgeting capabilities

factoHR

Pricing: Contact the vendor for pricing details

factoHR provides a streamlined, mobile-first approach to time tracking, ensuring accurate and verifiable attendance for remote and hybrid teams. The platform allows employees to punch in using advanced features like Geo-Fencing and Face Recognition, eliminating proximity-based hardware concerns. Managers utilize the comprehensive timesheet system to effortlessly track employee hours against specific projects, which automates compliance and ensures a rapid, error-free flow of data directly into payroll.

Notable Offerings:

• Contactless attendance via Geo-Fencing and Face Recognition
• Integrated Timesheet Management for task-based work-hour reporting
• Auto-syncing attendance data with Payroll for error-free calculation
• Shift Management and Roster Planning from the mobile application

Toggl

Pricing: Starter: $10/per month/per user, $20/per month/per user, Enterprise: Custom pricing

Toggl makes time tracking straightforward and seamless. The app allows remote workers to easily jump into keeping an eye on their productivity. The tool has a variety of features to ensure workers stay engaged. Their idle detection capabilities will remind workers to get back to whatever they were working on. Also, managers can break down their time reports to see actions that are bringing in revenue, and which are costing money.

Notable Offerings:

• Timesheet management automation
• The option of Toggl training from a certified consultant
• A variety of integrations with other project management and productivity tools

WebWork Time Tracker

Pricing: Pro starts from $3.99 per user/month, Plus starts from $6.39 per user/month, and Premium starts from $9.59 per user/month.

WebWork Time Tracker makes tracking and monitoring your remote workers’ activity easy throughout the workday.

WebWork Time Tracker is an efficient way to monitor your remote workers. It allows you to follow the progress of various projects as well as the whole workflow.

WebWork Time Tracker improves your team’s overall productivity by taking screenshots of your workers’ screens, tracking websites visited and applications, monitoring both mouse and keyboard activity, generating customized reports, and more.

Notable Offerings:

• 4 Screenshot modes for employee monitoring
• Mouse and keyboard activity tracking
• Timesheet and Statistics, Exporting Reports
• Invoice generator for billable contracts
• Know what Applications and Websites your remote worker is visiting
• Seamless integrations with your favorite tools like Trello, Asana, Zapier, Basecamp, ToDoist, BitBucket, Wrike, GitHub, Zoho, and Jira
• Get 24/7 assistance for any issue

Screen Recorders

While a picture is worth a thousand words, a video is likely priceless. There is no shortage of ways to use video recordings and sharing as a viable productivity tool. Video allows remote workers to share teams in a way that can make up for the distance.

Video tools are a must-have for remote teams, from sharing tutorials to fostering deeper professional connections. While most still think of YouTube or Vimeo when discussing video, there are tools out there just for the sole purpose of efficiently sharing information. Below are a couple of examples of helpful video recording and screen capture software options.

Snagit

Pricing: Single license pricing for individuals and businesses: $49.95

Trying to train someone on a new piece of technology or business concept can prove challenging without video. However, in the past, companies have had to rely just on screenshots and sophisticated video recording software. Today, TechSmith’s Snagit adds some ease to the process. The tool allows users to easily record themselves working through steps, develop animated GIFs, and quickly edit video clips. Instead of having to move between multiple software options, Snagit provides everything remote workers need to record videos in one place.

Notable Offerings:

• Record on iOS screens
• Add annotations to all screen grabs
• Record audio using a microphone or the computer’s system audio

Loom

Pricing: $10/per month

If remote teams want an additional layer of simplicity to their video recordings, Loom is perfectly positioned to offer it. Users can capture their screen, while also recording with a front-facing camera. Once the recording is complete, users can then share the video with colleagues with a link. Companies have used Loom to go through product demos, conduct team announcements, and onboard new employees. Loom is used by HubSpot, Dropbox, Uber, Shopify, and Salesforce.

Notable Offerings:

• GDPR Compliant
• Video encryption
• Slack integration

Final Thoughts

Remote work can be an excellent experience. However, for location-independent workers to truly thrive, remote teams have to have the right set of productivity tools. Working and communicating with colleagues that could be across the globe, requires discipline, and a willingness to learn new things.

While technology is not the answer to every problematic remote work situation that arises, it can make remote work much more manageable. So, we hope the productivity tools mentioned above will give remote teams the help they need to excel in better-managing productivity.

The post 16 Collaboration Tools for Remote Teams to Thrive appeared first on Pros Marketplace.

By following this advice, you’ll have the best possible chance of hiring passionate and talented remote workers, who’ll make a positive impact on your business.

The first thing you may ask yourself is should I hire a full-time or part-time remote worker?

One thing that you should consider before posting a job on Pros Marketplace or looking for workers on a profile search is whether to hire them full-time or part-time. The difference in cost might not be as big as you think, especially given the cost savings already in hand by hiring workers from Latin America, but the benefits are significant.

Full-time is the way to go.

With a full-time remote worker, you’ll not only get an employee dedicated solely to your business working 40+ hrs. a week, but you’ll get someone who is emotionally and financially invested in the success of your business. As it’s their only job, they’re relying on it for security, so expect them to go the extra mile and become valuable members of your team.

So, how do you find great remote workers?

On Pros Marketplace you have two ways to find remote workers:

You can post a job and wait for applicants to come to you

or

You can search through the many profiles on our site and interview them one by one.

The first rule of attracting good candidates to your job post is to create a detailed job description.

But be specific and concise. Specify the job description and expectations but don’t go too much into detail. There’s room for more specifications later in the interview process.

Try to keep your job post short, easy to understand, and straight to the point.

Start by listing hard and soft skill requirements.

Hard skills are specific technical skills like WordPress, Java, Photoshop, or other specific skills.

Soft skills relate to desirable personality or character traits, such as the ability to take directions, the ability to work under pressure, the attention to detail and so on.

List both hard and soft skills required as bullet points and be concise.

Here’s one mistake some businesses make. They list far too many skills in their job posts. This simply confuses jobseekers and puts some good prospects off from applying. Too many skills mean you’re looking for the “perfect employee” who simply does not exist. It’s pretty much impossible to find a virtual assistant who is great at sales and customer support, who is also good at SEO, designs awesome-looking websites, and creates inspiring code. This person simply does not exist in Latin America or anywhere else in the world. Instead, focus on a couple of skills. By doing so you’ll get much more accurate applications from real experts in their respective fields.

If you are still not sure how to write a well constructive and informative job post you can have a look at some examples at the end of this article.

If you’re contacting workers one by one on a profile search, send them an identical initial message. In your initial approach, you should let them know that you’ve read their resume and that you want to know more about them and their background. You should also describe the specific tasks you want to outsource.

Questions, questions, and more questions…

Once you have posted your job on Pros Marketplace you’ll have to wait for candidates to apply. You’ll probably get a ton of applicants within the first 24 hrs. so sift through the jobseekers that have applied to your job and get down to a shortlist of 10 to 15 candidates who appear to best fit your needs. You don’t want to interview them at this stage, rather open up communication with them via our platform. The purpose here is to get an early feel for them, so send them a message asking some exploratory questions.

