The Secret To Mastering Remote Work And 50+ Tools To Get You Started
The remote working trend is growing by leaps and bounds, especially during these unprecedented times.
However, even before the pandemic, numbers suggested that given an opportunity, 99 percent of people would prefer working remotely at some point of the time for the rest of their careers.
Remote work allows people to work in a way that increases their productivity. A lot of businesses that are going online are considering remote work because it allows them to hire the best talent, and also cut down the operating costs.
However, even today a lot of people are skeptical about the remote work culture. They undermine its potential which gives rise to various myths and objections floating in the air.
In this article, we bust 10 myths associated with remote work and offer 60 amazing collaboration and communication tools to make working remotely easy.
10 Myths About Remote Work
Whether you are an employer or an employee who is considering the viability of remote work, here are 10 common myths that you must ignore about remote work.
Myth 1: Remote Work Decreases Productivity
Productivity is the direct result of working in a conducive work environment. It doesn’t matter whether you are working in-house or remotely.
The FlexJobs Annual Survey revealed that 65 percent of the respondents are more productive in their home office than at a traditional workspace.
The top reasons for being more productive are:
- Fewer distractions
- Fewer interruptions
- Personalized work environment
- Low noise levels
Since employees are working remotely as per their discretion, they are more likely to perform better than their counterparts.
Myth 2: It’s Hard To Communicate With Remote Workers
With the help of right tools and by setting good processes, communication can be made effective while working remotely.
A few ways you can improve communication include:
- Emails
- Messaging apps such as Messenger and WhatsApp
- Professional communication channels such as Flock
- Video calling apps such as Skype or Zoom
- Standard voice calling
Myth 3: Remote Work Increases Chances Of Stress And Poor Health
There is a misconception that remote workers are lonely and don’t have a social circle, which, in turn, causes stress and poor health.
Contrarily, remote workers can maintain good health because they’re able to strike that perfect work-life balance. They can keep stress at bay by:
- Working out of homes, co-working spaces, coffee shops, and libraries
- Taking 2-3 week vacations every year
- Spending time with their family and friends
- Following their passions such as traveling
For 86 percent of the remote workers, a flexible job schedule helps in managing stress, and for 89 percent of them, it’s an opportunity to take better care of themselves.
Myth 4: Remote Work Poses A Risk To Data Security
With all the latest technological advancement, you can enforce necessary security measures to prevent a data breach and unauthorized access.
Some of the security actions that you can take are:
- Working on cloud-based applications in a collaborative environment
- Enabling an end-to-end, secure remote connectivity solution
- Signing a data security agreement with remote workers
A data breach is a sensitive issue that can happen anywhere, irrespective of the location. However, by taking the right steps you can make remote work safe and secure.
Myth 5: Ineffective Participation Of Remote Workers In Meetings
If you schedule a meeting in advance and convey the details to your remote employees, they won’t miss it.
However, some issues may prevail owing to geographical differences. For example, if you are in the USA, and the remote employee is in India, the time zones will be different.
For successful conduction of meetings, you can consider the following:
- Scheduling meetings in advance
- Hiring remote employees who are in the same time zone or who are willing to work in your shift
- Using video conferencing software to record a meeting and sharing the recording with the remote employee
Myth 6: Remote Work Doesn’t Reflect The Company Culture
Company culture is about values and that reflects in the employee’s work ethics. You can imbibe the work culture in remote employees and make them feel an integral member of the tribe.
The following tactics work great to instill company work culture in remote employees:
- Introduce them to company values, vision, and way of functioning
- Introduce them to the team members
- Invest in their education and training
- Invite them for video coffee meet-ups, in-person meet-ups, and company events
- Communicate effectively and be open to suggestions and feedback
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Myth 7: Remote Workers Are Available 24/7
Remote employees thrive on their flexible working schedules. In fact, 40 percent of remote workers consider flexibility as the biggest benefit of working remotely.
However, it doesn’t mean that they are available 24/7. They chose a remote position to:
- Bring work-life balance in their lives
- Work from their comfort zone
- Devote time to their other personal commitments
Remote workers work for a designated number of hours per week. To keep a check on time and productivity, you can use time tracking software.
Myth 8: Remote Workers Don’t Have Strong Work Ethics
Remote workers choose to work from different places to enhance their productivity. They are equally competitive when it’s about putting in efforts to be on par with their in-house counterparts.
