Abhishek Chauhan
Before March 2020, working from home was frowned upon or considered an exclusive opportunity for people who prefer to work remotely. It was certainly not an option for all. It was only during the initial times of the pandemic when significant numbers of employees in the private and public sector were forced to work from home, the benefits of remote working were highlighted.
The Transition to Remote Working
Besides the several social restraints employees have to face in the aftermath of the lockdown, having a choice to work remotely is the best thing to have happened. It is a vital criterion in job searches these days, while employers also openly offer remote working to newcomers.
An in-depth survey by FlexJobs highlights how the work industry has transitioned to employees being most comfortable in working remotely from home. About 58% of the survey respondents expressed their preference of working full-time from home, while 39% prefer a hybrid environment with maybe two to three days of working in-house only.
Managing Remote Teams
Undoubtedly, remote teams are the easiest to work with. There is more flexibility of schedule and no physical or geographical restrictions regarding hiring a suitable candidate. However, if there was any major hitch in switching whole-heartedly to remote working, it is the management of remote teams.
The amount of chat logs and data to store and have at hand whenever you want to fetch it is overwhelming. How are you supposed to retrieve chats from five remote team members when reviewing something? Therefore, the need of the hour to make remote working and management more feasible by utilizing the best communication apps. Moreover, team members also need to communicate frequently to feel to be a part of the group.
Ad-free private social media apps, such as Just10 by airG review to be a great option to let the team members socialize.
Best Communication Apps for Remote Jobs
1. Slack
In a digital workspace, the most crucial thing is to communicate with teammates to fulfill the need for brainstorming and group discussions. Slack is an excellent remote work tool that is pretty easy to use. Employees can chat, share ideas through media and real-time content so that you leave out nothing while sharing.
Moreover, this app also has a remote collaboration tool that you can use for continuing your work wherever you wish to. You can have all the chats in one place. It is available on iOS and Android to cater to a wide range of people.
With Slack, you can:
- Video and screen share
- File transfer
- Pin important messages to find them easily later on
- The timestamp option in the chat helps save your position in the chat
- Conduct poll in the chats
2. Zoom
One of the best gifts of the lockdown times is that everyone is now used to Zoom. It has become almost synonymous with face-to-face communication as the web videoconferencing in Zoom is the best experience ever. It is free to get started, and the meetings can include over 100 participants.
There is also an option to record and store Zoom meetings. It is ideal for large hybrid team meetings and big conferences. The link of the Zoom meetings remains private between the participants.
3. Microsoft Teams
It is the best alternative to Slack. It is a great chat tool to have collaborative communication between employees from different parts of the world. Using Microsoft Teams, users can carry out daily correspondence, create channels, hold meetings, etc., without any glitch.
The best features of this communication app include the following:
- Integrating with other Microsoft tools
- Instant chat
- Audio calls
- Schedule meetings with links shared via Outlook
Whether it is a startup or a small company looking for a communication app for remote employees that works without any hassle, Microsoft Teams is the best option. It is one central app that can hold all your correspondence.
The only drawback in using this tool is that it does not sync with tools, not by Microsoft but are used widely, such as Google Docs. Microsoft Teams is available in both paid and free versions.
4. Troop Messenger
Troop Messenger is all about making your remote work packed up in a compact app that relies on uncomplicated tools. The members can interact via audio or video calls, instant messaging, and file and location sharing.
The best thing about this communication app is that you can create groups. Like WhatsApp, Troop Messenger allows you to make groups of like-minded people to share documents from Dropbox and Google Drive.
5. World Time Buddy
One of the biggest hurdles one could ever face while working remotely is the difference between the various time zones. If, on the one hand, remote working has allowed for hiring talents from all over the world, it becomes a major lagging factor in setting up meetings and schedules.
This communication app right here, World Time Buddy, makes it extremely convenient to find an overlapping time to schedule a suitable meeting time. It is the best thing to have during the surge in remote working.
6. Discord
It is another fascinating communication app that catalyzes correspondence between the workers. You can use the instant messaging feature along with video or audio chats. There is also an option to pin a message you need to look at frequently, similar to Slack.
On top of everything, Discord also has bots to automate tasks for you. You even use GIFs to respond to messages or react to those you choose not to reply to.
7. Basecamp
As the name suggests, this app is a basecamp for all workers. If you are tired, you can relax by updating the to-do list and sharing it with your team members. You can also set up your schedule to not interrupt your workflow by any task.
Basecamp also offers a built-in storage drive for keeping your files safe. It is safe to say that with this app, you can carry on your remote work and catch up with your co-workers easily.
Communication is the Key
It is probably more than a cliché now that communication is the key. With the times that we all have endured – working from home either willingly or reluctantly – learning to go along with the flow is the best realization. Remote working is the new face of the workforce in the upcoming years as more and more employers recognize its benefits.
Also, with the communication apps mentioned in the article, managing remote teams is not very difficult. Let us know what you think about that in the comments.
