Empower teams to work from anywhere. Keep teams connected and engaged with a unified platform that allows teams to organize projects, hold meetings, conduct video calls, and more.
Office productivity tools are an essential part of any co-located or virtual workplace environment. These kinds of tools can be used to help team members manage projects, track progress, and—most importantly—get work done.
In today’s world, remote work is fast becoming the new normal. As a result, businesses of all shapes and sizes have had to adapt their online toolkit to align with the need for remote teams to communicate and collaborate efficiently and effectively.
There are many types of productivity software tools available for businesses, most with customized pricing models. From separate applications for project management and time tracking to unified solutions that offer an integrated approach to team productivity—there are plenty of choices.
With so many tools at your fingertips, it can be challenging to choose the right one(s) for your business. In this article, we’ll offer some tips and guidance about how to choose the best productivity software to suit your team’s needs.
We’ll cover:
While many businesses continue to share files through email, it’s becoming clear that it’s not the most sophisticated file sharing tool. Email attachments have upload limits in terms of file size and file storage and don’t make document collaboration easy. Plus, there’s no guarantee that your documents are safe.
Maintaining employee productivity can be challenging. As employees increasingly work from home or other spaces outside the office, businesses need to look for new strategies to facilitate teamwork and communication. All while ensuring the personal productivity of employees.
Whether you’re a freelancer, managing a small business remotely, or organizing international groups as part of a global enterprise, you can benefit from implementing team productivity software into your business tech stack. Productivity tools and related software categories aim to automate workflows, improve teams’ time management, and keep them connected, no matter where they’re located.
Productivity apps that are collaborative and intuitive to use are crucial to keeping your team organized, on task, and satisfied. So, how exactly can productivity tools improve remote collaboration and help you reach your business goals? The following are just a few of the ways:
The main aspects of productivity software focus on collaboration, communication, and project management.
These tools lend themselves to remote work, as no matter where an individual is physically located, they can access platforms to stay connected with their co-workers, manage their tasks, and collaborate in real-time.
Let’s take a look at some of the key features of productivity software.
A simple, intuitive, and attractive interface is one of the first things you’ll be looking for in a best productivity app. After all, you don’t want to complicate matters for your team before they even begin getting started.
A well-designed project management tool can make all the difference. The best productivity apps should feature a clean interface that makes it easy to track projects and tasks, access and collaborate on word processor documents and other files in real-time, and start a team chat or video call with a single click.
A great, easy-to-use productivity platform increases productivity while mitigating the challenges posed by chaotic and hard-to-follow workflows.
Another important factor to consider is that the software you choose is just as easy to use on a mobile app as it is on a desktop. Nowadays, people aren’t always working from their office, so they need to be sure they can access their productivity and team communications tools on the go.
Mobile apps with simple and robust user interfaces allow users to log in and collaborate with team members on the go. Whether they’re away on a business trip or checking their daily tasks on their commute, your team should be able to check in on team project progress, share a file, or send a message in the team chat app—whenever, wherever.
An all-in-one productivity app like RingCentral Video by RingCentral makes it simple to message, meet, and collaborate on tasks and team projects from its attractive unified platform. RingCentral Video’s workspace dashboard makes it easy to manage messaging conversations, track tasks, share files, and much more—without having to switch between project management software apps.
RingCentral Video stands out from other business productivity tools because users can switch seamlessly between web apps and mobile devices. Sometimes a face-to-face video call can be a more effective way of getting work done. With RingCentral Video, you can switch from a team chat to a video conference with the tap of a button. It’s that easy!
The cloud has changed the way business teams communicate and collaborate from a distance. With cloud storage and file sharing, users can access business files and documents from any internet-connected desktop or mobile device at any time.
Cloud storage is hosted and maintained by a third-party provider, which reduces the costs and risks associated with local storage. This provides enhanced security and ensures your team has access to their important files and documents whenever they need.
With online file sharing, teams can store, access, and collaborate on important business docs, spreadsheets, and presentations in real time, streamlining collaboration and improving teamwork. Many of the best project management systems feature built-in cloud storage. However, access to large amounts of storage space usually requires a premium plan. But that’s not always the case.
RingCentral Video’s productivity software for business teams offers unlimited collaboration, document creation, and file sharing in the cloud. Where most office productivity suites put a cap on how much you can store for free, RingCentral Video gives you unlimited storage from the get-go.
It doesn’t stop there, RingCentral Video allows you to upload and annotate documents directly within the chat app. What’s more, you can find the files you need in seconds via the chat search tool.
Messaging apps are no longer just for keeping in touch with friends and family members. Team chat apps have become an integral part of business productivity software, particularly as remote work continues to grow in popularity.
Remote teams can benefit from instant messaging apps for business users that allow them to discuss projects, share updates, or just chat with coworkers. The best chat tools let you create multiple channels to separate projects, teams, departments, etc.