The work ethic of remote workers is defined by:
- How proficient and diligent they are
- How punctual they are
- How do they add value to the organization
- How do they empathize with their team members
By analyzing these parameters you can gauge the work ethic of your remote employees.
Myth 9: It’s Challenging To Retain Remote Workers
Upwork’s Future Workforce Report predicts that 73 percent of all teams will have remote workers by 2028. This clearly indicates that companies are willing to include remote employees in their team.
Even 75 percent of the current remote workers confirm that they plan to work remotely for the rest of their careers.
So, to ensure that you retain your remote employees, you can:
- Value their work and show appreciation
- Provide benefits and allowances
- Invite them to events
- Make them an integral part of your team
If your work culture is conducive to learning, productivity, and growth, you will have no trouble retaining your remote team.
Myth 10: Remote Work Is All About Cost Cuttings
Remote work is indeed about cost cuttings, both for employers and employees. However, it’s not just about cost cuttings but more about flexibility and convenience.
The employers save costs associated with office rent, furniture, in-office amenities, and commute.
At the same time, they can:
- Source the best talent for the work
- Diversify their team
- Boost productivity at the workplace
- Reduce carbon footprint per employee
The remote employees save money since they don’t have to commute every day to work. Moreover, they get to spend time with their loved ones, and they develop industry connections in their domain.
Tools To Better Manage Remote Work
With the current global situation, a lot of businesses are learning and adapting to the remote work culture. It’s slowly becoming a priority for businesses as well as employees.
With the right tools and effective collaboration, you can enhance your team’s productivity and get maximum returns for your business. Here’s a list of 50+ communication and collaboration tools that can help you with remote work.
Manage Projects Smoothly
1. Workamajig
Workamajig is a web-based project management tool for CRM, time tracking, scheduling, finance, and analytics – all in one place. Workamjig is suitable for agencies & creative teams.
2. TeamGantt
TeamGantt’s online Gantt chart software can help plan your projects in minutes. Manage and allocate resources, ensure effective team management, initiate multiple projects, schedule time tracking and reporting, and much more.
3. ProjectManager
ProjectManager is an award-winning project management software designed for teams to plan, track, and collaborate online. Whether it’s Kanban or Gantt, ProjectManager supports both project views. It integrates seamlessly with 1000+ apps.
4. Wrike
Wrike is an online project management tool that gives you full visibility and control over your projects. Wrike is a comprehensive solution that offers time tracking, project planning and organization, an interactive timeline, communication, and online collaboration features for teams of any size.
5. OpenProject
OpenProject is web-based open source project management software that supports teams along the entire project management life-cycle. It facilitates task management, Gantt charts, agile boards, team collaboration, bug tracking, roadmap, time and cost reporting, and more.
6. Boords
Boords helps you manage projects creatively in the form of storyboarding. Visualize your ideas with storyboards, scripts, and animatics, collaborate with team members, share with clients, and more. It’s suitable for creative teams and agencies.
7. Clarizen
Clarizen is enterprise-level project management software that lets you manage work, automate processes, and collaborate across the enterprise—all from a single, intuitive platform. It supports different work styles and project management methodologies.
8. Asana
Create automated workflows, share details, assign responsibilities, and much more. Keep remote and distributed teams and your entire organization focused on their goals, projects, and tasks with Asana.
9. Monday.com
Monday.com powers teams to run processes, workflows, and projects in one unified workspace, unleashing their potential to achieve extraordinary results in all aspects of their work.
10. Scoro
Scoro is an end-to-end business management software solution for professional and creative services that help to streamline work and eliminate routine tasks.
11. Process Street
Process Street is a user-friendly tool suitable for creating efficient workflows for businesses. Create recurring checklists, workflows, and standard operating procedures in seconds. Track progress and collaborate effectively to ensure timely completion of tasks.
12. Smartsheet
Smartsheet is the leading platform for enterprise organizations. It provides agility and flexibility required to manage enterprise operations. It facilitates effective collaboration and communication amongst employees.
13. Easy Projects
Deploy Easy Projects to gain visibility, prioritize your resources, track time and budgets, automate workflows, and analyze performance reports. Ranked as Enterprise Project Management Software Leader in 2019, Easy Projects is apt for businesses of all sizes.
