Remote work was a popular phenomenon long before the lockdown. Nonetheless, the COVID-19 pandemic gave people all over the world more reasons to make the switch to remote working. Before, professionals holding remote positions often got underpaid and faced difficulties with getting a promotion. Now that isn’t a worry any longer. Many companies practice a more flexible approach letting employees choose a preferred scheduled and format for their work. New technologies, digital tools, and practices make it possible to do any job from home without compromising quality.
Big and small businesses equally aim at adapting modern remote work strategies highlighting that it makes the lives of their team members easier. Overall, remote work is more than just a nine days’ wonder but a trend that becomes increasingly popular. In the end, if a company refuses to keep up with the demands of its employees, it risks losing talented specialists. And there are some reasons why so many people benefit from this trend:
- Working from home can reduce stress related to daily routine;
- Remote work gives you a chance to travel doing your job from any part of the world;
- You can organize your schedule in the most comfortable way;
- It contributes to developing time management skills;
- It often adds to a gain in performance.
Current surveys confirm the advantages of remote work for employees as well as for employers. Thus, 75% of the people working from home stated that they succeeded in improving their efficiency as they avoid various distractions including interruptions from members of their team. Today, remote work is often associated with flexibility that is highly appreciated among the majority of employees. 40% of people would even accept a bigger workload if they could switch to remote activity.
However, to organize remote work and make it effective, you need to employ modern tools. The lion’s share of success depends on the digital infrastructure and the way you manage it. Thus, there are some categories of tools to prioritize. For example, there are business management, communication, security, project management, and HR apps. Each business selects the set of digital tools according to its needs. Nonetheless, the supply of different apps is very high, so it is not always easy to make a safe choice. Thus, in this article, we look into the tools you can use to get the best of remote activities.
THE BEST TOOLS FOR REMOTE WORK IN 2021
TeamViewer
TeamViewer is software with both mobile and desktop applications. It provides remote access to your office computer and the devices of your coworkers. It is a perfect solution for online support, file sharing, and Outlook meetings. Audio and video conferencing are also available. When you need to cooperate with your colleagues or show them how to do any task you can access their computers remotely and simply manage it. Plus, it provides a secure connection coupled with AES-256 encryption and multi-level signature verification. So, all of your confidential information will be safe and sound even if you connect to a public hotspot. TeamViewer has features of automatic monitoring, updating, and data protection.
ProofHub
When you are engaged in project management, a matter of the first magnitude is to keep things under control. Even if you do not hold a leading position, there are still some tasks you have to perform keeping your colleagues informed. At this point, ProofHub comes to assistance. It is a web-based project management and online collaboration tool that allows managing, discussing, and organizing the work of the whole team. Thus, you can define tasks, set deadlines, and determine schedules. While using this tool, it is easy to check progress, communicate with your coworkers via chat, share files, etc. Plus, you can generate reports and illustrate them with charts. ProofHub puts emphasis on simplicity and is equally suitable for small, medium-sized, and larger teams. It also provides time-tracking, notifications, and calendars.
Blink
If you are seeking a tool to improve the performance of your team, build effective communication, and keep them up to speed on what is happening in the company, Blink is the best choice. There are a great many features to establish the digital environment for employees that will help them to stay productive. Blink combines time management, communication, and project management features. Thus, you can create discussion boards and directories for your coworkers, organize news feeds, use calendar management, etc. One of the most outstanding features is the opportunity to develop micro-apps inside Blink without any specific technical skills. Thus, you can create your own corporate communication channels or collaboration tools. On the other hand, this function allows monitoring absence from the workplace, integrating automated timesheets, and creating a network for different needs. Moreover, it is also possible to adapt these micro-apps for desktop and mobile devices. Blink is rather a universal solution that meets the needs of large teams as well as smaller ones.
Troop Messenger
When you work remotely, the primary issue of concern is providing proper interaction between members of your team. So, it is extremely important to choose the most effective and customizable tool. Troop Messenger is the choice you can’t beat. It offers a variety of features to satisfy different needs and structure your communication. Thus, you can contact your colleagues via chat, video, and audio calls, share files, or create groups. One more interesting feature is “burnout” which implies you can interact with a particular person in a private chat within a limited period. Herewith, the chat is deleted automatically after it is over. Troop messenger has apps for Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, and iOS. Plus, it is easily integrated with Google Drive, Dropbox, and other essential apps.
Kickidler
Kickidler is a powerful tool to improve the engagement and dedication of the employees. It greatly contributes to the time management and efficiency of your team members. This software offers a lot of features such as online computer monitoring, remote employee monitoring, time tracking, computer screen recording, productivity analysis, etc. Kickidler will help you to see and estimate what your coworkers do as well as analyze your own efficiency. It also helps to prevent violations and get notifications when your colleagues visit certain undesirable websites. On the other hand, each employee can watch his/her own statistics and manage time in accordance with the tasks set.
WRAPPING UP
Remote work is often considered a step forward to a more comfortable working environment and flexibility. This shift was inevitable long before the lockdown that only accelerated the process. However, the transition to remote activities requires new technologies and strategies to be employed. So, this list of basic digital tools can be insufficient for more creative fields. If you seek other advanced solutions to upgrade your performance, you can find them on this website.
