At the start of the pandemic, most employees thought that the best thing about remote work was being able to complete tasks from the comfort of their own home and reducing traveling costs to and from the workplace. These factors of remote work are beneficial and despite apprehension from employers about at-home distractions, remote work has not lessened productivity.
According to SHRM.org, “94% of 800 employees surveyed by Mercer, an HR and workplace benefits consulting firm, stated that productivity was the same or higher than it was before the pandemic, even when working remotely.” In order for levels of productivity to remain consistent and rise to even bigger heights, companies are becoming reliant on tools from various platforms that specializes in keeping their workers on task.
Here is a list of some of the best remote work tools for businesses to use:
Remote Workforce Project Management Tools
- Trello: Within the platform’s project management capabilities, its remote work functions include employees being able to work together on tasks, having tools for employers to manage employees, at-home help and utilization, work monitoring, being able to conduct meetings, and speak with a company representative in real time.
- ProofHub: Remote work tools from this platform include employees being able to work with other employers to complete tasks, conduct meetings, monitor work productivity, at-home utilization, and users are able to speak with a company representative in real time.
- Assembla: This platform allows for employees to work together on various tasks, at-home utilization of tools and instructions, monitoring of archives, take advantage of the newest installments of software development, and pee-based analyzation tools.
- Basecamp: Within this platform’s project management capabilities, its remote work functions include employee teamwork on work-related tasks and projects, at-home utilization, progress marking, think tanks, user platform, changeable interface and monitoring of work productivity.
- Podio: Also called Citrix Podio, remote work tools from this platform include teamwork capabilities for employees, a platform for users, thinks tanks, progress marking, price-to-finish monitoring, flexible techniques, provides oversight of work history, and a Kanban tool.
- Taskworld: This platform allows for employees to work together on various tasks, speak in real time with a company representative, at-home utilization, work progress monitoring, flexible and long-standing techniques, progress marking, think tanks, a Kanban tool, price-to-finish calculator, and oversight of resources.
- Smartsheet: This remote work software provides long-standing and flexible techniques, tools for monitoring costs of production, a platform center for users, teamwork capabilities for workers, a changeable interface, a price-to-finish calculator, think tanks, Gantt visual information tools, Kanban tools, progress monitoring, and oversight of resources and work history.
- Monday: Within the platform’s project management capabilities, its remote work functions include a worker directory, employees working together through sending work back and forth to each other, questionnaires & advice activities, work progress monitoring, file monitoring, speak with and contact other employees, task and information updates, and oversight of work schedule.
Tools for Work Management
- Workfront: This platform allows for employers monitor the work schedule, organizing forms and files, smartphone utilization, monitoring work progress, outside collaborations with other software, management of workflow, ensuring the alignment of work practices with federal and state mandates, utilization of commands, and the mechanization of the task process.
- Airtable: Work management tools for this remote work software include a changeable interface, ensuring the alignment of work practices with federal and state mandates, command utilization, file and form organization, compatible with smartphone use, and the monitoring of tasks.
- Paymo: Within the platform’s remote work capabilities, its functions include teamwork capabilities for company employees, employee work management tools, at-home assistance for users, monitoring of task progress and completion, and time location management.
- Scoro: This work management software provides remote work utilization for employee task management, work activity monitoring, tools to conduct meeting between employers and employees, oversight of tasks, and teamwork capabilities for employees, and storage for files and documents.
- Kissflow: This platform allows for users to take advantage of command tools, mechanize workflow, monitor work schedule and tasks, ensuring the alignment of work practices with federal and state mandates, changeable interface, handling of documents, visual information creator for work progress levels, usable through a smartphone, compatible with other software, and organization of workflow.
- Odoo: This work management software provides worker, economic, product, advertising, onboarding, and buyer monitoring tools, charging and receipt records, analyzes work results, price-to-finish monitoring, schedules for work, project, and task deadlines, and customer relationship management capabilities.
- Bitrix24: Work management tools for this remote work software include the utilization of command tools, organization of the work schedule, changeable interface, visual graphs and charts, management of workflow, oversight of contractors, worker time-life monitoring, and ensuring that employees show up to (remote) work in a timely manner.
- Insightly: This software allows for users to have a schedule/notification system, handling and keeping of files, in-system communication synchronization, creation and monitoring of leads for the company, mechanization of advertising, smartphone friendly, task and location oversight, and labeling and categorizing of work projects and tasks.
