Remote Entrepreneur – The COVID-19 pandemic has made online business increasingly popular. Meanwhile, working remotely can be critical for business owners to protect their customers, employees and themselves.
But even before the pandemic, the number of people in the United States teleworking increased by 159% between 2005 and 2017. Additionally, Stanford University found that, on average, remote workers are more productive than those working in traditional office settings.
Choosing the right tools is one way to ensure that your remote team remains productive and informed, even in the midst of such uncertainty. Below, we’ve listed five tools that any remote business owner should consider.
1. Team collaboration tools:
InVision
InVision is the world’s most widely-used screen design tool, allowing remote businesses to collaborate, experiment, and test new ideas.
The digital whiteboard allows you to get immediate feedback from team members as you move projects from the design stage to development. There are also plenty of educational resources available if you get stuck.
If you are interested in InVision, you can sign up for free. To access additional features, you can upgrade to InVision Enterprise.
Slack
You can sort discussions by topic, project, team, or any other category relevant to your business operations.
With this tool you can ensure the right people are involved in projects and that essential information is organized.
One of the most notable advantages of this tool is that it is searchable, allowing you to quickly browse through discussions. Small teams can create free workspace, while paid plans are available for large organizations at reasonable rates.
2. Cloud Storage Tools:
Box
The Box is a cloud-based file sharing service that provides collaboration, workflow and secure content management tools.
Get started with a 14-day free trial that gives you unlimited cloud storage, seamless collaboration options, and business security. Plus, you’ll have access to integrations with more than 1,400 business applications.
Dropbox
Businesses use Dropbox to create, store, and share cloud content in one place from multiple sources. This includes Microsoft Office and Google Docs, Sheets and Slides.
The admin dashboard allows you to track your team’s activity, view connected devices, and monitor sharing activity. Plus, since Dropbox integrates with more than 300,000 apps, you’re likely to see all of your management tools.
3. Video Conferencing and Meeting Tools:
Zoom
With Zoom, businesses can combine video conferencing, online business meetings, chat and mobile collaboration through the centralized management portal.
The Zoom cloud platform offers a secure, high-quality service to make sure every conversation goes perfectly. You can easily switch between voice calls and video chats without hanging up and dialing in.
Google Hangouts
Google Hangouts is one of the most notable communications software product. It allows you to connect with your team regardless of your location by making video calls available via a simple link. If you’re using G Suite, Google Calendar information is available directly in the meeting. This way, you can easily spot the agenda and meeting details with your team.
4. Project management tools:
Asana
Asana is a cloud-based project management tool that allows your team to collaborate on multiple tasks and projects. With the timeline feature, you can create a plan that shows how the parts of your project will fit together. You can also attach emails, files and tickets to see all relevant information in one place. The Basic plan is free for all users or the Premium, Business and Enterprise plans are available for a monthly fee.
Trello
Trello is now commonly labeled as natural, visual way and free to manage your team’s projects and content calendar. Its Kanban-style design visually represents work at different stages of a process using maps and columns. Plus, Trello’s Power-Up tools instantly transform your project boards into living apps.
If you want to utilize Trello, you can sign up for free or upgrade to Business Class or Enterprise. Upgrading gives you access to more team features and Power-Ups.
5. Other useful remote business tools:
CoSchedule
CoSchedule is a marketing calendar and organizer of social, content, resources and work in one. The suite of tools allows companies to post more content, meet deadlines and prove the value of your team.
Wagepoint
Wagepoint is an online payroll software that allows you to pay independent employees and contractors. Besides, it ensures that you continue to comply with federal, state, and local pay regulations.
With Wagepoint you can easily pay your employees at the same time or add multiple pay groups for payrolls on different frequencies. Also, if the payment doesn’t change, you can set Wagepoint to execute itself automatically.
Close.io
Close is the only all-in-one CRM that offers lead management, calls, email automation, predictive dialers and more. Sales activities are automatically organized to help you achieve your goals. You can also increase productivity by connecting to Close’s integrations and features.
Doodle
With Doodle, you don’t have to worry about coordinating calendars with your team members. Using Doodle, you will get a clear visual overview of each person’s availability. With the ability to check availability across all time zones, you can easily schedule your next team meeting remotely.
With the right tools, you can increase the productivity of your team while working remotely. Of course, these solutions are just a sample of what is available to home business owners.
Opinions expressed by California Gazette contributors are their own.