Their answers should reflect the claims on their application and profiles.

Think of interviewing a remote worker as if you were to interview a normal in-house employee. In fact, at first glance, you should ask pretty much the same range of questions you’d ask anyone applying for a normal office job. You want to explore their ambitions, hopes, experience, and skills, as well as understand their personalities, whether they’ll be able to embrace your company culture, and ultimately if they’d be a great fit for your business.

Remember, you’re looking for compelling reasons to narrow your list down to just a few for final interviewing.

Here are some first-stage questions you might want to ask your candidates but don’t limit yourself to just these examples. The more questions you can think of and ask, the better:

• How long have you been working as a virtual assistant/web developer/web designer…?
• Have you worked remotely before?
• Have you worked for a foreign employer before?
• Send me 3 examples of your best work.
• How many hours can you work per week?
• How fast and reliable is your internet connection?
• How much money are you looking to earn each month?
• What is your preferred payment method?
• How would you complete the following task?
• Write a paragraph on why I should hire you. Don’t send a list of your skills. Be creative in answering.
• Are you available to work from 8 am to 6 pm (EST Time), Monday through Friday?
• When would you be available to start work?

These are good questions to start off with but because hiring a remote staff is a little different from your normal recruitment process, your line of questioning for candidates over time will have to change too.

Here are some additional questions to help you evaluate and understand more about your candidates:

• How do you stay focused? Can your new recruit remain motivated and concentrate on their work when you’re not there with them?
• Have you ever worked to tight deadlines? You want to know how your potential recruit respects and copes with the pressure of deadlines. Ask them for an example of this.
• How do you overcome problems on your own? Because you’re not there to watch over them, how well can this person solve problems using their own initiative?
• How comfortable are you with raising work-related concerns? You’ll want a remote worker who’ll be proactive and happy to raise concerns or ask questions to get an issue or misunderstanding sorted out before it becomes a big problem. This shows initiative which is a good trait in an employee.
• How do you keep up with industry news? This is a good way of finding out how passionate your potential hire is about your business. For example, if you’re looking to hire a remote web designer who doesn’t read up on the latest design trends or awards, then don’t expect them to produce exceptional work!
• What hours do you work? Does your interviewee prefer working early or late, and will they be flexible and available when you need them?
• Are you comfortable using time-tracking software? Using software to keep an eye on what your remote worker is doing is a common practice. Products like Hubstaff are great ways to track hours worked and monitor remote workers to prove and increase efficiency. If your worker doesn’t want to use it, you should ask yourself why.

Additionally, you should evaluate how good their English is. For example, if you wanted to find a virtual assistant, and you listed good written English as a required skill in the job description, then you’d expect the applicant to respond in clear and concise English, with particular attention to detail. Pay close attention to their grammar when they reply to your messages. Sloppy language or bad grammar should instantly raise a red flag. Great English is essential for jobs like admin, customer service, and copywriting. Jobs like programming and graphic design don’t require perfect English. However, all of your workers should speak well enough to communicate with you.

You should also evaluate how prompt they are in replying to you. It’s quite fair to assume that if they take a long time to reply to your initial communication, they’ll take a long time doing just about everything.

Check for inconsistencies in their messages and their resumes. Pay attention to what applicants write in their messages and compare them to what is written in their profiles. Commonly, some workers will apply to your job without having the required skills listed in the job description. This shouldn’t be a concern to you. Sometimes these inconsistencies are only a problem of confusion, misunderstanding, or a simple mistake. But this could also be a sign that the applicant has not been completely honest.

These steps should allow you to make some informed decisions toward narrowing down your candidates. If answers do not appear to back up claims made on their application or their profile, then you’ve quickly and painlessly saved yourself a headache down the line. 

How to Interview Remote Workers?

You’ve now been able to narrow down the list of candidates having judged their responses to your initial questions. One or two might have been eliminated on pure gut instinct, and it’s normally a good rule to follow: if something doesn’t seem right, it probably isn’t.

At this point, it’s not essential to carry out your interview with a video call, but some roles might make this a sensible option. For example, if you’re going to work with a virtual assistant, then he or she should feel comfortable being interviewed on Skype.

Consider using social media as part of your interview process. One of the questions to ask in an interview is for their Facebook profile so that you can get to know the candidate a bit better. You can look through photos, information, and interests. In a remote-based interview, this can save you a fair amount of questions.

One technique that you can use as part of the interview process is to give candidates a trial task to complete. If you are confident enough that they have the skills or they exhibit the right behaviors, give them a basic task to do and test out their skill sets. This task shouldn’t be easy but also shouldn’t be impossible to complete and it should reflect the nature of the job you’re hiring for. Examples might be writing a 500-word article (good for writer jobs), creating a small PowerPoint presentation (for Virtual Assistants), or developing a simple WordPress plugin that would help your website (cool for web developers).

Again, a great asset you want to look for is communication, so use “trial work” as a basis for understanding how well this potential team member will communicate with you. We are not talking only about language or grammar now, but rather about frequency of reporting, sending emails, and being available on instant chat messenger

Please note that for trial tasks, it’s fair to compensate people for their time. Do not expect individuals to work for free just because you are offering a potential full-time position. If you are hesitant to pay someone because you doubt their ability to do the job, you might need to interview a different candidate—someone whose experience clearly demonstrates their ability to complete the required tasks.

If you’ve interviewed several candidates and can’t choose between them, the results of their “Trial Task” might be the answer to your doubts.

It does take more time than a single interview in some cases. This is not only because interviewing over the Internet can be slower but also because it may take some time for you to establish a relationship with the person where you are confident enough that you want them to join your team.

Good Luck with your Recruitment and Happy Hirings!

EXAMPLES OF JOB POSTS

 Full-Time WordPress Developer – Immediate Start

I am seeking to add a new team member to our remote team. We develop WordPress-based sites for our clients and looking to add developers to the team. There are no requirements for design work, only the ability to slice from PSD once provided by one of our graphic designers.

What we do:

• We develop WordPress-based websites for small to medium-sized businesses.
• Team members work autonomously but have the support of other team members if required.
• We generally try to have 1 designer and 1 developer work on a project, rather than everyone working together.

Job Expectations:

• Working days are Monday to Friday.
• Start time is between 8 am-10 am EST time.
• 8 hours working each day + breaks. (for example, if you start at 8.30 am and take 1/2 hour for lunch, your work day would finish at 5 pm) .
• We use BaseCamp and DropBox for task management.
• Each day you will be emailed a list of priority tasks, and at completion of your shift, you will send a daily report.
• We use Skype during working times.

The Experience and Skills you need:

• Ability to create a WordPress theme from a PSD and not just customize an existing theme.
• Comfortable with building custom post types, and plugins for WordPress.
• Ability to work independently or as a team.
• Strong communication skills.

Salary & Benefits:

• You are entitled to all national Latin American public holidays.
• Sick leave entitlements are paid after the first 3 months.
• 4 weeks accrued annual leave each year, fully paid.
• I pay weekly via PayPal and include additional to cover the fees deducted.

What to do if you are interested:

• Apply through Pros Marketplace.
• Provide me 3 examples of your BEST WordPress work.
• Advise your salary expectation.
• Availability to start work.

Include the words “I am a WordPress Developer” at the top of your application. I will then arrange an informal interview with you via chat.

If we feel the working arrangement would be beneficial, the first step will be to complete a paid trial project.

Full-Time Graphic Designer (Web & Print)

I am looking for a full-time graphic designer to join our team. This person needs to be a highly experienced graphic designer, particularly in web design and logo development. 

Job Expectations:

• Working days are Monday to Friday.
• Start time is between 8 am-10 am EST time.
• 8 hours working each day + breaks. (for example, if you start at 8.30 am and take 1/2 hour for lunch, your work day would finish at 5 pm)
• We use BaseCamp and DropBox for task management.
• Each day you will be emailed a list of priority tasks, and at completion of your shift, you will send a daily report.
• We use Skype during working times.

The Experience and Skills you need:

• Proficiency and experience using Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator.
• Ability to work independently or as a team.
• Strong communication skills.

Salary & Benefits:

• You are entitled to all national Latin American public holidays
• Sick leave entitlements are paid after the first 3 months
• 4 weeks accrued annual leave each year, fully paid.
• I pay weekly via PayPal and include additional to cover the fees deducted.

What to do if you are interested:

• Apply through Pros Marketplace.
• Provide me 6 examples of your BEST work – 3x logos and 3x websites.
• Advise your salary expectation.
• Availability to start work.

Include the words “I am a graphic designer” at the top of your application.

I will then arrange an informal interview with you via chat. If we feel the working arrangement would be beneficial, the first step will be to complete a paid trial project.

Full-Time VA – Transcription, Web, Blog, and Social Media Management

I am looking for a general virtual assistant to join my existing team. You will be able to work from home, and I require you to work during EST business hours. (9 am – 5 pm, Monday through Friday). This person will need strong English skills (Written and verbal), as well as strong computer skills.

Below is a list of the general tasks I require for this position:

Transcription

Transcribing recorded audio into an article. I record blog posts as audio and upload them to DropBox. You would then listen to that audio and transcribe it to an edited, and formatted article.

Server Management

Someone who is familiar with WHM and cPanel and can perform basic tasks. High levels of experience are NOT required as training is provided. However, someone who is familiar with, or had at least limited experience with these systems.

Calendar Management

Using shared calendars on Google Drive.

Blog Posting and update

Familiar with using WordPress to post articles and manage comments. Ability to edit and upload photos, format blog posts, and publish accordingly.

Social Media

Comfortable with managing major social media, including posting, user management, reporting, etc.

Salary & Benefits:

• You are entitled to all national Latin American public holidays.
• Sick leave entitlements are paid after the first 3 months.
• 4 weeks accrued annual leave each year, fully paid.
• I pay weekly via PayPal and include additional to cover the fees deducted.

What to do if you are interested:

• Apply through Pros Marketplace.
• Provide examples of relevant work.
• Advise your salary expectation.
• Availability to start work.

You must be a highly motivated individual with both strong written and spoken English skills. You must possess great communication skills and be able to work independently or as a team.

Include the words “I am a professional VA” at the top of your application.

I will then arrange an informal interview with you via chat. If we feel the working arrangement would be beneficial, the first step will be to complete a paid trial project.

The post How to Hire the Best Remote Workers on Pros Marketplace appeared first on Pros Marketplace.

Managing communications from team members and working through distractions are all par for the course as a remote worker. While it does help to have personality characteristics like discipline, intrinsic motivation, and organizational tendencies, all remote workers need the right productivity tools.

Productivity tools allow you to take many of the seemingly unmanageable elements of your professional life and organize them in a way that enables you to thrive. Fortunately, we live at a time when entrepreneurs and companies are developing a variety of tools and resources that let you handle your essential tasks.

If you are new to remote work or are looking to become even more effective in how you tackle your day, we are here to help!

Below is a list of 47 productivity tools that will help remote workers efficiently achieve more.

We invite you to take a look, as your next go-to productivity tool may be found on this list.

Communication

Email has always been the standard for workplace communication. However, remote workers do not have the benefit of dropping by someone’s office if they fail to reply to an email. This makes the need for simple communication systems and video conferencing essential.

These tools can help mimic the instantaneous dialogue and physical interactions that occur in the office while offering workers the opportunity to stay connected from various devices.

Staying productive requires smooth communication. Remote workers cannot properly collaborate with team members or complete projects that need input without it.

Below are some popular communication tools that should round out a remote worker’s collection of productivity tools:

Zoom

Pricing: Basic: Free, Pro: $14.00/per month/per host, Business: $19.99/per month/per host (minimum of 10 hosts), Enterprise: $19.99/per month/per host (minimum of 50 hosts)

While Zoom is excellent for video conferencing, this program also offers additional resources to facilitate more natural opportunities for communication and learning. Users can manage online meetings while also taking advantage of creating video webinars and collaboration-enabled conference rooms. Instant messaging and file sharing are also included features. Many are impressed with Zoom’s capabilities as the service is used by 20th Century Fox, Uber, and Zendesk.

Notable Offerings

• Available as an app on iOS and Android phones
• The option to integrate with a variety of other apps and programs
• Group messaging

Slack

Pricing: Free, Standard: $6.67/per user/per month, Plus: $12.50/per user/per month

Zoom and Teams are excellent for video meetings and collaboration sessions. However, Slack is an exceptional daily communication and productivity tool for workers in and outside of the office. Slack is known for allowing users to create channels for organizing conversations around a specific project or topic. The platform has even evolved into facilitating face-to-face discussions and file sharing.

Notable Offerings:

• Easy channel sharing
• Searchable conversations
• The ability to integrate over 1,500 apps listed in the Slack App Directory
• Create custom apps with the help of Slack’s APIs

Customer Support

Today, most customers will pay more money to have a pleasant customer experience. Many of today’s companies are figuring this out, and are using a slew of productivity tools to provide excellent customer support.

At the same time, many customer service and support positions are remote, and entrepreneurs and business owners have had to figure out how to allow workers to collaborate to offer excellent service. Today, forward-thinking companies have answered the call to provide unique customer support software solutions.

From more efficient help ticket tracking to easier team collaboration, the support productivity tools below will allow remote workers to thrive.

Intercom

Pricing: Essential: $87/per month, Pro: $153/per month, Premium: Contact for price

Intercom is an all-in-one customer support solution for companies of any size. Users can use chatbots to answer questions in real time and send targeted emails to customers. They can also use the program to create help desk tools and knowledge base libraries. The program not only incorporates resources to support clients, but it also includes a variety of tools to drive sales and move customers through the buying process. This offering can definitely increase productivity for remote workers in charge of support and upselling.

Notable Offerings:

• Emphasis on driving sales as well as support
• Professionals can offer 24/7 support with the use of automation and live bots
• A team inbox that allows remote workers to collaborate on customer inquiries or complaints quickly.

Zendesk

Pricing: Essential: $5/per agent/per month, Team: $19/per agent/per month, Professional: $49/per agent/per month, Enterprise: $99/per agent/per month, Elite: $199/per agent/per month

Remote workers who are looking for a robust productivity tool with streamlined customer support communications will likely find what they need on Zendesk. This program makes answering customer questions and solving technical issues straightforward. Users can carry on conversations with customers on any platform, take advantage of ticket forms, or collaborate with co-workers on Slack, all through Zendesk.

Notable Offerings:

• Automatically translated tickets
• Conditional customer ticket fields
• Over 500 integration options

UserVoice

Pricing: Call for pricing solutions

Asking for feedback is a must-do for any company that is interested in continuous innovation. However, it can be challenging to efficiently survey customers and employees and collect and track all the data in one place. UserVoice is an answer to this problem as the program allows remote workers to capture feedback from customers and internal teams easily. Customer support teams no longer have to send out emails or search through message boards for relevant feedback.

Notable Offerings:

• Integration options with the likes of Wootric, Zapier, Salesforce, and Zendesk
• The opportunity to create a roadmap to share current projects with other teams
• Easily track customer demand and streamline data into one place

Project Management

Nothing can kill productivity faster than poor project management. It is an area where many business owners and managers still struggle. It is understandable, as project management can come with a variety of moving parts. Whether one is dealing with budget management, task delegation, or reporting, project management-based productivity tools are necessary.

The right productivity tools can allow remote workers to save time, money, and other valuable resources. The list below details some popular and widely used project management productivity tools for those looking to organize their short and long-term tasks.

Hubspot

Pricing: Free, Starter: $50/per month, Professional: $800/per month, Enterprise: $3,200/per month

Today, customers are expecting multiple touchpoints and interactions. Fortunately, Hubspot is capable of allowing companies to better manage their digital marketing projects. From content creation tools to email marketing and predictive scoring, HubSpot has a variety of marketing project management features. In addition to digital marketing, Hubspot also provides a CRM, sales, and service hub.

Notable Offerings:

• Google Search Console integration
• Free CRM solution
• Customer support options
• Marketing automation

Bitrix24

Pricing: Free, CRM+: $69/per month, Standard: $99/per month, Professional: $199/per month

Bitrix24 makes group task management, project planning, collaboration, and client management seamless and streamlined. As a result, Bitrix24 is a reliable productivity tool. This program even allows for more intensive project management methods like the use of Gantt Charts. At its core, Bitrix24 is an all-in-one project management tool that can help remote workers better manage their day.

Notable Offerings:

• Project workspaces
• Extranet groups for external users
• Task dependencies
• Time tracking
• Video conferencing

Trello

Pricing: Free, Business Class: $9.99/per month, Enterprise: $20.82/per month

Unlike many other project management apps and platforms, Trello emphasizes the importance of visual organization. Trello allows users to create boards for various projects and corresponding cards for each task. As tasks are completed, users can move them to another board or category. To help with organization, users can add comments, attachments, and due dates for better organization.

Notable Offerings:

• Multiple integration options for higher productivity and organization
• The ability to sync Trello across a variety of devices
• Attach files and checklists to cards

Basecamp

Pricing: $99/per month

Basecamp is an excellent alternative to project management tools like Bitrix24 and Trello. Basecamp’s offering centers around to-do lists, calendars, and message boards. Users can assign to-dos to various team members, utilize internal message boards for project discussions, and easily share calendars with teams. The program also allows users to work with clients and team members on the same platform for ease of use.

Notable Offerings:

• Real-time group chat
• Easily link Google Docs
• Track work done with Basecamp’s Hill charts
• Take advantage of organized check-in question threads

Dev and Design

Whether remote workers have a full-scale design and development team or are a one-person show, it is crucial for them to develop quick and aesthetically pleasing designs. This is especially true if a remote worker is doing their own marketing, or is a digital marketer working for a small business or startup.

Dev and Design programs can function as productivity tools since they prevent workers from having to stop and hire someone. The Dev and Design process can come with tedious back-and-forth communications and delayed deliveries. So, the tools below can allow remote workers to side-step these issues and create excellent designs themselves.

Canva

Pricing: Free Forever, Canva Pro: $12.95/per team member/per month, Canva Enterprise: Contact for pricing details

The Huffington Post, Hubspot, Yelp, and many other well-known brands use Canva for their on-demand design needs. Canva makes it easy to create designs and marketing materials quickly. Canva has a variety of design productivity tools and templates to get remote workers started on creating eye-catching graphics. Users can take advantage of the platform’s capabilities to create logos and marketing materials.

Notable Offerings:

• Discount pricing for teachers, students, and nonprofit organizations
• A one-click tool for photo editing and quick social media posting
• The ability to create animations for dynamic presentations

BrandCrowd

Pricing: Free, Starter: $15/per month, Value: $24/per month, Premium: $29/per month (up to 70% savings with annual billing)

Remote teams often need professional branding materials but lack the budget for custom design work. BrandCrowd solves this problem by providing over 500K templates to make logos, business cards, and social media designs in seconds. The platform combines AI-powered design suggestions with user-friendly editing tools, allowing remote workers to create consistent brand materials without design experience. Access to 50+ design tools, including a business card maker, ensures teams can maintain brand consistency across all marketing materials.

Notable Offerings:

• AI-powered logo generation with instant customization
• Unlimited edits and downloads with paid plans
• Templates for business cards, social media, letterheads, and marketing materials
• Brand kit creation for consistent visual identity across remote team projects

PiktoChart

Pricing: Free, Pro: $24.17/per month, Pro Team: $82.50/per month

PiktoChart is an excellent solution for those who want to tell visual stories but do not have professional design skills. Users can create infographics, visually engaging presentations, and printed materials. PiktoChart even provides templates to make the design work more manageable. This program also allows for teams to communicate and collaborate on design projects in one place.

Notable Offerings:

• 800-plus templates that include alternating color schemes
• Brand assets can be kept in one location for reference
• Easily organize projects into folders for quick access

Email Newsletter

One of the ways remote workers and their teams can spur productivity and streamline internal and external communications is through the use of an email client program. Many mass email programs allow for teams to quickly send emails to customers, create personalized messaging, and trigger emails depending on a customer’s online behavior.

These actions allow for remote workers, especially marketers, to more easily interact with everyone through email without sacrificing productivity. The email tools mentioned below are some of the most popular in the industry. All come with features that should make them a part of any remote worker’s suite of productivity tools.

MailChimp

Pricing: Free/per month, Essentials: $9.99/per month, Standard: $14.99/per month, Premium: Starting at $299/per month

Mailchimp’s offering of free email services for up to 2,000 subscribers has allowed remote and in-office workers to discover the excellent benefits the program provides. MailChimp enables users to create attractive email campaigns through a drag-and-drop editor or through HTML coding. From there, users can make segmented email lists for more effective email targeting. In addition to sending emails, MailChimp also comes with a CRM tool and the capability to create digital ads and landing pages.

