In this article, we’ll explore the essential remote work systems that can transform your team’s workflow, helping you navigate the challenges of working remotely while maximizing efficiency and fostering a strong, cohesive team dynamic. Implementing the best remote working platforms can make all the difference in achieving long-term success in this new era of work.

Key Criteria for Choosing Remote Work Systems

When selecting remote work software, keep these key factors in mind:

• 🚀 Ease of use: Ensure the remote employee management software is intuitive and easy for your team to adopt without a steep learning curve.
• 🔗 Integration capabilities: Choose a system that seamlessly integrates with your existing tools like project management and communication apps.
• 🔒 Security features: Opt for software with strong encryption and data protection measures to keep your information safe.
• 📈 Scalability: Make sure the software can grow with your business, accommodating more users and increasing functionality over time.
• 💼 Customer support: Reliable and responsive support is crucial to resolving any issues quickly.
• 💸 Pricing: Consider the cost of the working from home software and whether it offers good value for the features provided.
• ⚙️ Customization: Look for a system that can be tailored to fit your specific workflows and needs.

❗ Note: We don’t accept paid entries, so you can trust these recommendations to be unbiased and focused solely on your needs.

Everhour is the top time tracker for SMB teams, including software developers, marketers, designers, consultants, lawyers, you name it! Seamlessly integrating with popular PM tools, its user-friendly interface and customizable reports make it the ultimate time tracking solution. With dedicated support, our team is here to help you promptly and with a smile!

Comparison Table of the 12 Best Remote Work Software

Time Tracking Remote Work System

Everhour

Everhour is an efficient time-tracking and project-management tool designed for small to medium-sized businesses (SMBs). It provides robust features that streamline time tracking, project management, and reporting. It seamlessly integrates with popular project management tools, making it an essential addition to any SMB’s tech stack.

Key features

• Time tracking: Easily monitor hours worked on various projects and tasks, ensuring accurate timesheets and detailed reports.
• Integrations: Everhour connects seamlessly with popular project management, accounting, and other platforms like Asana, Trello, ClickUp, and Notion, allowing for a smooth workflow across tools.
• Budgeting: Set and track project budgets in real time to ensure your projects stay on track financially.
• Invoicing: Automatically generate professional invoices based on tracked time and expenses, simplifying your billing process.
• Reporting: Access in-depth reports that provide insights into team performance, project progress, and overall time utilization.
• PTO tracking: Efficiently manage paid sick leave, vacation, and time off requests, with accurate balance calculations and approval workflows.
• User-friendly interface: Everhour’s intuitive design ensures that teams can easily navigate and use the tool, minimizing the learning curve.
• Security: With SSL encryption and GDPR compliance, Everhour ensures that your data remains protected and private.

Pricing

• Free plan: Available for up to 5 users with access to basic time tracking and reporting features.
• Team plan: Priced at $8.50 per user per month (billed annually), includes advanced features such as budgeting, resource planning, and integrations with project management tools.

Project Management Remote Work Systems

Asana

Asana is a powerful project management tool designed to help teams of all sizes organize, track, and manage their work. It is widely used by teams across various industries, from marketing and design to software development and consulting. It offers a wide range of features that enable efficient collaboration and project tracking, making it an essential tool for managing tasks and workflows.

Key features

• Task management: Easily create, assign, and track tasks across projects, ensuring everyone knows what needs to be done and by when.
• Project timelines: Visualize project progress with Gantt-chart-style timelines that help you stay on schedule and identify potential bottlenecks.
• Collaboration tools: Asana allows teams to communicate within tasks, share files, and provide status updates, keeping everyone on the same page.
• Custom workflows: Use Asana templates and create custom workflows to automate repetitive tasks and streamline project processes.
• Asana integrations: Asana integrates seamlessly with popular tools like Slack, Zoom, Google Drive, and Microsoft Teams, enabling a cohesive work environment.
• Reporting: Generate reports to track project performance, workload distribution, and team productivity, helping managers make informed decisions.
• Milestones and goals: Set and track project milestones and goals, ensuring your team stays focused on key deliverables.

Pricing

• Personal: $0 (for individuals and small teams)
• Starter: $10.99 per user per month (billed annually), $13.49 billed monthly
• Advanced: $24.99 per user per month

Trello

Trello is a versatile project management tool that uses a card-based system to help teams organize tasks and projects. Its intuitive interface and flexible boards make it easy to track progress, collaborate with team members, and manage workloads efficiently.

Key features

• Boards and cards: Create boards for different projects and organize tasks with cards. Customize cards with due dates, attachments, and checklists.
• Lists: Manage tasks through lists that represent different stages of your project, such as “To Do,” “In Progress,” and “Done.”
• Integrations: Connect with various tools like Slack, Google Drive, and Microsoft Teams to streamline your workflow. Use various Trello power-ups or Trello templates to customize your work.
• Automation: Use Butler to automate repetitive tasks, set up custom triggers, and streamline your processes.
• Collaboration: Assign tasks to team members, leave comments, and attach files directly to cards for seamless collaboration.
• Customization: Customize boards with backgrounds, stickers, and power-ups to tailor the tool to your team’s needs.

Pricing

• Free: $0 (basic features for individuals and small teams)
• Standard: $5 per user per month (billed annually) or $6 billed monthly
• Premium: $10 per user per month (billed annually) or $12.50 billed monthly
• Enterprise: $17.50 per user per month

Communication & Collaboration Remote Work Systems

Slack

Slack is a leading communication and collaboration platform designed to streamline team interactions and enhance productivity. Its real-time messaging, file sharing, and integration capabilities make it an essential tool for modern teams.

Key features

• Channels: Organize conversations into channels by team, project, or topic to keep discussions focused and easily accessible.
• Direct messaging: Communicate one-on-one or in small groups with direct messages for quick and private conversations.
• File sharing: Share files, documents, and images directly within conversations, with the ability to search and access shared files easily.
• Integrations: Connect with a wide range of apps and services, such as Google Drive, Asana, and Trello, to centralize your workflow.
• Customizable notifications: Set up personalized notifications to stay informed about important updates without getting overwhelmed.
• Slack Connect: Collaborate with external partners, clients, or other organizations within Slack, maintaining security and seamless communication.

Pricing

• Free: €0 (limited features, including message history and integration options)
• Pro: €8.25 per user per month
• Business+: €14.10 per user per month 
• Enterprise Grid: Pricing available upon request

Microsoft Teams

Microsoft Teams is a comprehensive collaboration platform designed to enhance team communication and productivity. It integrates seamlessly with Microsoft 365, offering a set of features to support team collaboration, meetings, and task management.

Key features

• Channels: Organize conversations and work by creating channels for different teams, projects, or topics, ensuring discussions are easy to follow.
• Meetings: Schedule and conduct video or audio meetings with features like screen sharing, recording, and live captions.
• File sharing and collaboration: Share files and collaborate in real-time using integrated Microsoft 365 tools like Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.
• Chat: Send direct messages or create group chats for quick, informal conversations and sharing updates.
• Task management: Manage and assign tasks within Teams, using built-in tools or integrations with project management apps.
• Security: Benefit from robust security features, including encryption, compliance with industry standards, and administrative controls.

Pricing

• Teams Essentials: $4.00 per user per month (billed annually)
• Microsoft 365 Business Basic: $6.00 per user per month (billed annually)
• Microsoft 365 Business Standard: $12.50 per user per month (billed annually)

Zoom

Zoom is a leading video conferencing platform that facilitates virtual meetings, webinars, and collaborative sessions. Known for its ease of use and extensive features, Zoom is widely adopted by businesses and individuals for both professional and personal use.

Key features

• Video meetings: Host HD video meetings with up to 100 participants, featuring options for screen sharing, virtual backgrounds, and breakout rooms.
• Whiteboard: Use and share whiteboards for collaborative work; unlimited boards available in higher-tier plans.
• Meeting recording: Record meetings locally or to the cloud, with options for transcription and playback.
• Security: Ensure privacy with features like encryption, waiting rooms, and meeting passcodes.

Pricing

• Basic: Free
• Pro: €11.66 per user per month (billed annually)
• Business: €17.49 per user per month (billed annually)
• Business Plus: Contact for pricing
• Enterprise: Contact for pricing

File Management & Storage Remote Work Systems

Google Drive

Google Drive is a versatile cloud storage solution that allows users to store, share, and collaborate on files from any device. It’s widely used by individuals and businesses for its seamless integration with Google Workspace and its robust set of collaboration tools.

Key features

• Cloud storage: Store and access files securely with generous storage options, ranging from 15 GB free to higher capacities with paid plans.
• File sharing: Share files and folders with others easily, with customizable permissions for viewing, commenting, and editing.
• File previews: View over 30 file types directly in Google Drive, including PDFs, Microsoft Office files, and images, without needing to download them.
• Backup and sync: Automatically back up files from your computer to Google Drive, ensuring your data is safe and accessible from anywhere.

Pricing

• Personal: Free (15 GB of storage)
• Google One: $1.99 per month (100 GB of storage)
• Workspace Basic: $6 per user per month (30 GB of storage per user)
• Business Standard: $12 per user per month (2 TB of storage per user)
• Business Plus: $18 per user per month (5 TB of storage per user)

Task Management & Note-Taking Remote Work Systems

Todoist

Todoist is a powerful task management tool designed to help users organize their tasks and projects efficiently. With its intuitive interface and robust feature set, Todoist caters to individuals and teams looking to boost productivity and manage their workload effectively.

Key features

• Task management: Create, organize, and prioritize tasks with due dates, labels, and priorities.
• Project organization: Manage tasks within projects and sub-projects, with visual progress tracking.
• Collaborative features: Share projects, assign tasks to team members, and track progress with shared task lists.
• Todoist integrations: Connect with popular apps like Google Calendar, Slack, and Zapier to streamline your workflow.
• Cross-platform access: Sync tasks across devices with native apps for web, mobile, and desktop.
• Productivity tracking: Utilize productivity trends and insights to monitor your task completion and efficiency.

Pricing

• Beginner: $0
• Pro: $4 per month, billed yearly ($5 when billed monthly) 
• Business: $6 per user per month, billed yearly ($8 when billed monthly)

Notion

Notion is an all-in-one project management workspace that combines notes, tasks, databases, and project management into a unified platform. Its flexibility and customization options make it a popular choice for individuals and teams seeking to streamline their workflows and collaborate effectively.

Key features

• Workspace organization: Create and organize notes, documents, and databases in a customizable workspace.
• Task management: Use Kanban boards, Notion shortcuts, to-do lists, and calendar views to manage tasks and projects.
• Notion templates: Access a wide range of pre-designed aesthetic templates for project management, note-taking, and more.
• Notion integrations: Connect with tools like Google Calendar, Slack, and Trello to enhance functionality.
• Collaborative editing: Work simultaneously with team members on documents, with real-time updates and comments, making it easier to collaborate on projects.
• Rich media embedding: Embed a wide variety of content, including videos, audio files, PDFs, and code snippets, directly into your pages for a multimedia-rich experience.
• Customization: Tailor your workspace with custom properties, filters, and views to suit your specific needs.

Pricing

• Free: €0
• Plus: €9.50 per seat per month
• Business: €14 per seat per month
• Enterprise: Contact for pricing

Password Management Remote Work Systems

NordPass

NordPass is a secure password manager designed to help individuals and businesses manage their passwords and sensitive information safely. With robust encryption and user-friendly features, it ensures that your passwords are securely stored and easily accessible.

