In these unprecedented times, many companies have embraced remote working. Maintaining productivity levels and creating swift workflows are one of the major challenges that businesses are struggling to tackle in this remote environment and they are looking for the right tools to manage and accomplish their day-to-day tasks effectively.

These tools do small things but can make a big difference by saving your time and enhancing the workflow.

We have divided the tools into 6 popular categories:

  1. Communication (Video / Audio / Chat) – It is the heart of remote working. You simply cannot excel in the remote environment if you are lacking in communication.
  2. Project Management – Tracking the goals and their progress helps everyone in your team to stay on the same page and set priorities accordingly.
  3. File Sharing & Document handling – Many companies have operations that include exchange of large-sized files and so, there is a need to store them securely in cloud platforms.
  4. Time tracking – The sole aim of improving productivity is to complete your tasks quickly and within deadlines. Thus, it is important to track the time of each task.
  5. Using the right CRM – A customer relationship management software will help you to manage leads, schedule follow-ups, and automate many manual tasks. In general, you can plan your whole day by using a CRM.
  6. Scheduling Meetings/Appointments – At no cost you can miss the important meetings with your clients. Appointment scheduling tools will help you schedule the meeting according to your availability and send you a reminder of the same.

So, let’s get started with the most important category – communication.

Communication Tools – Heart of remote working

14 Tools to Boost your Productivity in Remote Working

1. Skype

Skype is all-in-one communication platform owned by Microsoft that enables users to communicate via chat, audio and video calls. You can create groups, schedule calls and just give your skype id to anyone who wishes to communicate with you. The basic version of skype is totally free of cost. You can also purchase a virtual number to make calls to phone numbers.

Platforms: Web App, Desktop App, Android & iOS App

2. Slack

Slack is an amazing tool which unites your remote team and allows them to communicate seamlessly without messing up. You can create different channels for all your projects and teams. It also has the feature of hosting the video conference. Slack is free up to storing 10,000 most recent messages but however for storing more messages, you have to purchase a higher version which is starting at 2.67 USD per month. It has an integration with other popular platforms such as Google Drive and Office 365.

Platforms: Web App, Desktop App, Mobile App (Android & iOS)

3. Microsoft Teams

This is another communication tool owned by Microsoft that paved its way in this foreseeable work from home environment. Despite launching in 2017, Microsoft teams have a huge user base with 75 million+ daily active users. It’s really more convenient for businesses who are using outlook instead of Gmail and indeed Microsoft teams paid version is included in most of the office 365 plans.

Platforms: Web App, Desktop App, Mobile App (Android & iOS)

4. Zoom

Zoom is another communication platform that experienced a huge spike of downloads during the pandemic. You don’t need anything to join zoom meetings, not even an email address. Just enter your name and join the meeting, as simple as that. Free version of zoom allows 100 participants in one meeting which can last up to 40 minutes.

Platforms: Web App, Desktop App, Mobile App (Android & iOS)

5. Google Meet

The search engine giant has also unveiled its video communication platform which facilitates Gmail users to join meetings directly via calendar invite containing a meeting link that redirects users to Google Meet Web App. The free version of this also allows 100 participants at a time and for the duration of 60 minutes.

Platforms: Web App, Mobile App (Android & iOS)

Now let’s shed some light on project management tools that create swift workflows.

Project Management tools – Keeps everyone on the same page

14 Tools to Boost your Productivity in Remote Working

6. Trello

Trello is a heaven for those who love agile methodology. It is a subsidiary of an Australian based organization – Atlassian. If a project contains a number of tasks and each task need different stages for completion, there is no better option than using a tool like Trello that keeps everyone on the same page. You can create as many task boards as you want and move them between the specified stages.

Platforms: Web App, Mobile App (Android & iOS)

7. Basecamp

Another useful tool for a remotely working team that assists you to carry out the tasks smoothly. Basecamp enables users to add people to the project communication, create a dedicated message board for specific tasks, and provides space for file storage as well.

Platforms: Web App, Mobile App (Android & iOS)

Storing files securely and ensuring access to everyone is more important than ever. Take a look at the tools that will make this process easy.

