If you’ve ever managed a remote team before, you know how challenging it can be to keep things organized and make sure everyone is on the same page at all times. If you haven’t, well… Now you know. 

Luckily, preventing this hardship is TOTALLY possible and all it takes is a bit of planning and intention. 

There are so many apps available to small businesses and entrepreneurs these days to make life easier. Unfortunately, they also normally come with a learning curve that we business owners don’t plan time for. 

So before I jump into the three tools I use with my Rebel Office team to keep us all working harmoniously together – from Australia to South Africa to Canada – I want to first say: MAKE the time to plan properly and get your apps set up exactly how you want them before throwing your remote team onto them to figure it. 

You’re the boss. Know the systems and be the guide for your remote team so that you keep everyone working efficiently towards your business’ goals. 

Okay, let’s jump in. 

 

ClickUp: Project Management 

Okay, to say I’m obsessed with ClickUp would be an understatement. If you’ve been following me or Rebel Office for any sort of length of time, you’ll know that (1) I’m an Asana Certified Pro and (2) I switched from Asana to ClickUp a little while ago and (3) I’m in love. 

And while ClickUp has a kazillion amazing features, I’m going to go through the three main ones that keep the Rebel Office remote team moving forward and connected. 

 

1. Recurring Tasks 

My remote team ultimately runs off of ONE master to-do list. I’ve called it the Admin project and all key tasks from marketing to managing the Rebel Office Resource Library to general admin like team reviews and submitting taxes all go in this one board so that everyone can see who’s doing what. 

And of course, there are some tasks that happen on a regular basis – daily, weekly and monthly. ClickUp allows us to set deadlines that, once completed, reset with the next due date automatically. 

For example, when our Community and Partnerships manager schedules our weekly discussion prompts in our Facebook group at the beginning of every month, she clicks the little checkmark when she’s done, and the due date updates itself for next month. 

When I schedule the weekly Laptop & Latte Lifestyle digest every Thursday to go out on Friday, I click the little checkmark, and it resets itself to be due next week. 

It’s such a small feature, but a surprising time saver and it keeps the whole remote team accountable to our recurring responsibilities. 

 

2. Chat 

Another feature that keeps my remote team connected with the Chat view. It’s a separate view that you can add to individual projects to keep chat threads open with those involved in that project. 

We have one attached to that “Admin” project for us to chat and stay connected about general things, ask for feedback, offer support and brainstorm ideas, etc. 

But we also have them attached to other specific projects to keep the chat focused on finding solutions, brainstorming and checking in on the progress of specific things. For example, in our Partnerships list, we stay connected to drop in ideas of individuals and companies to reach out to for partnerships – either for collaborations and live Q&As, as well as benefits and perks included in our Rebel Office Resource Library. 

Another example is the Chat view for our blog. Our Blog Manager and I stay in touch about ideas, recommendations, and updates related to keeping our blog content fresh and effective. 

In our world, a world based almost entirely online, staying connected constantly is important to make sure we’re all working together and no one feels left out and on their own. 

 

3. Goals 

One of my favourite features of ClickUp is the Goals feature. 

ClickUp allows me to set specific company goals, set targets, update those targets, and assign tasks to team members specifically related to that goal. 

This means that EVERYONE on my remote team is working in the direction that I want Rebel Office to go in. Not only that, it ensures they are staying focused and keeping track of their progress, as well as watching how it impacts the progress towards the overall goal. 

 

Airtable: Our Interactive Database

While we centralize all of our information in ClickUp, some things are better tracked in Airtable. The beautiful thing about using Airtable – apart from the fact that it’s amazing and its features knock every other spreadsheet out of the park – is that ClickUp allows you to EMBED AIRTABLE VIEWS. That means, even if we’re working in Airtable, it’s all visible and centralized inside of ClickUp. 

Heck. Yes.

We use Airtable primarily as a database for specific things like our blog content. It’s easier to use for a large list, allows our Blog Manager to attached images, links, SEO information, etc. all in one place in a super streamlined way. 

It’s also great for hosting our hashtag library for social media, sharing files with those that don’t have access to our team ClickUp, and more. 

 

Google Drive: Hosting & Sharing 

Google is really the backbone of Rebel Office’s systems. It hosts our main files, keeps us organized, and yet another perk of ClickUp is that it allows us to attach and embed these files directly into it. 

Hellooooo centralization (again). 

With our remote team all set up on GSuite with their Rebel Office emails, everyone gets access to Google Drive: Docs, Spreadsheets, Forms and more. 

Working documents are almost always done in Google Docs except for specific circumstances. Any key planning that requires a spreadsheet is done in Google Sheets and then attached within ClickUp to make sure that everyone has access and can find it quickly. 

Ultimately Google Drive, along with Airtable and ClickUp, are used to make sure the Rebel Office remote team can work together, find information on the go, and stay connected and focused on the ultimate mission for Rebel Office: connecting and supporting female founders all around the world. 

While running a business isn’t all about apps and tools and shiny objects, finding and building systems that work for YOUR business goes such a long way in keeping things organized, keeping you on track, and centralizing everything to help you get that 1-5% closer towards your vision every day. 

 

Now, if you’re dreaming of having everything perfectly planned, structured, organized and strategized for you and your team as we do at Rebel Office, you gotta have our Rebel Office Manual to Build an Impactful 90-day Roadmap, which will help you get strategic, and create a distraction-proof action plan for your BEST QUARTER YET.