In the digital world of E-commerce and unprecedented circumstances such as COVID-19, it appears that WFH is the future of work. With businesses going the online route and governments across the world calling for social distancing, businesses must invest in the best online tools for remote workers. This is a critical step towards working smart, improving efficiency and productivity, as well as staying connected even after one moves away from performing their duties on-premises.
This does not mean that working from home is entirely stress-free. There are certain pros and cons associated with it, but taking steps to ensure business continuity and remain competitive goes a long way. All you have to do is invest in the right online tools and technologies that pay off in the long run. Doing so enables your teams to maintain communication, collaboration, and improve data sharing while ensuring transparency. Working remotely brings new opportunities to heighten user focus on deadlines, maintain solid team relationships, cut costs, increase project management proficiency, and engage with clients in a meaningful manner.
Next, let’s have a look at some of the most popular online collaboration tools for remote users.
Slack
It is an online collaboration tool for organizations having multiple teams. You can use Slack on smartphone devices as well as on your PC or laptop. It allows users to login, create online groups, and send messages to each other individually and in groups. You can create different team channels and assign tasks to team members. Project managers can monitor the status of every task and check on progress regularly in a single, intuitive platform. What’s more, you can easily integrate Slack into Google Docs, Google Dropbox to further improve efficiency and productivity.
Slack utilizes cloud space so you need not worry about spending a large amount on installations. Advanced data traceability enables you to closely follow data to track all access and any changes that users apply to it. This, in turn, helps you ensure transparency, compliance, and adherence to regulations across your company.
Microsoft Teams
Employees generally use Microsoft Teams in unified communication and it is known for merging workplace chats with video meetings to provide an end-to-end user experience. You can also utilize it for storing files, sending attachments, and integrating numerous applications. It is a helpful tool for remote workers as they can feel more connected to each other through video meetings. Better communication is the only way to improve your employees’ performance while they work remotely and Microsoft Teams is a secure and investment-worthy option.
How is this so? Firstly, you can enable web conferences on Microsoft Teams. With dynamic audio, video, and chat features, you get access to multiple communication channels for the whole team, making it an ideal online tool for collaboration. As it is a Microsoft product, Office 365 apps can easily integrate into it. Also, you can easily store files on the cloud, making it a feasible choice for any business irrespective of size and industry.
ProofHub
This is a complete management system for online task collaboration. It is an ideal tool for any organization looking to manage their projects remotely. You can manage your business and organize proactively at every stage of your project with ProofHub. It increases productivity and helps meet deliverables within the assigned deadline. It is remarkably easy to assign tasks to your team and even define their roles online. You can also set the dependencies on each task by dividing each project properly among your team members.
Filestage
This is an online tool designed for remote teams that manage content review processes. Primarily, Filestage is a project management platform that makes it easier for project managers and clients to provide feedback on content such as images, videos, documents, etc. In this way, different teams can complete each project while all the stakeholders remain on the same page throughout. As a team, you can easily gain all the necessary feedback regularly from all members. Clients can review and approve tasks in projects and comment on any kind of development or make announcements without having to even register on the platform. Filestage ensures that clients receive the final version of the project after reviewing the process at every step. In turn, this ensures that the deliverables align with clients’ business vision.
TroopMessenger
TroopMessenger consists of multiple functionalities and is a suitable tool for any kind of organization working remotely. There is seamless user navigation in this application and the quality of business chat it provides is unmatchable due to the quality of the communication options. Anyone can easily use this online tool even if the person is not tech-savvy. The user interface is simple, easy-to-navigate, and cross-platform enabled. It supports Windows, Linux, Android, and iOS.
There is an interesting feature in the application known as Orange Member. This allows members not part of the organization to conveniently utilize the application with their public and private email ids.
Conclusion
Whether you run an SMB or startup, you can only achieve business success by effectively catering to the needs of employees as they adapt to a new normal. When they work from a relocate location or from home, they expect more or less the same experience as an on-premises one, and this is where you must take the necessary measures. Moving your business to the cloud or investing in smart online collaboration tools pay off in the long run.
Do you need any help in revamping your IT infrastructure to enable WFH or remote work? At FiveRivers Technologies, our experts understand your unique needs and help you implement your plan reliably. For more details, please contact us, and we will be happy to assist you.