File Sharing Tools: Leverage the cloud storage

14 Tools to Boost your Productivity in Remote Working

8. Google Drive

Google Drive allows users to create, upload and share files of any type inside it. You can simply share the link of the folder and anyone on the web can access it. You just need a Gmail id to use Google drive which has 15 GB of storage in a free plan. It integrates with all Google workspace applications resulting into an amazing ecosystem.

Platforms: Web App, Mobile App (Android & iOS)

9. Dropbox

Dropbox offers incredible file sharing solutions and acts as your cloud-based hard drive. It is rated as one of the most valuable start-up in USA. You can share any folder from your computer with your team and all of them will be able to work collectively on it with everyone having access to the real-time version of the file. Dropbox gives free storage up to 2 GB and when you upgrade it to “Dropbox premium” it gets increased to 2 terabytes.

Platforms: Web App, Desktop App, Mobile App (Android & iOS), Chrome extension

Time is money and so it matters how much time you take to complete a specific task.

Time tracking Tools: Analyse and focus on stuff that matters

14 Tools to Boost your Productivity in Remote Working

10. Clockify

Clockify is a simple and free time tracking tool in which you can invite people to your workspace and track their activity on the tasks assigned to them. You can customize dashboards according to your needs and see how things are getting done in your way. It also has a Google Chrome extension and a mobile app which allows employees to turn on/off the timer and switch between the tasks from anywhere.

Platforms: Web App, Desktop App, Chrome extension, Mobile App (Android & iOS)

11. Apploye

Apploye is an advanced time tracking app for a remote team that comes with tons of other features. It can give you a glimpse of your employee’s productivity by tracking the activity during office hours based on mouse movements and keyboard typing.

You can get more essential features like timesheets, screenshots, URL tracking, invoicing, team projects, shift management, attendance, and GPS location tracking. Its pricing starts at
$6 per month per user.

Platforms: Web App

In case if you don’t know – “The biggest software market in the world right now is CRM software”. It has become the bread and butter of every business that is operating remotely.

CRM Tools: Manage everything at one place

14 Tools to Boost your Productivity in Remote Working

12. HubSpot

Hubspot CRM keeps you organized by letting you plan your whole day, scheduling follow-ups and reminders. You can add contacts/leads and assign to anyone in your team. Say goodbye to those tedious tasks of handling long excel sheets. This robust CRM also has an automation feature that will offload many manual tasks from you.

Platforms: Web App, Desktop App, Mobile App (Android & iOS), Chrome extension

13. Salesmate

Salesmate CRM act as a magic bullet for sales people and streamlines their sales process. From nurturing leads to customized dashboards, Salesmate offers a tailored experience for businesses who want to build lasting relationships with their customers. It also has integration with popular applications such as Slack, MailChimp, DocuSign, Gmail and many more.

Platforms: Web App, Desktop App, Mobile App (Android & iOS), Chrome extension

Meetings are a vital part of any organization and especially in these virtual meetups, it becomes necessary for everybody to ensure availability of each other.

Meeting setup Tools: Schedule appointments without hefty communication

14 Tools to Boost your Productivity in Remote Working

14. Calendly

Calendly is a simple appointment scheduling tool that can be linked to your Gmail, Office 365, Stripe, Outlook, Zapier and Salesforce. Users just have to share links with their clients and they will cross-check your availability. Thus, meeting will be scheduled on the time that works best for both of you, without any back-and-forth emails or text messages.

Wrapping Up

Pandemic gave businesses a much-needed boost in embracing digitalization and getting the best out of the recent technological advancements. The downloads of all these tools and applications have been skyrocketed due to lockdown across the countries that enforced organizations to work remotely. As this Covid-19 situation is not going away anytime soon, businesses will have to familiarise themselves with the ‘new normal’.

The 14 tools that are listed above will help you to streamline your workflow and will boost your productivity in this remote working environment.

Author bio

Raaquib Pathan is a content marketing specialist having expertise in providing insights into the latest sales and marketing paradigms. Honing his skills in SEO coupled with content marketing, he helps brands increase their reach and dominate search results.