Notable Offerings:

• A variety of templates for specific email types
• Marketing automation that corresponds to online user behavior
• Real-time reports and analytics

ConstantContact

Pricing: Prices range from $20 to over $300 a month based on the number of email contacts

Who has the time to keep track of unsubscribes, bounces, and inactive emails in real-time? Maintaining email lists, and constantly creating new email messaging can be a productivity killer. Fortunately, tools like Constant Contact exist for remote workers who do not have the time to create emails from scratch. Users can develop emails through drag-and-drop editing, use email marketing automation tools, and quickly manage email lists.

Notable Offerings:

• Polls and surveys embedded within email messaging
• Dynamic sign-up forms
• Eventbrite integration to promote and manage events

AWeber

Pricing: Pricing ranges from $19/per month to $149/per month, depending on the number of subscribers.

While MailChimp and ConstantContact are excellent email client solutions for those just starting, AWeber takes email marketing to another level. The company recognizes the business development opportunities of email marketing and capitalizes on its potential.

The platform makes it easy to collect subscribers across many platforms. Also, AWeber helps companies better track customers by tagging them based on the emails they open and the links they click.

Notable Offerings:

• Customizable and mobile-responsive templates
• Can sync with Go-To-Webinar, WordPress, PayPal, Facebook, and Shopify
• Analytics that reveal the entire customer buying process from email open to sale

Cold Emails

There are times when a remote worker or their team may not have a connection to a prospect. Whether it be a potential customer, partner, or vendor, it isn’t easy to make the initial connection. Conducting research to appeal to someone they don’t know can be time-consuming. In fact, this process may lead to higher costs in the form of wasted time and money.  The tools below can make the lives of remote workers in the marketing and sales sectors a lot easier.

Mailshake

Pricing: Basic: $29/per month/per user, Pro: $49/per month/per user, Omni: $99/per month/per user

Mailshake makes cold emailing easier and more successful through its approach to automated omnichannel prospecting. Through this feature, users can send personalized cold emails, and set tasks to engage with prospects through phone or social media in one place. The platform also makes it easy to create messages that work, as users can use messages generated by the platform.

Notable Offerings:

• Real-time analysis of emails to help ensure messaging is not marked as spam
• Offers requests for a manual review of a campaign
• Provides cold email educational resources

Woodpecker

Pricing: Start-up: $40/per seat/per month, Team Pro: $50/per seat/per month, Enterprise: contact for pricing

The days of manually sending out personalized cold email messaging are over. Woodpecker’s user interface makes the act of sending prospect emails straightforward. Users can sync their email client, compose the copy, set a delivery time, and import contacts. From there, Woodpecker does all the rest. The platform will personalize emails with custom fields, send emails and follow-ups, and send all replies to the user’s inbox.

Notable Offerings:

• Follow-up automation
• Message sending that resembles human action
• Team views that notify team members of prospects that have been contacted

Measurement Tools

How does a remote worker know if their processes are working? The answer is measurement tools. Keeping an eye on the performance of processes is essential. Understanding the metrics and analytics behind the operation of a marketing campaign, or even workflows, allows remote workers to keep what is working and discard what isn’t. Fortunately, there are tools out there that can make tracking metrics easier. Below are some excellent measurement productivity tools to get remote workers started.

Google Analytics

Pricing: Free

For any remote worker in charge of website analytics, Google Analytics is an essential tool. Users can use the platform to track the performance of a website. Google Analytics reveals valuable metrics related to page views, time spent on pages, and attribution. Remote workers can even track the progress of marketing campaigns with the help of the tool.

Notable Offerings:

• Receive a wide variety of reports
• Multiple options for organizing and filtering data
• Seamless integrations with other Google products

HotJar

Pricing: Prices range from Free to $589/per month, depending on package type and page views.

HotJar takes the metrics focus of Google Analytics and turns it visual. The tool visually represents online user behavior with heat maps and even records their interactions. Hotjar also reveals where users are dropping off on the site, and makes it easy to recruit test users. When it comes to finding the right balance between analytics and data visualization, HotJar is an excellent measurement tool.

Notable Offerings:

• Receive instant visual feedback
• Online form analysis
• Unlimited users

Mention

Pricing: Solo: $29/per month, Starter: $99/per month, Enterprise: $600+/per month

While Google Analytics and Hotjar most deal with website performance, Mention focuses on comprehensive media monitoring. The platform allows users to scour the web for any mention of their brand. Remote workers can also compare their mentions and brand awareness with other competitors. Mention makes it easy to find influencers and search through crucial brand awareness-related metrics.

Notable Offerings:

• Users can connect all social accounts
• Automated reports
• Boolean alerts for accuracy

Influencers Reach Tools

Influencers are becoming more of an integral component in how brands are reaching consumers. Now, buyers are heavily influenced by the recommendations of social media influencers. So, finding influencers who can enhance a company’s brand is a smart move.

However, there are tons of influencers out there with varying reach and diversity of followings. How can remote workers efficiently reach these individuals and include them in marketing campaigns? Influencer reach tools are an excellent resource for remote workers to connect with influencers without sacrificing productivity. Below are some popular tools to use to find the most effective influencers.

NinjaOutreach

Pricing: $49/per month billed yearly

NinjaOutreach makes it easy to reach influencers and grow online reach. Users can type keywords into the program to find the email addresses of business leads and influencers across a variety of industries. NinjaOutreach also enables users to automate email outreach campaigns for link building, guest posting, and content promotion. This program significantly cuts down the amount of time remote workers need to find and reach out to relevant influencers.

Notable Offerings:

• A built-in CRM
• Organize leads with filters and notes
• Can export emails to over 100 CRM and email marketing platforms

FollowerWonk

Pricing: Connect: Free/one profile/per month, Target: $29/three profiles/per month, Multitask: $79/20 profiles/per month

If most of a brand’s audience is on Twitter, then FollowerWonk should be included on any remote worker’s list of must-have influencer and social media tools. The program allows users to go deeper into their Twitter analytics and gain a better understanding of who is interacting with content. Users can also sort followers by a variety of criteria as well as find and connect with related influencers.

Notable Offerings:

• Compare Twitter accounts to find overlapping audiences
• Compare and contrast interactions with followers to competitors
• Can follow and unfollow users within the app

Buzzstream

Pricing: Starter: $24/per month/one user, Group: $99/per month/three users, Professional: $299/per month/six users, Custom: $999/per month/15+ users

Used by the likes of Indeed, Canva, Shopify, and Airbnb, BuzzStream is a premier link-building and influencer outreach program. BuzzStream allows users to create a database where they can quickly add contacts with just one click. Users can also efficiently browse prospect lists and use keywords to search for relevant influencers. BuzzStream even enables users to segment contact lists of leads and influencers for easier targeting.

Notable Offerings:

• Create and send email campaigns from the app
• Stay up-to-date on conversations team members have had with contacts
• Assign relationship-building and marketing campaign tasks to team members

Social Media

Social media is a necessity for any business that wants to stay relevant. It presents many opportunities for brands to connect with customers on a personal level. However, to be successful in social media, users have to understand that each social media platform requires a different set of marketing strategies. From how many times a day users should post, to the type of content that is successful, users need productivity tools to manage the requirements. Below are a few social media productivity tools to help simplify daily marketing tasks.

