6 remote work tools you might not have heard of

Approval Studio

Are you looking for a work management tool that’s specifically designed to help you organize design projects? If so, then take a look at Approval Studio. There are a number of design-friendly work management features in this software that I haven’t personally seen in other similar tools. 

For example, there’s an on-screen ruler that lets you measure the size of different elements in real time. If you’re designing cards for a board game and need to make sure they’re all the same size, this could be a great help. 

There are also five different annotation shapes that let you highlight different areas of a mockup so you can comment on it: point, square, circle, free form, and arrow. As someone who’s done design work before, I could see myself using the square for a text box, but the point if I wanted to comment on an image, for example.

As the name suggests, this platform is especially good for smoothing out approval workflows in design processes. For instance, let’s say you’re a designer and your deliverable wasn’t approved. The system will automatically classify your project and send it back to you for edits — without the manager having to do that manually.  

And in case you’re thinking that Approval Studio is only a design tool, fear not. It also includes standard workflow management features that you get on other tools of this nature, such as task assignment, project timelines, notifications, and reporting. 

Video conferencing tools for remote teams

If you’re looking for a tool that will let you have video calls with remote team members, the first names that will pop up are Zoom and Microsoft Teams. But what if there’s a niche solution that’s a better fit for your needs?

Butter

If you’re a coach, a facilitator, or even an HR professional, you could do worse than run your group workshops through Butter. It has some of the most playful, creative features that I’ve ever seen in video call software.

My personal favorite? You customize the look and feel of the waiting room, even going as far as to add waiting music! If the people in your call have a sense of humor, you could have them listen to “Waiting in Vain” by Bob Marley, or something similar! 

To keep the energy high during the call itself, you can get participants to choose from lots of fun emojis (complete with sound effects) to show how they’re feeling. Participants will also appreciate the interactivity of features like on-screen polls, colorful flashcards, and creative breakout rooms, or being able to notify the meeting chair and get added to a queue when they want to talk. 

(Note: If a fun, interactive space is what you’re looking for, check out Klaxoon. It was recently acquired by Wrike, so you’ll soon be able to use visual collaboration and work management features in one place!)

Beyond the fun and games, Butter is also an extremely practical tool. It gives you a huge amount of customizable templates and view modes that you can adapt and reuse in your business. And if you’d like to store recordings of your calls, the software also comes with unlimited cloud storage as well. 

Dialpad

Zoom’s AI isn’t bad at all. It can help summarize virtual meetings, either for your future reference or to help late arrivals catch up on what’s been said so far. But there are some virtual teams who need meeting software with AI that can do more than that. Dialpad exists to fill that niche in the market.

Perhaps you’re a call center manager who supervises dozens of agents. There are so many calls going on around you at a given time that it’s tricky to monitor all of them at once. Dialpad’s AI comes with real-time sentiment analysis so that you can jump into meetings that are derailing before things get completely out of hand.

Or perhaps you’re a sales manager who wants to ensure that reps follow BANT. Rather than monitor every single aspect of their call manually, Dialpad’s AI can help track their adherence to BANT and even suggest helpful phrases or questions mid-conversation. There’s also some utility in Dialpad for QAs who are reviewing dozens of calls a day for compliance purposes. A lot of this work can be automated with AI, making it go much faster. 

Finally, Dialpad’s AI will automatically adjust the video resolution based on your available bandwidth, so participants won’t freeze up if their connection isn’t great.

Communication tools for remote teams

Everyone reading this article has already heard of Slack and knows what it does. I’ve personally been using it for many years, and it’s a good tool. But is it always the right tool for your remote business? Possibly, but why not consider a couple of alternatives that might be a better fit?

Mattermost

Have you ever wished that the communication software your company uses was open source, just so you could get more control over customizing the UI and some of the features? Or perhaps you want to chat with like-minded users on a forum about how best to modify your communication software? 

If that’s you, then Mattermost could be a great fit for your remote business.

For example, Mattermost can be self-hosted, if desired, which gives you more control over your data security. Proprietary communication software like Slack can be self-hosted as well, but you have to add in a third-party cloud provider like Heroku, which makes your stack more bloated and expensive.

I know from my experience that sometimes, companies feel locked into their communication software. So many important conversations are recorded in one place that it feels impossible to switch. This is very convenient for tools that want to create dependency! Mattermost lets you get around this with an easy migration to and from the platform.

I also like how comprehensive the free version of Mattermost feels — it really has everything a user could want. Compare that to the free version of Slack, which has limitations like messages expiring after 90 days, no group huddles, and minimal roles and permissions. 

Pebb

There’s a certain generation that grew up using Facebook to communicate with everyone. Some of those people went on to use Meta’s communication tool, Workplace, at work — not least because the interface felt so familiar.

With Workplace set to close its doors in 2026, those users are now looking for a tool that still feels familiar. Enter Pebb — a communication tool whose UI derives significant inspiration from both Workplace and Facebook itself.

For example, Pebb users have a profile that looks like a Facebook page, and they can scroll through a news feed of tailored content they can react to or comment on. 

The chat UI looks very similar to Facebook Messenger, and the knowledge library looks similar to that feature of Workplace. Pebb is even going as far as to offer Workplace users a free migration of all their Workplace data into Pebb, just to make the transition as smooth as possible. 

Wrike is a one-stop shop to manage your remote work projects

If you’re looking for a one-stop shop that will streamline your remote work projects, consider giving Wrike a try. 

Wrike’s communication and task management functionalities make remote work a breeze, and automations will save your team so much time in the process.

Don’t believe me? Try Wrike for free today and see for yourself!