The COVID-19 pandemic revolutionized how businesses operate and popularized remote work as most employees worked from home. While the pandemic is no longer an issue, many companies have retained the work-from-home policy to save costs, boost employee productivity and maintain business continuity.

Here are some must-have remote work tools to make working remotely easier and more productive.

1. Project Management Tools

Project management tools allow you to manage your projects effectively and collaborate with other team members. You can create tasks and assign workloads to other team members, track progress, and set deadlines. Project management tools also enable real-time communication and file sharing. Consider the following project management tools for your remote work:

• Asana
• Trello
• Basecamp
• Monday.com
• Microsoft projects

2. Time Management Tools

Telecommuters are subject to distractions. As such, a time management tool is necessary to help you stay grounded and ensure you complete all your tasks on time. You can also use time management tools to prioritize tasks, schedule your work, set goals, and monitor your time usage. They also provide an excellent way to know how long it takes for a job to be completed. Some of the time management tools you can consider when working remotely include:

• RescueTime
• Toggl
• Google Calendar
• DeskTime
• ToDoist

For remote employees, time management and tracking tools foster accountability, transparency and reduce stress.

3. Cloud Storage

Working remotely requires you to have the ability to easily access and share files wherever you are. Cloud storage is among the most important remote work tools for keeping your documents and files safe. It also saves you space and costs and makes data recovery easier after a loss.

Since you store your files in the cloud, you can retrieve them whenever you want as long as you have an internet connection.

Besides file storage and sharing, these tools allow you to collaborate with other team members, track any changes, and make edits together. Depending on your storage needs and budget, here are popular common cloud storage options:

• Google Drive
• Dropbox
• OneDrive

4. Communication Tools

The key to successfully working remotely lies in good communication. Whether you are getting in touch with your team members or employer, having a communication tool ensures that you are always on the same page, regardless of your location. What’s more, most of the available communication tools support multiple users at a time, making meetings a breeze. Examples include:

• Zoom
• Skype
• Slack
• Google Meet

The good thing about these tools is that you can share your screen, record meetings, and send messages instantly.

With the above remote work tools, you can stay on top of your work, enjoy a better work-life balance, and boost your productivity in the long run.

Remote work is here to stay for many businesses. Since it was so effective at cutting costs and providing social distancing during the pandemic, many firms have adopted it as a new norm. A strategic way to maximize remote work is to communicate with remote workers through periodic performance reviews.

How Remote Work Makes Worker Evaluation Difficult

“Dunbar’s number” theory suggests people have a limit of about 150 relationships they can manage. With online jobs, a company might have hundreds or thousands of remote workers. Dunbar’s number falls to 50 when it comes to remote or hybrid work. These dynamics present significant challenges for communication with remote workers.

Fairness in the Remote Performance Review

Modern employers that offer online or hybrid work must emphasize fairness and flexibility. Since labor shortages can occur when workers suffer job burnout, it’s crucial to show team members you care about their well-being.

Academic organizations have long used a work performance system called Organizational Network Analysis (ONA). This model allows for team members to ask each other questions and offer advice. It further allows for objective positive or negative commentary. The data-driven ONA approach reveals which players want to be major or minor contributors.

Steps Toward Meaningful Remote Worker Evaluations

Follow these steps on making evaluations worthwhile for the company to help determine the best talent:

1. Prepare each review by gathering relevant employee documents
2. Schedule the employee review and let them know what to expect
3. Take notes during the meeting
4. Advise the worker on improving performance
5. Use reality-based evidence to support your evaluation

At the end of the meeting find out the best time to meet with them on a regular basis to reiterate goals and measure progress.

Tips for Successful Remote Performance Evaluation

Here are major keys to making remote performance evaluations valuable for your operation:

• Avoid judgmental language
• Be clear in your communication
• Learn about each worker’s background
• Emphasize your company’s culture and core values

An emerging fresh approach to performance evaluation is the performance appraisal method. It involves tracking performance metrics on a regular basis. Offering monetary incentives for achieving goals is a reliable way to stimulate team spirit.

Summary

Managers can build a loyal and productive remote team by interacting with workers through performance reviews. The key is to view workers as assets. Successful team building means identifying and rewarding the talent that matches your company goals.

Whether your team works at the office, remotely or in a hybrid work environment, strong leadership is part of what holds a group together. Maintaining a consistent workforce is crucial to business growth and saving costs on training. Here are effective ways to excel in leadership by supporting staffs that work in a remote or hybrid environment.

The pandemic caused many businesses to shift to work at home operations. As shutdown mandates end a good percentage of firms continue to use the work at home model while some have moved toward a hybrid model combining home and office activities. Here’s a look at how to boost worker productivity for home, office or hybrid business models.

Every employer should be concerned about the mental well-being of their employees, especially during the pandemic. Studies indicate a high level of stress and anxiety in the workplace, according to the American Institute of Stress. Here are measures your company can take to promote a positive experience for your remote workers.

Most governments and corporations have issued remote work directives to curb the coronavirus pandemic. If you’re not used to this arrangement, you’ll have a hard time adjusting. Various distractions around the house mean you can’t focus as you would in an office setting.

As all of us deal with the spread of coronavirus and try to mitigate the disruption it has already caused, NorthPoint Executive Suites would like to help you maintain your business’ productivity during this time.