20 Best Zapier Apps to Make Remote Teams More Productive: Build an Efficient Team No Matter Where You Are With These App Integrations

Remote work is more popular than ever. Many organizations are completely remote, while others use a hybrid model. Regardless, remote teams need the right tools to ensure that they’re able to communicate effectively and handle their responsibilities efficiently. And while many remote workers feel that they’re more productive at home, leaders know that technology can make a dramatic impact there, too.

The state of remote work

Just how common is remote work today? Very is perhaps the best answer. Zippia points out that 27% of US employees work remotely on a full-time basis and 66% do at least part of the time today and that trend will only increase in the future. Forbes points out that 32.6 million Americans will work remotely by 2025.

However, when it comes to productivity within remote work arrangements, the results are more than a little mixed. Many studies indicate an uptick in productivity, but others highlight downward trends, but at least part of that seems to be perception on the part of management, because workers rate themselves as much more productive in most situations.

The good news is that the right tools can help rectify this situation no matter its cause. Zapier is one of the most-used digital platforms in the world today, and it’s replete with apps that integrate to improve efficiency and productivity in a range of ways, including:

• Better transparency so that leaders can see the increase in productivity

• Improved communication so teams can stay on the same page at all times

• Enhanced information sharing

• Improved information and file organization

• Better project and task management capabilities

These are just the tip of the proverbial iceberg. There are apps capable of addressing virtually any productivity or efficiency-related challenges your team may be facing.

And don’t forget – at Smith.ai, we work 24/7, so you don't have to, and we integrate with tools like Zapier to handle it all for you seamlessly.

The 20 best productivity and efficiency apps for Zapier

Zapier has a long list of apps that integrate seamlessly with the platform (thousands of them, actually). But not all of those apps are geared for remote teams or focus on efficiency and productivity. Here are the 20 that you need to consider.

1. Todoist

Todoist is the tool for productivity. If you're trying to improve your time management and business operations and you don't have a dedicated to-do list app, you're not doing yourself a proper service. Todoist is easy to use and can help you track daily operations, meetings, and anything else you have to take care of. Plus, the Zapier integration allows you to send reminders via Gmail or Slack, for example, as well as to automate things like creating a task in Todoist when a new Typeform submission comes in. When your to-do list is writing itself, you're left with even less to do.

2. Microsoft OneNote

Note-taking apps are hugely popular today and for many good reasons. They give everyone the chance to take notes and organize ideas, but OneNote stands out for several reasons. You can share notes with others, edit notes together, and include everything from images to web pages. It’s also a freeform experience that costs nothing to use. Chances are good that your team already has access to it if you use Office 365, too. If the basic 5 GB of storage isn’t enough, you can bump it up for an additional $1.99 per month for 100 GB.

3. Pocket 

Pocket is something of an oddity on this list. It’s designed to save articles for later reading. As such, it’s really more about keeping team members informed and helping to ensure that they don’t forget to check out vital sources of information. That could be very handy in a wide range of industries. And it doesn’t just work with articles. You can save almost anything for access later. Zapier helps Pocket connect with other platforms and apps so that you can do more, like sharing content you saved in Pocket to Slack.

4. Google Calendar

We’ve included several Google tools in this list (you’ll find them farther down), but Google Calendar also ranks very highly. Thus, it’s position here. It’s a great tool for sharing information with team members, including meetings, out-of-office periods, and a lot more. Zapier also empowers Google Calendar to integrate with other tools in your technology stack. Plus, it’s free and who doesn’t love not having to pay for something?

5. Slack

Slack is a great platform that’s used for team communication. You’ll find everything in one place, be able to search it all and access it from any device. Slack is available as an app for iOS and Android, as well as for Windows and other operating systems. When you connect it with Zapier, you’ll be able to send notifications via Slack when things get done or when they need to, schedule meetings and connect teams, and even use the tool to notify you when your Facebook Lead Ads campaign generates a new lead, for one example.

6. Dropbox

Dropbox makes file sharing secure and simple, with cloud-based access and unlimited storage available. Remote teams love Dropbox because it’s easy to use and it makes syncing and file sharing a breeze. Add in the actions of Zapier, and you’ll have a dynamic way to share files, such as notifying you via Slack or Microsoft Teams when files are dropped, automatically sending Gmail attachments to Dropbox, and even exporting Dropbox files to your local storage at specific intervals.

7. Microsoft Teams

Microsoft Teams is another joining the ranks of the notification family of tools. Of course, you can use Zapier to automate a lot of different aspects of Teams, too, so it’s not just for notifications. This collaborative communication tool is Office 365’s powerhouse solution to keeping remote teams connected and it does well to deliver in several ways. It’s able to be combined with the power of Zapier and thousands of other apps to trigger notifications, share information, and more.

8. Microsoft Excel

Microsoft Excel is a powerful business tool and it’s an essential ingredient for Office365 power users. The spreadsheet software makes it easy for businesses to create all kinds of tracking sheets and reports, from inventory spreadsheets to marketing worksheets. You can even create an Excel spreadsheet of your blog posts for the month and fill them in, complete with the text of the post itself. Then, create a Zap that will do the work of posting to WordPress for you.

