The first tools were made from stone. Today’s are made from software that lives on the internet…try explaining that to a caveman. 

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But one thing remains the same despite the passing of time. Tools (good ones, anyway) improve our lives. 

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And tools for managers lessen the load that comes with managing tasks and people.

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Which ones actually help you stay on task, navigate the complexities of managing multiple people with different personalities, and improve your leadership style while managing a remote team? 

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That’s what we set out to find out. And the result is this list of the top 21 tools, broken down by use case.

Here are the categories we cover:

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• Management tools for improving day-to-day leadership
• Project management tools
• Reward and recognition tools
• Tools to improve how you work with others
• Productivity tools
• Communication tools
• Task management tools
• Tools to tell HR about

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Now let’s look at each tool's best use case, features, price, why managers love it, and our top tips for putting the tool into use.

The best management tool for improving your day-to-day leadership

One of the biggest struggles managers face, whether taking on the position first-time or with years of experience behind them, is finding the time and dedication to follow through on management best practice.

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Preparing for one on one meetings thoroughly, handling difficult conversations with empathy and effectiveness, completing action items, checking in on their team without micromanaging, and the list goes on.

They know what good management looks like but the demands on their time, stressors, and emotions get in the way. The following tool addresses that struggle head on.

1. Waggle — The AI co-pilot helping you lead and support your team

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💯 Best for: managers who want to support and lead a high-performing team while making their personal workload feel lighter

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Waggle is an AI co-pilot for managers of remote and hybrid teams, there to help them navigate management tasks effectively and lead each direct report to high-performance.

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This tool streamlines meeting prep and follow through by prompting you to fill out agenda items, reminding you of past action items, nudging you to act with management best practice in mind, and helping you to build the behaviors of a world-class manager (the kind your team and business are grateful to have).

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🔩 Favorite features:

• Automated & personalized 1-1 meeting preparation with templates
• Real-time coaching in video calls 
• Behavioural nudges to help you follow through on intentions

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As a new product, Waggle features are being developed and improved all the time. Some of the features mentioned are in early stages but the tool is already improving the lives and skills of first-time and experienced managers at start-ups. 

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By signing up for early access to Waggle, you’ll be the first to benefit from new features that make managing a team easier than ever.

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❤️ Why managers love it:

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Most managers come from an individual contributor background. That means they’ve spent time honing a skill set that isn’t necessarily going to help them manage a team effectively.

Waggle helps managers upskill and learn on the job, in a way that traditional management training can’t. 

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It takes the mental load off so that managers can be present and productive for their team.

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💰 Pricing:

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Individual member (non-manager): $0 per seat/month

Individual member (manager): $30 per seat/month

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Team account (non-manager): $10 per seat/month

Team account (manager): $30 per seat/month

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There’s also a deal where you get 20% off if you sign up for 12 months.

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💡Top tip:

If you’re a manager interested in Waggle but not wanting to pay the monthly fee, ask your company to expense it.

Most organizations have a Learning and Development budget that you can use to cover the fee of Waggle. It’s easy to justify because Waggle helps you develop new skills and learn on the job. 

Project management tools for managers

People managers often have to double as project managers. And the bigger your team, the more moving parts there are. That requires oversight on what’s being done, when, and by whom.

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The following manager tools can help you keep key projects on track.

2. Notion - Project management and team wiki

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💯 Best for: Managers who want a centralized database of documents with project management features.

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Managers can use Notion to organize team projects, track deadlines, and centralize important project documents, all in one place. 

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A Notion kanban board visually tracks the status of various tasks with the option to ‘switch’ views to Gantt charts, calendars, tables, and more. You can also assign tasks and leave comments for yourself or others.

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While it takes a little while to learn how to use Notion, its capabilities are well worth the effort.

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🔩 Favorite features:

• Kanban board and Gantt chart view
• Integrations with G-Suite
• Centralized database for all team members

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❤️ Why managers love it:

Manager’s love that Notion is a one-stop shop for their teams processes, documents, and projects. 

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💰 Pricing:

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Notion is free for individual use but most managers will need a Plus plan to accommodate their team. Many organizations pay for Business or Enterprise access that you can use too.

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Plus: $8 per user, per month (billed annually) or $10 per month, per user (billed monthly)

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Business: $15 per user, per month (billed annually) or $18 per month, per user (billed monthly)

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Enterprise: Custom pricing

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💡Top tip:

If you decide to use Notion for your project management tool, consider using templates and reading the many guides Notion has.

That way you can use the tool to its full potential.

3. G-Suite - Your office in the Cloud

💯 Best for: Managers who need a comprehensive set of tools for collaboration, document creation, and communication.

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Google has a suite of tools known as G-suite. It includes Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, Meet, Gmail, and Gcal. It's ideal for managers who need a seamless, integrated platform for team collaboration and document management. It’s usually provided by the business.

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You can prepare strategies together in a Doc, work on a presentation in Slides, jump on a Meet call to work through blockers or for 1-1s, and more.

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🔩 Favorite features:

• Real-time collaboration on Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides
• Integrated video conferencing with Google Meet
• Shared calendars for easy scheduling

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❤️ Why managers love it:

The G-Suite lets you co-edit documents and track changes in real-time, have calls over Google Meet, and arrange your work day in your calendar for transparent scheduling. 

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The best part is the tools in the suite all work together to streamline group projects and team communication.

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💰 Pricing:

G-Suite offers various plans starting at $6 per user, per month. 

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Business and Enterprise plans with additional features are also available.

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💡Top tip:

Leverage Google Drive's shared folders for team projects. This ensures everyone has access to the latest versions of documents, reducing confusion and streamlining collaboration.

4. Proofhub - Streamlined project management and collaboration

💯 Best for: Managers looking for a flat-fee solution to keep projects organized and team members accountable

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ProofHub is a project management tool that offers flat-fee pricing and features like visual timelines and built-in chat. It's designed to keep projects organized and make team collaboration more efficient.

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🔩 Favorite features:

• Flat-fee pricing for unlimited users
• Visual timelines for project tracking
• Built-in chat and discussion boards

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❤️ Why managers love it:

Managers love that they can add users without increasing the expense. It makes budgeting easier and means you can add external members to the account when working with freelancers and consultants.

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💰 Pricing:

Ultimate control package: $89 / month (billed annually) for unlimited users and unlimited projects.

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Essential package: $45 / month (billed annually) for unlimited users and capped at 40 projects.

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💡Top tip:

Use ProofHub's built-in chat for quick team check-ins. It keeps communication centralized, reducing the need for endless email threads.

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5. Asana - Workflow automation and project management

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💯 Best for: Managers who want to keep their remote team on task and on schedule for async collaborative projects.

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Asana is a project management software and workflow automation tool that helps managers keep projects organized and teams aligned while remote. Its customizable features and automation rules make it customizable to how you prefer to work with your team.

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🔩 Favorite features:

• Customizable project templates
• Workflow automation with Asana Rules
• Advanced search and reporting features

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❤️ Why managers love it:

Asana comes with customizable project templates that make it easy for managers to get started with the tool. 

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There are also Asana Rules which automate routine tasks. Fun fact: Waggle is working on this too!

💰 Pricing:

Asana offers a free basic plan, with premium plans starting at $10.99 per user, per month when billed annually.

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💡Top tip:

You can use the advanced search and reporting features to track performance and project milestones.

Reward and recognition tools for managers

Recognition is a great retention tool and a way to sustain and encourage high performance across your team. 

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Maybe they’ve wrapped up a huge project that took a lot of effort and time. A reward—big or small—can let them know how well they did and how grateful you are to have them working with you.

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Career milestones are also a great time to surprise them with a gift. Whatever reason you have for rewarding and recognizing your team, here are some tools that can help.

6. Bucketlist - Personalized employee recognition 

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💯 Best for: Managers who want to foster a culture of appreciation while boosting morale

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Bucketlist lets you send shout outs that recognize your team’s efforts, achievements, and milestones. It also has the option to send gifts for extra special occasions where more than words are needed to let a team member know how well they’ve done.

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🔩 Favorite features:

• Real-time recognition and feedback messages
• Personalized reward options ranging from gift cards to experiences
• Gifts can be given in 20 different countries (perfect for distributed teams)

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❤️ Why managers love it:

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Managers love how easy it is to type up a recognition message to a member of their team while also being able to go the extra mile and select a reward such as a massage, an Amazon gift card, or a unique life experience. 

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💰 Pricing:

Bucketlist has a free 14 day trial but after that pricing on the website is not listed. 

