Working from home has become a rampant phenomenon due to the current outbreak of COVID-19. Also, it has also brought about some serious questions. These questions revolve around how workers can maintain productivity while working from home. The State of Remote Report 2020, jointly published by Buffer and AngelList asked respondents to list the biggest challenges with working away from the office.
The European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions report assessed the effects of working remotely. This includes:
- Working too much
- Difficulty prioritizing work
- Interruptions
- Loneliness
- Communication issues
- Time zone differences
- Technology hiccups
- Developing bad health habits
Here are some apps to help boost productivity while working from home:
Team Communication Tool for maintaining productivity while working from home
Slack
Slack has to be the most popular communication tool for team members.
It’s used for instant messaging between teammates that need to work collectively.
Benefit
- Reduces the need for emails
- Can attach document
- lastly, Communicate with the whole team at once
Chanty
Chanty creates a simple, instant messaging platform for teams to communicate and collaborate. Above all, the overall design and majority of features are the same, too, and this is a good thing because it works.
Benefit
- Communicate using audio and video calls and share your screen;
- Share instant messages, files, or any other content you like;
- Create, assign, set deadlines, and discuss tasks directly in Chanty;
- Integrate messaging with a variety of apps such as Google Drive, Dropbox, Trello, GitHub, Zapier, Jira, Asana, and many others;
- Track team workflow by using Kanban Board;
- Watch YouTube videos, GIFs, and social media content;
- Have quick access to all your chats, tasks, and files through Teambook.
Project Management Tools for Maintaining Productivity While Working from Home
Asana
Asana is a comprehensive project management platform designed for teams of all sizes. It offers a generous set of features on its free plan, including task management, lists, board views, calendar, assignments, and due dates, collaboration with up to 15 teammates.
That’s a solid offering for individuals and small teams looking for a free project management tool.
Benefit
- Assign team members to unique roles in a large project
- Group conversations by project
- Break OKR’s into more manageable tasks
- Work Asynchronously
- Time tracking
Wrike
Wrike doesn’t seem to get as much press as the likes of Asana, but it’s an awe-inspiring project management suite. A free version is a strong option for small teams who need simple project management features.
Benefit
- Having just one hub for all of your work.
- User-friendly navigation which makes things easy for you and your teams.
- Excellent security measures are in place to protect personal and company information.
- With mobile apps, you can easily track and monitor progress from your mobile phones anytime, anywhere
Video Calling
Google meet
It didn’t take long for Google to get in on the video calling action once Zoom became a household name. Luckily for Google, the search giant already had all of the software and tech it needed to launch Google Meet. The great news for all of us working from home is that the tool is highly capable of video calling.
And it costs absolutely nothing.
Zoom
The Zoom boom seemed to happen as soon as lockdowns were implemented across Europe. Unlike popular belief, this app has been popular with businesses for quite some time.
Benefit
- Collaborative working
- Training
- Client presentations
- Sales meetings
- Board meetings
- Technical support
