We are living in the age of the remote working revolution, when Millennials favor a new role based on its flexibility—both in working hours and location. Employers are now realizing that the home office can actually help productivity, and with advanced technology, it has never been this simple to set up a professional working environment at home that empowers efficiency.
The number of remote workers has increased from 30% in 2015 to 43% today. And it’s not just Millennial who are taking advantage of this trend: A massive 73% of employees work outside their work hours as they find themselves more productive, while 40% would be willing to take on a greater workload if it meant greater flexibility, and 18% would take a pay cut for the opportunity.
But what does all this have to do with tools? Everything! From video conferencing solutions like Google Hangouts or Zoom to messaging apps like Slack or WhatsApp (and even email!), there are plenty of ways to stay connected without traveling back and forth between offices every day.
What is remote working software?
Remote working software is a platform that enables remote workers to collaborate and communicate with their coworkers. It can be used in a company or an organization that has employees who work remotely. Remote working software can include communication and networking systems such as video chat applications or messaging tools, cloud storage, task and project management systems, remote team management apps, etc.
It is important that the remote working software has a wide range of integrations with other tools and is easy to use for other members of the team to facilitate remote cooperation. The onboarding of new employees should be seamless with good remote working software too.
1. Microsoft Teams
Microsoft Teams is a fantastic tool for remote work. It’s free, easy to use, and has a robust set of features that make it easy to work with teams.
One of the best features of Microsoft Teams is its integration with other Office 365 tools. This means that Microsoft Teams users can share documents and collaborate on them directly from the app. It also includes some handy features like calendar integration and the ability to create polls for group voting.
The biggest downside of Microsoft Teams is that it isn’t as popular as other tools like Slack or Zoom. This means that you may have trouble finding people who are using it and don’t know how to use it well yet.
2. VirtualOffice
VirtualOffice is a virtual office background creator tool that lets you create the perfect working environment, regardless of where you’re actually sitting. Whether you have a messy home office or just want to impress your clients with a fancy-looking backdrop, this tool can help!
Let’s face it: not all of us have the most amazing, trendy, always-tidy home office. I most certainly don’t! Although I’ve had the most fun attending video calls from the beach, the foot of the Golden Gate Bridge, or even outer space, I had to get bored of it at some point.
VirtualOffice offers a decant library of video backgrounds that look like they could be your home office. But what puts the cherry on top is that you can brand the office with your business’s logo and it looks fairly natural.
3. Soapbox
Are you working remotely? Do you miss the ad-hoc watercooler conversations that onsite workers experience? In that case, you need to make the most out of your one-on-ones and team meetings.
it’s an agenda tool for one-on-ones and team meetings. The app provides a central place for teams to collaborate on shared agendas, take notes, assign next steps and share feedback. You can also access suggested questions that drive meaningful conversations, a robust library of agenda templates, and AI-powered meeting insights based on the conversations you’re having with your team. These insights are broken down into four key categories: growth, motivation, communication and work.
Soapbox enables remote teams to have effective and collaborative meetings.
4.Krisp
Krisp is an app that lets you take calls from non-soundproofed rooms with ease.
It supports microphones, headphones, and speakers and is perfect for remote teams, online teachers, podcasters and even call centers.
Sound quality seems to be a small thing that we tend to forget about, but it can make a huge difference. Getting Krisp installed is so quick and simple that there’s really no excuse for not doing it.
5. Lead.app
LEAD.Bot is a tool that helps employees reach their full potential by connecting them with experts within the organization who are excited to teach.
1. Connect employees looking to learn new skills with experts within your organization who are excited to teach
2. Design your Mentorship Program
3. Supports various types of mentorship, such as peer to peer, speed, reverse, and mutual mentoring. Group people based on department, topic, or seniority level.
4. Don’t just check in with new hires on the first 30, 60, and/or 90 days, make your workplace a warm community where new hires can find friends, mentors, sponsors, and coffee mates.
5. Building a supportive company culture can be easy with LEAD.Bot. Easily creating an environment for mentorships encouraging knowledge share between colleagues through manager meetups or coffees meetups