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14. Mavenlink
Mavenlink’s is not just about project management. It unites project management, resource management, business intelligence, time tracking, team collaboration, project accounting, and more into one place. It connects the entire organization and imparts much-required agility and flexibility.
15. Toggl Plan
Toggl Plan makes project management fun and engaging, besides making the process more efficient. The drag-and-drop interface is a child’s play. The bird-eye view helps you in tracking tasks and deadlines. Toggl Plan also facilitates real-time collaboration.
16. Workzone
Workzone is a simple yet powerful project management tool suitable for small, medium, and enterprise businesses. Creating workflows, collaborations, tracking, reporting, automatic scheduling, and resource management – everything is a breeze with Workzone.
17. Evernote
Evernote, a note-taking app, helps you capture and prioritize ideas, projects, and to-do lists. Manage user permissions to collaborate, create, and organize notes and files on Evernote. Handle projects, deadlines, clients, and meetings with ease and efficiency.
Create Beautiful Graphics
18. 99Designs
99Designs is a global creative platform for custom graphic design: Logos, websites, book covers, and more. You can either collaborate with freelancers or convey your ideas to create designs from scratch. Run a contest to generate unique ideas and pick the best idea.
19. Bannersnack
Bannersnack is a cloud-based, online banner creator. Choose from over 1000+ banner designs and build your advertising campaigns. Make banner ads for various publishing platforms like Facebook, WordPress, eCommerce platforms, and other ad networks.
20. BeFunky
BeFunky is an all-in-one photo editor that lets you apply photo effects, edit photos, and create photo collages with collage maker. The online photo editor provides over a million stock pictures, icons, and graphics for creating impeccable designs.
21. BrandCrowd
Make your logo with BrandCrowd’s logo maker or find stunning readymade logos that’ll you love. Sort designs based on keywords and industries and choose the one that represents your brand in the best way.
22. Creately
Creately is a visual software solution to draw and collaborate on ideas, concepts, and processes. Choose from 1000’s of templates and shapes, use interactive tools to draw and design effortlessly. It supports collaboration amongst team members and integration with third-party apps.
23. Crello
Crello is one of the simplest online image editors to create posts, covers, animations, and other custom designs. Use it to create stunning designs for both social and the web. Get access to 25,000+ templates and 500,000+ premium photos.
24. Envato
Envato is the world’s leading marketplace and community for creative assets and creative people. Whether you want to buy design elements, sell designs, create designs, access tutorials, or develop videos, Envato is your go-to place.
25. Fotor
Fotor is a free online picture editor and graphic designing tool, allowing you to use online photo editing elements, such as filters, frames, text, stickers, and effects. Create spectacular designs, collages, photos, and enhance images’ quality with Fotor.
26. Logo.com
Make a logo for your brand in seconds with Logo, a designing tool behind 5+ million logos developed till now. Boost your branding efforts with a logo available in different shapes, sizes, and formats. It makes logo designing fun and easy.
27. PicMonkey
Create beautiful photos, logos, social media graphics, and Facebook covers with PicMonkey’s easy yet powerful photo editing and graphic design software.
28. Piktochart
Piktochart lets you create beautiful infographics, flyers, posters, presentations, and reports easily with no design experience. Piktochart has 800+ templates that can be edited using the simple drag-and-drop editor featuring interactive icons and elements.
29. piZap
piZap photo editor is a fun and easy-to-learn online photo editor & collage maker. It features tons of effects, fonts, stickers, collage layouts, borders, frames, and editing tools to make your photo editing experience a breeze. The mobile app lets you create designs anywhere and anytime.
30. PosterMyWall
PosterMyWall simplifies graphic design for everyone. Create stunning promotional flyers, posters, social media graphics, and videos in minutes by customizing templates in minutes. PosterMyWall publishing tool is beneficial for online marketing.
31. Shutterstock
Use Shutterstock to search millions of royalty-free stock images, photos, videos, and music. You can also access the Shutterstock mobile app, Shutterstock editor, plugins, and other tools that facilitate quick and effective designing.
32. SmartDraw
SmartDraw is the smartest way to create different types of charts, flowcharts, organizational charts, floor plans, network diagrams, and more on any device. It’s compatible with MS Office, G Suite, and other solutions.