Nowadays, business teams expect more than just the ability to chat in real-time from messaging apps. Instead, they expect to be able to communicate instantly, share files within the chat window, and collaborate on documents as a means of boosting productivity among remote teams.
RingCentral Video offers everything you’d expect from a great chat app, and more! RingCentral Video allows you to chat, share, and collaborate without leaving the app. You can organize your teams’ work with dedicated threads for internal and external groups, assign and check off tasks, and customize messages—without leaving the app. Usually you’ll only get this functionality from paid apps. RingCentral Video offers it all—for free!
In the world of remote work, video conferencing is a must-have feature for any great team productivity app. As teams are dispersed across countries, continents, and time zones, where and how coworkers communicate is shifting.
High-definition video calling functionality allows teams to keep in touch in real-time. However, when it comes to improving collaboration, video calling isn’t enough to fully leverage your team's productivity.
Instead, look for solutions that offer a range of presentation tools like screen sharing annotation. This way, users can effectively discuss projects in real time, host online training, or conduct webinars with all the tools they need to enhance communication.
There are numerous video conferencing solutions out there, so choosing the best one for your business can be challenging. What if you could find a product suite that integrates video calls, chat, project management, and several additional productivity apps into a single software solution? We’ve got the answer: RingCentral Video.
With RingCentral Video, you can enjoy presentation software and video calls backed by enterprise-grade security that gives the web host complete control over who can and can’t join. RingCentral Video’s video conferencing tool allows you to:
Task management is an essential part of any project management productivity app. Project management team leaders must have the tools they need to effectively delegate tasks and projects. Great task management tools allow you to assign, schedule, and manage tasks to team members quickly, resulting in saved time and more opportunities to get work done faster.
When it comes to a great task management platform, there are a few key features to look out for. These include:
RingCentral Video’s unified productivity and communications app offers all of these task management tools and more. When you’ve got a million and one things going on, the last thing you want is to worry about managing your team’s tasks. You can add color to each task to make it simpler for you to track, organize, and reorganize project progress.
What’s more, RingCentral Video’s task management is built-in to the team messaging platform, so you can better track your team’s progress and stay in sync, always. What’s more, if you need to follow up or check-in on a task you can send a message or start a video conference in a matter of seconds.
When you assign tasks with RingCentral Video, you can attach notes, files, and documents to provide your team with more context and ensure they know exactly what they need to do. If you have a recurring task, you can set it to show every week without wasting time manually planning and assigning it each time.
There are plenty of basic apps out there for creating and tracking to-do lists.
These lists allow us to monitor tasks and other relevant activities that come up during the day, helping us to stay organized and productive. The concept is simple. You write down your daily tasks, and cross them off once they’re completed. For remote workers, to-do lists are a great way to give structure to a day and ensure work-time doesn’t run into the hours you’re supposed to be off-the-clock.
Sure, to-do lists are essential tools for staying on-track and ensuring you don’t miss a task, but what if a to-do list could be much more than just a tool to note down and tick off tasks?
With RingCentral Video, you can assign tasks to yourself as well as to your teammates. This way, RingCentral Video’s task manager tool allows you to create your own personal to-do list within the app, and attach any relevant files or information for more context later on.
In RingCentral Video, simply create a task as you normally would, and assign it to yourself, adding any relevant personal information as a reminder. It’ll appear in the task manager bar in the app so you can organize and update the things on your to-do list as you go about your day.
Another important feature of any great productivity software is the ability to create notifications and reminders. This way, you can ensure important dates and deadlines aren’t missed.
Missing deadlines impacts not only your performance, but your whole team. If you’re working remotely as part of a software development team, for instance, and you’re late completing a task, it can put the whole team behind on project progress. It’s best to avoid this, which is where a robust notification and reminder system can help.
In RingCentral Video’s unified platform, your tasks are constantly visible to you as you work, using the app for better performance management. This means you’ll always know what’s coming up. You can check in on your teammates’ progress, follow up, and ensure deadlines are met every time.
There are plenty of basic apps out there for creating and tracking to-do lists.
These lists allow us to monitor tasks and other relevant activities that come up during the day, helping us to stay organized and productive. The concept is simple. You write down your daily tasks, and cross them off once they’re completed. For remote workers, to-do lists are a great way to give structure to a day and ensure work-time doesn’t run into the hours you’re supposed to be off-the-clock.
Sure, to-do lists are essential tools for staying on-track and ensuring you don’t miss a task, but what if a to-do list could be much more than just a tool to note down and tick off tasks?
With RingCentral Video, you can assign tasks to yourself as well as to your teammates. This way, RingCentral Video’s task manager tool allows you to create your own personal to-do list within the app, and attach any relevant files or information for more context later on.
In RingCentral Video, simply create a task as you normally would, and assign it to yourself, adding any relevant personal information as a reminder. It’ll appear in the task manager bar in the app so you can organize and update the things on your to-do list as you go about your day.
