The coronavirus pandemic brought the world to a standstill – and life as we know it changed significantly. In fact, some reports state that the effects of COVID-19 will last until 2021, and it will take a little longer to go back to how the world operated before. Because of this, workplaces around the globe reprogrammed their usual practices and promoted working from home.
This ‘new normal’ setup also means that employees now face different challenges, including how to cope up with technological requirements and converting the house into becoming a work-friendly space.
If you are facing this slightly frightening change, it can be stressful to think about transitioning your work practices to a home environment. There can be a lot of distractions in a work-from-home setup, and communication with the rest of the team can be harder to accomplish.
Good news! There are tools that you can maximize to make workflow much smoother and help you get things organized to increase your productivity. Here are 5 apps that you should definitely check out.
- Trello
Are you looking for ways to keep track of your tasks and projects? Are you feeling scared of going past your deadlines? Do you need a way to collaborate and complete projects with your team? Trello can do that for you.
Trello is a project collaboration tool to help you stay on top of your projects. It follows the Japanese principle Kanban, which focuses on visualizing your tasks to help you become more efficient. So, basically, Trello can be compared to a virtual bulletin board where you use sticky notes to remove chaos in your work and keep you organized.
Trello will help you plan your schedule and help you avoid getting distracted by social media or your surroundings. There is a board for each major project where you can make lists that come with a card. Each of these components is customizable, which means users can choose what appeals most to them. Plus, you can add users on a board – making it perfect for a collaborative project. It also allows you to upload files and add comments to send feedback to the team.
- Xtensio
Another collaborative tool is Xtensio, which is a platform that allows teams to work on presentations, reports, and other documents together. Finding it hard to streamline workflow? Getting tired of going back and forth between different files? Xtensio will make work easier for you.
This innovative software offers real-time synchronization between everyone who has access while being able to track revisions, so all can see who did what. This allows an effortless exchange of ideas during brainstorming, research, planning, and strategizing between colleagues.
Design-wise, Xtensio offers templates and style guides to help creators maintain branding for each project.
- Milanote
Do you have an upcoming project that requires lots of brainstorming? Milanote offers a visually appealing and innovative way to set the direction and foundation of a project. Its interface looks like a mood board, and it allows the user to combine photos, videos, audio, and text and have it in one space.
For creatives who are looking for inspiration, Milanote gives them a sanctuary to store their thoughts and organize them into fruition. For teams, Milanote also allows sharing a space. There are options to provide others viewing access or editing access, which can be done by all team members real-time.
- Time Doctor
A problem that comes with having remote workers is tracking the working time and productivity of all team members. This is where Time Doctor comes in. It is a software that helps promote accountability between employees as it records how long one works, how long they stopped working, and what they do on their screens.
Time Doctor can support teams as small as 20 and as big as 500. It serves as a clock that helps in identifying billable hours for payroll management. Moreover, it sends reports to both employee and client to analyze their productivity and prevent wasting time.
- Sales Handy
For people in sales and marketing functions, it is essential to master the art of email engagement. Especially now, at the time of a pandemic, emails serve as a powerful tool to attract, gain, and retain customers. SalesHandy offers solutions that will transform how you do email marketing.
This software gives the user the ability to track emails, design email templates, schedule email sending, and create automated follow-ups. Overall, these features improve the percentage of emails that get opened and received responses. Aside from this, SalesHandy provides reports and analytics to help the user improve their strategy and engage their target market.
Working from home will only become a hardship if you let it become one. With these resources, it will be easier to realign your mindset and awaken your focus on getting tasks done. At this day and age, there is an application for anything that you can think of, especially for work-related tasks. All that’s left is to identify them, try them out for yourself, and enjoy the benefits!