Key features

• Password storage: Safely store and manage passwords, credit card information, and other sensitive data with end-to-end encryption.
• Password generator: Create strong, unique passwords for each of your accounts with the built-in password generator.
• Auto-fill: Automatically fill in passwords and forms on websites and apps for a seamless browsing experience.
• Secure notes: Store important information such as documents and personal notes securely.
• Multi-device sync: Sync your passwords and data across all your devices, including smartphones, tablets, and computers.
• Password health report: Check the strength of your passwords and receive recommendations for improving security.

Pricing

• Free: €0.00
• Premium: €1.89 per month (billed annually) 
• Family: €3.69 per month (billed annually) 

Remote Access Work Systems

TeamViewer

TeamViewer is a comprehensive remote access and remote support software that allows users to connect to and control computers and mobile devices from anywhere. It’s popular for its ease of use and robust features, making it suitable for IT support, remote administration, and online meetings.

Key features

• Remote control: Access and control remote devices from anywhere with a secure and reliable connection.
• File transfer: Transfer files between local and remote devices with drag-and-drop functionality.
• Cross-platform support: Connect across various operating systems, including Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, and Android.
• Remote support: Provide technical support remotely, with features such as chat, video conferencing, and screen sharing.
• Unattended access: Set up unattended access for remote maintenance and support, even when no one is at the remote device.
• Security: Ensure data security with end-to-end encryption, two-factor authentication, and secure access controls.

Pricing

• TeamViewer Teams: €65.90 per month (billed annually) 
• TeamViewer Corporate: €139.90 per month (billed annually)

HR Remote Work Systems

Leaveboard

Leaveboard is a comprehensive leave management system designed to streamline the process of handling employee absences. It helps businesses efficiently track and manage vacation days, sick leave, and other types of employee leave, ensuring a smooth workflow and accurate record-keeping.

Key features

• Leave requests: Allow employees to request time off and manage their leave requests through an intuitive interface.
• Approval workflows: Automate approval processes with customizable workflows for leave requests and approvals.
• Leave tracking: Monitor and track all types of employee leave, including vacation, sick leave, and personal days.
• Calendar integration: Sync leave data with calendars to ensure visibility and prevent scheduling conflicts.
• Reporting: Generate reports on leave balances, usage, and trends to aid in workforce planning and management.
• Employee self-service: Empower employees with self-service options to view their leave balances, request time off, and track their leave history.

Pricing

• Free: $0
• Pro: $1.35 per employee per month

Conclusion

Choosing the right software is crucial for effective remote team management and ensuring a smooth workflow for distributed teams. Tools like Everhour offer comprehensive solutions for tracking time, managing projects, and streamlining communication, making them essential for any remote workforce.

Whether you’re looking for the best remote team management software to optimize productivity or a robust telecommuting software to keep your team connected and efficient, selecting the right tools is key to success. As remote work continues to evolve, investing in a remote workforce management service provider that meets your specific needs will help you stay ahead and achieve your business goals.

All-in-one time management system for your team

Estimate tasks, set budgets, customize reports – direct in your project management tool.

✔️ Asana time tracking
✔️ Trello time tracking
✔️ Basecamp time tracking
✔️ Jira time tracking
✔️ GitHub time tracking
✔️ ClickUp time tracking
✔️ Monday time tracking

The post 12 Best Remote Work Systems for 2024: Enhance Your Team’s Productivity appeared first on Everhour Blog.

What Is a Well-Paid Remote Job?

When we talk about the best-paying remote jobs, it’s essential to clarify what makes a job fall into this category. A well-paid remote job is a position that offers a competitive salary while allowing you to work from anywhere, without the need to be physically present in a traditional office setting. What sets the highest-paying remote job apart is not only the financial compensation but also the flexibility it provides, enabling a better work-life balance.

Key characteristics of the highest-paying remote jobs include:

• Competitive salary: These positions typically offer salaries that are on par with, or even exceed, those of similar in-office roles. They often include benefits such as health insurance, retirement plans, and bonuses.
• High-demand skills: Many well-paid remote jobs require specialized skills, such as software development, data analysis, digital marketing, or project management. Employers are willing to pay a premium for expertise that drives business growth and efficiency.
• Flexibility: Beyond financial rewards, these jobs offer the ability to work from anywhere, whether it’s from your home, a co-working space, or while traveling. This flexibility can lead to increased job satisfaction and a better work-life balance.
• Career growth opportunities: Many remote positions provide opportunities for career advancement, professional development, and the chance to work with global teams, expanding your professional network and experience.

It’s hard to argue that working remotely without great remote work tools can be difficult. Everhour, a powerful time tracker and a time clock app, can help with tracking time and keeping to the schedule without any learning curve 😉

Everhour is the top time tracker for SMB teams, including software developers, marketers, designers, consultants, lawyers, you name it! Seamlessly integrating with popular PM tools, its user-friendly interface and customizable reports make it the ultimate time tracking solution. With dedicated support, our team is here to help you promptly and with a smile!

High-Paying Remote Job Opportunities

When it comes to identifying high-paying remote job opportunities, it’s essential to consider both the industries and the companies that offer these roles. Here’s an overview of the sectors and specific organizations known for providing well-compensated remote work:

Industries offering high-paying remote jobs

Information technology (IT)

The tech industry is renowned for its remote work culture, offering opportunities for software developers, data scientists, IT managers, and cybersecurity experts to work remotely while enjoying competitive salaries.

Finance

Financial institutions and fintech companies often hire remote professionals for roles such as financial analysts, investment managers, and accountants.

Healthcare

Telemedicine has opened doors to remote work in healthcare, with positions like remote physicians, nurses, and medical coders offering substantial earnings.

Legal services

Legal professionals, including lawyers, legal consultants, and paralegals, can find high-paying remote opportunities, particularly in areas like corporate law and intellectual property.

Marketing and sales

Digital marketing and sales roles, such as digital marketing managers, SEO specialists, and sales directors, frequently offer competitive salaries for remote work.

Project management

Project managers, including IT project managers and construction project managers, often manage remote teams, contributing to the demand for remote project management positions.

Creative and content development

Creative professionals, including writers, graphic designers, and video producers, can find lucrative remote work opportunities in industries ranging from media to advertising.

Consulting

Management consultants, strategy consultants, and business analysts often work remotely with high earnings potential, particularly those who specialize in areas like finance, technology, or healthcare.

Engineering

Remote engineers, particularly in fields like software, mechanical, or aerospace engineering, are in high demand and often command top salaries, reflecting the expertise required for these roles.

Top high-paying remote job positions across industries

Here are some of the highest-paying remote job positions across various industries:

1. Chief Technology Officer (CTO)

• Industry: Information Technology (IT)
• Salary range: $150,000 – $300,000+
• Role: Overseeing the technology strategy of a company, managing IT teams, and ensuring that technology resources are aligned with business goals.

2. Software Engineering Manager

• Industry: Information Technology (IT)
• Salary range: $140,000 – $250,000+
• Role: Managing teams of software developers, ensuring projects are completed on time, and maintaining software quality.

3. Solutions Architect

• Industry: Information Technology (IT)
• Salary range: $120,000 – $220,000+
• Role: Designing complex IT systems and solutions that meet specific business needs, often working closely with clients and internal teams.

4. Data Scientist

• Industry: Information Technology / Finance / Healthcare
• Salary range: $100,000 – $200,000+
• Role: Analyzing large datasets to provide actionable insights, developing algorithms, and contributing to data-driven decision-making.

5. Investment Banker

• Industry: Finance
• Salary range: $150,000 – $300,000+
• Role: Managing client investments, advising on mergers and acquisitions, and providing financial advisory services.

6. Marketing Director

• Industry: Marketing and Sales
• Salary range: $120,000 – $220,000+
• Role: Leading marketing strategies, managing teams, and driving brand growth through digital and traditional channels.

7. Corporate Lawyer

• Industry: Legal Services
• Salary range: $120,000 – $250,000+
• Role: Providing legal advice on corporate matters, handling mergers and acquisitions, and ensuring compliance with laws and regulations.

8. Remote Physician

• Industry: Healthcare
• Salary range: $150,000 – $300,000+
• Role: Providing medical consultations and treatment via telemedicine platforms, specializing in areas such as dermatology, psychiatry, or general practice.

9. IT Project Manager

• Industry: Information Technology / Finance
• Salary range: $90,000 – $180,000+
• Role: Managing complex IT projects, coordinating teams, and ensuring that technology initiatives are completed on time and within budget.

10. Management Consultant

• Industry: Consulting
• Salary range: $120,000 – $250,000+
• Role: Advising companies on business strategies, operational improvements, and change management, often specializing in specific industries like finance or healthcare.

11. Cloud Architect

• Industry: Information Technology
• Salary range: $120,000 – $210,000+
• Role: Designing and managing cloud computing systems, ensuring scalability, security, and efficiency in cloud-based infrastructure.

12. Sales Director

• Industry: Marketing and Sales
• Salary range: $120,000 – $200,000+
• Role: Leading sales teams, developing strategies to drive revenue growth, and managing key client relationships.

13. Actuary

• Industry: Finance / Insurance
• Salary range: $100,000 – $180,000+
• Role: Analyzing financial risks using mathematics, statistics, and financial theory, often in the insurance industry.

14. Cybersecurity Director

• Industry: Information Technology
• Salary range: $130,000 – $220,000+
• Role: Leading cybersecurity teams, developing security policies, and protecting organizations from cyber threats.

15. Product Manager

• Industry: Information Technology / Marketing
• Salary range: $100,000 – $180,000+
• Role: Overseeing the development and launch of products, managing cross-functional teams, and ensuring product-market fit.

These positions are typically found in larger corporations, technology firms, finance institutions, and specialized consulting or legal firms.

Companies known for high-paying remote jobs

Amazon

The e-commerce giant offers various remote positions, including software development, project management, and business development roles, with competitive compensation.

Stripe

This fintech company is known for offering remote work opportunities in roles such as software engineering and data analysis, accompanied by attractive salaries.

UnitedHealth Group

In the healthcare sector, UnitedHealth Group provides remote positions, including nursing and healthcare administration roles, with excellent pay packages.

Salesforce

This CRM company offers remote jobs in software development, customer success, and sales, with a focus on competitive compensation and benefits.

Cisco

As a tech leader, Cisco provides remote job opportunities in network engineering, software development, and IT, offering competitive salaries.

Adobe

Known for its software solutions, Adobe hires remote professionals in roles like product management, marketing, and design, often accompanied by attractive pay.

These are just a few examples of industries and companies that offer high-paying remote job opportunities. As you explore remote career paths, researching specific organizations within your field of interest can help you discover positions that align with your financial goals and skill set.

How to Find High-Paying Jobs with No Experience

Finding high-paying jobs with no prior experience may seem challenging but it’s not impossible. Here are some strategies to help you discover opportunities that offer attractive salaries, even if you’re just starting your career.

Identify your transferable skills

Start by identifying the skills you’ve gained from previous experiences, whether they’re from part-time jobs, internships, volunteer work, or even your educational background. Skills like communication, problem-solving, time management, and adaptability are highly transferable and can be valuable in various roles.

Network and seek referrals

Leverage your network to explore job opportunities. Reach out to friends, family, professors, and professional connections to inquire about job openings. Many high-paying jobs are filled through referrals, so networking can be a powerful tool.

Use job search platforms

Utilize job search platforms and websites that cater to entry-level or no-experience job seekers. Websites like Indeed, LinkedIn, Glassdoor, and SimplyHired often have job listings specifically designed for individuals at the beginning of their careers.

Research companies

Look for organizations known for providing growth opportunities to entry-level employees. Research companies that offer training programs, mentorship, and a clear path for career progression.

