Most people don’t like group work. But group work can be even tougher when you have to communicate with people hundreds of miles apart from one another.
That’s why the internet is such a useful thing. The internet is home to all sorts of different tools designed to make remote group easier. Here are just a few of the tools you can use today:

Dropbox

If you’re not using a cloud storage tool like Dropbox, then you’re missing out. Dropbox and similar services let you share group documents easily. All edits are shared with the group when connected online and you can easily access files offline as well. It’s free and easy to setup a group folder. If you’re doing a group project that involves a lot of files and documents being exchanged, then Dropbox can definitely help.

Google Hangouts

Most people don’t like or use Google+. But there is one silver lining to Google+: Hangouts. Hangouts lets you host conferences for up to ten people. It tends to be better than Skype in terms of video and call quality, but its conferencing abilities are what makes this particularly useful for group projects. There’s also a chatting area if you’re too shy to turn on your webcam or microphone.

Harvest

Does your group project have a strict budget? Are there lots of little expenses of which you need to keep track? Harvest is a good way to manage it all. Harvest has apps and software for every major desktop and mobile operating system. You can easily input budget information and the dates and times you spent that money. If you’re on a budget and need to track invoices, then Harvest is an excellent solution. It’s also a good way to track the time you spend on each task.

Asana

There are plenty of task management programs out there, and Asana is just one of them. I don’t know if it’s the best, but it is one of the good ones. Asana lets you easily create tasks, deadlines, timetables, daily checklists, and other information to keep a team on task. If your team is on the go, then you’ll appreciate the Asana iOS and Android apps. Everything is displayed in a simple document for ease-of-use and ease-of-reading. Other notable project management programs include BaseCamp and Trello, but there are literally hundreds out there. All of these programs let your team communicate without email over a virtual work environment. Some require subscription fees, but most have a basic free trial signup for smaller projects.