Starting the journey of working from home can be confusing and complicated, no matter how well prepared you and your employees are. There’s no doubt that it’s a completely different world. Unfortunately, recent events have led many companies to require their employees start working from home with not much more than a day’s notice.
Whether it’s your company’s fifth month working from home or your first week, you could still use some tips on remote employment to help improve your business operations. We’ve compiled a list of resources you can access to help make working from home a little less chaotic and a bit more manageable.
Best Resources for Messaging
Communication is the key to everything and working from home is no different. If the office is closed, you’re probably not able to talk to your coworkers or assistants as much as you need to. Apps like Slack or Microsoft Teams make this much easier.
Slack is able to incorporate Google Docs and Dropbox. Once your office has its own space, you can create chats with multiple coworkers, the entire staff, or just that one person you talk to all the time. Microsoft Teams allows you to make separate rooms and invite coworkers to join them. Once you’re in a room, you can send a message out to everyone in the room to make sure everyone see what you send.
Accessing Your Desktop From Home Like A Pro
For those who need to access an office desk top from home, apps like TeamViewer and Splashtop can come in handy. These apps can allow you to transfer files and interact with your office desktop from the couch with a laptop. You’ll truly enjoy the convenience as you navigate your desktop from home.
Video Conferences
Everyone’s favorite part of the day is when it’s time for that video call and interaction. Many companies use Zoom or Skype for their video conferences.
Zoom is free to use for meetings less than 40 minutes long. After that, the app will kick everyone out of the meeting and you’ll have to start a new one to continue. Paying the subscription will grant you unlimited time to conduct meetings. Zoom also allows up to 100 people to join for free, or you can purchase an add-on that allows 500 participants instead.
Skype is available for free as a personal video chat service, or you can purchase the business version. There is an option to get both Microsoft Teams and Skype as a bundle.
Managing Remote Employees
If you’re a supervisor, being thrown into a remote workforce was probably more complicated than most employees. Not being around to train employees as needed, send messages or files, or file schedules and reports just got more complicated. Fortunately, there’s some resources out there specifically to make worker management easier in work from home situations.
Project Management
Apps that can help with project management include Basecamp, Monday, Trello, Asana and Hubstaff. In addition to these common ready-made solutions, you might even turn to custom CRM for your business.
Basecamp has functions like task management, file sharing, messaging, reporting, collaboration, and a search function that makes everything easy to access. Monday is a Basecamp alternative aimed at small and mid-sized companies. Unfortunately, it’s not cheap. Running at $25/month for only 20 columns, Monday doesn’t quite compare to Basecamp when it comes to content available for the price you pay.
Trello is probably the easiest to use. It functions similar to a bulletin board in that you are able to create boards that often represent projects. Within each board, you can create lists and put task cards on those lists that employees can move around and interact with.
Regardless of which CRM you choose, these third party services can work for your custom CRM to make it even better. A custom CRM will enable business owners to manage their remote workforce effectively.
Time Management
Timely, Toggl, and Everhour are the most well-known time management apps. Timely allows you to set tasks and time how long you work. Toggl is better for personal time management and doesn’t paint a clear picture for supervisors, but it does create useful reports and allows employees to label how their time is spent. Everhour has a timer function that allows you to track billable work hours. It tracks the time different projects take, but isn’t strong when it comes to scheduling.
Your Custom CRM
Having your own custom CRM comes in handy as it can be designed just to fit your business’ specific needs. Whether it’s communication, time management or project management, you’re able to tie it all in when you work with us closely for your custom software development. With ready-made solutions on the market, you’re often limited by exorbitant long-term per-user pricing structures or feature limitations that you really need to run your business. You won’t face the same issues with your custom CRM that’s built just for your business.
Related Content >> Pros and Cons of the Salesforce CRM
In Summary
Overall, working from home can be both a joy and a strain. There are various apps and software on the market, but don’t despair if you find that they’re often not as well rounded as your business requires. Most ready-made solutions might be lacking in certain aspects for your specific business needed. That’s where a custom CRM comes in handy – a tailored solution just for your business.