Whether it’s due to the recent COVID19 outbreak, or the changing nature of work methods; everyone from corporations to SMEs to startups is restructuring their workflow, and digital is the way. It’s reached a point where staying in your house is not really optional, for your own safety, ultimately bringing remote working into the picture. But what if you’ve never tried it before? Where do you start? What tools do you use?
Not to worry, StartUp Bahrain compiled a list of 8 tools that’ll help you with your digital shift, and in getting work done remotely. Here it goes:
1. Zoho Remotely. Whether you and your team are in the same country, or on a different continent, Remotely will hand down to make your life easier. You’re offered a complete suite of web and mobile apps to communicate and collaborate with your team. Those apps include Zoho Cliq, Meeting, ShowTime, WorkDrive, Projects, Sprints, Assist, Lens, Writer, Sheet, and Show. Quite a lot, right? Best part? It’s free until the 1st of July! One more cool thing about Zoho is that they’re offering something called ‘The Small Business Emergency Subscription Assistance Program (ESAP)’, where they provide their severely impacted small business customers with access to the Zoho software they currently use, free for three months.
2. Zoom. It’s not the same if you can’t see each other, we know. That’s why Zoom is another cool option, as it allows you to conduct virtual meetings and webinars. But that’s not the whole thing, Zoom also allows you to cross-platform message your team and share files with its Business IM. The free version allows you to host meetings with up to 100 participants, with more packages available on their website here.
3. AWS WorkSpaces. With the launch of Amazon Web Services (AWS) in Bahrain, so many perks are available. One of their most recent ones is their offering of Amazon WorkSpaces for up to 50 new WorkSpaces users, free of cost, from April 1st. The offer will be available until the 30th of June, 2020, and it also includes AWS’s Standard, Value, and Performance bundles. In case you’re wondering what exactly is WorkSpaces, it’s a managed, secure Desktop-as-a-Service (DaaS) solution that you can use to provide either Windows or Linux in a matter of minutes and scale quickly to provide humongous desktops to workers around the world.
4. Spike. If you’re looking for quicker ways of communication, Spike’s conversational email is the one for you. No more waiting for a follow-up, it’s almost like texting (but professional). Not only that, but Spike also manages your calendar, lets you make voice and video calls, and manage files! Plus, not that it’s a big deal, Spike has a cute colorful interface, quite easy on the eyes!
5. Slack. Like other platforms, Slack allows you to collaborate and keep track of your own, and your team’s workflow. Perhaps what’s unique about Slack is that it doesn’t just let you collaborate internally with your team, but also externally with your clients and partners as well as other companies. Not to mention that it allows you to save your work and refer back to it once your project is complete.
6. Microsoft Teams. Ah, Microsoft. You’re naturally familiar with it, aren’t you? The great thing about Microsoft Teams is the incredible capacity it offers you. Wanna have a virtual meeting? You got it! You can have meetings with up to 10,000 participants (you read that right), regardless of where everyone is. Wanna organize your team’s firstline workers’ shifts? You got it! Click here and learn more about Microsoft Team’s plans and pricing.
7. Google Hangouts. Like its namesake, Hangouts allows you to simply do so: hangout (while staying where you are). While it’s mostly used among friends, you can still utilize it for work purposes. Whether iOS or Android, you can download Hangouts and communicate with photos, and 1on1 video calls, as well as group video, calls up to 150 persons. A good feature in Hangouts is that you can snooze your notifications, allowing you to respond whenever you’re free.
8. Trello. If you’re the forgetful type, say hello to your new best friend, Trello. Your journey with Trello kicks off with Boards; they’re lists that have lists, and the lists have cards. It sounds complicated, but it’s really not, here’s a demonstration of it. You get to create to-do lists, add your team members and assign them roles, mark what you completed, and keep track of your progress, all in one platform!
We hope this list is helpful, and we hope your businesses continue to flourish irrespective of circumstances. Have any other tools in mind? Let us know on our social media platforms on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn!