Remote work tools: a practical guide for SMEs

Remote work has stopped being an exception and become a routine way of working for many Spanish SMEs. Working remotely has clear advantages —less time lost commuting, greater flexibility, access to talent from anywhere in the country— but it also demands a change of mindset and, above all, the right tools. Without them, communication breaks down, files get duplicated and no one knows who is doing what.

In this guide we go through the categories of tools that any remote team needs, along with some of the most widely used options in 2026. The idea is not to install everything at once, but to cover four basic needs: communicating, sharing files, organising the work and managing people.

Communication tools

When the team doesn’t share an office, communication is the first thing to sort out. You need one channel for day-to-day work (quick messages, questions, coordination) and another for meetings and video calls.

Slack

Slack organises the team’s conversation into channels by project, department or topic, so each conversation stays where it belongs instead of everything getting mixed into a single thread. It supports direct messages, quick calls, file sharing and integrates with dozens of applications. Its free plan is enough to get started with small teams; the paid plans extend message history and admin features. Very solid alternatives are Microsoft Teams (built into the Microsoft 365 ecosystem) and Google Chat.

Google Meet

For video calls, Google Meet is one of the simplest options: it runs in the browser, with nothing to install, and integrates with Google Calendar to create meetings in one click. It’s the natural successor to the old Google Hangouts, which Google has already retired. Alternatives include Zoom, very popular for client meetings and webinars, and Microsoft Teams, which combines chat and video calls in a single tool. For an SME, the sensible move is to pick the one that already comes with your corporate email (Google Workspace or Microsoft 365) and avoid duplicating subscriptions.

File tools

Working remotely means documents can’t live on the hard drive of an office computer. You need cloud storage so the whole team can access the latest version of every file from anywhere.

Google Drive

Google Drive combines cloud storage with real-time collaborative editing through Docs, Sheets and Slides. Several people can edit the same file at once, with permission controls and a version history that stops work from being lost. It’s a very convenient option for SMEs that already use Gmail. The equivalent alternative in the Microsoft world is OneDrive together with the web version of Office; and Dropbox remains a solid option focused on file syncing.

WeTransfer

Not everything can be sent by email: attachments have size limits and heavy files (videos, designs, large packages) get stuck. WeTransfer solves the one-off sending of large files without needing to create an account: you upload the file, enter the recipient and it generates a download link for you. Its free version lets you send up to a generous size per transfer, enough for most occasional deliveries. For recurring exchanges within the team, it’s better to rely on cloud storage (Drive or OneDrive), and keep WeTransfer for the occasional delivery to clients or external collaborators.

Project management tools

When you don’t see each other’s faces every day, it’s easy to lose track of who is doing what and by when. A project management tool makes everyone’s work visible and stops tasks from slipping through the cracks.

Trello

Trello organises work into boards with lists and cards that move along as each task progresses (for example: “To do”, “In progress” and “Done”). It’s very visual and intuitive, ideal for small teams starting to get organised remotely. Each card supports assignees, due dates, checklists and comments. Its free plan covers the needs of most SMEs. Notable alternatives include Asana and monday.com, somewhat more complete for complex workflows, and Notion, which combines documentation and task management in the same space.

Microsoft Project

For large, complex projects —with many interdependent tasks, tight deadlines and resource allocation— Microsoft Project offers advanced management with Gantt charts and detailed planning. It’s a powerful tool, geared more towards project management than the day-to-day of a small team. For most remote-working SMEs, a Trello- or Asana-type solution tends to be more agile; Microsoft Project fits when the planning is genuinely complex.

People management tools

The tools above help the team work in a coordinated way, but remote work also raises specific HR challenges: recording the working hours of people who aren’t in the office, managing holidays and absences, tracking time fairly and complying with the regulations.

Here it’s worth remembering that in Spain time tracking is mandatory for remote work too. The Ley 10/2021 de trabajo a distancia (Spain’s 2021 remote work law) requires an accurate record of the working hours of people who work remotely, and the digital clock-in regulations in force in 2026 reinforce that this record must be objective and accessible for inspection. Keeping it on a spreadsheet is unworkable when the team is spread out.

LapsoWork

LapsoWork is HR software designed for Spanish SMEs that handles remote people management from a single platform. Your team can clock in from their phone or computer wherever they are, with optional geolocation, and you get real-time time tracking for the whole workforce, in compliance with the law. On top of that, LapsoWork centralises holiday and absence management, shifts, payroll, the whistleblowing channel and a document manager, so you don’t need half a dozen different tools for everything to do with people.

Unlike communication or file tools, which solve one part of remote work, HR management is the one that prevents the most legal problems: a poorly kept time record can lead to penalties. That’s why it’s worth having this piece covered from day one.

How to choose your combination of tools

There’s no single tool stack that works for everyone. The practical recommendation for an SME starting or consolidating its remote work is straightforward:

• Communication: a chat channel (Slack or Teams) + a video-call tool (Meet, Zoom or Teams).
• Files: cloud storage (Google Drive or OneDrive) as a base, and WeTransfer for occasional large deliveries.
• Projects: a visual tool (Trello or Asana) that makes everyone’s work visible.
• People: HR software like LapsoWork that guarantees time tracking and legal compliance.

The key isn’t to pile up applications, but to choose a few that integrate well with each other. Start with the essentials, learn to use them as a team and expand only when you feel a real need.

Well-organised remote work doesn’t depend on having the most expensive tools, but on having the right ones and getting the whole team to use them. If you want to bring order to the HR and time-tracking side of your remote team, you can try LapsoWork free for 30 days and see how easy it is to have everything under control.