Hootsuite

Pricing: Free, Professional: $29/per month, Team: $129/per month, Business: $599/per month, Enterprise: Call for Pricing

Savvy remote workers do not have the time to post to every social media platform manually. That is where tools like Hootsuite come into play. Hootsuite enables users to schedule posts on over 35 social network platforms, find and curate relevant content, and monitor analytics all from within the app. Hootsuite even comes with an automated ad solution so users can improve the effectiveness of organic and paid ads.

Notable Offerings:

• Educational blogs, webinars, and guides for users to improve their approach to social media marketing
• Easily add team members for social media task delegation
• Create a content library for easy content curation

Buffer

Pricing: Pro: $15/per month, Premium: $65/per month, Small Business: $99/per month, Medium Business: $199/per month

Much like Hootsuite, Buffer is a one-stop shop for social media posting and management. Users can manage all social media accounts in one place, from scheduling postings to tracking analytics. Buffer also makes social media engagement easy with their “Reply” feature. Instead of having to go to each social media account to reply to followers, users can engage with and respond to customers directly within the app.

Notable Offerings:

• Filter social media conversations and engage with followers in real-time
• Check the conversation history on all customers
• Measure social media response time to ensure teams are adequately following up with audiences

Buzzsumo

Pricing: Pro: $79/per month, Plus: $139/per month, Large: $239/per month, Enterprise: $499+/per month

One of the toughest aspects of social media management is selecting content that will engage customers. However, BuzzSumo is a social media productivity tool that can make content curation much easier. Users can use the program to discover popular content across a variety of platforms, find influencers in any topic area, and track competitor content performance.

Notable Offerings:

• Monitor content mentioning a specific keyword
• Find topics that are the most shared among an audience
• Conduct an instant search of up to 12 months of data

LinkedIn Sales Navigator

Pricing: Professional: $64.99/per month, Team: $99/per month, Enterprise: Contact for pricing

When it comes to attracting clients or reaching customers, LinkedIn is a tried-and-true resource for remote workers in marketing or sales positions. The LinkedIn Sales Navigator is powered by the social media platform’s powerful search algorithms. Users can use the program to search for leads, go after leads recommended by the program, and integrate CRM into the platform for a streamlined approach to lead generation.

Notable Offerings:

• Real-time insights on sales updates, accounts, and leads
• Sync all customer notes to a CRM
• Create a combined network for team members to collaborate while reaching out to prospects

MeetEdgar

Pricing: $49/per month

While Hootsuite and Buffer could handle social media posting tasks, MeetEdgar goes even deeper. The platform can actually write posts for social media. MeetEdgar finds an engaging text from articles or blogs and creates postings to resonate with audiences. MeetEdgar also allows users to use a Chrome extension that can generate up to five pre-written social media posts from an article. Ultimately, MeetEdgar takes the guesswork out of social media content curation and management.

Notable Offerings:

• Category-based scheduling
• Easily segment and post evergreen or one-time-only content
• Set up continuous posting schedules

SEO & Competitor Analysis

What happens if a remote worker creates an impressive piece of content, but their target audience never sees it? Tools that help with SEO rankings and competitor analysis can help prevent this from happening. Creating SEO-friendly content and copy can be challenging. What keywords should be used? How long should the prose be for SEO purposes?

What are competitors doing with their content? All of these questions require a lot of time to answer. Fortunately, SEO and Competitor Analysis productivity tools can save a remote worker time in how they improve the ranking of their online content.

Semrush

Pricing: Pro: $99.95/per month, Guru: $199.95/per month, Business: $399.95/per month, Enterprise: Call for pricing

Semrush provides the tools remote workers need to develop advertising strategies that rival their competitors. Semrush’s features around competitor analysis and keyword research. Users can view successful keywords used by competitors as well as analyze competitor ad budgets. The program also allows users to analyze backlinks, search long-tail keywords, and monitor customer activity all in one place.

Notable Offerings:

• Offers keywords with less competition
• Domain comparisons
• Provides access to over two million keyword ideas

Ahrefs

Pricing: Lite: $99/per month, Standard: $179/per month, Advanced: $399/per month, Agency: $999/per month 

Ahrefs comes with a variety of tools for remote workers who want to ensure their SEO strategies are up to par. While the program does have a lot of similar offerings to SEMRush, it has many features that make it stand out. Users can conduct site audits while also finding out which keywords they do not rank for that their competitors are using. The Ahrefs program also comes with 24/5 support and a private Facebook community.

Notable Offerings:

• YouTube keyword tool
• Tailored marketing tutorials
• Keyword generator

Google Console

Pricing: Free 

While there are a lot of search engines to choose from, Google is the largest and most influential. As a result of their broad reach, the search engine typically sets the rules for SEO rankings. Google Search Console provides the information remote workers need to make their site successful on Google. Google Search Console offers valuable search analytics, an opportunity for a sitemap analysis, and a look into how Google sees a webpage.

Notable Offerings:

• Customized reports with an emphasis on mobile usability
• Email alerts from Google regarding site issues
• The ability to monitor, track, and test AMP pages

Ubersuggest 

Pricing: Free

One of the main selling points of any useful SEO productivity tools is their ability to help users not waste time producing content that no one will read. Ubersuggest not only accomplishes this, but the platform does it free of charge. Ubersuggests is a free keyword tool that allows users to beat their competition at SEO rankings. The platform gives remote workers insights into the strategies of competitors, keyword suggestions, and even content ideas.

Notable Offerings:

• Shows which websites are linking to content in a niche
• Provides insight into the material that is receiving the most clicks and social shares
• Offers a generated list of keywords based on what competitors are using

LongTail Pro

Pricing: Monthly Starter: $37/per month, Pro: $67/per month, Monthly Agency: $147/per month

Selecting the right keywords is crucial to a successful SEO strategy. However, it can be time-consuming to research less competitive keywords. LongTailPro takes all the intense work out of this process. Users can type in keywords to the LongTailPro platform to receive hundreds of long-tail keyword suggestions. The platform then compares these keywords to those used by competitors and offers a rank value based on profitability.

Notable Offerings:

• 400 keyword suggestions in seconds
• Keyword metric feature for seeing how well a potential keyword would perform in a campaign
• Keyword competitive metrics

SimilarWeb

Pricing: Free, Enterprise: Contact for details

SimilarWeb is a one-stop shop for all things related to marketing intelligence. It helps companies to optimize marketing strategies, market research, and investment decisions all on one platform. From uncovering new SEO strategies to finding leads, SimilarWeb is worth a look for remote workers who need to enhance their overall marketing approach.

Notable Offerings:

• Offers views into where competitors are advertising online
• Provides relevant demographic and online behavior data on customer bases
• Competitor conversion rate comparisons
• Gives traffic and engagement data from up to 36 months ago

Optimization

There is always room to be better. In fact, customers are demanding it. From faster website load times to more engaging customer experiences, remote workers have to find ways to improve continuously. However, it can be hard to know where to start and what to do. This scenario is why optimization tools are essential to acquire.

These tools can increase productivity by taking the guesswork out of optimization as they reveal data that shows where businesses may be lagging. So, for remote workers who value continuous improvement and evaluation, below are some tools worth checking out.

