Smart working, or remote working, is increasingly widespread, and could be considered an essential component of the modern world, always driven by the need to adapt to new contexts and exploit the opportunities offered by new technologies. Smart working offers numerous advantages, including greater flexibility, better work-life balance, and access to a global talent (and business) pool. Let’s see what tools and technologies can facilitate smart working, making it simple and efficient.
Communication and collaboration platforms
Even remotely, in almost every job communicating with your team is essential for the smooth functioning of a company and the progress of projects. Fortunately, there are numerous tools that allow you to stay connected and collaborate in real time, just as if you were in the office together. Slack, for example, is a messaging and work organization platform that allows teams to communicate via various channels dedicated to specific projects. Slack can also be integrated with many productivity tools, making managing tasks, projects, and work quick and easy. We also mention here Microsoft Teams, which, as the manufacturer always does, stands out for its integrated ecosystem which allows chat, video calls and file sharing which integrates perfectly with the Office 365 productivity suite and with the Outlook email management system.
Project Management Tools
To keep the team aligned, morale high and productivity at its maximum, it is essential to find a way to effectively manage projects and all the parts into which they are broken down. To do this we have various platforms available, for example Trello and Asana. Trello uses a system of boards, lists, cards where priorities and deadlines can be integrated to visualize projects and their progress in a visually intuitive way. Asana, on the other hand, offers advanced features for integrated project management, including timelines, workloads and reporting, making it a perfect tool for teams that manage complex, time-bound projects and always want to have a clear overview of activities and responsibilities.
Video Conferencing Tools
Perhaps the best known of the smart working tools, they saw their boom during the 2020 lockdown, but in the meantime they have evolved by always offering new features. Zoom, for example, offers stability and ease of use, along with tools like screen sharing and breakout rooms for group sessions. Google Meet, a tool that integrates perfectly with Google Workspace, facilitates scheduling and access to calls directly from Google Calendar, making it the best choice for companies that have decided to use the Google Suite tools for productivity, as well as a well-studied by the company, which potentially means that all the work can be done without ever leaving the Google ecosystem.
File Sharing and Storage
Not being able to physically pass files to each other or look at the same screen together, being able to share them remotely and work on them together is essential for team productivity and cohesion. Additionally, secure file storage is always critical for data protection and privacy. Google Drive is the Google productivity suite program for sharing and collaborating on all types of files, also perfectly integrated with the rest of the ecosystem. As an alternative we offer DropBox, which offers Cloud storage solutions that offer advanced synchronization and storage of large files.
Time Tracking
When working remotely, it’s easy to struggle with allocating your time wisely, prioritizing the right tasks and balancing breaks well with work. For this reason, time management tools are very useful in this context. Toggl, for example, is an app that tracks time in a simple and intuitive way, recording the time spent on different activities and projects, and then provides detailed reports that can help you improve time management. Clockify, on the other hand, is useful for tracking time to monitor individual and team productivity and better manage various projects.
Conclusions
As we have seen, there are now many solutions to make smart working similar to what we are used to in the office, keeping the team cohesive and encouraging collaboration and sharing. By adopting these solutions to implement smart working, companies can guarantee greater flexibility and productivity, preparing the ground for an increasingly connected and digitalized future of work.