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💡Top tip:

Recognition can go beyond your team! Foster cross-team collaboration and appreciation by sending recognition to others in the business.

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You’ll want to suggest this to your Leadership or HR team as a tool they implement across the organization. 

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7. Mo - Thoughtful employee recognition and reward

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💯 Best for: Managers who want to praise regularly and go beyond generic recognitions

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Mo is a reward and recognition tool that helps managers build a more inclusive and appreciative team culture, especially in an async, remote working environment. 

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With features like weekly encouragement suggestions and peer-to-peer 'Boosts', it ensures everyone in the team feels valued and recognized.

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🔩 Favorite features:

• Weekly suggestions for personalized encouragement
• 'Boosts' feature for fostering daily habits of recognition and connection
• Transparent reward system with cash-based rewards in local currency

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❤️ Why managers love it:

Managers love that they’re encouraged and reminded to give thoughtful recognition on a weekly basis to all their team members. 

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💰 Pricing:

Starter: $3/£3 per user, per month

Level up: $5/£5 per user, per month

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💡Top tip:

Use Mo to keep your team motivated to perform and feeling valued by giving weekly recognition and acknowledging milestones beyond birthdays. 

Tools to improve how you work with others

Working well with others is one of the most underrated skills in the workplace. 

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When it comes to managers, how collaborative, empathetic, and adaptive you are can dictate how your team speaks about you when you’re not there.

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Collaboration tools for managers range from digital whiteboards where you can brainstorm remotely to getting insights into your team members’ personalities. 

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Here’s a short list of our favorite tools to improve teamwork.

8. Miro - Visual collaboration online

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💯 Best for: Managers looking to foster creativity and collaboration within their team.

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Miro is a visual collaboration platform with an online whiteboard where a team can document ideas, create mood boards for projects, visualize a strategy, and more.

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🔩 Favorite features:

• Infinite canvas for brainstorming and mapping out ideas
• Pre-built templates for various use cases such as Agile workflows and user story maps
• Real-time collaboration allowing team members to work synchronously or asynchronously

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❤️ Why managers love it:

Managers can bring their remote team together for virtual brainstorming that gets creative juices flowing similar to what happens when in a room together. The tool is flexible and can be used dozens of different ways from project ideation to visualized work processes.

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💰 Pricing:

Miro offers a free plan with basic features, and premium plans start at $8 per user, per month when billed annually.

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💡Top tip:

Have a Miro board whenever you start a new project as a team. Set it up as a brainstorm tool and reserve a space for a project retro where you review what went wrong, what went well, and what you can carry forward for next time.  

9. PrinciplesYou - Tailored insights on you and your team

💯 Best for: Managers who want to know what motivates their team and how they can better understand the way they work.

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PrinciplesYou is a tool designed to enhance self-awareness and other-awareness, helping managers make better decisions and work more effectively with their teams. 

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By understanding personality archetypes and applying insights to real-life situations, it offers a roadmap to achieving your goals through improved understanding and collaboration.

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🔩 Favorite features:

• Personality archetypes that help you understand different work styles
• Reports that help you understand your reports personality
• Helps you plan actionable strategies for day-to-day work scenarios based on personalities in your team

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❤️ Why managers love it:

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PrinciplesYou is like having a secret manual for understanding your team on a deeper level, helping you navigate the complex world of different personalities with ease.

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💰 Pricing:

The website doesn’t list the pricing for the API but there’s a free Archetype test. There’s also a book and an App for ‘Principles in Action’.

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💡Top tip:

Use the insights from PrinciplesYou to play to your team's strengths. If you have a project coming up and you notice one team member is more analytical while another is more of an ideator, assign tasks accordingly and get the best out of each team member.

10. 16 Personalities - A look at the team psyche

💯 Best for: Managers who quickly want to understand the why behind their team's actions.

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16 Personalities is the tool that helps you understand not just what your team members do, but why they do it, giving you a fresh perspective in managing diverse personalities effectively.

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🔩 Favorite features:

• 10 minute test for fast a detailed personality analysis 
• In-depth insights that you can turn into action
• Easy to use

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❤️ Why managers love it:

Managers love that it helps them manage different personality types so that even when someone is different to them they can figure out how to motivate and communicate effectively. 

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Compared to PrinciplesYou, 16Personalities is a faster quiz that still provides deep insights.

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💰 Pricing:

£19, monthly per team member.

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💡Top tip:

When conflict arises in the team, point everyone towards each other's 16 personality results. It can help you all understand where the others are coming from and how they can work better together. 

Productivity tools for managers

It’s an understatement to say your plate is full as a manager. In fact, you’re spinning so many plates at once it’s surprising one hasn’t come tumbling down yet. 

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That’s why it's useful to have productivity tools in your managerial tech stack.

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These next three manager tools on our list are a great place to start with making your workload more manageable and your time spent more effectively.

11. Your calendar - A source of truth that helps you organize your time

💯 Best for: Anyone who needs to organize their days, block off time for specific types of work, and make their schedules visible to others

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Okay, admittedly this tool isn’t a specific brand. Your calendar could be on Gcal (a tool we already mentioned), Apple, Microsoft, etc. 

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You can use your calendar to hold yourself accountable to certain tasks by blocking off time and organizing your day so that you’re working how you work best. That might mean you never spend mornings in meetings because that’s when you work best.

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🔩 Favorite features:

• Time blocking so that you have dedicated time set to do deep work where meetings can’t be booked
• Having ‘office hours’ where your team can ping you and get your support on things they’re working on
• Integrates with other manager tools like Waggle

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❤️ Why managers love it:

Your calendar is like a source of truth and for busy managers, they want to be able to see what their day holds in a single glance. 

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💰 Pricing:

Varies by tool but your calendar will probably be included in whatever suite of tools your business uses.

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💡Top tip:

Make use of color-coding features to categorize your tasks and appointments. It’s a visual cue that helps you quickly identify and prioritize your daily action items.

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Waggle can help here too. The Waggle dashboard helps you schedule your team rituals (like 1-1s) and know what needs to be done that day in terms of action items and meeting prep.

12. Fathom - Recorded and summarized video calls

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💯 Best for: Managers who want a secure way to record video calls.

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The Fathom video tool keeps you from wasting time rewatching calls to extract details. Instead the tool does that for you through its AI. It summarizes meetings, pulls key insights for you, and helps you follow up with people faster.

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🔩 Favorite features:

• Free version with unlimited use
• 100% private unless you decide to share the recordings
• Integrates with your go-to video conference tools like Zoom, Google Meet. and Microsoft Teams

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❤️ Why managers love it:

Managers can use Fathom without having to worry about expensing it. 

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Plus in a remote work environment, it helps them remember what from the meeting was important.

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💰 Pricing:

The Fathom app is available for free, offering unlimited call recordings with no usage limitations.

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💡Top tip:

You can use Fathom to create a library of call recordings that can serve as a valuable resource for training new team members.

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13. Sanebox - Your email assistant

💯 Best for: Managers drowning in a sea of emails and looking for a lifeline to prioritize what truly matters.

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SaneBox is the tool that helps managers stay on top of their email. It has useful features that bring what's important in front of you. 

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🔩 Favorite features:

• Daily summaries of your inbox activity
• Customize your inbox with filters that learn your preferences over time
• Recognizes important contacts so their emails always land at the top of your inbox

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❤️ Why managers love it:

It’s great to have when coming back from PTO, when your inbox is at its most cluttered. Managers can quickly sift through the important stuff and then jump into action mode rather than spend ages on what doesn’t matter.

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💰 Pricing:

Snack: 1 Email account with 2 features at $7 per month,with longer subscriptions at discounted prices.

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Lunch: 2 Email accounts with 6 features each at $12 per month, with longer subscriptions at discounted prices.

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Dinner: 4 Email accounts with all features at $36 per month, with longer subscriptions at discounted prices.

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💡Top tip:

Set aside a specific time each day to review the daily SaneBox summary. It will give you a clear snapshot of your email activity, helping you to quickly identify and respond to the most important messages without getting bogged down in your inbox.

Communication tools for managers

Ever get instructions or feedback on your work that was… a little unclear? What about reading a report or strategy doc that was full of grammatical errors and poorly structured? Maybe you’re a visual learner who prefers recorded visual instructions.

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Communicating effectively is the mark of a great leader and it’s a people management skill you need to hone. 

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Your team will appreciate you making sure they know what expectations are and that there doesn’t have to be a ton of back and forth to get clear on them.

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Here are some tools that can enhance and improve your remote work communication.