Remote Team Collaboration Tools
- Slack: This platform’s remote team software features include teamwork capabilities for employees, at-home utilization and assistance, digital communication tools such as telecommunication through online and digital means, and also provides audio only options like online calls.
- Aircall: This auto caller software platform provides remote team collaboration tools like teamwork capabilities for employees, worker task management, employee assignment monitoring, communication call tool within the software, time location monitoring, and online conferencing.
- Dropbox: A digital file management software platform that allows for remote worker to work with each other on various assignments, digital signing of electronic documents, at-home utilization, and monitoring of task progress and completion by business employers.
- Skype: This teleconferencing software platform provides companies to manage their workers’ activity and monitor the time in which they use to work. If a company is looking specifically for remote work collaboration tools, what is offered on this platform is extremely limited.
- Workplace by Facebook: This platform, from social media juggernaut Facebook, allows for idea-creating sessions, oversight over the work schedule, communication portals, file work, and assignment monitoring by employers, and digital communication through online conferencing.
- Pukkateam: This platform’s remote team software features include teamwork functions for employees to complete tasks fast and effectively, conduct meeting to discuss deadlines, goals, and accomplishments, time location monitoring for workers that live in different areas of the country or the world, and online conferencing.
- Zoom: This video conferencing software platform provides teamwork capabilities for employees, real-time communication tools, conducting meetings, at-home utilization and assistance, time location monitoring, video conferencing (obviously), and online conferencing.
- Float: The software on this platform offers to tools that tracks the productivity levels of employees to ensure that they stay on task and are free from distractions, oversight of tasks to help the work process go as smoothly as possible, and time location monitoring for remote workers that reside in different parts of the world.
Tools for Team Productivity and Reporting
- Evernote: Remote work tools from this platform include idea-creating sessions, work, file, assignment, and duty handling and monitoring of employees by employers. The features of this software is limited compared to other software specializing in remote work.
- Noisli: This unique technique of focus and concentration for employees offers customizable background sound effects and songs that users can create, edit, and produce. These specialized “noises” can even be cut to a particular time period based on how long the user is planning to work. This platform even has a word editor that helps users focus on what they are writing by clearing out outside distractions.
- Focus booster: Utilize the pomodoro method, which is a simplified way of being productive through sections of time with short stopping periods throughout, to reduce deterrents that prevent workers from staying on task, increase concentration, and get more done by the monitoring of work activity through time reports.
- I Done This: This software platform provides everyday notifications, progress updates, a communication portal, time and work monitoring, safe-guarding of sensitive data, teamwork tools, compatibility with other software, work completion logs, and easy-to-research databases.
- Todoist: Write down and manage duties with the Quick Add tool, receive notifications for due dates, have important assignments highlighted with the Favorites tool, assign specific tasks to specific workers with the Delegate Tasks tool, get alerted when work is finished, and receive rewards for being productive with the Todoist Karma tool.
- Mindmeister: This software platforms offers users notification tools, teamwork capabilities, tools that foster the creation and brainstorming of ideas, planning, monitoring of the production of workers, and handles workflow to ensure that operations are running smoothly and effectively.
- Brain.fm: A platform that utilizes songs for employees to listen in order to generate modes of concentration in the mind within a 10, 15, or 30 minute span. The sounds from the music affects the user’s brainwaves by helping to person to zone out any distractions and increase productivity.
- Weekdone: The team productivity and reporting capabilities of this software include a tool to help employees work together to complete tasks and big assignments, worker productivity management, and the organization of tasks. The features of this software is limited compared to other software specializing in remote work.
Remote Team Building Tools
- Trivie: This remote onboarding software offers team building tools like simultaneous learning sessions, learning through a smartphone, tailored for school environments, combination and one-on-one learning, and learning dashboards for different types of learning.
- Go Game: With its specialized software for remote team building, this platform offers 60 virtual sessions, utilization of games within the software, real-time industry hosts, professional-grade tools, the ability to create team connections, and handle teams made up of small groups to up to 10,000 people.
- Bonusly: Business employers can interact with employees to raise production levels and keep them wanting to work there through tools like employer-to-employee recognition, employee-to-employee recognition, and regulating and monitoring prizes for good work and productivity.
- Donut: This networking platform provides a way for remote employees to reach out to one another through digital coffee meetups, meeting other workers from around the world, creating portals that can be accessed by everyone including employers, and participating in Executive Coffee Drawings that lets employees spend time with the heads of their companies.
- Assembly: An employee interactive platform the offers team building tools like worker, employer-to-employee, and employee-to-employee recognition, the handling and management of prizes for tasks completed, electronic cards, and critique/criticisms monitoring tools.
