With the Government recommending that businesses who can work from home should continue to do so, here are some resources that will support your business in the transition from working in the office to working from home
Team Communication
When you're not in the office, communication plays an even greater role in the effectiveness of your organisation. Here are some tools that can support planning and communication in your business:
- Slack: communication tool to help remote teams will stay productive no matter
- Office 365: Range of applications for team communication and file management brought to you by Microsoft
- Audio & Video Calling
- Zoom
- GotoMeeting
- BlueJeans
- Teams (within Office 365)
- Skype (and Skype for Business)
- Join.me
- Google Hangouts
- Uber Conference
- Slack Video Calls
- Facebook Live
- YouTube Live
Team organisation
When working remotely, it's essential to have systems and processes in place that will allow your business to continue operating to the best of its potential. Here are some applications that can support you in this area:
- File Management
- Google Drive: A cloud-based file storage and synchronization service developed by Google
- Dropbox: a file hosting service that allows you to bring your files and cloud content together from anywhere
- Time Management
- Timely: An application to help keep everyone's work visible with real-time dashboards and synchronized scheduling
- Toggl: A productivity tool with a simple time tracker and powerful reports that work across all your devices.
- Everhour: Time tracking software equipped with budgeting, scheduling, expenses tracking and flexible reports
- Project Management
- Trello: Tool to help organize and prioritize your projects
- Basecamp: project management and internal communication tool for remote businesses
- Monday: customizable boards for managing your projects, workflows, and everyday work
- Asana: web and mobile application designed to help businesses organize, track, and manage their work
- Miscellaneous tools that may be of benefit for your business
- Calendly: meeting scheduling support
- WeTransfer: A file transfer system that allows you to send files up to 2GB for free
- Dashlane: Password manager for home. mobile and business
- Teamviewer: application for remote control, desktop sharing, online meetings, web conferencing and file transfer between computers
Online store presence
If you're looking to move your business online to sell goods, here are some steps to help you set up your online storefront
- Find the e-commerce website builder that works best for you, here are some options:
- Get a domain name for your store.
- Pick your e-commerce template.
- Customize your e-commerce template.
- Add your products.
- Set up payment methods.
- Sort out your shipping settings.
- Preview, test and publish your online store.
Some further tips for settling into remote working
- Create a workspace and a work schedule (if regular hours don’t work) that will work best for you
- Identify your high productivity periods and use these to your advantage
- Check-in with co-workers frequently
- Don’t start your work Day in your PJs
- Set a routine and stick to it - where possible
- Set ground rules with the people in your bubble, including:
- Sharing your work schedule with those in your bubble
- If you have kids, making sure they also have a schedule that they can follow
- Sharing responsibilities around the house
- Keeping in mind that this is a challenging time so being kind to yourself
- Open the windows, and try to get outside to enjoy the sunshine when we have it!