Consider internships and apprenticeships

While internships may not offer the highest starting salaries, they provide valuable experience and a foot in the door. Many companies hire interns as full-time employees after successful internships.

Try out freelancing

Explore freelancing opportunities in fields like writing, graphic design, web development, and digital marketing. The gig economy offers a chance to build your portfolio and earn income even without extensive experience.

Gain certifications

Invest in certifications and online courses that enhance your skills and knowledge in your chosen industry. These qualifications can make you a more attractive candidate, potentially leading to higher-paying roles.

Tailor your CV

Customize your resume and cover letter to emphasize your relevant skills, even if they were gained outside of traditional work settings. Use action verbs and concrete examples to demonstrate how you’ve applied your skills.

Prepare for the interviews

Prepare thoroughly for job interviews. Research the company, practice your responses to common interview questions, and showcase your enthusiasm and willingness to learn.

Negotiate salary

When you receive a job offer, don’t hesitate to negotiate your salary. Research industry salary benchmarks and present a case for why you deserve higher compensation based on your skills and potential.

Finding high-paying jobs with no experience requires persistence, adaptability, and a proactive approach. If you focus on your strengths, networking, and exploring opportunities, you can work your way toward a rewarding career path.

High-Paying Remote Jobs: Conclusion

As shown above, securing a high-paying job with no prior experience is a completely realistic goal. While it may take time and effort, opportunities are available for those willing to invest in their skills and professional development. By identifying your transferable skills, leveraging your network, and seeking out organizations that value growth and training, you can kickstart your career on a high note.

The post High-Paying Remote Careers: Your Guide to Lucrative Work from Home appeared first on Everhour Blog.

12 Benefits of Working from Home

No commute time 

One of the most significant work from home benefits is eliminating the daily commute. This not only saves time but also reduces expenses related to fuel, public transportation, and vehicle maintenance. Additionally, it helps reduce stress and fatigue associated with long commutes, allowing employees to start their workday more relaxed and energized.

Flexible schedule 

Working from home often provides the opportunity for a more flexible schedule. Employees can adjust their work hours to better fit their personal lives, making it easier to balance professional and personal responsibilities. This flexibility can lead to higher job satisfaction and improved morale, as employees can attend to personal matters without taking time off work.

Increased productivity 

Many people find that they are more productive when they work from home. With fewer office distractions and the ability to create a personalized, comfortable work environment, it’s easier to focus and complete tasks efficiently. Studies have shown that remote workers often achieve higher productivity levels due to fewer interruptions, a quieter work environment, and their own desk setup. 

Remote work tools like Everhour, the top time tracker for SMB teams, further enhance productivity. Seamlessly integrating with popular PM tools, its user-friendly interface and customizable reports make it the ultimate time tracking solution. With dedicated support, our team is here to help you promptly and with a smile!

Cost savings

Work from home benefits include significant cost savings on commuting, work attire, and meals. Employees no longer need to spend money on daily transportation, business lunches, or maintaining a professional wardrobe. This can add up to substantial savings over time, making remote work financially advantageous for many.

Better work-life balance 

One of the key work from home perks is the ability to better manage work-life balance. With more time saved from commuting and the flexibility to handle personal tasks during the day, employees can achieve a more harmonious balance between their work and personal lives. This can lead to greater overall happiness and reduced burnout.

Healthier lifestyle 

Working from home can promote a healthier lifestyle. Employees have more time to exercise, prepare healthy meals, and take breaks as needed, leading to improved physical and mental health. The ability to integrate physical activity into the day, such as taking a walk during lunch breaks, contributes to a healthier routine.

Customization of work environment 

Another benefit of working from home is the ability to customize your work environment. Employees can set up their home office to suit their needs and preferences, creating a space that enhances their comfort and productivity. This includes choosing ergonomic furniture, optimal lighting, and personal decor that makes the workspace inviting.

Reduced stress 

The flexibility and convenience of working from home can lead to reduced stress levels. With no daily commute, a more comfortable work setting, and the ability to take breaks as needed, employees often feel less stressed and more content with their work situation. The reduction in stress can also contribute to better overall health and well-being.

Improved family time

Work from home benefits include the ability to spend more time with family. This is particularly valuable for parents who can be more present in their children’s lives and manage household responsibilities more effectively. Being home more often can strengthen family bonds and provide a more supportive home environment.

Environmental impact 

Working from home can have a positive impact on the environment. With fewer people commuting, there is a reduction in traffic congestion and carbon emissions, contributing to a greener planet. Remote work also reduces the need for large office spaces, which can decrease the overall environmental footprint of businesses.

Enhanced focus and efficiency 

Working from home allows employees to create a distraction-free environment, leading to better focus and efficiency. This can result in higher-quality work and increased job satisfaction. Without the noise and interruptions of a traditional office, employees can complete tasks more quickly and effectively.

Access to a global talent pool 

For employers, one of the working from home perks is the ability to hire from a global talent pool. This can lead to a more diverse and skilled workforce, as companies are not limited by geographic location when hiring. However, it also requires effective remote management and communication strategies to ensure team cohesion and productivity.

By understanding these pros to working from home, both employees and employers can better appreciate the benefits of work from home and navigate any challenges that come with it. Embracing remote work can lead to a more satisfied, productive, and healthy workforce while also offering significant advantages to businesses.

12 Disadvantages of Working from Home

Isolation and loneliness

Working from home can lead to feelings of isolation and loneliness, especially for those who thrive on social interactions. The lack of daily in-person contact with colleagues can result in reduced morale and feelings of disconnection. This can be mitigated by regular virtual meetings and social activities, but it remains a significant challenge for many remote workers.

Difficulty in separating work and personal life

One of the major disadvantages of working from home is the blurring of boundaries between work and personal life. Without a clear separation, it’s easy to overwork or feel guilty about taking breaks, leading to burnout. Establishing a dedicated workspace and setting strict work hours can help maintain a healthy work-life balance.

Distractions at home

Working from home often involves dealing with various household distractions, such as family members, pets, or household chores. These distractions can interrupt work and decrease productivity. Creating a quiet, dedicated workspace and setting boundaries with family members can help minimize these interruptions.

Lack of access to office resources

Remote workers may find themselves without access to essential office resources, such as high-speed internet, printers, or specialized equipment. This can make certain tasks more challenging and time-consuming. Employers can support remote workers by providing the necessary tools and equipment to ensure they can perform their duties effectively.

Communication challenges

Effective communication can be more difficult when working from home. Misunderstandings can arise more easily without face-to-face interactions, and remote workers may feel out of the loop on important information. Utilizing reliable communication tools and establishing clear communication protocols can help alleviate these issues.

Reduced collaboration and teamwork

Disadvantages of working from home include the potential for reduced collaboration and teamwork. Remote work can make it harder to brainstorm, share ideas, and collaborate on projects. Regular virtual meetings, collaborative software, and clear communication channels are essential to maintain team cohesion and productivity.

Technical issues

Remote work relies heavily on technology, which can sometimes be unreliable. Technical issues such as internet outages, software problems, or computer malfunctions can disrupt work and lead to frustration. Having a reliable IT support system in place can help mitigate these challenges.

Potential for overworking

The flexibility of working from home can sometimes lead to overworking. Without the natural end-of-day cues provided by an office environment, remote workers may find themselves working longer hours. It’s important to set clear work hours and take regular breaks to prevent burnout.

Limited career advancement opportunities

Remote workers may feel that they have fewer opportunities for career advancement compared to their in-office counterparts. The lack of visibility and face-to-face interactions with management can make it harder to stand out and be considered for promotions. Regular performance reviews and career development discussions can help address this issue.

Security concerns

Working from home can raise security concerns, particularly when dealing with sensitive information. Home networks may not be as secure as office networks, increasing the risk of data breaches. Employers should provide secure remote access solutions and educate employees on best practices for maintaining security while working from home.

Impact on team dynamics

The lack of physical presence can impact team dynamics and make it harder to build relationships with colleagues. Informal interactions, such as water cooler conversations, play a crucial role in team bonding and can be difficult to replicate virtually. Regular virtual team-building activities can help strengthen team relationships.

Dependence on self-motivation

Working from home requires a high level of self-motivation and discipline. Without the structure of an office environment, some employees may struggle to stay focused and productive. Setting personal goals, creating a daily schedule, and maintaining a routine can help improve self-motivation and productivity.

Benefits of Working from Home: Conclusion

While working from home offers numerous benefits, it’s essential to recognize and address its challenges. By understanding the disadvantages such as isolation, blurred boundaries, and communication hurdles, both employees and employers can implement strategies to enhance the remote work experience. With the right tools and support, like Everhour for seamless time tracking, remote work can be productive, balanced, and rewarding. Embracing the opportunities while mitigating the drawbacks ensures a sustainable and efficient work-from-home environment.

All-in-one time management system for your team

Estimate tasks, set budgets, customize reports – direct in your project management tool.

✔️ Asana time tracking
✔️ Trello time tracking
✔️ Basecamp time tracking
✔️ Jira time tracking
✔️ GitHub time tracking
✔️ ClickUp time tracking
✔️ Monday time tracking

The post The Home Office Advantage: Top Benefits of Working from Home appeared first on Everhour Blog.

Key Criteria for Remote Work Management Software

When selecting remote work management software and paid time off (PTO) trackers, it’s crucial to consider various key criteria to ensure you choose the best solution for time off tracking.

🌐 Integration capabilities: Ensure the employee time off tracker integrates seamlessly with your existing tools.
📱 User-friendly interface: Look for a paid time off tracker with an intuitive and easy-to-navigate interface.
🔒 Security and compliance: Days off trackers are crucial for protecting sensitive employee information and ensuring legal compliance.
🕒 Time tracking accuracy: Choose time off systems that offer precise clock-in/clock-out functionalities, automated time tracking, and the ability to handle different time zones if your team is globally distributed.
⏳ PTO management features: Look for capabilities such as accrual tracking, automated approval workflows, and customizable PTO policies.
📈 Scalability: The software for tracking time off for employees should accommodate your needs without compromising performance or increasing costs significantly.
⚙️ Customizability: Look for tools for tracking vacation time for employees that offer customizable tools.

❗ We maintain objectivity and integrity in our evaluations and recommendations. Please note that we do not accept paid entries or sponsorships for our reviews to ensure unbiased and reliable information.

Everhour is the top time tracker for SMB teams, including software developers, marketers, designers, consultants, lawyers, you name it! Seamlessly integrating with popular PM tools, its user-friendly interface and customizable reports make it the ultimate time tracking solution. With dedicated support, our team is here to help you promptly and with a smile!

6 Remote Work Management Software Tools Compared

6 Best Remote Work Management Software Tools

Everhour

Everhour is a powerful PTO tracker for small businesses. It offers various features that cater to both small teams and large organizations, enhancing productivity and ensuring accurate time tracking.

Key features

• Time tracking: Easily track hours worked on different projects and tasks, providing accurate timesheets and detailed reports (via its timesheet app or work hours tracker)
• Integrations: Seamlessly integrates with popular project management tools like Asana, Notion, ClickUp, Trello, Monday, and many others.
• Budgeting: Set project budgets and monitor expenses in real time to ensure you stay on track.
• Invoicing: Generate professional invoices based on tracked time and expenses, streamlining your billing process.
• Reporting: Access comprehensive reports on team performance, project progress, and time utilization.
• PTO tracking: Manage paid time off, sick leave, and vacation requests, ensuring accurate balance calculations and approval workflows.
• User-friendly interface: An intuitive and easy-to-navigate interface that simplifies time tracking and project management.
• Security: SSL encryption and compliance with GDPR standards to protect your data and ensure privacy.

