5 Best Tech Tools For Working From Home Amid Coronavirus

Millions of Americans will be working from home this week due to the coronavirus. Existing tech tools are making it possible for many aspects of our workplace lives to continue despite not being at the office. We have put together a guide on tools we believe will help you communicate while working from home, allow you to focus on your work, manage your team projects, and allow for an easy transition back to the office when everything is cleared up. 

Communication

Now that you are working from home, communication seems like the biggest barrier since you and your team are no longer at the workplace. Thankfully today we have many options for getting in touch with the team in the touch of a button. 

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Zoom offers a full suite of video conferencing and communication tools for businesses. 

Key features:

• Video meetings: Remote teams can run video meetings and one-to-one video calls.
• Voice calls: You can also run group or one-to-one voice calls when face-to-face meetings aren’t necessary.
• Webinars: You can also use Zoom to host webinars.
• Messaging: Team members can send messages using Zoom.
• File sharing: Share files during and outside of video/voice chats for collaboration between members.

Free version available, paid version price varies
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Slack is a messaging platform designed for teams and it’s the ideal communication tool for remote workers. 

Key features:

• Instant messaging: Live communication between every team member for seamless collaboration.
• Statuses: Users can set availability statuses to focus on individual tasks as needed.
• File sharing: Drag-and-drop file sharing for PDFs, images, videos, and other common file types.
• Voice & video calls: Voice and video calls directly from within Slack.
• Screen sharing: Allows team members to show their work to others in real-time for stronger collaboration.

Pricing starts at $6.67 per month, per user. There is also a free version of Slack.

Avoiding Distractions 

You are working from home and you get 34 Facebook notifications, your aunt messaged you pictures of her cat working from home, Candy Crush has a new game waiting for you, and your neighbor is texting you asking if you want to buy any paper towel from his newly purchased collection. How will you be able to get any work done like this?

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Focus blocks distracting websites so this doesn’t happen. Block any website or application that may cause distractions so you can stay productive from anywhere in the world.

Key features:

• Automatic and customizable inspirational quotes to get you back on task
• Setup and enforce daily, weekly or weekend schedules
• A built-in Pomodoro timer to divide up your work
• Track progress with productivity statistics

Download a free trial complete with all Focus features or purchase starting at $19 (one-time cost).

Project Management

Making sure everyone knows what they are doing and when it needs to be done is key when the team is working from home. Since you can't pop into someone's office and get an update you need to have a system for quickly knowing what everyone is doing and when they will have it completed. 

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Asana is used to quickly capture tasks, to-dos, reminders, and ideas. Get updates from coworkers, organize tasks and projects for work, or manage your to-do list for the day. 

Key features:

• Add a task for to-dos, reminders, ideas, and requests— before you forget
• Add due dates, assignees, followers, details, and files to your tasks
• Create projects to organize your tasks in lists or boards
• Comment on tasks from anywhere to clarify instructions or ask questions

The free version is available for teams of up to 15 people.‍

Returning to the Workplace

When it is time to return to work, you want to be sure that the first days back are not everyone running around in a panic. We suggest having a company meeting online right before returning and updating everyone on current projects so that everyone can get back on track. Employees want to feel safe coming back to work so making sure your office got the proper cleaning service while it was closed is essential. 

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Onedesk allows you to effortlessly book and manage janitorial services using the Onedesk smart cleaning platform. Forget about spending forever looking for someone to come out and deep clean your space while your office is closed. The Onedesk Platform makes it super simple to request commercial cleaning services, communicate with your cleaners, see your schedule and manage all your payments.

Key features:

• Request the cleaning services you need in just a few clicks.
• Contact your Onedesk operator as well as your cleaners through the messaging feature.
• See upcoming appointments, request any changes, and handle all billing and invoices without leaving the Onedesk platform.
• Licensed and Insured cleaners vetted by a team of cleaning experts

Free for all users