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14. Grammarly - A virtual proofreader 

💯 Best for: Managers who want to ensure their written communication is clear, professional, and error-free, whether it's a quick email or an important report.

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Grammarly is a writing assistant that provides real-time grammar and style corrections. From catching typos to fine-tuning your tone, it's the tool that ensures your writing is always professional and on point.

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🔩 Favorite features:

• Checks your grammar as your write and suggests corrections
• Detects your tone when writing to help you accurately communicate the emotions behind your message
• Works with Google docs and other applications

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❤️ Why managers love it:

Working remotely means there’s ample opportunity for async written communication. Grammarly helps keep your messages, reports, and documents clear and accurate so that no wires get crossed.

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💰 Pricing:

Grammarly offers a free version with basic writing suggestions. For more advanced features, Grammarly Premium is available at $11.66/month (billed annually), and there's also a business plan for teams.

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💡Top tip:

Make use of Grammarly's tone detector to ensure your messages hit the right note, especially when communicating sensitive information or feedback.

15. Slack - Where teams connect 

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💯 Best for: Managers seeking a centralized platform for team communication and collaboration, reducing email overload and fostering real-time, productive discussions.

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Slack is a communication platform that centralizes team discussions and integrates with various work tools.

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It facilitates focused conversations and real-time collaboration, enhancing productivity in team environments.

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🔩 Favorite features:

• Organize conversations by channel
• Integrate with a wide array of tools
• Easily share files and documents within the chat, facilitating quick access and collaboration on projects

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❤️ Why managers love it:

Slack takes the chaos out of team communication, offering a structured yet flexible platform where conversations are easy to track and files are at your fingertips. 

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Managers appreciate the ability to create channels for different projects or topics, keeping discussions focused and reducing the clutter of email threads. 

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💰 Pricing:

Slack offers a free tier with basic features. For more advanced functionalities, the paid plans start at $6.67 per user per month (billed annually).

💡Top tip:

It’s great to use across the organization so everyone can communicate and collaborate easier.

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16. Loom - Quick and easy async video messaging

💯 Best for: Managers looking to convey information quickly and personally through video messages, without the hassle of scheduling meetings.

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Loom is a video messaging tool that facilitates quick and personal communication through instant video recordings.

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🔩 Favorite features:

• Record videos with a simple click of the extension on your desktop or browser
• Trim your videos to keep only the essential parts, ensuring your message is concise and to the point
• See who's watched, left comments, and engaged

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❤️ Why managers love it:

Sometimes you need to quickly and personally convey a message without the back-and-forth of emails. Managers find Loom a time-saver, allowing them to express themselves more fully and clearly compared to written communication 

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💰 Pricing:

Loom offers a free version with basic functionalities. For additional features and controls, paid plans start at $8 per month.

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💡Top tip:

Use Loom for asynchronous meetings, allowing team members to absorb information at their own pace and respond when they are ready, fostering a more thoughtful and efficient communication process.

Task management tools for managers

Similar to project management but accounting for tasks that don’t fit neatly within a specific project, task management tools are a great way to stay on top of the day to day.

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They allow you to create tasks, organize them, assign them, and check them off as they get completed. 

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Here are two that make tasks easier to complete.

17. Todoist - Streamlining your to-do list

💯 Best for: Managers who are looking for a straightforward tool to organize tasks.

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Todoist is a task management tool designed to help managers organize and prioritize tasks efficiently.

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🔩 Favorite features:

• Create tasks and sub-tasks to break down complex projects into manageable pieces
• Set task priority levels
• Sync with your other manager tools like GCal and Slack

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❤️ Why managers love it:

Managers love being able to see their tasks broken down into manageable pieces, with clear deadlines and priority levels.

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💰 Pricing:

Todoist offers a free basic version. For more advanced features, premium plans are available starting at $3 per month.

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💡Top tip:

Take advantage of Todoist’s recurring task feature to manage regular tasks without the need to create new entries each time.

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Don’t want tools that have overlapping features? Waggle also helps you manage tasks and action items day by day. It’s the go-to tool that makes managing a team easier. And no, we’re not biased at all 😉…we’re just building a product we really believe in.

18. Scribe - Pick up team tasks effortlessly

💯 Best for: Managers who want to streamline the documentation process so that team tasks are easier to complete

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Scribe automates the documentation process, eliminating the need for manual screenshot taking and note-making. 

