With so many businesses being forced to either go remote or go under, people all over the country are discovering the nature of working from home; and how having the right tools to make it happen can mean the difference between a pleasant experience and an awful one.
From video calling services to cloud storage and sharing, there are certain technologies that are truly essential to successful remote team. Not sure how to host meetings, assign projects, or stay in touch with your remote workers? Here we’ll discuss some of the most essential tech for working from home.
A Good Connection
A remote team will depend largely on their own home internet connection(s). If you’re stuck at home with bad internet, it’s not just going to affect your Netflix binging, but also your capacity to complete your work and attend video meetings. A poor connection means choppy audio and visual quality, missed emails, and more.
ISPs are working hard to ensure the world remains connected during these times of adversity, but it’s up to you to make sure you’ve got a good enough connection to keep working. Your job will likely require communication with other members of the team, supervisors, and even meetings or cloud sharing of files and information.
If your ISP isn’t giving you the service you need, try using an internet adviser to find a new provider. You can search by location, features, pricing, and much more. Your job may depend on it!
Video Conferencing Service
If you’re hosting conference calls during quarantine, you might want to use a video service like Zoom to get the best quality. Choosing video conferences instead of audio-only helps you connect more with the people you’re speaking with, and it can be a welcome respite from isolation to see familiar faces.
While Zoom’s service offers free packages, there are also paid options for larger companies who need to host larger calls. You can even host a webinar! If you’re not signed up with a video service for your company, now is the time to do so.
Cloud Storage
Cloud storage and sharing is no longer a futuristic luxury, it’s becoming the standard in business. The ability to store, share, and collaborate on files and information remotely makes managing your remote team that much easier. Your files are stored safely and can be accessed by anyone with permission. The best part? Many cloud storage services offer a free option. These include Dropbox (2GB), Google Drive (15GB), and Microsoft’s OneDrive (5GB).
If you’re tired of sending projects, files, and information via email, or you’re stuck in the old days of using flash drives, it’s time to upgrade to cloud storage. Especially if your team is going to be working remotely for the foreseeable future. You might find that between cloud storage, video chat services, and the right remote team, you can continue working remotely even after the COVID-19 restrictions have been lifted.
Both large and small businesses alike use cloud storage to great effect. Most software comes equipped with cloud storage and backups as well, so you can easily collaborate on and share projects within a software-specific cloud.
Team & Project Management Software
Nothing is more frustrating than trying to track down remote team members through endless emails and chats. Assigning projects individually through email and checking their statues can be exhausting. If only there was a service that allowed you to successfully and easily manage projects and team members remotely…
Cue team and project management software like Basecamp, Quire, and more. These services help team managers allocate resources, assign tasks, set due dates, communicate with team members, and bring an overall sense of unity and organization to all of their projects.
Intuitive, reliable, and affordable, these services are the perfect answer to the problem of managing larger remote teams. No more endless email chains, unanswered messages, or uncertainty when it comes to due dates. All of the information on the project, who’s working on it, and when it’s due is located in the team/project management interface.
What Does the Future Hold?
Many companies are coming to the realization that they can actually run effectively with most of their workforce at home. What does this mean for the future? It could mean lower overhead costs for businesses everywhere and a new sense of direction for the workforce. After all, if all of the businesses we thought couldn’t be run remotely can be, what’s stopping them from doing so?
Even if this is the case for the future, having the right tools for the job is half the battle. Without team or project management software, cloud storage, online conferencing tools, and a reliable remote team, it simply won’t work. So, if you’re planning on keeping your team remote, be sure you’re giving them all the tools they need to succeed!
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