The last few years have irrevocably altered the future of work, particularly when it comes to working from home. Recent surveys show that most employees are more productive when working remotely of course with the help of some essential tools.
Even as pandemic health risks subside, more teams are expected to continue following a hybrid model, where some employees work remotely from home while others work from the office.
As remote employees and virtual teams become more prevalent, so is the need to invest in tools for remote work. Businesses and remote employees must find digital solutions enabling them to communicate, collaborate, and complete tasks with their colleagues regardless of location.
This article outlines a list of essential remote work tools to help your business and your team operate as efficiently as possible in today’s telecommuting environment.
Communication and Collaboration Tools
Communication tools facilitate successful collaboration among distributed teams. They enable team members to share files, update others on their progress, and stay in touch with one another across multiple time zones and locations.
Slack
Slack is a robust team messaging platform with a range of features, including real-time messaging, voice calls, file sharing, screen sharing, and a searchable archive.
It allows teams to build their own workspaces and channels, as well as set message reminders and track documents. It’s also easy to integrate with other tools and services you typically use, such as Zoom and Trello.
Zoom
Zoom is a cost-effective, secure, and simple-to-use platform for messaging, virtual meetings, conferencing, and webinars.
It lets you create a recurring virtual meeting room, host up to 100 participants for free, and provide breakout rooms for team members to meet in smaller groups.
Zoom also offers collaboration tools, including a whiteboard where attendees can draw or write and screen-sharing where participants can annotate using a highlighter, pen, and more.
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Project Management and Organization
For remote teams, a strong project management solution is critical for streamlining work and responsibilities while maintaining transparency.
Trello
Trello is an excellent choice for small teams or individuals searching for a straightforward project management solution.
It is a free cloud-based visual collaboration platform that enables users to design projects, specifications, and workflows in a structured, sequential manner.
It organizes projects using boards, cards, and lists and offers a snapshot of active projects and activities.
Google Drive
Google Drive is a centralized storage and collaboration platform for teams to save, share, and work on documents, spreadsheets, presentations, and other files.
What makes Google Drive one of the most essential remote work tools available is that you can access it from anywhere, and it’s compatible with most devices.
Unlike other data storage options, you can easily edit files in Google Drive and set up permissions to allow collaborators to edit or only view or comment on a file.
Productivity and Time Management
Productivity is critical to a remote team’s success. Managing remote team members effectively entails ensuring everyone is as focused and productive as they can be.
Todoist
Todoist lets you keep track of the tasks you need to complete and when you need to complete them, enabling you to prioritize and work in a logical, organized manner.
It provides a clear overview of your daily work and lets you create daily and weekly goals. You can also customize task views and see your progress and completed work.
Toggl
With Toggl, you can start tracking your time and activities across different platforms to generate accurate and complete billing reports for your clients.
You may add a project, client, description, and label to each segment of time tracked. Additionally, you can create separate workspaces for different teams, track billable hours, and produce detailed reports.
Work-life Balance
Work-life balance is crucial for a remote team to remain happy and productive. Maintaining a balance is important for everyone’s personal health, relationships, and work success.
Spot as a tools
It’s a good idea to invest in tools that facilitate walking meetings. Mobilizing your meetings may result in more creative thinking and effective brainstorming sessions.
Spot is the world’s first collaboration platform designed specifically for walking meetings. It’s a workplace communication tool that allows you to arrange meetings similarly to Zoom but without the need to sit down for a video chat.
Instead, you may wear headphones and keep your phone in your pocket. Spot records the call and allows you to take notes, mark follow-ups, and transcribe discussions without having to use your hands.
Brain.fm
Brain.fm is a mindfulness app that provides functional music to help you focus, meditate, relax, nap, or sleep. You may pick from a variety of audio, including classical music, chimes, and rain sounds, each of which influences brain activity and aids in achieving your desired mental state.
The Right Tools for Optimum Efficiency
While there may be an overwhelming abundance of options available online, choosing the tools that address your specific needs and support your business goals is critical. Providing your remote employees with the best tools can keep your team on the same page and improve communication, collaboration, and productivity.
About the author
Chatty is a freelance writer from Manila. She finds joy in inspiring and educating others through writing. That’s why aside from her job as a language evaluator for local and international students, she spends her leisure time writing about various topics such as lifestyle, technology, and business.