33. Venngage
Over 1 million people are using Venngage to create professional graphics. This easy-to-use infographic maker has 100+ infographic templates to choose from. Enhance your infographics with stunning visuals and flowcharts available in Venngage.
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34. Visme
Visme is your go-to tool to make professional presentations, interactive infographics, engaging videos, and other stunning visuals. Use pre-installed templates and your designer instincts to create unique designs. Share them online or save in your system.
35. Canva
Canva makes your job of designing visuals a piece of cake. The interactive interface, drag-and-drop editor, and access to million elements are the highlights of Canva. It integrates with third-party apps to enhance and manage your designs.
Share Files For Better Collaboration
36. Box
Use Box to collaborate and converse over a compliant cloud network without worrying about data security. Work as a team, create, edit, and share files in different formats, deploy changes in real-time, and access Box from anywhere, anytime, and any device.
37. Canto
Canto is the leading digital asset management solution that allows you to manage, organize, and share different types of files via multiple channels like email, social media, cloud storage, and others.
38. CloudAlly
Back up Office 365, SharePoint, G Suite, and Salesforce daily to secure unlimited Amazon S3 storage with CloudAlly’s automated cloud backup and recovery software. The tool backs up daily changes to the S3 storage and provides one-click restore and export facilities.
39. Cyberduck
Manage and distribute data over cloud storage and content delivery networks (CDN) using Cyberduck. It’s a libre server and cloud storage browser for Mac and Windows. Edit files, bookmark them, distribute them, enable encryption, and much more.
40. DropSend
Share large files easily with DropSend for free. Email files of up to 8GB each, store them online, manage sharing and download options. DropSend is suitable for businesses of all sizes.
41. Filemail
Filemail is a simple, secure, and fast way to share files with people across the globe. Enable safe and accelerated transfer, track files, download files, integrate Filmail on your website, and much more.
42. FileWhopper
FileWhopper offers a simple procedure of sending large files and folders (with no size limit) by paying a one-time fee. No monthly or any other type of retainer fee. Fast, secure transmission, and free storage for 14 days.
43. IFTTT
Make your work more productive, keep your data private and secure, collaborate with others, and share data as per your rules. IFTTT offers seamless integration of various tools and services.
44. MultCloud
Migrate, move, synchronize, copy, backup, and transfer cloud files at ease with MultCloud, even when your computer is switched off. The software supports Dropbox, Box, Google Drive, Mega, OneDrive and FTP, etc. Single login access makes it easier to manage all cloud data.
45. ownCloud
Access and share your files, calendars, contacts, mail, and more with ownCloud – the largest open source content collaboration platform in the world. The community-driven cloud sharing platform is accessible from any device and any location.
46. SmartFile
Deploy SmartFile to access, store, and share files in the cloud or behind your firewall. Designed for users and engineered for IT, SmartFile ensures seamless file sharing at all times. The administrators have better control over their data and processes with SmartFile.
47. Sync
Store, share and access your files from everywhere with Sync. The file-sharing solution takes security to the next level with end-to-end encryption. Manage security permissions, send files of any size, and access Sync on any device. It’s flexible and user-friendly.
48. Backupper
Data protection with AOMEI Backupper, the best and affordable Windows backup and restore software for home and business users. Easily backup data, restore the system image, migrate OS, and so on. The real-time data synchronization secures your files and folders against loss and damage.
49. WeTransfer
WeTransfer is the simplest way to share your files around the world. Send and receive large files of up to 20 GB with the Pro plan and 2 GB with the free plan. Create a custom professional domain name, manage security permissions, track processes, and much more.
50. Zapier
Zapier simplifies the task of sharing files between apps by automating the complete procedure. Use Zapier to connect apps, build processes, and enable automation for seamless sharing of files and folders.
51. Zoho
Zoho’s suite of online productivity tools and SaaS applications equips you with the essential resources required to create, organize, synchronize, share, and present files in a secure way. Zoho facilitates swift processing, effective collaboration, and seamless integration.
Get Better And More Effective At Remote Work
When working remotely, you have to identify the various challenges and address them as you go along. Setting up your business online and aligning your team members to your objectives requires effective project management and clear communication.
These tools will not only help you get started but also help you better manage expectations and enhance overall productivity.