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🔩 Favorite features:

• Automated documentation saves you time
• Process documentation ensures that all team members complete tasks in the same effective manner
• Use it to train and onboard new team members

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❤️ Why managers love it:

Managers love that it fosters consistency and efficiency in task completion, with the added bonus of being a great training aid for new team members, and useful when someone has to pick up another’s tasks.

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💰 Pricing:

Basic: $0

Pro (personal): $23 per seat, per month

Pro (team): $12 per seat, per month -  minimum 5 seats

💡Top tip:

Utilize Scribe to create a database of best practices for various tasks, fostering a culture of efficiency and consistency in your team.

Tools to tell HR about

Some of the best tools for managers are ones the business needs to invest in. That’s the case with some of those already mentioned, but more so for the last few tools on our list.

These are a variety of tools that HR or People teams can bring in to help you support and engage your teams.

19. Learnerbly - The learning marketplace 

💯 Best for: Managers who want their team to learn and grow within their roles

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Learnerbly is a learning marketplace that curates upskilling opportunities based on your growth goals and learning preferences. Your employer provides you with a learning budget you can use to progress in your career. 

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🔩 Favorite features:

• See what development goals your team has set 
• Make recommendations on resources that will help them improve
• Approve and manage team requests directly in Slack 

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❤️ Why managers love it:

Learnerbly is a great tool for managers to oversee and nurture their team’s development.

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💰 Pricing:

It’s not listed, so you’ll have to get in touch with the Learnerbly team directly.

💡Top tip:

Use your Learnerbly learning budget to subscribe to Waggle.

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20. Weekdone - OKR platform

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💯 Best for: Managers who want to keep team goals aligned to business goals 

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Weekdone is a tool designed to help managers align team goals with company objectives through effective OKR tracking and weekly planning.

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🔩 Favorite features:

• OKR setting and tracking 
• Real-time progress updates across the organization
• Analytics and reports to see how far you’ve come and how far you have to go

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❤️ Why managers love it:

Weekdone takes the guesswork out of aligning team goals with company objectives. It’s a tool that fosters clarity, ensuring that every team member knows exactly what they are working towards and why. 

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💰 Pricing:

$0 up to 3 people.

From there it starts at a 10 person package, $8 per user.

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💡Top tip:

Set up a time every week to go and update your team OKRs. You can even do this as a team in a weekly retro. 

21. Betterup - Personalized coaching for every team member

💯 Best for: Managers who want personalized coaching to their team members, fostering individual growth and overall team development

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BetterUp is a platform that offers personalized coaching sessions, helping individuals grow and develop in alignment with team objectives.

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🔩 Favorite features:

• one-on-one coaching sessions tailored to individual needs
• rich library of learning resources
• insights into individual and team progress through detailed analytics and reporting

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❤️ Why managers love it:

Managers find it a valuable ally in nurturing talent, with the analytics and reporting feature offering a clear picture of individual and team progress.

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💰 Pricing:

Betterup’s pricing isn’t listed on the website. So you’ll have to schedule a call or demo to find out.

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💡Top tip:

Encourage team members to actively engage with their coaches and make the most of the learning resources available, fostering a culture of continuous learning and personal growth.

As a manager you can also get a coach. Between a real coach and your Waggle AI co-pilot, you’ll be able to grow even faster into your leadership potential.

Management tool types you won't see on this list

You may have noticed we didn’t recommend any employee monitoring systems. 

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The use of these tools often signal a lack of trust between employer and employee.

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If you want to check in on your team members to see what they’re working on and how productive they’re being, why not add more touchpoints to your week such as 1-1s and stand-ups? That way your team also gets a time to speak to you and get support on the work they’re doing.

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How do you choose the manager tool(s) that’s right for you?

Budgets can be limited and a tech stack of 20+ tools is a bit overwhelming. So how do you decide which ones will benefit you most and are worth the investment?

We recommend making a list of the areas of management you’re struggling with most. List them by priority and then break down how much of your budget you can spend on these tools or where you need to go to get them expensed.

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For example, maybe you’re a new manager who is really struggling with getting your head around all of the new tasks and responsibilities you have. If that’s the case you’d be better off investing in a tool like Waggle.

Another great aspect of Waggle anyway is that the tools capabilities overlap with many of the other tools anyway. It can be a catch all solution for task management and notetaking from calls, especially as the product develops and new features are added.

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