We’re currently seeing a huge shift in people working remotely. We’re seeing more freelancers, more online entrepreneurs and huge companies allowing their employees to work remotely. This can be a big change for some and may seem daunting so we’ve found some of the best apps you can use on your laptop and mobile to make things easier.
These apps cover task management, meetings and team communication, providing the perfect base for working online.
Trello
Trello is a task management app so you can say goodbye to all your to do lists written on the back of your hand. This app is available on both mobile and desktop, in which they sync, allowing you to manage your work life and personal life. It’s an extremely useful piece of software and you can use it in a variety of ways.
The way it works is you organise your ‘board’ which is based on the kanban board into separate ‘lists’. And within those lists you create ‘cards’. Within the cards you can have all sorts of information such as checklists, image files, comments and plain text. You’ll see what we mean in the screenshot below.
If you’re new to this kind of task management we recommend setting up your board with each list being either a week or a day. You can then add all the tasks you need to do within that particular week or day as cards (things to do).
As this app syncs to the mobile version you can carry around your tasks on your mobile and if anything pops into your head you can add it as a task.
This software is extremely easy to use and incorporates a drag and drop system and label system so you can organise your day or week into prioritised lists, increasing your productivity massively.
We highly recommend Trello and you should check this out if you’re new to working online remotely.
Zoom
You’ve probably heard of Skype, it’s been around for a very long time (since 2003). Essentially it’s a video calling app. But recently there has been a new player that is starting to take over in not only the online working world but also peoples day to day lives to keep in touch with family and friends they can’t visit easily. This app is called Zoom (founded in 2011).
Zoom was created so that people could hold online video conferences. Which is exactly why it’s an essential app for people working online. Not only does it have better connectivity (less lag) than Skype but you can have video meetings one to one or hold a conference of up to 100 people.
Zoom gives you the ability to schedule video meets which you can then email your employees, clients or friends and family. You can also sync your Google calendar with Zoom for an even more efficient way to organise your video meetings.
Slack
If you want to avoid mixing work with your personal life by avoiding large group chats on WhatsApp or Facebook then Slack is the perfect app for you.
Slack was designed with work in mind. Essentially it’s an instant messaging software available both on desktop and mobile, however it’s aimed towards online working teams.
Once you have Slack set up you can create different channels for different types of conversations between employees. For example you can have a marketing channel, an HR channel and a general chat channel. You can then set who can access those channels.
This is the perfect work communication app for small or large teams. It has the availability to share files of all kinds and has the capability to integrate a whole host of third party apps such as Trello, Zoom and Google drive (just to name a few).
Whether you have a small business or are thinking about moving your large business to the remote working world then Slack is a must have app.
Summary
It's now been proven that online remote working is the future, not only to cut business costs but it's also been shown that people working online, either for themselves or for a company are more efficient. And it’s thanks to apps like these that make it possible.