Speak gives you instant communication withyour team and shows you when they're at theircomputer and available.

With iDoneThis, your remote team can easilytrack what they've been working on throughthe day.

Koding provides a cloud based IDE where youcan collaborate on code with your team matesin real time.

iDoneThis

Since remote teams don't meet together in anoffice every day, it can be common toovercompensate with a bunch of tools andapps.

Too many tools can distract your team andsacrifice productivity!

So only introduce a new tool if it has thepotential to drastically improve teamcommunication. And if it doesn't work, don't beafraid to cut it loose!

Communication is the life blood of a remoteteam. Never make assumptions about whatother team mates know or don't know.

A comment on a github issue might not beenough. It might be wise to send a follow upemail or mention it in your team chat.

Remember, it's better to over-communicatesomething than to risk having it slip through thecracks.

Using a tool like Clocks, you can make sure youalways know what time it is in your teammate'scity.

Timezones can present a challenge for even themost seasoned remote teams. There isn't muchyou can do about them, short of complaining.But you can at least be mindful of them!

If you're using Speak to stay connected, justhover over a user to see their local time!

It's true, meetings can be toxic. But whenyour team is distributed throughout the world,regular meetings help keep everyone up to dateand on task.

Here at Speak, we have two regular meetings.One on Monday to set goals for the comingweek, and one on Friday to assess our goalsand see how we did.

This works for us, but it's up to you toexperiment with different times and see whatworks best for your team!

When you're working from an office, it's a loteasier to develop a social connection with yourteammates.

When your team is remote, this can be a bit of achallenge. Set aside specific times to just hangout, talk about your weekend and learn moreabout each other.

Or, if you prefer more organic conversation, justfire up Speak and click on a random teammateand start talking with them!

Remote teammates naturally get less face timewith each other. So don't be afraid to enablevideo whenever possible!

Whether you're in the middle of your dailystandup or just hanging out, turning on videoand showing your facial expressions will lead toa more personable experience and ultimately abetter team culture.

It can be tough getting a sense of a teammember’s personality when you never see eachother in person.

Video chat can go a long way but don’t be afraidto use emojis, share animated gifs, tell jokes,etc.

One of the best ways to improve team cultureand communication is to share a laugh!

http://speak.io/