Top tech tools for remote working

The num­ber of UK work­ers who have moved into remote work­ing has increased by near­ly a quar­ter of a mil­lion over a decade, accord­ing to data from the Office for Nation­al Sta­tis­tics. Tech­nol­o­gy can often help com­pa­nies keep pace with the shift towards flex­itime. Here are the top tools and soft­ware prod­ucts that facil­i­tate remote work­ing.

Video calling

Not being phys­i­cal­ly present in the same build­ing does not mean meet­ings have to stop. Com­pa­nies that offer remote work­ing have a host of options when it comes to video call­ing and tele­con­fer­enc­ing facil­i­ties.

Wireless networking

Data and IT secu­ri­ty should remain a top pri­or­i­ty for com­pa­nies that allow their employ­ees to work off site. Vir­tu­al pri­vate net­works (VPNs) are a must for busi­ness­es that grant remote access to work­ers.

Group chat

For com­pa­nies with lots of remote work­ers, email just doesn’t cut it when it comes to real-time com­mu­ni­ca­tion. Group chat appli­ca­tions enable teams to mes­sage each oth­er more effi­cient­ly. Fea­tures such as dif­fer­ent chan­nels and inte­gra­tion with oth­er appli­ca­tions offer a rich­er expe­ri­ence than a tra­di­tion­al email client.

Project management

Col­lab­o­ra­tive project man­age­ment soft­ware is essen­tial for any team that oper­ates across dif­fer­ent regions or loca­tions. Cloud-based pro­grammes allow teams to mon­i­tor and update project mile­stones, set dead­lines and man­age work­flow from any­where.

Time tracking

For employ­ees who work a set num­ber of hours over a flex­i­ble sched­ule, the abil­i­ty to track and record hours is vital. Time-track­ing appli­ca­tions also often inte­grate well with exist­ing project man­age­ment tools.

Employee engagement

Fos­ter­ing a com­pa­ny cul­ture when employ­ees work in dif­fer­ent loca­tions is chal­leng­ing but not impos­si­ble. Recog­ni­tion plat­forms help com­pa­nies engage their employ­ees through a rewards pro­gramme.