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.
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.
Zoom offers a full suite of video conferencing and communication tools for businesses.
Free version available, paid version price varies
Slack is a messaging platform designed for teams and it’s the ideal communication tool for remote workers.
Pricing starts at $6.67 per month, per user. There is also a free version of Slack.
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?
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.
Download a free trial complete with all Focus features or purchase starting at $19 (one-time cost).
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.
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.
The free version is available for teams of up to 15 people.
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.
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.
Free for all users