5 Tools for a Remote Office
Posted on November 9, 2016
Remote offices are becoming increasingly popular given the evolving nature of work environments. More people are working from home, in more than one company office, while travelling, et cetera. It can be nice to work remotely, but it is essential to ensure everyone is completing their projects. Communication is key! Keep in mind these five tools for a remote office and you will definitely maintain your productivity.
File Sharing Program
If you are working in a remote office, whether that is at home, overseas, et cetera, you will need a way to easily share files with your colleagues. Your projects will not wait for you to be in the office with everyone else! Thankfully, there are a few file sharing programs and applications you can use to help with this. A popular one is Google Drive, from which you can share links with others. You can also save all your work there. If you simply want to pass files back and forth, you may also choose something like Dropbox or you can email your files. There is also Sharepoint, which will save your files and help you organize tasks (more on this program below).
Time Tracker
Working from a remote office can increase the chances of distractions from your work. What if your dog wants to play fetch with you? What if you get hungry? This is where a time tracking program, like Freckle, can come in handy for your organization. You use the tracker to see how much time you spend on your projects and away from your desk. Knowing you are timing yourself can even help you increase your work pace and minimize the potential for distractions that take you away for long periods.
Task Organization
Setting yourself tasks or having your supervisor set them for you, works well both in the main office and in a remote office. This way, you can easily tell what you need to finish and when. This will help you stay on track and make sure you are being productive. A stellar program for this is Sharepoint, which as you remember, is also a way to share files with colleagues. In Sharepoint, you can set and assign tasks, including relevant information, a due date, and a progress tracker.
Text Communication Program
If you work in a remote office, or are thinking about it, how would you communicate with others in the company? How would you do so quickly? Email is an option, but it may not always yield an immediate response. This is where a messaging system like Slack can really help. Slack allows you to add users, manage messaging topics with different streams, and also offers private messaging. This way, you can easily ask a quick question without waiting on email or picking up the phone.
Hosted PBX
Of course, sometimes you will need to actually talk to the people you work with. This is where a hosted PBX can come in handy. It allows you to do things like conference calls, reach alternate phones, access extensions, and leave voicemails. Telehop offers hosted PBX services, including one dedicated to remote offices! This solution offers global connectivity at an affordable price. Thus, employees can be dispersed around the world and still communicate effectively, securely, and reliably.