Most remote teams don’t just rely on a single tool to get work done. Perhaps your team is used to using Gantt charts and Kanban boards as project management templates, and they want to keep it that way. Or, maybe your software development team relies on certain development tools to get their work done.
If you’re looking for unified productivity software suites that allow your team to collaborate and communicate from a single platform, robust business app integrations are a must. You should be able to integrate the platform with a range of software category apps including:
RingCentral Video offers integrations with lots of useful business apps to streamline your workflows further. This way, you can integrate your RingCentral Video virtual office with all the business tools your team is used to using or requires to better carry out tasks. It means they can spend less time switching between apps, and more time getting work done.
RingCentral Video has a huge list of potential integrations to offer. You can integrate with CRM software like Salesforce and Zoho, project management tools, file sharing apps like Google Drive and Dropbox, and word processing tools like Google Workspace (formerly G-Suite) and Microsoft Office Suite.
This way, your team has everything they need to collaborate smoothly and efficiently right at their fingertips.
As business teams increasingly work from anywhere, it’s important to ensure that whichever tools you choose are available across operating systems and devices. If employees are using their own devices when working remotely or on-the-go, it’s likely that they’re not all logging on with the same operating system.
It’s essential that tools function well, whether an individual is using a Mac OS, Windows, or Linux-operated desktop, or working on the move with an iOS or Android device.
Whichever team productivity tool you use, your team should be able to access it on whichever internet-connected device they have at their fingertips. The work from anywhere lifestyle means that people are no longer only working when they’re in the office. Nowadays, they can work from the comfort of their own home using their personal laptop, from a coffee shop, or from their smartphone on-the-go.
With RingCentral Video, you can do just that. RingCentral Video works on all common operating systems and features a robust mobile app that makes signing in on the go simple. Users can join a video conference or chat with teammates straight from their smartphone. Moreover, you can even collaborate on Word or Google Docs in real-time on the go and rest assured that all project progress is saved in a centralized cloud storage system.
Excellent security is a must-have for any team productivity tool. After all, these tools are dealing with your businesses files and data, as well as the personal information of your employees. As more people start working remotely, security is becoming a factor that depends on third-party providers, rather than internal security systems.
Beyond password managers, business apps need to have high-grade security systems in place to protect your sensitive business data.
RingCentral Video’s protected by RingCentral’s seven layers of security. It’s enterprise-grade security means RingCentral Video is a solution you and your team can trust.
Now that you know about all the essential features of unified productivity software, here are some tips to consider when choosing the best solution for your team.
Understand the needs of your team
Before beginning your search for the best team productivity software, you’ll need to comprehensively understand the needs and requirements of your team. This means taking some time to analyze their workflows, how they communicate, and the tools they’re already familiar with.
Consider how new team productivity tools could solve problems and help to mitigate challenges. Ask yourself the following questions:
Once you know what your team needs, you can start looking for tools to empower them. You could even survey your team to better understand what they need or which challenges they’re coming up against when working online. Knowing these things will make choosing individual tools or a unified software solution much simpler.
Outline your budget
The next step is to outline your budget. Once you know the kinds of tools your team needs, you can begin looking for the best options within your price range.
Most team productivity apps have multiple versions available with tiered pricing models. Some will grant you access to more features once you become a paying customer, whereas others will offer excellent functionality for free.
For example, RingCentral Video is offered as RingCentral Video Pro (free plan) and RingCentral Video Pro+ (paid plan at $11.99/month). With the free version, you’ll have access to unlimited cloud storage, team messaging, video conferencing, robust task management, and a whole host of other productivity-enhancing tools.
For a small price, RingCentral Video allows for video conferences with up to 200 participants, 10GB of cloud recording storage, and more. This way, you can start for free and scale with RingCentral Video as your business and your team grows, making it the perfect unified productivity tool for small businesses.
Define your selection criteria
Once you’ve outlined your budget, you can start defining your selection criteria and thinking about what you and your team expect from a great productivity tool. Consider the following:
Every company will have different selection criteria that aligns with their business goals and the needs of their employees. Think about what would help your team be more productive.
Choose your new productivity management software!
At this stage, it’s time to make a decision. Try getting in touch with the company to see if you can try a free demo to see if the solution is right for you.
Once you’ve implemented the new software into your virtual workspace, you’ll start to see the results of more streamlined workflows, better employee time management, and improved communication in no time at all.
We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: Life is much easier when you don’t have to switch between various business apps to get work done. RingCentral Video unified productivity software allows you to manage all your remote teamwork needs from a single, easy-to-use platform.
Keep in touch with video conferences and instant messaging, share and collaborate on documents within the team chat, and manage tasks and team projects—all without leaving the app. Want to enjoy hassle-free remote collaboration and keep your team productive?
Get started with RingCentral Video for free today.
Get started with RingCentral Video for free today.