DigiKraft Social  Blog 

Coronavirus has made us believe that the world can remain still. We had never imagined businesses remain close and the audience struggling with daily work. In these tough and dark times, only social is the platform where brands can connect with their audience.

Amid this crisis, the social media platform and work-from-home policies seem to be a single hope for companies. Giants like Twitter, Hitachi, Apple, Amazon who have spread their existence across the globe are opting from mandatory work-from-home policies.

There have been companies like Infosys who do give work-from-home based on valid reason or situation. Here, employees are used to working from home and their online system. However, for the companies who have never considered working from home are witnessing daily challenges today.

It can be now assumed that work-from-home soon will become a new normal for every one of us. For the companies who are considering it for the first time, we have tried to list down some tools that might help in the prevailing time.

However, such time might test you in varied ways. One of which is maintaining communication with the team. It might sound easy but doing it practically will take some effort at first. Let’s understand how can you effectively communicate with the team.

Communicating with the team:

Frankly speaking, we’ve never witnessed a crisis like coronavirus. Dealing with this might take efforts, but we need to find a way out. While working-from-home, delegating and reviewing whether the work is completed is crucial. No company can afford a communication gap while the employees are operating from home.

Various platforms can help you to communicate with your employees or team. Some of them that can be considered are:

1.     WhatsApp:

The application is widely used by companies for daily communication. If you’re a small to medium-sized company, WhatsApp can be an ideal choice as it can be found in everyone’s devices. WhatsApp group is another feature that can be used to optimize the team-work within the organization.

For instance, WhatsApp groups can be formed based on hierarchy. Like,

i)      Subordinates and team-lead forms one group;

ii)    Team-leads and manager form the second group;

iii)   Managers and their heads form the third group.

There can always be different options based on the size of your company and hierarchy.

2.     Telegram:

It is a multi-purpose messaging application. You can share files in any format that can be easily viewed by another user. Telegram is ideal for small or medium sized organizations. One of its most beneficial features is that it has unlimited server space. Also, you always have an option of whether to send compressed files or original ones. You can create groups just like WhatsApp and enjoy one of the most user-friendly communication applications.

3.     Slack:

Some renowned companies like Sony and e-Bay are already using Slack for its effective working. Slack is ideal for all sizes of the organization as It integrates with a good number of applications. Some of which are Twitter, MailChimp, Dropbox, Google Drive, and more. It offers free as well as easily affordable subscription packages.

Now that you have got an idea about communicating with your team, the next part is dealing with the projects or daily tasks. How can a company who has never or rarely worked on work-from-home policies manage to control such a crisis? It is not that difficult as it sounds. Definitely, it will take some effort from all of you as a team. But, you can surely combat it if managed effectively.

Here are some platforms that you may look up to during such a crisis or even on a regular basis.

1.     Trello:

Are you up with a project and don’t understand how will you complete it in the prevailing time? Trello helps you to create a team and share updates on the ongoing projects. It is a user-friendly platform that can be managed without any hassle. Whether you want to manage the work of your whole team or just your productivity, it is ideal for both purposes.

2.     Slack:

This platform is ideal for communicating as well as managing the projects. It can be turned into a virtual office if used correctly. If it gets too crowded, you can team various groups. For instance, finance, marketing, social media marketing, and so on. Also, it has a unique function of hashtags where one can easily follow his or her candidature. For instance, if you want to post a task for the marketing team, simply use #marketing. The marketing team can search in the “#marketing” section for work updates.

3.     Github:

It is a tool that helps the manager and employee get easy updates by using tagging and pull features. It has got some great features like milestones, multi-assignments, and task lists. For instance, you can use the milestone function to fix that bug before the product launch.

4.     Hubstaff:

This platform can keep you updated on whether your employees are sneaking out by providing periodic screenshots to managers. It provides accurate time reports to the managers and ensures that your team is focused on actual work.

5.     Asana:

Giants like Uber and AirBnB use Asana for their project management. It helps you to share project updates, communication, and team progress. This simple tool is all that you need at the end of the day.

Final Thoughts

Most of the tools are completely or partially free. You can always take a trial and ensure what suits your business best. In the times tough like this, you should be prepared.