Hardly any subject dominates the media right now as much as the coronavirus. Large events are being cancelled for fear of the disease spreading further, and the odd company is worried that its staff could become infected at business meetings. Depending on how the situation in Germany develops over the coming weeks, employers may decide to close their offices temporarily.
But of course that does not have to mean that work comes to a standstill as well - because by now there are plenty of useful tools that allow a smooth workflow and easy exchange between staff even from the home office. Many applications that are in daily use at some start-ups and larger companies may be new territory for others. So that work from home can run as efficiently as possible - whether in times of the coronavirus or simply because you want to give your staff more freedom - we introduce five helpful tools below.
1. Data backup: Google Drive
To make sure all important documents are always saved and can be opened both from the computer in the office and from the laptop at home, it is worth backing your data up in a cloud such as Google Drive. That way the data is not stationary on a hard drive but secured through an online application and can be accessed from anywhere. Google Drive lets you not only create or back up documents, spreadsheets and presentations, the files can also be shared with others and edited together. And if you use Google Mail as your email programme, you have further helpful tools there such as the calendar or the chat function via the “Hangouts” application.
2. Internal communication: Slack
The Slack programme enables smooth communication within your team. Data, information and files can easily be exchanged within a group and arrangements can be made. You can group conversations by topic, project or team, so that information is shared with the right people in a clear way and always stays findable. Many other applications, for example Google Drive or Asana, can easily be linked to Slack. Further functions such as conference calls are available with the paid upgrade.
3. Video conferencing: online meetings with Microsoft Teams
Microsoft Teams (the successor to Skype for Business) almost gives you the feeling that the whole team is together in one place: the application allows phone or video conferences for up to 10,000 participants at the same time. Quick arrangements can be made via the chat function, and opening, sharing and editing files together is child's play. So even with everyone working from home, nothing stands in the way of the daily team meeting.
4. Project management: Asana
Planning and structuring projects, assigning responsibilities, creating to-do lists and always keeping an overview of where things stand: this is where the project management tool Asana comes into its own. Timelines and a project calendar make sure that projects and tasks are completed on schedule. Team members can communicate with each other and exchange data through the application. The programme also lets you automate recurring, time-consuming activities.
5. Customer relationship management: looking after customers with Bitrix
Keep an overview of your customers, contacts and other important information with the Bitrix application. Use the programme to record potential leads, create jobs and make all relevant customer data available in one place and accessible to all your staff. Beyond that, Bitrix also offers many other functions such as chats and calls and a calendar, and it can be used as a project management tool as well.
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