Pricing

• Free plan: Available for up to 5 seats with basic features
• Team plan: $8.50 per user per month, billed annually, includes advanced features such as budgeting and resource planning

Buddy Punch

Buddy Punch is a comprehensive time tracking and PTO management tool designed to empower business owners and streamline workforce management. With features tailored to handle both common and custom PTO types, Buddy Punch simplifies leave management and enhances overall productivity.

Key features

• Comprehensive PTO management: Handle various types of PTO (sick days, vacation time, personal days) and create custom PTO types. Implement a self-service approach for automatic leave approvals, reducing managerial workload.
• PTO accruals: Automate the accumulation of banked vacation days, providing an overview of stored PTO and usage rates in line with your PTO policy.
• Overtime calculations: Accurately calculate different types of overtime, helping manage costs and reduce employee stress from excessive overtime hours.
• PTO summary reports: Generate and export customizable PTO summary reports in PDF or Excel CSV formats, detailing employee days off within a specified date range.
• Payroll integrations: Seamlessly integrate with payroll software like Zapier, Gusto, Paychex, and more, ensuring accurate transfer of employee data for billing, invoicing, and payroll management.
• Mobile accessibility: Access time tracking and PTO management features via the mobile app, providing flexibility for both managers and employees.

Pricing

• Standard plan: $2.99 per user per month
• Pro plan: $3.99 per user per month
• Enterprise plan: Custom

Replicon

Replicon is sophisticated vacation tracking software for small business designed to enhance productivity and streamline time management for companies employing knowledge workers. Its AI technology automates time tracking and project allocation, ensuring accuracy and efficiency in managing both employee time and client billing.

Key features

• AI-powered time tracking: Automatically assigns work hours to the correct project buckets, eliminating the need for manual time tracking and ensuring accurate client billing.
• Productivity tracking: Identify tasks or applications that lead to productivity losses, helping organizations optimize workflow and improve efficiency.
• Comprehensive PTO management: Offers portals for employees to request time off and for employers to administer it. Set time off policies, establish accrual rules, create overdraw limits, and automate time off allowances for occasions like employee anniversaries.
• Flexible workflows: Build custom workflows to manage and automate various time off processes, ensuring smooth operations and compliance with company policies.
• Employee self-service: Empower employees with self-service options for time off requests, reducing administrative overhead for managers.

Pricing

Starts at $6 per user per month

BambooHR

BambooHR is an all-encompassing human resources management platform designed to streamline HR processes and enhance the employee experience. From payroll and benefits administration to hiring, onboarding, and performance management, BambooHR provides HR teams with all the tools they need to manage their workforce effectively.

Key features

• Employee self-service: BambooHR empowers employees by allowing them to access and update personal information, submit time-off requests, and view company policies, reducing the administrative burden on HR teams.
• Applicant tracking system (ATS): A robust ATS simplifies the hiring process, from posting job openings to managing candidate communications, helping organizations attract and hire top talent efficiently.
• Performance management: Facilitate goal setting, continuous feedback, and performance reviews with BambooHR’s performance management tools, ensuring ongoing employee development and engagement.
• Custom reporting and analytics: Generate meaningful insights from employee data with custom reporting and analytics tools, helping HR professionals make informed decisions.
• PTO tracking: Set up multiple PTO policies, including unlimited PTO, accruals, and leave requests. Visualize company-wide PTO with a full-company calendar, run trend reports, and establish detailed approval workflows to manage time-off requests seamlessly.

Pricing

Customized pricing based on the specific needs and size of the organization

Leaveboard

LeaveBoard is a cloud-based HR software that excels in managing employee leave and attendance. Designed to streamline the leave management process, LeaveBoard offers a range of features that benefit both employees and managers.

Key features

• Leave request management: Simplifies the process of booking leave with an intuitive employee self-service portal.
• PTO management: Efficiently tracks paid time off balances, ensuring transparency and accuracy.
• Employee database: Maintains a comprehensive database with details on approving managers, positions, teams, and locations.
• Overlaps warning: Alerts managers to potential scheduling conflicts and overlapping leave requests.
• Reports: Generates detailed reports on attendance and leave patterns to aid in HR planning.
• Email notifications: Keeps everyone informed with automatic email updates about leave requests and approvals.
• Smart integrations: Includes integration with Slack for easy leave booking and management directly from Slack.

Pricing

• Free: Basic leave management features
• Paid plans: Start at $1.35 per user per month, offering additional functionalities

Time Off Cloud

Time Off Cloud is a comprehensive time off tracker designed to simplify leave management for business owners and HR teams. By moving leave management routines to the cloud, Time Off Cloud helps streamline processes and allows HR teams to focus on other critical tasks.

Key features

• Leave request management: Enables employees to easily request time off through a user-friendly portal, reducing administrative burden.
• PTO management: Tracks paid time off balances accurately, ensuring employees and managers have up-to-date information.
• Team calendar: Provides a shared calendar to visualize team availability and avoid scheduling conflicts.
• Reports: Generates detailed reports on leave patterns and balances, aiding in strategic HR planning.
• Mobile apps: Offers mobile applications for employees to request leave, view accruals, and stay informed on the go.

Pricing

• Free: Basic features for small teams
• Paid plans: Start at $17.85 per month, offering advanced functionalities and support

Remote Work Management Software: Conclusion

Choosing the best way to track employee time off and the right remote work management software and PTO tracker is essential for maintaining productivity and ensuring employee satisfaction in a remote or hybrid work environment. Each tool we’ve discussed offers unique features tailored to different business needs. Among these, Everhour stands out for its seamless integration with popular project management tools, making it an excellent choice for teams looking to streamline both time tracking and PTO management.

By carefully evaluating your business requirements and considering the key features and pricing of each tool, you can select the best solution to enhance your team’s productivity and manage time off efficiently.

The post Best Remote Work Management Software: 6 Tools to Optimize Remote Team Operations appeared first on Everhour Blog.

Staying connected

Staying connected with colleagues and maintaining strong communication is essential when working from home. Here are work from home tips and tricks to ensure effective communication and remote collaboration:

Use the right communication tools

Choosing the appropriate tools can streamline communication and keep everyone on the same page:

• Video conferencing: Utilize platforms like Zoom, Microsoft Teams, or Google Meet for virtual meetings to maintain face-to-face interaction.
• Instant messaging: Use Slack, Microsoft Teams, or other messaging apps for quick questions and updates, fostering a sense of immediate connectivity.
• Project management tools: Tools like Trello, Asana, or Monday.com help keep projects organized and allow for real-time collaboration on tasks and timelines.

Schedule regular check-ins

Regular check-ins help keep everyone aligned and address any issues promptly:

• Daily stand-ups: Short daily meetings to discuss tasks and any roadblocks can keep the team synchronized.
• Weekly team meetings: Longer weekly meetings allow for more in-depth discussions on progress, plans, and feedback.
• One-on-one meetings: Regular individual check-ins between managers and team members ensure personalized support and feedback.

Foster a virtual office culture

Creating a sense of community and camaraderie is important, even in a remote setting:

• Virtual social events: Organize online social activities like virtual coffee breaks, happy hours, or remote team-building activities to strengthen relationships.
• Open communication channels: Encourage casual conversations through dedicated channels in your messaging app, allowing team members to share non-work-related topics and bond.

Encourage transparent communication

Transparency in communication helps build trust and ensures everyone is informed:

• Share updates: Regularly update the team on project status, company news, and any changes in plans or policies.
• Provide clear instructions: Make sure that tasks and expectations are communicated clearly to avoid misunderstandings.
• Encourage feedback: Create a culture where team members feel comfortable sharing their thoughts and suggestions.

By leveraging the right remote work tools, scheduling regular check-ins, fostering a virtual office culture, and encouraging transparent communication, you can maintain strong connections and ensure effective collaboration while working from home.

One such remote work tool is Everhour. It is the top time tracker for SMB teams, including software developers, marketers, designers, consultants, lawyers, you name it! Seamlessly integrating with popular PM tools, its user-friendly interface and customizable reports make it the ultimate time-tracking solution. With dedicated support, our team is here to help you promptly and with a smile!

Setting up your workspace

Creating an efficient and comfortable workspace is crucial for productivity and well-being while working from home. Here is some work-from-home advice to set up your workspace effectively:

Choose a dedicated workspace

Selecting a specific area for work helps maintain focus and separates work life from home life:

• Choose a quiet area: Select a location in your home that is away from noisy areas such as the kitchen, living room, or high-traffic corridors. This helps minimize distractions and allows you to concentrate better on your work.
• Ensure comfortable seating: Ensure your chair, computer, and desk setup support good posture to avoid strain. Invest in a comfortable chair that supports your posture and allows you to work for extended periods without discomfort. Ergonomic chairs can help prevent back pain and improve overall work efficiency.

Invest in essential equipment

Having the right tools can significantly enhance your productivity and comfort:

• Reliable computer and internet: Ensure you have a fast, reliable computer and a strong internet connection to avoid disruptions.
• Ergonomic furniture: Invest in an ergonomic chair and desk to maintain comfort during long work hours.
• Proper lighting: Ensure your workspace is well-lit to reduce eye strain and fatigue. Use a combination of natural light and task lighting to illuminate your work area effectively.

Keep your workspace organized

An organized workspace can improve efficiency and reduce stress:

• Declutter regularly: Keep your desk free of unnecessary items. Use organizers or storage solutions to keep everything in its place.
• Digital organization: Maintain an organized and minimal digital workspace by regularly cleaning up your desktop and organizing files logically.

Personalize your space

Adding personal touches can make your workspace more inviting and boost morale:

• Decor: Add items like plants, artwork, or photos to make the space feel more personal and enjoyable.
• Comfort items: Include items that make you comfortable, such as a cozy blanket, a favorite mug, or a small fan.

Optimize for productivity

Tailor your workspace to support your work habits and needs:

• Minimal distractions: Remove or minimize items that could distract you, such as personal devices or clutter.
• Tools and resources: Keep necessary tools and resources within reach to avoid unnecessary interruptions.

By choosing a dedicated workspace, investing in essential equipment, keeping your area organized, personalizing your space, and optimizing for productivity, you can create a home office environment that enhances your efficiency and well-being.

Establishing a routine

Creating a consistent routine is key to staying productive and maintaining a healthy work-life balance while working from home. Here are some strategies to help you establish an effective routine:

Set a regular schedule

Consistency in your daily schedule helps maintain a sense of normalcy and boosts productivity:

• Consistent start and end times: Start and end work at the same time each day to create clear boundaries between work and personal life.
• Regular breaks: Schedule regular breaks throughout the day to rest and recharge. Techniques like the Pomodoro method can be useful.
• Morning routine: Develop a morning routine to signal the start of your workday. This can include activities like exercise, breakfast, or reading.

Plan your day

Having a clear plan for your day helps you stay focused and organized:

• Daily goals: Set specific, achievable goals for each day to provide direction and motivation.
• Prioritize tasks: Use tools like to-do lists or task management apps to prioritize your tasks and ensure you focus on the most important ones first.
• Time blocking: Allocate specific blocks of time for different tasks or types of work to create structure and minimize distractions.

Maintain work-life balance

Balancing work and personal time is crucial to avoid burnout and maintain well-being:

• Dedicated work hours: Stick to your designated work hours and avoid working late into the evening.
• Boundaries: Clearly communicate your work hours and boundaries to family members or housemates to minimize interruptions.
• Unplug after work: Disconnect from work-related tasks and devices after your workday ends to fully engage in personal time and activities.