Google PageSpeed Insights

Pricing: Free

Forty percent of consumers abandon a website if it takes more than three seconds to load. More and more, customers are showing they are not willing to wait a long time for the information they need.

As a result, remote workers have to keep an eye on how well their websites are serving customers. Google PageSpeed Insights allows users to type in a website and find out how long it takes to load for customers. The platform also offers suggestions on how users can shorten the time it takes to load.

Notable Offerings:

• Runs diagnostics on website performance
• Provides images that show the page loading in real-time

GTmetrix 

Pricing: Basic: Free, Bronze: 14.95/per month, Silver: $49.95/per month, Gold: $149.95/per month, Custom: Contact for details

If remote workers don’t have the time to utilize multiple tools, GTmetrix is an excellent all-in-one website optimization option. GTmetrix comes with a full support page that allows users to monitor page speed and performance using Google PageSpeed Insights and Yahoo! YSlow rule sets. Users can also use GTmetrix to track page load time, page size, and the number of requests.

Notable Offerings:

• Opportunity to run daily, weekly, or monthly page optimization tests
• Test pages in multiple global regions
• Tracks and saves report data from multiple URLs

Pingdom Tools 

Pricing: Starter: $14.95/per month, Standard: $45.95/per month, Advanced: $89.95/per month, Professional: $249/per month, Enterprise: Contact for details

At the end of the day, remote workers in charge of website optimization want to ensure customers have an exceptional user experience. Pingdom Tools allows users to do exactly this. In addition to testing site speed and performance, Pingdom Tools enables users to test site interactions while seeing how users experience websites in real-time.

Notable Offerings:

• Reliable alerting when website performance issues arise
• The ability to set up alerts for specific team members
• Easy-to-understand graphs and reports

Cloud Storage & Collaboration

No productivity tools list for remote workers is complete without cloud storage and collaboration tools. The very nature of remote work requires tools that facilitate flexible storage solutions and teamwork. Productivity and engagement can easily take a hit when remote workers cannot easily access or work on projects with others.

Cloud storage and collaboration software make location-independent work possible. Fortunately, there are a variety of tools in this category that can lead to an uptick in productivity. Below are some of the most well-known and highly regarded in this space.

OneDrive

Pricing: Basic: Free/5 GB, 50 GB/$1.99/per month, Office 365 Personal: $6.99/per month/1 TB, Office 365 Home: $9.99/per month/6 TB

While Gmail is continuing to rise in use among larger enterprises, Microsoft Outlook still reigns supreme for many. Since this is the case, many remote workers will likely have to use OneDrive, a worthy competitor to Google Drive. Much like the latter, OneDrive enables users to edit and access files from any device, whether they are on or offline. Users can also easily share files and folders by sending links via email, text, iMessage, or Facebook. 

Notable Offerings:

• Scan documents using a mobile phone for direct storage on OneDrive
• Set time limits for links to expire to increase security
• Collaborate with team members to edit files in real-time

Google Drive

Pricing: Free/15 GB, $1.99/per month/100 GB, $2.99/per month/200 GB

Much like Dropbox, Google has helped to pave the way for cloud-based storage and collaboration. For years, users have taken advantage of a freemium package that offers large storage sizes and unprecedented collaboration opportunities.  

Today, things are no different. Google Drive enables remote workers to easily store or edit multiple file types. Similarly to OneDrive, users can access or edit files from any device. Also, instead of sending large files or emails, remote workers can send a link for team members to access and begin editing files.

Notable Offerings:

• Quickly send email attachments to Google Drive with one click
• Efficiently gather information with Google Forms
• Create diagrams and flow charts with Google Drawings

Dropbox

Pricing: Dropbox has a variety of pricing plans from $19.99/per month for individuals to $20/per user/per month for businesses.

Dropbox is an excellent alternative to those who may not want their email client tied to their cloud storage solution. Remote workers can store files in one central place so that all team members can easily access related projects or documents. Users can share files and folders with anyone. Also, Dropbox’s Paper feature allows team members to collaborate on projects, brainstorm, or share rough drafts in one easy-to-access location.

Notable Offerings:

• Plans and pricing tailored to freelancers, solo workers, and large teams
• Edit and collaborate directly on the Dropbox mobile app

WeTransfer

Pricing: Free, Plus for big ideas: $12/per month, Plus for bigger ideas: $19/per month

WeTransfer is a cloud-based file transfer program. With it, users can send files as large as 20 GB around the world. The company started in 2009, and since then, has grown to offer additional cloud-storage options. Users can store large files, work on new ideas, or group documents and data in one place. While the core offering is free, users can increase storage size as well as the size of files they can send by upgrading to a paid account.

 Notable Offerings:

• Access the file sending history to resend or delete transfers
• Password-protected access
• Integrations with apps like Slack, Chrome, Firefox, Command Line, and Sketch

Time Trackers and Team Management

In the office, managers and leaders can get a feel for how and when employees are working. The same cannot be said for remote workers. Much like collaboration and communication software, time trackers and team management software are essential for remote workers. Both sets of tools aid in helping remote teams improve their overall productivity.

As a result, many companies, both remote and office-based, are realizing the importance of having tools that allow them to track time spent on projects. The companies below have recognized this and are providing exceptional time tracking and team management tools.

Hubstaff 

Pricing: Free, Basic: $7.99/per month/per user, Premium: $10.99/per month/per user, Enterprise: $20.00/per month/per user

Hubstaff is an excellent tool for companies that may have a lean HR department. Hubstaff allows users to track time, conduct payroll, invoice contractors, and even screenshot employee progress all within the platform. Hubstaff also helps teams improve productivity with daily activity scores and reports on progress. This tool’s robust set of features makes it easy to ensure workers are staying productive wherever they are.

Notable Offerings:

• Employee scheduling feature
• GPS tracking for monitoring time spent driving vs hours worked
• Project budgeting capabilities

Toggl

Pricing: Free, Starter: $10/per month/per user, $20/per month/per user, Enterprise: Custom pricing

Toggl makes time tracking straightforward and seamless. The app allows remote workers to easily jump into keeping an eye on their productivity. The tool has a variety of features to ensure workers stay engaged. Their idle detection capabilities will remind workers to get back to whatever they were working on. Also, managers can break down their time reports to see actions that are bringing in revenue and which are costing money.

Notable Offerings:

• Timesheet management automation
• The option of Toggl training from a certified consultant
• A variety of integrations with other project management and productivity tools

Screen Recorders 

While a picture is worth a thousand words, video is likely priceless. There is no shortage of ways to use video recordings and sharing as a viable productivity tool. Video allows remote workers to share information in a way that can make up for the distance.  

From sharing tutorials to fostering deeper professional connections, video tools are a must-have for remote workers. While most still think of YouTube or Vimeo when discussing video, there are tools out there just for the sole purpose of efficiently sharing information. Below are a couple of examples of helpful video recording and screen capture software options.

