The concept of working to earn a living came along with the mass migration to the cities due to industrialization in the mid-18th century. The concept of 9 to 5 jobs stayed relevant until recently with the introduction of virtual work spaces powered by the rapid innovation in technology. According to a recent study, by 2020 almost half of the UK’s workforce will be working remotely and this prediction is quite believable as employers have embraced the idea of virtual working and flexible work-shifts.
Working remotely has also given rise to a new subset of virtual workers namely “Digital Nomads,” who love to travel like nomads and work remotely from public libraries, cafes, hostels and hotels where they are staying or pretty much anywhere they have electricity to power their laptop, internet for connectivity and a chair where they can comfortably work. This freedom is loved by the current workforce so much that 82% of them said they would feel more loyalty towards employers who offer flexible working hours. If you are wondering what tools and software make for an efficient virtual workspace, here is a list of basic ones:
- Project Management Portal: These tools allow team members to assign tasks to each other, managers can set goals and targets, and comment or chat to offer inputs. Basecamp is the ideal example of a project management portal.
- Video Conferencing App: These apps can be quite helpful for teams to stay on the same page whilst they are working from different locations. Teams often conduct a Monday team conference to set the agenda and priorities for the week based on accomplishments of the last one. For smaller teams, Skype and WebEx will do whilst bigger teams can go for Fuze or Goto Meetings.
- Performance Tracker Tool: It can be difficult for managers to keep track of work done and hours put in by remote workers. Tools like Glint and Trakstar offer continuous data analysis to managers, keeping them updated with progress. Tools that allow group chat and notifications like Slack and work collaboration tools like Dropbox also go a long way in sharing files and keeping the engagement and conversation going between remote teams.
Check out this infographic, compliments of McGowanTranscriptions, to know more about these software applications, and their advantages.