Incorporate healthy habits

Including healthy habits in your routine can improve your overall well-being and productivity:

• Exercise: Schedule regular exercise sessions to stay active and reduce stress. This can include activities like walking, yoga, or home workouts.
• Healthy eating: Plan balanced meals and snacks to maintain energy levels throughout the day.
• Adequate sleep: Prioritize getting enough sleep each night to ensure you’re well-rested and ready to tackle the day.

Stay flexible

While a routine is important, it’s also essential to stay flexible and adapt as needed:

• Adjust as needed: Be open to adjusting your routine based on what works best for you and any changing circumstances.
• Listen to your body: Pay attention to your energy levels and take breaks or adjust your schedule when necessary to avoid burnout.

Managing distractions

Identify distractions

Identify common distractions in your work environment, such as noise from family members, pets, or outside activities. Understanding what distracts you is the first step in effectively managing them.

Use time management techniques

Effective time management is essential for optimizing productivity while working remotely. We’ve covered some of them already but let’s talk about five proven techniques to manage your time effectively:

• Pomodoro Technique: Break your workday into intervals, traditionally 25 minutes of focused work followed by a short break. Repeat this cycle with longer breaks after a set number of intervals.
• Time blocking: Allocate specific time blocks for different tasks or types of work. This helps you maintain focus on one task at a time and prevents multitasking.
• Eisenhower Matrix: Prioritize tasks based on urgency and importance. This method helps you identify and focus on tasks that contribute most to your goals while delegating or eliminating less critical tasks.

• Getting Things Done (GTD): Organize tasks into actionable items, projects, and deadlines. Review and update your task list regularly to stay on track with your goals.

• Eat That Frog: Start your day by tackling the most challenging or important task first. This technique helps build momentum and reduces procrastination throughout the day.

Implementing these techniques can help you stay organized, focused, and productive while working from your dedicated home workspace.

Utilize technology

Take advantage of technology to minimize distractions. For example, use noise-canceling headphones to block out ambient noise and create a focused environment.

Maintaining Work-Life Balance

Define work and personal time

• Establish a routine: Create a consistent daily schedule that includes designated work hours and breaks. Stick to these hours to maintain structure and prevent overworking.
• Designate a workspace: When you’re in this space, you’re focused on work tasks. When you leave it, mentally switch off from work-related thoughts.

Self-care

• Exercise: Regular physical activity helps reduce stress, boost mood, and improve overall health. Schedule time for exercise, whether it’s a workout session, yoga, or a brisk walk outdoors.
• Meditation and mindfulness: Practice mindfulness techniques or meditation to calm the mind, improve concentration, and reduce anxiety.
• Hobbies and relaxation: Engage in activities you enjoy outside of work, such as reading, painting, gardening, or listening to music. These activities provide a mental break and rejuvenate your creativity.

Quality sleep

• Establish a bedtime routine: Create a relaxing bedtime routine to signal to your body that it’s time to wind down. This may include avoiding screens before bed, reading a book, or practicing relaxation techniques.
• Create a sleep-friendly environment: Make your bedroom conducive to sleep by keeping it dark, quiet, and at a comfortable temperature. Invest in a comfortable mattress and pillows to support restful sleep.
• Prioritize sleep hygiene: Maintain consistent sleep and wake times, even on weekends, to regulate your body’s internal clock. Limit caffeine and alcohol intake, especially close to bedtime, and avoid heavy meals late in the evening.

Leveraging Technology

In today’s digital age, technology plays a crucial role in enhancing productivity and efficiency, especially when working remotely. Here are some key technological tools and work from home strategies to optimize your work-from-home experience:

• Time trackers: Utilize tools like Everhour to monitor and manage your time effectively. These apps track tasks, measure productivity, and ensure efficient time management throughout the workday.

• Noise-canceling headphones: Block out distractions and create a focused environment with noise-canceling headphones. They help minimize background noise, allowing for better concentration and productivity.
• Distraction-blocking apps: Employ apps or browser extensions that block access to non-work-related websites or apps during work hours. This promotes discipline and reduces the temptation to stray from work tasks.
• Collaboration tools: Utilize platforms such as Slack or Microsoft Teams to stay connected with colleagues, share information, and collaborate on projects seamlessly.
• Cloud storage solutions: Store and access documents, files, and projects securely using cloud storage services like Google Drive or Dropbox. These platforms facilitate remote access and efficient file sharing among team members.
• Project management software: Implement tools like Trello or Asana to organize tasks, set deadlines, track progress, and streamline workflows. These tools enhance team collaboration and productivity by providing visibility into project statuses and task assignments.

Enhancing Productivity

In order to enhance productivity while working from home, it’s crucial to adopt effective strategies and utilize appropriate tools. Here are key methods to boost productivity:

Set specific goals 

Establish clear, achievable goals for the day, week, or month. Clear goals provide direction and motivation, helping you stay on track and measure your progress.

Incorporate regular breaks 

Schedule short breaks into your workday to recharge and prevent burnout. Taking breaks boosts productivity by allowing your mind to rest and rejuvenate between tasks.

Embrace continuous learning 

Invest in personal and professional development by acquiring new skills or knowledge relevant to your role. Continuous learning enhances your effectiveness and opens up new growth opportunities.

Seek feedback and reflect 

Regularly seek feedback on your work and reflect on your performance. Reviewing achievements and areas for improvement helps refine your approach and optimize productivity over time.

Dealing with Challenges

Working remotely presents various challenges that can impact productivity and well-being. Here are some strategies to overcome common hurdles:

Overcoming isolation

Working remotely can lead to feelings of isolation. It’s essential to stay socially connected through virtual meetups, online forums, or social media groups related to your industry or interests.

Handling technical issues

Remote work often comes with technical challenges. Have a backup plan for internet outages or computer malfunctions. Keep IT support contacts handy and reach out promptly if you encounter technical issues that disrupt your work. Utilize remote desktop access tools or cloud-based solutions to access critical files from different devices if needed.

Managing stress

Remote work can blur the boundaries between work and personal life, leading to increased stress. It’s crucial to practice mindfulness techniques such as meditation or deep breathing exercises to alleviate stress. Take regular breaks throughout the day to relax and recharge. Seek support from friends, family, or mental health professionals if stress becomes overwhelming.

How to Work From Home: Conclusion

Transitioning to remote work requires working from home tips, adapting to new routines, leveraging technology, and managing challenges effectively. By creating a dedicated workspace, establishing a routine, and maintaining work-life balance, you can learn how do you work from home and enhance productivity and well-being.

Leveraging technology tools like time trackers and productivity apps such as Everhour helps in staying organized and focused. Despite challenges like isolation and technical issues, maintaining open communication and seeking support when needed are crucial. With mindfulness and proactive strategies, remote work can be both productive and fulfilling. Everhour, with its robust time tracking features, is a valuable tool for remote teams to manage tasks efficiently and track productivity accurately.

The post How to Work From Home: Mastering Remote Productivity appeared first on Everhour Blog.

That’s why we would love to share 10 practical desk setup ideas that will bring maximum productivity and comfort to you. Apply these ideas to transform the place where you spend so many hours a day!

10 Best Home Office Setup Ideas for Productivity

1. Natural Light Boost

If you want to optimize your workspace, improving lighting is a huge priority. In addition to giving its magic touch in terms of aesthetics, proper lighting has the potential to change your mood and maximize your energy, concentration, and memory function. Our bodies need exposure to very bright light daily to maintain our sleep-wake cycle. The quality of our indoor lighting, therefore, determines the quality of our sleep, and consequently our productivity and well-being.

Everhour is the top choice for small businesses and small to mid-size teams of 5 to 50 members, including professionals like software developers, marketers, designers, consultants, lawyers, you name it!

Seamlessly integrating with popular project management tools like Asana, Trello, and Jira, its user-friendly interface and customizable reports make it the ultimate time tracking solution for small and mid-size teams.

With dedicated support ensuring you receive timely assistance, our team is here to help you promptly and with a smile!

2. Tools at Your Fingertips

What tools do you always use on your desk? You could even make a small list, from pens and highlighters to an agenda and sticky notes. Well, those things should be within your reach without having to get up every 10 minutes. Everything secondary will be better in a discreet place. Leave everything else in a drawer on the desk or in a box. The goal is that they don’t remain in sight. Fantastic! You have now achieved a desk setup focused on functionality.

3. The Clean Canvas

You haven’t finished until all your things are in the right place. The desk needs to be clear when the day is over. Finding a cluttered desk the next day is unpleasant; you feel less enthusiastic and discouraged to start a new day. Instead, a clean and organized desk setup invites us to work, and the day begins on the right foot.

4. Ergonomics for the Win

Our spine will significantly appreciate an ergonomic chair that helps you maintain a healthy posture most of the day. Feeling comfortable in front of the screen is essential to be more productive in the long term. It reduces the chances of suffering from diseases and conditions caused by poor posture, including the productivity killers that are headaches and chronic fatigue.

5. Keeping Your Goals in Sight

Distractions are always going to be present in some way or another to divert us from the goal. An overwhelming workload is also capable of making us lose the north. How can we always look towards the goal? Well, some computer desk setup ideas, like having an ever-present reminder of what we want and where we’re going, are more than enough.

What’s most important to you, and why are you doing this? An inspiring and representative framed image can help so much. A poster on the wall, a photo, or something as simple as a phrase on a sticky note somewhere you can always read it.

6. A Little Nature

A simple plant or two can have a tremendously positive effect on your well-being in the long run. Houseplants help us connect with nature right where we are and they add color and life to a boring, gray, and dull space. Houseplants help reduce stress levels and give you a new way to spend your mini-breaks (watering and pruning are fantastic activities for stress relief). Depending on the lighting conditions in your working area, you may want to opt for succulents, ferns, or flowering plants.

7. Hide the Cables, Fight the Chaos

Apart from ruining the aesthetics of our space, they also make us feel uncomfortable. The more wireless devices you can get, the better: headphones, mouse, keyboard – the list goes on. You can’t get rid of all of them but you can buy a surge protector to direct all cables to the same place. There are also cable organizers and gutters you can buy to hide cables for a neater and less chaotic environment.

8. Dual Screens, Double Strength

Having dual screens is a very pro recommendation. It will give you a notable leap in quality to your workspace. This is not a whim; in fact, you can even have a large screen instead of buying two (plus, you will have fewer cables). It doesn’t matter which of these office desk setup ideas you choose. The truth is that your work will be more efficient, especially if you usually have different applications open at the same time.

9. Do More with Less

Order and cleanliness are essential both in the physical work area and on your virtual desktop. When the files on your computer are a hot mess, you may feel less like the productive and organized worker you know you want to be. Better to clean, remove, and sort everything from day to day than to let it accumulate. If you don’t want to get rid of old documents, one good idea is to create an archive folder and get the clutter out of sight. As effective self-managers know very well, logging into an organized computer creates peace of mind and the desire to keep up the good work.

10. The Value of Air

Like lighting, the air you breathe influences your mood and energy levels. Fresh air relieves stress and helps you think more clearly. Clean air has a lot to do with desk cleaning, adequate ventilation, and maintaining a healthy indoor temperature. Air purifiers are a great addition to any office, especially if you are working from home. You can even use subtle aromas and essences to set the mood for the day, get more focused and inspired to do fantastic work.

Bonus Ideas

Use these principles to help guide you through your workday.