9. Gmail

Most small businesses these days are using some version of Gmail. Hopefully, by this point, you’ve upgraded to a business version so that you get the full potential of Google Workspace and Gmail for your business, but that’s not always the case. Either way, you can integrate Gmail and the thousands of other apps through Zapier to notify you of new messages, automatically forward messages to a certain person, download attachments upon receipt, and even export email form data to Google Sheets. There are endless ways to connect and automate here.

10. OneDrive

Another popular file management solution, OneDrive, is the Office 365 file solution. It’s got a lot of cool features of its own, but when you add the power of Zapier, you’ll have no trouble making it even more productive. You can create a Zap to export DocuSign PDFs to OneDrive, for example, or set up a Zap to sync these files with your other cloud storage on a schedule of your choosing. There are hundreds of pre-built workflows, and you can create your own, too.

11. Google Drive

Google Drive is one of the most popular file management tools out there. People use Drive daily for various business files and sharing needs. It’s a great resource that has pretty impressive features for its offering of being free for most users. You may pay for a business-level Google account, but it will be minimal if you do. You can create Zaps to download or upload from Drive to various apps and tools, notify you on Teams or Slack if Drive files are accessed, and more. You can even trigger downloads of your contacts on specific occasions. If you can do it with Google Drive, you can probably automate it with Zapier.

12. Trello

Trello makes collaboration easy, offering a board where users can create and share cards for project management and simple team communication. It offers an organized way to keep projects in line and track everything that's going on. You can create Zaps to generate Trello cards when new Typeform entries come in or when you have a new WordPress blog posted (so that your marketing team knows it's time to promote the new blog). You can also automate how Trello interacts with other apps, allowing it to turn Trello cards into Google Sheets entries, for example, or to generate email reminders based on specific project cards.

13. Discord

When it comes to productivity, communication is key. Remote teams can’t collaborate effectively without the best communication tools. You might not use Discord for regular chats. However, you can use it as a way to connect with your teams in a more informal setting, a team-building activity, or anything else that you have in mind. Perhaps you want to create an event that people can join. Zapier could send a notification to the Discord group when the event is created or if the date has to be rescheduled.

14. Loom

Chances are good that you’ve at least seen some of Loom’s work in the form of videos, but did you know that it’s a great productivity tool for remote teams? You can use it for a wide range of purposes, including troubleshooting, walkthroughs, presentations, and more. You can also include your face in the video if you have a webcam (Loom records your computer screen and captures your audio).

15. Salesforce

Salesforce is one of the most popular CRM and sales tools out there today. It offers several iterations of its platform for different devices, industries, and business sizes. It also has plenty of integrations with the thousands of Zapier apps available, such as importing new Mailchimp subscribers to your Salesforce user database or notifying you via Slack when your Salesforce reports have been generated.

16. Acuity Scheduling

With Acuity Scheduling, the name of the game is usually notifications for Zapier. However, you can create Zaps for just about any function of the scheduling app, too. You can also integrate Zapier with other tools to create workflows that take things to the scheduler rather than starting from it in the first place. It makes scheduling and getting things done easier and more efficient by keeping everyone on the same page. Plus, it can sync with your other calendar apps and tools to ensure that all of your information is the same, so you never miss a thing.

17. Typeform

Form-filling tools aren’t hard to find these days, but if you’ve used them, you know that there is something to be said for quality and ease of use. Typeform offers both and it’s also seamlessly capable of integrating with tons of other software and apps that you already use, especially thanks to Zapier. You can automate turning Typeform responses into WordPress posts or emails for your records, oreven take the contact information from the Typeform submissions and add it to your Mailchimp or ActiveCampaign subscriber list, for example.

18. Constant Contact

You can use Zapier to automate uploading and syncing contacts in your Constant Contact account, among other things. This contact management tool is one of the best available and it already has several useful features of its own. Then, being able to integrate it with Zapier and thousands of other apps allows it to become a total powerhouse when it comes to keeping your contacts updated and organized.

19. Xero

With Xero, you can streamline all of your accounting, including invoicing and payments, billing, bookkeeping, and more. Plus, you can automate many different workflows through Zapier, such as automatically adding invoices to your ledger when they’re generated or marking accounts as paid when the payments are processed online. You can even have Xero copy the invoice to your Gmail and notify you via Slack when a new invoice is ready so that you’re aware of what should becoming and going.

20. Square

Square is among the most popular online tools for small businesses and solopreneurs. It offers everything from a payment processing gateway to an appointment scheduling tool and more. You can create Zaps to send invoices from Square to your Gmail, for example, or even notify you on Slack when customers complete a transaction on Square using your online payment gateway.

Connect with the team at Smith.ai for even more efficiency and integrations

Remote teams have a lot on their collective plates. Often, that includes fielding phone calls and emails from customers and clients rather than focusing on their core responsibilities and tasks. At Smith.ai, we can help your teams recapture that lost time while ensuring that every call, text, or email is replied to by a human being.

Our virtual receptionists are the perfect addition to your remote team. We can provide 24/7 answering, email and SMS follow-up, call transfers, lead vetting, and many other services to ensure that your team can focus on what matters most.

Go ahead and schedule your free, live consultation to learn more. Or you can get in touch with us at hello@smith.ai or by calling (650) 709-2710.