Six remote working tips to help you collaborate better

Father-daughter duo Owen and Emily Bannister run a small business software development company and they live 170 miles apart.

When they decided to start a business together, Emily and Owen also chose to make the business work without having to relocate – thank goodness, they say, for these online tools.

Here, Emily gives her guide to successful collaboration when your offices are several motorways away.

1. Project managing online

We use Basecamp. It's a place to share documents, have discussions, create to-do lists and allocate tasks. You can invite clients to join discussions and Basecamp's email updates mean you're always up to speed.

2. Talking it through

When you can't lean over the desk for a chat, use Zoom to communicate for free online. You can connect to your meetings from anywhere, and use the Team Chat function to collaborate easily.

3. Collaboration

CoScreen is a really useful tool. It allows you to work together, share and operate each other's screens. You get a real time view of your teammates screen and can chat with CoScreen at the same time, making collaboration a doddle.

4. Sharing files

For remote working, the cloud is your friend. Dropbox allows you to share files with your team and works well on mobile devices. The service lets you work flexibly and a basic account offers up to 2GB of space for free.

5. Sharing your inspiration

When it comes to gathering inspiration, I recommend using Evernote to collect articles and imagery as you browse the web. Collate your findings into a 'notebook' ready to share with your team.

6. Don't forget to meet up

It's still important to get together from time to time. Plan ahead by writing a list of topics to cover, and tasks to complete – make the most of your time.

It's worth considering investing in a laptop for remote working – plug it into a large screen for presentations.

And finally, remember it's not all about work! Plan some social time with your co-workers, as building strong relationships will help you get the best out of your team and work when you aren't co-located.

Relevant resources

• Three ways to use collaboration tools for your business

• Managing remote teams: Useful tools for keeping staff organised and motivated

• How to improve organisation and communication in a remote team