The 9 best online tools for working from home
Here's our round-up of the 9 best online tools for working from home.
Due to ongoing social distancing measures, senior professionals across the UK continue to work from home and will likely do so for the foreseeable future. As you and your colleagues may have discovered, remote working comes with a unique set of challenges. However, a range of innovative websites, applications and tools that may provide the solution to your issues are already out there waiting to be discovered.
This is the TotallyExec round-up of the 9 best online tools for working from home.
Please note, while some of the following tools require paid subscriptions, most offer free versions or trial periods. TotallyExec is not affiliated with, nor is it receiving any money from, any of the developers of these sites, apps and tools.
Slack
Slack acts as a professional chatroom designed to be a more effective and customisable alternative tool to email when it comes to communication, collaboration and sharing within your teams. Slack allows you to create channels for each of your team’s projects and discussions, meaning that nobody receives notifications or information unrelated to their own tasks. With built-in file sharing, video conferencing, private messaging, the integration of 2,000+ apps and much more, Slack will likely remain a staple for your team a long time after office-based work has recommenced.
Trello
Trello is an online list-making tool that allows you to organise your projects and tasks into ‘boards’ that help you track what’s being worked on, by whom and the progress of each task. With the possibility to create multiple boards and multiple lists within each, Trello can be used for your own personal tasks as well as project work and collaborations between team members.
Status Hero
Status Hero is an achievement tracking tool used to monitor the daily goals and progress of each member of your team via brief check-ins and status updates. Once per day, Status Hero prompts each team member to provide a short update via email, text or another integrated chat app. These updates are accumulated and broadcasted to the whole team, meaning everyone has a transparent view of the headway and contributions of their colleagues.
Time Doctor
Time Doctor is a time-tracking tool intended to maximise productivity, minimise distractions and provide insights into how employees are using their time. Whether you are a manager interested in the habits of your team or you have genuine concerns about the productivity of those working for you, Time Doctor is a tool worth considering. It’s also a worthwhile tool for those who acknowledge they struggle with distractions to make the most of their work time.
LeechBlock
Speaking of distractions, another useful tool for professionals inclined to a Facebook scroll or quick spot of online shopping during working hours is LeechBlock. LeechBlock is a simple productivity browser extension “designed to block those time-wasting sites that can suck the life out of your working day”. All you have to do is enter the sites that you want to avoid and the time period or time limit you want them blocked for and LeechBlock will minimise distractions so you can maximise productivity.
Krisp
Krisp is an essential tool for anyone currently working from home who spends time on phone calls or video conferences. With just one click, Krisp removes any background noise from your microphone, allowing you to speak without interruption or distraction. It works the other way as well, eliminating any background noise coming from those talking so you can give your full attention to every remote conversation and meeting.
Zoom
Bringing together remote teams for both professional meetings and social hangouts, Zoom is a cloud platform for video and audio conferencing, chat, and webinars across mobile, desktop and telephone. Reliable, high quality, and intuitive, it’s no wonder Zoom is one of the most successful communication solutions used by businesses and individuals around the world.
Microsoft Teams
If you or your employer subscribes to an Office 365 package, it’s likely that you already have access to Microsoft Teams. Offering instant chat and video call functions as well as file sharing capabilities, calendar management and integration for other Microsoft applications, this tool is great for any team looking to enhance their collaboration and communication while working from home.
Dashlane
You already know that it’s not safe to store shared passwords in a central location as they could become compromised or accessed by someone outside your organisation. However, that doesn’t mean you have to remember the login credentials for every app, site and tool your team uses. Dashlane is a password management app for mobile and desktop, allowing you to login instantly and share access with your colleagues while keeping your details safe and secure.