• Avoid distractions as best as you can (you can even use specific apps)
• Stay hydrated to avoid fatigue (bonus: getting that extra glow)
• Work in sprints
• Monotask – multitasking is not humanly possible and is the biggest productivity myth
• Use a timed combination of sitting, standing, and walking
• Pay attention to your posture
• Don’t forget about eye exercises
• Use to-do lists to keep yourself accountable
• Integrate time tracking into your project management app (Try Everhour, wink)

Don’t forget to set up these tools for your office at home:

• good lighting
• height-adjustable desk
• ergonomic chair
• high-quality headphones/speakers
• bigger monitor or a dual-monitor setup

More Desk Setup Ideas & Inspiration

1️⃣ Pinterest: Here you can find inspiration and ideas for your desk setup. Take a look at a couple of screenshots:

2️⃣ Blogs: Take a look at the minimal desk setups to explore minimalistic desk setups for inspiration and ideas. Here’s a glimpse:

3️⃣ Reddit community: There’s a vibrant community on Reddit dedicated to desk setups. Check out discussions and ideas at r/desksetup.

4️⃣ YouTube videos: Popular YouTube channels also feature desk setup tours. Here’s one of the popular videos on the topic:

5️⃣ Articles about personal experiences: Read how this person designed a highly productive desk setup and documented it in this article with different tips and advice based on actual experience.

Desk Setup Ideas: In Closing

Excited to give your desk a much-needed upgrade but not sure where to start? It’s not about putting all these computer setup ideas into practice right away. Invest a little, for example, in a new monitor, lighting, or a better chair; organize and rearrange the different elements of your desk setup to test it and see what feels right.

Start implementing some of these ideas to gradually transform your workplace and make it an inspiring site where you do your best work!

The post Desk Setup Ideas: Designing Your Dream Workstation appeared first on Everhour Blog.

However, modern-day technology and software offer a wide range of useful tools to turn remote work into dream work.

Team Collaboration Tools for Remote Work

Team collaboration is a must regardless you are working in the same room or remotely. Because you always need to discuss something with your teammates. Hence, we have picked two team communication tools for you. Let’s see what is what and whether you can use them effectively or not.

1. Workplace

Workplace is like a private Facebook for businesses. You can use it for making company-wide announcements, having casual conversations, etc. The interface is cool and easy to use. This is mostly because we all know Facebook too well and we can deal with it too easily.

Generally, people don’t like change and it takes time to grow accustomed to any new software. But Workplace’s entire selling point is that it isn’t a change and everyone already knows how to use it. So you can try and see how it goes for your team.

Facebook announced that they aim for Workplace to appeal to everyone from CEOs to factory workers to baristas. 

The workplace offers the basic Facebook features we all know like mentioning, liking, and commenting. If you want your team to actively socialize and get to know one another well, then Workplace can be the right choice!

Last but not least, I have much more faith in the infrastructure, servers, and expertise of Facebook to prevent any kind of downtime in the workplace.

2. Slack

Slack is sure one of the best communication tools for remote work. 

Slack allows for making company-wide announcements, notifying everyone about them, create different channels and group chats for different projects. It’s a great way of collaborating in small teams. This will give you the feeling of a real office.

But the learning curve for Slack might be bigger for new users, especially non-techies/busy people.

Plus be careful with it, since it’s a real-time communication tool and if you have a large team, you might not be able to catch up to what is being said and done by the team on Slack. It’s a good idea to set up rules and guidelines for using Slack. Your employees should be able to use Slack in a way so as not to distract others or get distracted themselves.

While Facebook Workplace and Slack are communication tools for remote work, they have quite a lot of differences. The workplace is more social-wise and Slack is more project-wise.

RE pricing, both the platforms have a free version, Workplace has an advantage in the pricing of the premium version. Slack costs about $6.67 per user for the Standard paid version, and $12.50 for the Plus version. Workplace costs $3 per month per user, and down to $1 a month per user for groups over 10,000.

On the integration side, Slack offers hundreds of apps like Google Docs, Asana, Dropbox, etc. The workplace hasn’t mentioned much but has said this is intentional. They want to focus more on usage and engagement before working on integrations.

The only challenge for Workplace is to convince employers in terms of allowing their staff to Facebooking all day 🙂

Maybe you could combine these two and get the perfect remote work environment you have been dreaming about. Give it a try!

File-Sharing Tools

Communication is great. However, the actual work most of the time is done on files, spreadsheets, and documents. So, you need proper tools to share them with your team. Let’s see what tools you can use for file sharing and real-time collaboration.

3. Google Docs

Uncle Google can do it all for you. Whether you need to share documents in a word format, excel spreadsheets, or PowerPoint presentations, Google is there for you.

Note that you can manage access to each and every Google document you are creating. You can grant someone access to only view it or offer suggestions. One great feature of Google Docs is that several people can work on it in real-time and they all are able to see the changes made by their co-workers. Also, people can chat while working on the same document.

You can use Google Docs as a place to store your stock photos purchased from paid photo stocks or downloaded from free stocks. And you can have different folders for different projects or team members.

Google Docs is like a virtual shelf where you can store all your important project-related information.

4. Dropbox

Dropbox is another tool for file sharing and collaboration. All teams have those PDFs and scanned invoices and PowerPoint presentations that they are no more using. However, they just keep it because why not? You might need them one day.

Dropbox is the answer!

While Google Docs is good for sharing and collaborating, Dropbox is just perfect for storing files and then forgetting about them. Kidding, it’s a really good place to keep your stuff like HR and legal paperwork, third-party documents, and any other form of virtual data.

Both services are good!

One problem I see with Google Drive is that it is very confusing, probably because all of its services (G+, Google Photos, Drive) are interlinked. Dropbox, on the other hand, is very simple and easy to use.

In terms of privacy, with DropBox, you own your data. With Google Drive – they own your data.

Project Management Tools

We all love projects and we all work on them. And, accordingly, we all use some kind of a project management tool. Some of them are good, others are better. It’s a matter of features,  compatibility, and of course, personal preference.

We have a very detailed review of the 14 best project management tools. Read to decide which one fits your needs the most.  

Time Tracking, Reporting, and Invoicing Tools

It is a good idea to have a project management tool in place. And it is even a better idea to add a time tracking software for remote teams too. This will help see how much of the planned work has been completed successfully and even how productively you have been working. Pick the best time tracking software and you won’t regret it!

Did you know that employee reporting issues cost $1,085 on average per employee per year? Or that the average time employees incorrectly report is 4.5 hours/week – the equivalent of 6 weeks of vacation.

5. Everhour

Everhour is a time clock app and an attendance tracker, a tool number one for time tracking, reporting, and invoicing built on top of the most popular project management tools. It offers transparent time tracking by integrating such tools as Asana, Trello, Basecamp,  ClickUp, Jira, GitHub, Teamwork, and BitBucket. You can set up your Monday time tracking or Jira time tracking easily with one click!

Everhour is the top choice for small businesses and small to mid-size teams of 5 to 50 members, including professionals like software developers, marketers, designers, consultants, lawyers, you name it!

Seamlessly integrating with popular project management tools like Asana, Trello, and Jira, its user-friendly interface and customizable reports make it the best free time card app and the best online timesheet tool for small and mid-size teams.

With dedicated support ensuring you receive timely assistance, our team is here to help you promptly and with a smile!

Everhour allows finding out who is working on what in real-time. In addition, if someone in the team failed to report time, you can track it really easy with the help of the tool. Also, you can get summary emails weekly and see how many hours each of your employees has worked.

Over 1,000 companies are using Everhour already. Join the fun and increase your team productivity through accurate time tracking at work and monitoring.

Bonus: Here is another detailed review of the best time tracking apps for freelancers and companies.

Remote Work: Video Calls and Screen Sharing

Chatting might be helpful if you want to share ideas. However, there can be topics you might want to talk about in person. And since the distance does not allow that, you can use video calling tools. Screen sharing is another must-have for remote work because sometimes showing something might be way more helpful than texting about it.

6. Whereby

Whereby will be just perfect for those who hate installing extensions or web applications. Your online experience will be completely browser-based. No need to install anything or create an account. You just have to share the URL of your meeting room with the team.

Whereby is a really good way of conducting quick video calls. Also, you can share your screen and present something. It’s as easy as one-two-three. You can join Whereby from any device.

And you can then lock the chat room as soon as all the participants are in. This is an extra measure of privacy.

7. Zoom  

Zoom is a video conferencing and web conferencing tool. While Appear.in is just perfect for small teams or for personal use, Zoom is more like an enterprise tool. You can use it to conduct webinars and online events as well as use Zoom to empower your apps with video, voice, and screen sharing. Over 750,000 businesses use Zoom, and so can you!

Appear.in seems to be peer-to-peer. That means the experience is only as good as your weakest link. And for a lot of our conversations, there’s always one teammate with a bad connection 🙂

Privacy, Security, and Password Management

You do not always want to share passwords with people. On the other hand, you might want to give them access to the apps or tools you are using. What to do then? Well, you can use password management tools across your teams and give access to whoever you want to.

8. 1Password

1Password is a useful tool to store all your passwords and logins in one place. You can create strong passwords that your team won’t need to remember. And you can easily add new team members and grant them permission to see/use the passwords.

9. NordPass

NordPass is another awesome tool for remote work. It has a zero-knowledge architecture that guarantees your passwords are safe and there won’t be any breach in your security system.

Now that you have 9 awesome tools for remote work, you know what to choose from. Start planning and delegating work to your team. Some tools might be more helpful based on a specific work scenario. Choose from what you have and get started.

When making your selection, consider Everhour for its comprehensive time tracking and project management capabilities, ensuring seamless collaboration and productivity. Do not forget to leave us a comment below. Happy remote working!

The post 9 Best Remote Work Tools in 2024 appeared first on Everhour Blog.

You may feel that we already spend too much time on Zoom and Teams, always having to be on our best behavior and remembering our virtual meeting etiquette, and therefore offering team building remotely is just going to add to this overuse of screen time. Your team is after all doing quite fine working individually – as long as they are getting the job done surely? 

While there may be some validity to this argument, if you think out of the box you can offer remote team building activities that are fun, engaging, that allow your team to let their hair down and add to a positive employee experience, which can only be a good thing!  

Why Remote Team Building Activities are Important

In order to get the best out of your team, they need to feel like they belong, and physical distance can easily feel like emotional distance. Feeling lonely and disconnected can impact not only mental health but also work-life balance and performance. 

Offering remote team building activities not only counteracts loneliness but also improves communication and collaboration, increases creativity and productivity, helps with conflicts, builds trust, and creates general team cohesion.

Team building also helps us to understand individual differences and diversity, whilst encouraging engagement and building confidence and forward momentum – and of course having fun in itself provides some light-hearted relief from the daily grind. 

Ideas for Remote Team Building Activities for Larger Teams

Having a larger team can prove a bit trickier to manage in a remote setting. Offering team building in smaller groups is an obvious option, however, there will be times when you want the whole team to get together and there are some options for virtual team building activities for remote teams. 

Quiz night ❗️❓

Decide on your quizmaster and set up your teams for a night of virtual trivial pursuit. Choose a number of different categories such as sports, science, history, and music, and make it interactive by including pictures of celebrities and song clips. 

Make sure there is a prize for the winning team such as online vouchers that can be emailed at the end of the night. You can also make it more personal by asking everyone to submit their own tricky questions and answers. 

Name five things 5️⃣

This is a great improv game, particularly as an ice-breaker, as it can go on for one or many rounds, as long as everyone gets at least one turn. For this game, somebody gives the first person a topic, for example, ‘dogs’ – and then the player has to name five types of dogs as fast as they can before choosing the next topic for the next person. 

