Remote work tools for small teams: what you actually need.
A small remote team doesn't need twenty apps. It needs one good tool for each of six jobs: talking later, talking on a schedule, talking right away, writing things down, tracking work and working across time zones. Here is what each job needs, the tools worth a look, and three starter stacks for a team of 3 to 15.
By Jitto Joseph5 min read
The six jobs at a glance
Most friction in remote work comes from using the wrong place for the job: a quick question that turns into a meeting, or a decision buried in chat. Give every job one home.
| Job | What it's for | Tools worth a look |
|---|---|---|
| Chat | Questions and updates that can wait a few minutes | Slack, Microsoft Teams, Discord, Google Chat |
| Meetings | Scheduled calls with video and screen sharing | Google Meet, Zoom, Microsoft Teams |
| Presence | Seeing who's around and talking right away | A virtual office such as TinyFloor, or an open voice channel |
| Docs | Decisions, how-tos and anything needed again | Notion, Google Docs, Confluence |
| Tasks | Who is doing what, and by when | Linear, Trello, Asana, GitHub Issues |
| Time zones | Finding hours that work for everyone | Shared calendars and a time zone planner |
Chat: talking later
Chat is where most remote work happens, so pick one app and stick to it. Make channels by topic or project rather than by person, so answers are easy to find later.
- 1.
Slack
Most software and agency teams
Channels, threads and a huge range of integrations. The free plan limits how far back you can see, which starts to matter once the team relies on it.
- 2.
Microsoft Teams
Teams already on Microsoft 365
Chat, meetings and files in one place, and often already paid for.
- 3.
Discord
Very small, informal teams
Free, with good voice channels. It's built for communities and gaming, so admin tools and search are thinner for work.
- 4.
Google Chat
Teams on Google Workspace
Included with Workspace and tied into Gmail and Docs, though simpler than Slack.
Meetings: talking on a schedule
Meetings are for what needs everyone at once: planning, reviews, hard conversations. Keep them short, share an agenda first, and write down what was decided.
- 5.
Google Meet
Teams who want nothing to install
Runs in the browser and comes with Google Workspace.
- 6.
Zoom
Large calls and patchy connections
Reliable with big groups and slow internet, with good recording. Free meetings have a time limit.
- 7.
Microsoft Teams
Teams that already chat in Teams
Keeps calls next to the conversation they came from.
Presence: talking right away
This is the job most remote teams leave empty. In an office you can see who's free and ask a quick question in passing. Remotely, every question becomes a message or a booked call, and small things wait.
A virtual office fills that gap: a shared space where you see who's around, who's in a meeting and who wants quiet, and start talking without booking anything.
- 8.
A virtual office
Teams that want to feel together all day
A shared floor in the browser, like TinyFloor: walk up to someone to talk, step into a room to meet, and see at a glance who's around.
- 9.
An open voice channel
Very small teams on Slack or Discord
A huddle or voice channel left open for people to drop into. Simple, but you can't see who's busy or focused.
- 10.
Clear status messages
Every team, whatever else it uses
"In a meeting", "heads down" or "back at 2" saves a lot of "are you there?" messages.
Docs: writing things down
Anything people will ask about twice belongs in a doc, not in chat: how you work, what was decided and why, how to set up a laptop. A short team handbook saves every new person weeks.
- 11.
Notion
Handbooks, wikis and planning
Docs, wikis and simple databases in one place.
- 12.
Google Docs
Quick shared writing
Fast to share and edit together, and everyone already knows how to use it.
- 13.
Confluence
Teams already on Jira
Common in larger teams that plan their work in Jira.
Tasks: who is doing what
One shared board, kept current, ends most "what's the status?" messages. Pick one that matches how technical your team is.
- 14.
Linear
Software teams
Fast and opinionated, built around issues, cycles and projects.
- 15.
Trello
Anyone, in minutes
Simple boards and cards that need no explaining.
- 16.
Asana
Non-technical teams
Projects, timelines and workload views.
- 17.
GitHub Issues
Small engineering teams
Enough if your work already lives on GitHub.
Time zones and written updates
Teams spread across time zones need fewer live meetings and better written updates. Agree on a few hours of overlap, share calendars, and replace the daily standup call with a written check-in where you can. Our guide to async communication shows how.
- A time zone planner. Find hours that work for everyone before you book. Our free time zone meeting planner shows the overlap at a glance.
- A written standup. Yesterday, today and anything blocking, posted in one channel. Our free daily standup template gives you a format to copy.
- Short screen recordings. A two-minute recording, with a tool like Loom, often explains more than a long message.
Three starter stacks
Start small. You can always add a tool later; taking one away is harder.
- The free stack. A team of 2 or 3 with no budget: Slack's free plan or Discord for chat, Google Meet for calls, Google Docs for writing, Trello for tasks, and TinyFloor's free plan as the office.
- The Google stack. Teams on Google Workspace: Google Chat, Meet, Docs and Calendar, with Linear or Trello for tasks and a virtual office for the time between meetings.
- The Microsoft stack. Teams on Microsoft 365: Teams for chat and meetings, SharePoint or OneNote for docs, Planner for tasks, and a virtual office for presence.
How to choose
- One home for each job. Two chat apps means every question gets asked twice. Decide where each kind of thing goes, and write it down.
- Start on free plans. Most of these tools have one. Use it for a month, then pay for the tools the team actually opens every day.
- Fewer tools, used well. Every new tool is one more place to check. Add one only when a job has no home.
- Check where your data lives. If you work with customers in Europe or for a strict employer, read each tool's privacy and data location pages before you commit.