- Kahoot: The tools on this software provide users with accomplishment establishing and monitoring, leader dashboards, productivity monitoring, measuring performance levels, and handling prizes tasks accomplishments, and partaking in fun, interactive, and time quizzes.
- Let’s Roam: Connect with other remote workers or team members by participating in digital activities like scavenger hunts, quiz games, drawing activities, and emoji face games. This is a great de-stressor platform for workers to get away from the office at home.
- Houseparty: Interact with remote workers in a group setting or person-to-person through this platform with its digital communication features. The software is compatible with Apple iOS, Android, and Google Chrome devices. Compared to other team building platforms, the features are limited.
Tools for Time Management
- RescueTime: This platform offers mechanized time holding, a portal that stores sensitive employee information, a timesheet organizing tool, reminders, worker activity management, productivity measurement, computer screen monitoring, and time monitoring tools to simplify time management for employers.
- Worldtimebuddy: This platform functions as a time calculator of sorts. Users can find out what time it is all around the globe by typing in the desired location or time zone into the search bar. Compare different time zones to easily schedule for remote meetings, activities, and even travel plans. Employers can also plan their online meetups with employees through this software.
- Toggl: With Toggl Track, users can monitor the time that workers actually put into completing tasks and assignments. Toggl Track also offers features like activity tracking portals, time information calculators, weekly and daily time totals, and the handling of major tasks.
- Accelo: The software of this platform offers tools such as teamwork capabilities, oversight of worker productivity levels, at-home utilization and assistance, handling of duties and assignments, and time location monitoring. It also include time monitoring of clients and assignments.
- Doodle: For time management, Doodle offers users reminders, calendar markers for appointments, workers, and teams, mechanized scheduling, and the ability to organize the booking of rooms. Its features also handles streamlined calendars, multiple areas, and on-going appointments.
- Calendly: This mechanized time planning tool offers notifications for appointments, streamlined calendars (hence the name), team time planning, capability with smartphones, online scheduling, live scheduling, resource planning and digital payment features.
- Hubstaff: For time management, Hubstaff provides time monitoring sync ability, mechanized time handling, payable and non-payable hours, payment and receipts, smartphone time monitoring, off-site time monitoring, timesheet oversight, and time-off tracking tools for employees and employers.
- When I Work: This time planning software platforms gives users mechanized time handling, payable and non-payable hour, payment and receipts, smartphone capabilities, off-site time monitoring, timesheet organization and, time-off tracking tools for workers and employers.
Miscellaneous Tools
- Pivotal Tracker: Mechanized scheduling, customizable digital work areas, productivity and progress measurements of tasks, reminders, document sharing, organization of tasks, problem-solving, streamlining, and archive tools are provided on the Pivotal Tracker platform.
- GitHub: This issue monitoring platform allows users to utilize commands, take advantage of tracking and measurement features and monitor source material, teamwork capabilities, and the oversight and monitoring of code. The features offered are limited compared to other platforms.
- Workfrom: This application assists remote employees in locating places where they can be productive with a limited amount of distractions. Based on critiques from other users, remote workers can find the best locations based on WI-FI capabilities, atmosphere, and other qualifications conducing to a healthy working environment.
- Confluence: Work, file, assignment, and duty oversight with idea creation sessions, calendar monitoring, digital communication panels, live editing, and feature control are some of the features offered by Confluence for businesses to utilize production management.
- 1Password: Hence the name, users can monitor passwords through identity management, multi-level verification process, password creator, streamlined passwords, one-time sign on, and user information monitoring for safer handling of sensitive employee information and company data.
- Passpack: A password monitoring platform that offers password security, ensuring that practices are in alignment with federal and state guidelines, multi-level verification of identity process, access allowed depending on association, and user insurance set asides for protection purposes features.
- Asana: This work from home software platform provides users with teamwork capabilities, worker productivity management, meet-up monitoring, at-home utilization and assistance, and the handling of various assignments and tasks of remote work employees.
- TimeCamp: This extensive time monitoring platform provides users with mechanized time holding, payable and non-payable hours, payments and receipts, worker information portal, mobile capabilities, tracking of overtime hours, handling of timesheets, and off-time management features.
Final Thoughts
Being productive while working remotely may have seemed like an improbable task to employers before the pandemic. Thanks to the digital platforms mentioned above, employees cannot only get work done from the comfort of their own home, they can also be successful in their careers from anywhere in the world at any time and any place.