You can also switch it up with a rapid-fire round moving quickly from person to person going through the alphabet as they come up with answers, for example, ‘afghan, bull-dog, corgi, dachshund…’ and so it goes on.

The yes/no game ✔️❌

Another simple icebreaker, where everyone can get to know each other by asking questions, but you are not allowed to use the words ‘yes’ or ‘no’ in answering. Should you accidentally use one of these words, you have to turn off your camera until there is a winner. 

Out-the-Box Fun Remote Team Building Activities for Smaller Teams

A quick search of the Internet will show that there are plenty of ideas out there for smaller groups for team-building activities for remote staff. Here are some more creative out-the-box ideas to get you started:

Show and tell memory game 💁‍♂️

For this game you would need to get your team to choose ten objects in their homes in advance – something that means something or says something about them – place them neatly on a workspace, and take a photo. They would then remove an object and take another photo, and continue until the desk is empty, but without disturbing the original placement of the objects.

Each person then has a turn to share their original pictures on their screens and explain what the objects say about them as a ‘get to know you’ exercise. Once everyone has had a turn, the second round of pictures can be shared (deleting the first), with an object now removed. Everyone then has to guess what is missing by writing it down and then all holding up their answers at once, getting a point for each correct guess. This continues until there are no objects left and the person with the most points wins!

Virtual scavenger hunt 🕵️

You would be surprised at all the random objects you can find in your home! Get everyone to send some crazy ideas of weird and wonderful things beforehand to find in your home and then get started. Items could include something soft, a travel memento, a framed photo (which could lead to sharing a special memory), a foreign coin, or the most exotic thing in your pantry.

At the end of the game, everyone can share an object that is special to them and tell the story behind it, which is a great way of teams getting to know each other on a more personal level.

The singer behind the screens 🎤

This one is for the extroverts in the team – a virtual variation of ‘The Masked Singer’! Everyone logs into the meeting with fake names and keeps their screens off. The host will then give everyone a turn to sing a verse from a song (choose a theme beforehand to make it more entertaining!) and then everyone else guesses who is singing using the chat bar. Once there is a correct guess the singer reveals themselves by turning their camera on.

Remind participants that nobody is expecting a West End performance, but that they can make it crazy or obviously bad if they feel shy about their voices! 

Online cooking class 👨‍🍳

This is a great way to get interactive and demonstrate your cooking skills. Ask the foodie in the team to teach everyone their favorite recipe, have a package of ingredients delivered in advance to all participants, and get started! Choose a theme related to the menu such as Mexican or Thai and ask everyone to dress up accordingly. 

Make sure that the recipe chosen isn’t overly complicated or time-consuming and allow a bit of time at the end of the class to share the meal and chat with a drink of choice at hand. 

Using Technology for Team Building Activities for Remote Teams

Our current day and age come with the advantage of having access to all the technology we could possibly need to run our lives, from grocery shopping and travel bookings to mental health apps and even medical consults, and, of course, video conferencing. There are plenty of apps on the market that can facilitate your virtual team-building activities for remote teams. Some of our favorites include: 

• Zoom. Zoom offers plenty of features to easily run your virtual team-building activities for remote teams. One can join from anywhere on any device, and the calendar syncs with your calendar system ensuring that everyone is invited to attend, connecting your video conference from mobile or desktop. The built-in collaboration tools allow multiple participants to share their screens simultaneously, with support for up to 1000 video participants. Zoom will also shortly be introducing an all-in-one events platform for virtual experiences. Check out how this company used Zoom to host a virtual social during a lockdown. 

• Whereby. Whereby is a video chat service that doesn’t require an app download or login and you can join a video with a simple link. It is ideal for smaller organizations to connect team members, offering fast, streamlined service for desktop and mobile. Meeting rooms are customizable, and virtual whiteboards are perfect for visual games, with break-out groups for smaller collaboration opportunities. Rooms are securely locked until access is granted by the host of your team-building activities for remote employees. 

• Google Meet workspace edition. Google has introduced premium features to Google Meet in Google Workspace, including breakout rooms, polls, and noise cancellation to avoid background distractions. Google Meet also has a number of accessibility options for a diverse workforce, such as live captions, screen readers and magnifiers, high-contrast color options, and keyboard shortcuts to control the camera and microphone. Google Meet is accessible from mobile and PC and is ideal if your team is already using the Google Suite of products, with participants simply being able to click on a link without the need for extra plug-ins or downloads. 

Remote Team Building Activities: In Closing…

Building a company culture that is nurturing, inclusive, and dynamic is so important, but even more so in a pandemic.

Company culture is after all not just a byproduct of what happens when you build a team but is something that needs to be consistently worked on. People are spending more and more time working remotely so nurturing that culture is difficult, which is where virtual team building activities for remote teams come in.

So grab a coffee, sit down with management, and start to brainstorm! 

The post 7 Engaging Remote Team Building Activities in 2024 appeared first on Everhour Blog.

There are many different kinds of remote working software. Think time and productivity trackers, communication tools, project management software, and others. Some of the key benefits of using tools for remote teams include:

• More accessible, smooth, and instant communication with the team
• Increased efficiency and productivity
• Increased flexibility
• Reduced operating costs
• Improved workplace satisfaction
• More transparency
• Increased inclusion in the workplace

Evaluation Criteria

When considering remote work software, consider the following criteria:

1. Collaboration tools: How well does the software facilitate communication and collaboration among remote team members?
2. Security measures: What security features does the software have to protect sensitive data and ensure secure remote access?
3. Integration capabilities: Can the software seamlessly integrate with other essential tools and platforms used by your remote team?
4. User accessibility: How easy is it for team members to access and use the software remotely? Is it user-friendly?
5. Task and project management: Does the software offer features for effective task and project management in a remote work environment?

It’s crucial to emphasize that our evaluations of remote work software are unbiased and not influenced by payments from specific tools. Our commitment is to provide honest recommendations, ensuring trust in our insights. This ensures that our readers can confidently explore effective remote work solutions, knowing our evaluations are free from external influences.

Time Tracking and Productivity Monitoring Solutions

Time tracking software for remote work is essential for businesses with remote workers. Making use of a time tracker allows managers and team leaders to better understand how their staff uses their time, spot areas for improvement, ensure all work is completed within budget, and overall ensure that everyone is doing exactly what they’re paid to do.

There are many different time tracking and productivity management solutions on the market, so it’s essential to pick the one that is most versatile, integratable, and customizable so it meets your every need. Some of the key features that you can expect from quality time tracking and productivity monitoring solutions include:

⌛ Time tracking

The main feature of every productivity monitoring tool is the ability for you and your employees to log time (whether manually or automatically). Keeping track of time at work allows you to streamline the productivity management of your entire team, without having to be everywhere to make sure your staff are getting their work done.

📃 Reporting

Every major time-tracking and productivity-monitoring software has the ability to generate reports for you using the data that was logged, on-demand. Reports will give you a clear overview of how well your team is performing based on the time they log on to the app. That way, you can identify areas for improvement and make your employees more productive and efficient at their work.

📝 Billing and budgeting

A good time tracking and productivity management tool is almost always capable of helping you bill your clients accordingly and budget for each project with profitability in mind. Using a time tracker that is capable of keeping track and monitoring your billing/budgeting is essential not only for accuracy but because it will lift a lot of stress off your shoulders so you can focus on other more important tasks that can’t be automated.

Take a look at the best time tracking tools that will be perfect for remote time tracking.

1. Everhour

One of the best online timesheet tools, Everhour is a beginner-friendly time-tracking and productivity-monitoring tool that features an intuitive interface and requires a minimal learning curve. Some of the platform’s most prominent features include time tracking, reporting and analytics, billing and budgeting, tracking expenses, and generating invoices.

Everhour is also capable of integrating with a variety of mainstream remote working software in the likes of Trello and GitHub. That way, if you and your team use a range of popular tools as part of your workflow, integrating Everhour within your processes will be a smooth experience.

Everhour is the top choice for small businesses and small to mid-size teams of 5 to 50 members, including professionals like software developers, marketers, designers, consultants, lawyers, you name it!

Seamlessly integrating with popular project management tools like Asana, Trello, and Jira, its user-friendly interface and customizable reports make it the best free time card app for small and mid-size teams.

With dedicated support ensuring you receive timely assistance, our team is here to help you promptly and with a smile!

2. Harvest

The best time-tracking software is the one that is versatile, and Harvest definitely delivers on that end. One of the most prominent Harvest features is that you and your team are given the flexibility of how you can track time. With Harvest, you can either do it using the time tracker or enter it manually.

This is great if your time performs tasks away from their computers and in the field where no internet connection is available. That way, they can still log their hours and keep accurate work records even when performing tasks offline. Some other features that Harvest has to offer include expense tracking, project management, team collaboration, and insightful reporting.

3. RescueTime

If you’re looking to gain a more accurate insight as to how your team spends their time at work, RescueTime is another great software you should consider. The way this time tracker works is different from the options above. This is because RescueTime app focuses on which software and apps you use when tracking time.

For example, if your team spends a lot of time using Microsoft Office for documents and presentations, the app can track how much time is spent on these programs.

On top of that, you can generate detailed reports with all the data recorded about the apps and applications. This allows the entire organization to make informed decisions on creating a better workflow and optimizing its processes.

Lastly, RescueTime also has one of the easiest-to-use interfaces. It can be challenging for organizations to integrate new software into their workflow. However, RescueTime is designed to make things easy for your team, which is why this tool is so popular, especially amongst smaller companies.

Communication & Collaboration Software

When your business has staff that is working remotely, establishing smooth communication and remote collaboration between each team member is absolutely essential. This is because, with remote teams, you can’t just go over to someone for a quick chat. Everything is done over the Internet, so ensuring everyone is in the same place and can see and answer messages and calls is essential.

The large majority of prominent communication and collaboration tools on the market can offer you the following three features:

🤖 Virtual team meetings

When you have staff that works remotely, getting your team to come together for an in-person meeting can be quite tricky. Fortunately,  nearly every mainstream communication and collaboration software allows you to host virtual team meetings with your team. That way, you and your team don’t need to wait for everyone to be in the office to catch up. In fact, some businesses prefer to catch up over the Internet as it’s often much faster and more efficient.

💭 Instant messaging

E-mails are great communication tools, but sending and receiving messages is slow and inefficient. That’s why most communication software nowadays offers instant messaging. That way, you and your team can chat back and forth in real-time.

📁 File sharing

Some communication and collaboration software allows its users to share files (as opposed to just links). This is great for keeping processes within the company simple, efficient, and straightforward. Most such tools even keep a history of every file that was shared, meaning you and your team can always go back, find, and grab a file from a while back if and when needed.

In the section below, we’ll show you some of the best communication and collaboration tools you and your team should consider.

4. Slack

Slack is arguably the most popular internal business communication tool in the world. This is because the software makes it really easy to send and receive messages, no matter how big or small your team is.

What makes Slack especially popular is the lack of a learning curve involved. The large majority of people with basic knowledge of using computers will get a grasp of using Slack within minutes, which is why Slack is so widely adopted. And should your team require most instant communication such as jumping on a call, doing that over Slack is incredibly easy.

Additionally, Slack allows you to create an unlimited number of groups within the channel, all serving different purposes. That way, each team and each member within the team can have access to all of the relevant channels for them.

5. Zoom

Zoom rose to the top of the list of popular remote working apps during the pandemic. This is because the app offered a great solution for teams that needed to conduct remote meetings online. To start a meeting with Zoom, all you need to do is create a meeting and send everyone that you want to join the invite link. It’s as easy as that.