Snagit

Pricing: Single license pricing for individuals and businesses: $49.95

Trying to train someone on a new piece of technology or business concept can prove challenging without video. However, in the past, workers have had to rely just on screenshots and sophisticated video recording software. Today, TechSmith’s Snagit adds some ease to the process. The tool allows users to easily record themselves working through steps, develop animated GIFs, and quickly edit video clips. Instead of having to move between multiple software options, Snagit provides everything remote workers need to record videos in one place.

Notable Offerings:

• Record on iOS screens
• Add annotations to all screen grabs
• Record audio using a microphone or the computer’s system audio

Loom

Pricing: Basic: Free/per month, Pro: $10/per month

If remote workers want an additional layer of simplicity to their video recordings, Loom is perfectly positioned to offer it. Users can capture their screen while also recording with a front-facing camera. Once the recording is complete, users can then share the video with colleagues with a link. Customers have used Loom to walk through product demos, conduct team announcements, and onboard new employees. Loom is used by the likes of HubSpot, Dropbox, Uber, Shopify, and Salesforce.

Notable Offerings:

• GDPR Compliant
• Video encryption
• Slack integration

Final Thoughts 

Remote work can be an excellent experience. However, for location-independent workers to truly thrive, remote workers have to have the right set of productivity tools. Working and communicating with colleagues who could be across the globe requires discipline and a willingness to learn new things.  

While technology is not the answer to every problematic remote work situation that arises, it can make remote work much more manageable. So, we hope the productivity tools mentioned above will give remote workers the help they need to excel in managing productivity.

The post 47 Essential Productivity Tools for Remote Teams to Thrive appeared first on Pros Marketplace.

We are going to cover the questions that should be a part of your interview process.

So, what are some of the most common interview questions for a remote work interview?

First, before we get into common interview questions and answers, it is crucial to start the conversation by breaking the ice. You will get more authentic responses, and the candidate will be a lot more comfortable if you both find common ground.

So, start by asking them questions about their hometown, inquire about where they went to school, and see if you can find some commonalities.

Common Interview Questions and Answers

Why are you interested in this particular role?

At the heart of the answer to this question is the information you need to find out if this individual is genuinely interested in the position for the right reasons. Do they want to expand their career, or take on new responsibilities? Alternatively, are they interested in more pay and perks? Knowing their motivations will allow you to see if their expectations match what you can provide.

Have you ever worked remotely?

This is likely one of the most important questions you will ask during the interview. While, with enough dedication and hard work, anyone can succeed at remote work, those with experience are in a better position to hit the ground running. If they do not have any experience working remotely, you will have to train them accordingly.

Why do you want to work remotely?

This interview question and the resulting answer are just as important as the previous answer. Their motivations for wanting to work from home are just as vital as their reasoning for wanting to apply for the position. Responses such as “flexibility,” “more work-life balance,” and “autonomy,” are entirely satisfactory answers. However, you need to be watchful for someone who may give off the vibe that they could take advantage of the remote work arrangement. If they seem as if they would put off responsibilities, or fail to communicate their true intentions for working remotely, then you should re-think working with this particular candidate.

How well are you able to manage yourself?

If you are looking for an ultimate takeaway from the common interview questions and answers process, then this question gets at the heart of it. Remote work requires exceptional self-management and discipline skills. You want someone who can get the job done whether you are in front of their desk or not. Some workers need the encouragement and urging of a boss to feel motivated to work. These individuals are not ideal for a remote work position. So, be sure to ask follow-up questions that ask for examples of how this individual has done this in the past.

What is your communication style?

Remote work requires the need for a clear, concise, and straightforward communication style. Also, it necessitates the use of tools to communicate with superiors and co-workers. So, you need someone capable of responding in a reasonable amount of time to email or asynchronous tools. Also, your eventual employee should have a penchant for over-communication and the forethought to ask questions or request a video conference if communication is unclear.

Do you have any experience with any communication or productivity tools?

Anyone with patience and an interest in learning new things can be trained on a new tool. However, if you are deciding between quality candidates, you may be more inclined to hire the one with experience in tools you already use (or those that are similar). If a high-level candidate does not have experience in virtual communication or productivity tools, listen for their willingness to learn.

What is your process if you run into a problem or obstacle?

A remote worker doesn’t have the luxury of running into the IT office if a technological malfunction arises. Also, can they instantly drop into a colleague’s office to straighten out miscommunication? This is why it is imperative to know the candidate’s process for handling a work-related problem, obstacle, or emergency. Remote workers have to be exceptional problem-solvers. This interview question and answer allows you to see their thought process when faced with an issue.

When is your ideal work time?

Everyone has time during the day—or evening—in which they are the most productive. However, you need to ensure their preferred work time matches your company’s needs. If you require workers to be available during your regular business hours, then this candidate’s ideal work time will matter considerably. If their preferred hours of work are different than what you need, ask follow-up questions to ensure they can make the switch if hired.

What do you like the most—and least—about working remotely?

Remote work comes with a lot of perks as well as drawbacks. While hearing the benefits will be helpful, you will be looking out for the obstacles. This candidate has a better chance of preparing for the negative aspects of remote work if they understand what they are doing ahead of time. So, you want this candidate to have a strategy and plan for dealing with these potential issues.

Discuss a time when you made a mistake, and how you went about fixing it.

Everyone makes mistakes, so this interview question and the resulting answer are not meant to dig for weaknesses. Instead, this inquiry enables you to see how comfortable the candidate is with trying something new, admitting they made a mistake, and how they went about dealing with it. Again, remote work requires a high level of autonomy and self-discipline. You and other staff members will not always be available for help or advice. So, you want someone who can be trusted to fix a mistake or at least get things back under control until they can reach out to someone.

How do you keep yourself organized?

This is an excellent inquiry to include in the interview. Whether someone is working at home, at a co-working facility, or in a traditional office, organization is critical. You want to find out how they prioritize tasks, work through their day, and the tools they use to accomplish this. Again, much like the “what do you like most and least” question above, you want to see how they handle and work throughout their day, and if they do it efficiently.

What are your plans for work-life balance?

When it comes to remote work, there is always going to be a temptation to pull out the laptop after hours, answer an email on the weekends, or reply to a call on vacation. However, burnout is a huge problem in the remote work community, and you want to ensure your candidate has a plan for balancing home and work life. In addition to asking this question, you should also discuss the company’s stance on work-life balance, and make it clear that it is a priority. 

Why do you want to work with this company?

This interview question and answer will reveal if the candidate has genuinely thought about how their mission aligns with your company. You want to know if they subscribe to the same values, motivations, and principles as your company. The answer to this question will also reveal if they are invested enough to have researched what your company stands for, and how they fit.

Final Thoughts

Remote work continues to increase in popularity. Workers all over the world are realizing the benefits of location-independent work, and employers are also reaping the advantages. However, everyone is not cut out for the demands of remote work and the discipline it requires.

You need someone who is going to be dependable, motivated, trustworthy, and creative. Therefore, it is critical to ask the right questions to find someone with these qualities. Fortunately, these common interview questions and answers can help you hire the best fit for what you need.

It is one thing to perform well in an office setting, and it is another to maintain these exceptional characteristics of a remote worker while working away from a team. So, use the common interview questions and answers guide above to help you in your next remote work interview.

Good luck and Happy Hirings!

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