In today’s hybrid and distributed work culture, managing augmented IT teams with those comprised of both internal employees and external, contract-based professionals require precision, visibility, and streamlined communication. With different time zones, diverse work cultures, and short-term timelines, having the right tools in place is essential for keeping everyone aligned and productive.
Below is a list of the best tools for managing augmented IT teams across key areas such as collaboration, project tracking, code management, communication, and security.
- Project & Task Management: To manage sprints, prioritize tasks, and monitor progress:
- Jira (ideal for Agile and software teams) provides sprint planning, backlog grooming, and real-time reporting tools. It is commonly used to manage complex development projects involving multiple contributors.
- Trello is a simple, visual kanban-style platform suitable for smaller teams or less technical environments.
- ClickUp offers all-in-one task tracking, document collaboration, and goal-setting features, ideal for multi-functional teams.
Why it matters: Augmented staff can quickly understand their role in the project and track their tasks without needing constant supervision.
- Communication & Daily Sync: Effective communication bridges gaps in physical distance and company culture:
- Slack is perfect for real-time messaging, file sharing, and integration with other dev tools like GitHub and Jira.
- Microsoft Teams offers a unified platform for communication and collaboration, particularly effective for companies utilizing the Microsoft 365 ecosystem.
- Zoom remains the go-to for high-quality virtual meetings, especially for global team calls and retrospectives.
Why it matters: Clear communication reduces rework and helps temporary team members feel integrated from day one.
- Access & Security: Security is non-negotiable, especially when working with external developers:
- Okta provides single sign-on (SSO) and user lifecycle management, ensuring that only authorized users access internal systems.
- 1Password helps share credentials securely with contract workers without compromising sensitive information.
- Azure Active Directory (AD) allows you to manage identities and control access across devices and apps—ideal for companies using Microsoft-based environments.
Why it matters: These tools help avoid unauthorized access and simplify offboarding when the contract ends.
- Code Collaboration & Version Control: For code review, versioning, and collaboration on development projects:
- GitHub is the industry leader in collaborative development, offering pull requests, automated workflows, and integrations with CI/CD tools.
- GitLab offers similar capabilities with added DevOps support under one roof—useful for teams that want to build, test, and deploy from one platform.
- Bitbucket, tightly integrated with Jira, is a solid option for teams using the Atlassian ecosystem.
Why it matters: These platforms streamline code review processes and keep development transparent for all contributors.
- Documentation & Knowledge Sharing: Augmented teams rely on clear documentation to get up to speed quickly:
- Confluence (by Atlassian) is great for structured documentation and collaboration on technical specs.
- Notion is flexible and intuitive, suitable for creating wikis, SOPs, and shared databases.
- Google Workspace (Docs, Sheets, Slides) remains a reliable choice for teams that value real-time collaboration and cloud-based access.
Why it matters: Well-maintained documentation reduces dependency on internal team members and empowers contractors to work independently.
Final Thoughts
Managing augmented IT teams successfully hinges on three pillars: clarity, communication, and control. These tools don’t just support workflows but also, they bridge the gap between internal and external team members, eliminate silos, and accelerate onboarding.
By leveraging the right stack of platforms tailored to your team’s needs, you create an ecosystem where augmented staff can integrate quickly, collaborate effectively, and deliver impact, without friction.