Working remotely has become increasingly popular over the past two years. According to Gallup's State of the American Workplace, 43% of employees across the U.S. work remote in some capacity. COVID-19 has forced even more companies to adopt remote working, and employees across the nation are quickly adapting their work schedules and routines accordingly.
There are many collaboration and productivity tools available that are inexpensive, easy to use and only require an Internet connection. For small business teams, these can help make working remote efficient and effective. In this post, we’ll walk through popular tools that can help get your team in sync and working in harmony, no matter where you are.
Slack
For Communication
Slack is a collaboration software that helps streamline communication to bring remote teams together. It has an extensive set of features that can help you bring all communication that happens across your small business together in one, single place.
With Slack, you can create channels for certain teams, projects, clients, or whatever else is relevant to your small business. This helps keep all conversations organized so you can easily find the information you need without having to search through past emails.
Key features include:
-
Send instant messages: Communicate in real-time with individual team members or groups for seamless collaboration.
-
Chat via voice and video calls: Users can make voice calls directly within the Slack desktop app or website. You can also chat face-to-face through video calls. If you need to show your work, you can even share your screen.
-
Searchable history: Search everything that has been posted in channels or direct messages so you can review past decisions and conversations.
-
Set availability status: Users can set their availability statuses to focus on individual tasks as needed.
-
Share files: Users can quickly and easily share PDFs, images, videos and other common files with Slack’s drag-and-drop functionality.
Slmoack provides all the basic communication essentials for teams in a small business. Internet service allows for team members to connect on their computers or on their phones through a coordinated app.
Serene
For Productivity
Serene is a free productivity tool, built for remote employees and teams. It layers techniques that are proven to improve focus. With the app, you can plan your day to maximize efficiency, block distractions to help you create an optimal work environment, and stay focused for longer with proven focus enhancing tactics.
Key features include:
-
Block digital distractions: Block websites and apps that may distract your team, such as news websites or social media apps that may have nothing to do with your small business. Internet advertisers can also be blocked. You can even automatically put your phone on do not disturb mode through the tool.
-
Work in distraction-free sessions: With Serene, users work in 20 to 60-minute sessions with regular breaks, which is proven to maximize productivity.
-
Plan your day and create to-do lists: You can define goals for the day and create to-do-lists to make sure everything gets done each day.
-
Play focus music: You can play background music to help you keep your focus.
With Serene, your team can maximize the workday and achieve goals quicker – no matter where they are.
Monday
For task management
Monday is a simple and intuitive task management tool that can help remote teams manage processes, workflows, and projects in a single platform. This interface looks similar to a customized spreadsheet where each team member can add their tasks and log status updates in real-time. It allows your team to track all active tasks and projects across your small business and see real-time progress. The tool is highly customizable so you can configure it in a way that meets your specific business needs.
Key features include:
-
Create detailed plans: Develop detailed plans to make sure your projects run smoothly and stay on track.
-
Create and manage tasks: Monday.com has extensive task management tools that help you treat each assignment as individual building blocks contributing to an overarching project goal.
-
Track progress: Easily track tasks, update statuses, and receive notifications when deadlines are near.
-
File sharing: Upload and share files so everyone has access to the resources they need via the same dashboard.
Monday.com is the perfect tool to manage your team’s workload remotely, ensure projects keep moving forward, and save time so you can focus on growing your business.
Take some time to choose the right tools and get your employees on board, and you'll be well on your way to building a more productive remote team to help your business’s bottom line.
