Top Remote Work Tools for Productivity – The great thing about the move towards remote and hybrid working is that it gives employees the flexibility to work precisely how they want – this means that everyone should be able to achieve their maximum productivity. TechQuarters, an IT support provider London businesses outsource their tech support to, found that they were able to maintain high productivity levels as a remote business by implementing the right tools for the job.
There are a few different challenges with remote working. For instance, maintaining communications is very important; giving employees the tools to managing their tasks and their time is also important; having a system where managers and employees can catch up on performance and working conditions is also very important.
Below are some digital tools for remote work that can help a business work as productively as possible.
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1. Nuclino
When working remotely, teams and colleagues need a space where they can collaborate on projects. Nuclino is a unified workspace that was inspired by the concept of the collective brain – a way for employees to combine their knowledge and resources and collaborate fluidly. Nuclino features all the essential productivity tools for managing workloads (and omits many of the useless tools that other services often include), and it uses a clean, minimal user interface that is easy to use and very fast.
2. Basecamp
Another great option for collaboration and project management is Basecamp. It’s functionality is simple and straightforward, its design is clean and minimal, and its user interface is very elegant. Basecamp helps employees share ideas and structure conversations; it has functionalities that enable teams to stay on the same page and up-to-date no matter where they are working from.
3. EmailAnalytics
Email is a huge part of business communication, and EmailAnalytics is a powerful tool that gives the ability to visualise email activity. EmailAnalytics calculates the average email response time of users, how many emails a user sends and receives per day (on average), and many more analytics that enables a business to monitor and improve email productivity. You might not have used a tool like this while in the office; but in an office, it is much easier communicate if email productivity is less than ideal. When working remotely, this tool ensures that email productivity is made high in the absence of other more immediate forms of communication.
4. Microsoft Teams
A unified communications platform is incredibly valuable for a remote organisation. While email is very commonly used for both internal and external communication in a business, there are other forms of digital communication that are important to leverage – for instance, real-time messaging, and videoconferencing (which have been very important for businesses over the last 2 years). Microsoft Teams combines messaging, videoconferences and, if you have the right license, cloud telephony.
With Microsoft Teams, you can have a single platform for all forms of communication, besides email – but if you have a Microsoft 365 license, you can integrate your Outlook email calendar with Teams, so even then you can bring email closer to the platform.
5. ai
Documentation is a big part of business and work, and Bit.ai is a next generation documentation software. It specialises in smart documents which can include online videos, code blocks, web apps, and even other cloud documents. What is more, Bit.ai documents sync with very low latency, so you and your colleagues can engage in dynamic collaboration in real-time.
6. Hypercontext
Remote working requires a lot more meetings compared with traditional office-based work, because when a business is remote, they need to have a lot more communication to ensure work remains structured and on-track.
Hypercontext is a shared agenda application. It is a way for developing meeting agendas with a range of templates that include conversation starters and goal examples.
7. Google Drive
Ensuring that everyone in a team has access to files, documents, and resources that they need to do their work properly is very important – cloud storage is the best way to do this. Google Drive is one of the most popular, and one of the most reliable cloud storage platforms. Users can create, store, and share documents, spreadsheets, and presentations with Google Drive; and their account will sync across all devices, meaning they will have access to their resources from anywhere.
8. Krisp
Krisp is a unique application for the era of videoconferencing. It is a noise cancelling app that integrates with all the main videoconferencing apps – including Zoom, Skype, Slack, and more. The app will remove background noises on your side of the call, and also on the side of all other participants.
9. Todoist
This app is a must-have whether you’re working remotely or not. It is a task management app that revolves around to-do lists. It includes all the main organizational functions that you would expect from one of these apps – including the ability to create projects, tasks and subtasks; adding notes and files to a task, setting reminders for tasks, and a productivity chart to monitor your performance.
10. Chimp or Champ
Whether a business is remote or not, managers should be concerned with the happiness and satisfaction of their teams – it is no surprise that a satisfied worker is a productive worker. Chimp Champ is a great app that makes it easier for managers to connect with their teams while working remotely. It works by producing an anonymous weekly survey for employees to complete; because it is anonymous employees can express their feelings honestly, which will help managers get an honest idea of the ways in which their remote work environment is working, and how it might be improved.
11. in
If you need an easy videoconferencing service that does not require sign-ups or downloads, then Appear.in is an excellent choice. Teams can easily create an online room link to send around to all participants (which can be shared by email or instant message). The service includes screen sharing, supports group video conversations, and can be accessed from any device platform.
12. io
Some remote businesses might have workers in different time zones, or else they might have clients or partners in other time zones. Businesses can enrol their employees to this app, and then everyone will be able to see all relevant time zones, as well as which of their employees are in which time zone.