Once everyone is on, you and the team can enjoy high-quality and latency-free video calls for as long as you need. This makes it much easier to conduct remote meetings that are as effective and comprehensive as in-person meetings.  And since conducting good meetings is one of the hardest parts of running a remote team, Zoom is a huge help for many organizations.

6. Microsoft Teams

While Microsoft Teams is a comprehensive file-sharing and collaboration platform, it has integrated communication features. So, you can still message and talk to your teammates in the same way as the software above (Zoom). However, the main difference is that Microsoft Teams also allows you to share files, host webinars, and even group different teams into channels if you want to take the organization of your team members to the next level.

When communication within your team is flawless (despite everyone or some of your team working remotely), the whole business will run smoother. So, if you’re looking for software that can serve as your center for communication while also giving you different features for collaborating with your employees, Microsoft Teams is a great remote team tool to consider.

Remote Work Software for Project Management and Task Tracking

Project management and task tracking is arguably the most important part of any business. Without software that can help you keep track of progress, it’s exceptionally hard to keep a business running, especially one with dozens of employees.

There are a handful of truly fantastic remote work software dedicated specifically to helping businesses manage projects and the tasks each team member needs to complete to successfully and profitably complete any given project. Some of the core features you can expect from project management and task-tracking software include:

💡 Task creation

Long gone are the days when you have to manually write down and give an employee a to-do list. Most project management and task tracking software allows you to create tasks, set deadlines, and assign them to a particular team or employee within the company. This allows you and the people/person responsible for the task to know exactly what they need to do and when they need to do it.

🔎 Progress tracking

Keeping track of tasks that you’ve set out manually and sticking by deadlines is extremely challenging, especially if you run a bigger team that’s working on a large, multi-faceted project. Fortunately, the large majority of popular project management software allows you to keep track of progress with ease. Some even give you multiple options, such as having a birds-eye view of the progress as well as the ability to get down to the details of where each task is currently in the workflow.

💲 Budget allocation

Every project has a budget that it needs to stick to. And while keeping track of the budget isn’t too difficult when working with a handful of people, it gets complicated quickly the more employees you have on your payroll and the trickier the project is to complete.

When using a good project management tool, its budget allocation and tracking features will ensure that your team sticks within budget for every task that is assigned. And should any task go or is about to go over budget, you will be made aware beforehand so you can take the necessary action.

In the section below, we’re going to go over some of our favorite project management and task-tracking software that every business needs to start using if they want to streamline the productivity and efficiency of their team.

7. Trello

Trello is one of the more flexible project management apps on the internet. This means you can easily use it for small and large projects, which is another reason it’s one of the most popular options available today.

With Trello, you can create and assign tasks, set deadlines, add comments and give feedback, and much more. That way, both you as the team leader, and everyone within your team will know their responsibilities and what they need to do.

The software also sports one of the cleanest interfaces of all project management tools on the market. This makes it easy to view and visualize all the data and your team’s progress without having to go through a steep learning curve. It features loads of Trello templates and power-ups to expand your Trello functionality even further.

8. Asana

Asana is even more popular than Trello and for all the right reasons. The software has all of the project management and tracking features you and your team may need. These range from creating and assigning tasks to setting deadlines, attaching files, leaving comments, and a whole lot more.

Asana is used by millions of people from all over the world, so if you and your staff want to be on the right track for success, you’ve got to give Asana a try. Once you integrate Asana with your workflow, every aspect of running your business will be made smoother.

9. Basecamp

Basecamp is another project management platform that gives you a clear overview of everything that’s happening in real-time. You can create separate schedules and spaces for different aspects of the project. Or, you can create different pages for each project, which is great for large teams that handle multiple projects simultaneously.

On top of that, the Basecamp project management platform comes with various Basecamp PM integrations. While you can perform all the management tasks you need directly on the app, the integrations allow you to use other tools and platforms in tandem with Basecamp, which is very important as well.

Solutions for File Sharing and Document Collaboration

When working remotely, file sharing and document collaboration is essential. Some of the main features you can expect from common day file sharing and document collaboration software include:

⛅ Cloud storage

Companies don’t have to have in-house servers so they could store every file that was in their possession anymore. Today, every file-sharing and document collaboration software has cloud storage that you and your team can use to store files safely and securely over the cloud. Aside from the security aspect, cloud storage makes sharing and accessing company files significantly easier and much more efficient.

📝 Document editing & co-authoring

If you and your team are dealing with a lot of files that are in writing (website content or blog content for example), once the file is submitted, most file sharing and document collaboration tools will allow everyone with the correct access to edit and co-author the file. The editing can be done seamlessly and without interrupting someone else’s work.

⛔ Permissions and access control

Sharing sensitive files over the internet can be seen as a less secure option compared to having everything on your company servers in the office. However, that’s not the case, especially with the most popular file-sharing software on the market today.

As the team leader or manager, you will have the ability to set permission and layer the access control within your entire organization. That way, people will only have access to the files that you want them to have and anyone outside of the organization will have no access to your files at all.

If you’re in need of a solution for file sharing and document collaboration, the following three remote work apps are some that you should definitely consider.

10. GoogleDrive

Made by Google, Google Drive is easily the most popular cloud storage solution available out there. It’s used by billions of people every day and millions of businesses from all over the world are using it right this moment.

As a team leader, you can create a Google Drive space for your entire organization, allowing all of your staff to access, edit, and upload files and information seamlessly as and when needed. Not only that but using Google Drive, you can also set the correct permissions based on the individual team member’s involvement in the project. That way, people will only have access to the features of Google Drive that they need to get their work done.

11. Dropbox

A popular alternative for file sharing and collaboration is the Dropbox software. It comes with a wide range of features that make it ideal for organizations of all sizes. With Dropbox, it’s incredibly easy to share files with team members, making the process of reviewing and revising work, leaving feedback and comments, and editing documentation a whole lot easier. What’s more – you and your team can do that offline without having online access to the organization’s Dropbox, which is just another plus.

12. MicrosoftOneDrive

If you and your team regularly use Microsoft Office, using MicrosoftOneDrive will make a lot of sense. That way, you and your team can upload, send, and edit files seamlessly without interfering with each other.

On top of that, MicrosoftOneDrive doesn’t require you to learn a completely different workflow when creating documents. So, you can still use Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, and even Excel while still easily sharing files with team members across the internet.

Remote Access and Virtual Desktop Solutions

It goes without saying that remote access is necessary when you work with remote teams. Some of the core features you can take advantage of when using such software include:

🔐 Secure remote access

If a remote team member is struggling with getting a particular software working, you can’t just go over to them (like you could in the office) and show them. When you make use of remote access software, you can take control of your computer in real-time across the internet and do whatever it is that you need to do in seconds.

🥽 Virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI)

If you have staff with flexible schedules, using remote access and virtual desktop solutions allows your team to access their in-office computers remotely when needed without compromising their safety and security. This enables your staff to work with their familiar desktop setup and applications from any device, anywhere. Some of the best software for remote and virtual desktop access include:

13. TeamViewer

TeamViewer is one of the leading and most popular remote access and virtual desktop solutions on the market. With its intuitive interface and robust feature set, TeamViewer is trusted by businesses and individuals for secure remote connections and efficient collaboration. It also offers a minimal learning curve, which is always great if you and your team have never made use of such software before.

14. AnyDesk

Like TeamViewer, AnyDesk is also made for remote access. It offers everything you’d need from a remote desktop solution and it’s also one of the fastest and most-responsive options available. Some of the tool’s core features include:

• High-speed connectivity
• Cross-platform compatibility
• Remote control
• File transfer
• Unattended access
• Multi-monitor support

15. VMware Horizon

VMWare Horizon is remote work software that serves as a centralized hub where you can control and access every desktop computer in your network. Some of the platform’s most prominent features and capabilities include: 

• Virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI)
• Desktop and application virtualization
• Centralized management
• Remote access to virtual desktops
• High performance and scalability
• Multi-platform support (Windows, macOS, Linux, etc.)

Security and Privacy Considerations

When using remote team software, there’s a high chance that you’ll be sharing sensitive information with your staff that shouldn’t become publicly available. For this reason, there are several security and privacy considerations that you need to keep in mind when using remote working apps.

End-to-end encryption

To start, you need to make sure that the data you share on the remote work software is encrypted on both ends. This prevents hackers from intercepting your system and accessing the information you and your team are sharing with each other – whether it’s files or text messages. End-to-end encryption is very complex, so even the best hackers will have a tremendously difficult type of decrypting encrypted data.

Two-factor authentication

Another feature you’ll need from apps for remote work is two-factor authentication. You may already be familiar with this feature as many platforms use this for adding an extra layer of security.

If you don’t already know what two-factor authentication means, you’re basically required to verify your identity twice before accessing the platform. This is most commonly done by entering your password, followed by a confirmation which is sent to your email or phone number (which typically only you will have access to).

The large majority of remote team management software already has this feature, but please make sure it is available for the specific tool you plan on using before paying.

GDPR compliance

Lastly, you have to make sure that the remote work software you choose is GDPR-compliant. GDPR is a set of rules and privacy practices that software companies are required to follow if they operate in the EU. If you see that software is GDPR compliant, this is a great indicator of security.

It’s worth noting that if you stick to using the tools we have suggested above, you won’t have trouble with GDPR compliance because all the best apps for remote workers are almost guaranteed to be compliant.

💡 Check The Tool’s Integration Capabilities with Other Tools

Before you choose the best remote work software for you and your team, it’s a great idea to check what other tools the software is integratable with. That way, using the tools within your workflow will be much smoother and easier for your entire team.

To give you an example, if you decide to use Everhour as your time-tracking tool, this tool can be seamlessly integrated with project and task management tools like Trello and ClickUp.

Other tools that are highly integratable with many of the remote worker software on the market today include Zapier, Integromat, and Microsoft Power Automate. 

Remote Work Software: Conclusion

Using remote work software is crucial for businesses with remote workers, as it streamlines communication, collaboration, and task organization. Everhour stands out among the plethora of remote tools available, offering comprehensive features for task and project management, as well as time and productivity tracking. With Everhour, businesses can ensure smoother operations and enhanced efficiency in their remote work setup.

The post 15 Best Remote Work Software for Teams & Individuals appeared first on Everhour Blog.

Everhour handles this task nicely. This is proved by our today’s guest – Ryan Aker, a founder of RCA Web.

Hi Ryan, welcome,  let’s start by asking you to tell us what your company does.

RCA Web is a small business for Web Design/Development, Hosting, Management, and Consulting. All our contractors are remote-based but 100% US-based. We are a lean team, but efficient in what we do. Providing the best code and services is the number 1 priority.

And to achieve these tasks you need to be good at time tracking of what you do?

Absolutely! Time tracking is very important because we provide ourselves with being as transparent as possible with our customers for what they are paying for. They are paying for work that is getting done and nothing more.

What project management tool does your team use?

GitHub Issues is our PM tool. Having the ability for developers and customers to add and track issues for the different projects/applications on 1 location keeps workflow more streamlined. The icing on the cake is the Everhour integration to track time with Github to a PR or Issue.

Have you ever tried any other time tracking tool?

No other time tracking tools are used. Everhour integration to GitHub and the lightweight, not over-developed applications is perfect for our developers.

What are the Top 3 things you love most about Everhour?

As I mentioned before, the integration allows us to track time with Github which really makes this process a breeze. As a manager, I like your various types of reports, specifically a report based on date range and by each or all team members.

Besides, it is amazing that you can see a timer in multiple repos in Github and new repos always sync automatically.

Thanks, Ryan!

The post How Remote Teams Can Track Time with GitHub – RCA Web appeared first on Everhour Blog.