The coronavirus pandemic has changed the way people work. The shift towards remote working, however, was happening before the virus dominated the headlines. The advent of cloud computing and the near-ubiquitous spread of the internet has driven a move away from the office. Tools to help businesses do away with the office have come in mightily handy during these strange times. This article is a brief guide to some of the kinds of software that businesses have been able to adopt in an effort to make remote working work for them.
Video Conferencing
If you were to ask a random person on the street what kind of software has risen to prominence during the pandemic, they are very likely to mention video conferencing tools such as Zoom. Zoom – one of many video conferencing tools that existed before the pandemic – has seen a huge surge of users during the crisis. This is partly to do with the remote working conditions imposed upon many businesses. The benefits of video conferencing are obvious. Video conferencing services allow companies to hold virtual meetings and exchange information like never before.
Project and Team Management
Project and team management software from companies like CoAmplifi existed long before the pandemic. The usefulness of such software has only been amplified by the new conditions in which businesses operate. This kind of software simplifies the communicative and resource management tasks that business leaders face. They allow for the easy delegation of tasks, arrangement of working groups, and payment of staff. The best software of this kind allows employees and business leaders to monitor and manage projects and teams remotely using an easily navigable dashboard. Because all of the project and team management resources are linked, data collection is made far simpler. This should, in theory, allow businesses to build more robust forecasts in order to influence their strategic planning initiatives.
Time Tracking
Look away from this article if you have ever felt like your boss is breathing down your neck. Time tracking software helps business leaders get a feeling for how productive their workforce is being, even if they are unable to physically be in their presence. Getting the most out of team members has always been one of the top priorities for managerial and executive staff. Remote working poses a huge problem to managers: how can they actually tell how efficient their staff is being? The best modern time tracking software automatically produces reports for leaders that highlight areas in which staff and systems can improve. This kind of software has come under some scrutiny during the pandemic. Many commentators have noted that it implies a lack of trust within a workplace. This can damage the remote workplace environment and may be contributing to the ‘great resignation’ that many companies are seeing. As a general rule, micromanagement and time scrutiny should be kept to a minimum by business leaders who want to build a stable and reciprocal company.
