The 2020 global pandemic has been a wake-up call for many organizations to adopt remote working. Even organizations with the most rigid policies have embraced the remote work model and allowed employees to work from home.

Today, more and more businesses are transitioning to remote work either by choice or because it's the most viable option to get over difficult situations such as a disaster, global pandemic, etc.

Organizations that have experience managing remote teams might have a good idea about the technologies that help to make remote working successful.

However, if you or your team is new to work from home, then it is important to know about the best work from home tools that you should start using today!

At present, there are thousands of work-from-home tools, but to make things easy for you, we will tell you about the top 12 tools that are suitable for almost any kind of remote team.

Common Characteristics of the Work From Home Tools

Before getting started with the list, let's have a look at some of the key characteristics of tools for remote teams.

• Accessibility

SaaS (software as a service) distribution model made it possible for users to access work from home tools from almost anywhere using the internet. Users never need to worry about the installation and maintenance as most of the remote work tools available today are cloud-based. Moreover, remote workers can

• Easy to Use

All the popular work from home tools have intuitive user interfaces. It becomes easy for users to operate a tool that comes with a simple and easy to understand UI design.

• Affordable

Pricing is the most important factor that contributes to the practicality of a tool. Along with being affordable, top work from home tools makes sure that they do not burn a hole in the pocket of users.

• Effective

Another characteristic that is common among all the leading work from home tools is their ability to serve their purpose effectively. Users may find it extremely frustrating to use tools that are incapable of serving their purpose well.

Why Remote Workers/Teams Should Use Work From Home Tools

In many cases, organizations and employees that have recently switched to remote work complained of low productivity and lack of team collaboration.

According to them, they have drafted remote work policies from scratch and even followed the popular work from home tips to enhance productivity while working remotely. Still, they were unable to reach their optimal output level.

Well, we know why it happens to them.

Many organizations switching to remote work, especially in a hurry, forget to research and identify tools that are apt for their remote teams.

To work from home productively, it is crucial for you and your remote team to use the best work from home tools.

By using the right tools any remote team can become more productive and ensure great team collaboration.

Top Work From Home Tools

As the remote work strategy of each organization is different, it is obvious that the tools that they need are largely dependent on their requirements. However, we have compiled a list of tools that every remote worker/team can use to their advantage.

So, here goes the list:

For Project Management

1. Atlassian.com

It's not unusual to feel the stress of managing a project. Big or small, a tough project can leave you emotionally (and maybe physically) scarred.

Was the last project harder to complete than it needed to be, or go over budget? Were you behind on timelines, or was team collaboration not as good as it could've been? Or did everything go great, but you can't figure out how to replicate the success?

Find out how project management software can help your team stay on top of a project from the start, through execution, to the wrap-up.

2. Wrike

Wrike is another well-known project management software that remote teams can use to streamline the processes within a project. Moreover, its minimalist design makes it easy for you to find and use its functionalities. Wrike also comes with a collaborative proof tool that you can use to put a mark on an image and leave a comment. It allows remote workers and managers to stay in the loop regarding all the tasks and activities of a project.

Pricing: Business Plan Available for $24.80 per user per month

3. Tello

Trello is among the simplest project management software available for all types of remote teams. The platform allows you to create a separate board for each project and then add lists and cards to manage the tasks of a project. Also, it is possible to assign cards, which represent tasks to specific members of the team. Trello allows you to manage your projects in a flexible and rewarding way.

Pricing: Enterprise plan starts at $20.83 per user per month

4. Github

Github is a code hosting platform for version control and collaboration. It lets widely dispersed team members collaborate and communicate on projects. From open source to business, you can host and review code, manage projects, and build software alongside 50 million developers. Github is designed to be used for coding, which means that you have access to all the tools you need to share that coding, instead of trying to share it in a platform that’s built for general communication. With Github, you can create your software right in the app. Your team can see what’s going on and project managers can manage different projects directly from this system and can share with other team members just by mentioning them anywhere in the system.

Pricing: Free plan is available. The paid plan starts from $4 per user/month.

5. ClickUp

ClickUp is a powerful, top-rated project management tool that is designed to make your business life easier. Remote teams can manage their projects and collaborate easily with ClickUp’s range of features that allow users to manage all your work in one place. ClickUp offers docs, reminders, goals, calendars, and even an inbox. Built for teams of all sizes and industries, ClickUp’s customizable and proprietary features make it one of the most preferred project management tools for teams that want to manage all aspects of a project in a single place. Users can create custom views that you can save and share with anyone. ClickUp’s simplicity, flexibility, and ease of use make it a pretty useful tool for work from home professionals.

Pricing: Free plan is available. The paid plan is priced at $5 per user/month.

For Communication

6. Chanty

Chanty is an AI-powered team chat app that you can use to communicate instantly with your remote teammates. It is one step ahead of many other messaging platforms in the way that apart from messaging you can use it to create & assign tasks and start discussions with a single click. It also comes with a Teambook feature that you can use to organize tasks, conversations, files, and even pinned messages.

Pricing: Business Plan available for $4 per user per month

7. Slack

Slack is yet another powerful communication tool that makes conversation simple and well-organized. You can create channels that act as dedicated spaces where you and your team can collaborate for productive teamwork. Moreover, Slack allows you to communicate with certain colleagues without involving other teammates over direct messages and private channels. It also integrates with other third-party apps such as Google Drive and Salesforce Chatter.

Pricing: Plus Plan available for $6 per user per month

8. Microsoft Teams

Developed by Microsoft as a communication and collaboration tool, Microsoft Teams is a reliable communication tool. From one-on-one messages to group chats and video conferencing, this tool allows your teams to stay connected in almost all the possible ways. You can also send gifs and stickers to your teammates using Microsoft teams.

Pricing: Office 365 Home plan is available for $9.99/month for up to 6 users.

9. Zoom

Zoom is a popular and leading video-conferencing application that allows you to connect visually and audibly with multiple people to keep in touch and continue their daily workflows with minimal disruption. Zoom allows up to 1,000 video participants and 10,000 viewers, which makes this software as one of the most preferred communication solutions for WFH professionals all over the world. With Zoom, you can conduct live meetings and video webinars, and record those sessions to view later. Zoom is engineered and optimized to work reliably, and is easy to use, buy, and scale. Zoom’s popularity is evident from the fact that Zoom was seeing 200 million daily meeting participants (not DAU) in March 2020. The following month, this figure had risen to 300 million.

Pricing: Zoom Pro plan is available at $149.90 /year/license.

10. Krisp

Krisp is an incredibly effective application for remote workers who regularly communicate with each other. Distracting background noises when you’re on audio/video call takes the attention away from the core message and makes you look unprofessional. This is where Krisp can be of great use. This AI-powered noise-canceling software suppresses background noise during calls by adding a virtual filter between your mic and calling app. This virtual filter recognizes and blocks all noises (almost) from passing through to ensure users enjoy clear audio, which will also reduce call duration. Installation is quick and easy, so there’s no reason not to use this application. Krisp supports microphones, headphones, and speakers. A perfect app for remote teams who rely solely on audio/video communication to collaborate on work.

Pricing: Free plan is available. The paid plan starts at $3.33 per month.

For Sharing Files & Documents

11. Google Drive

Google Drive is among the most popular tools that teams use to store and share files. You can use it to share documents, audio files, videos, presentations and photos with your remote team members. Moreover, the data stored in Google Drive is highly secure and you always have the authority to choose people with whom you want to share your files and documents.

Pricing: Drive Enterprise available for $8 per user per month with an additional cost of $1/25GB of storage

12. Microsoft OneDrive

OneDrive allows you to store and access files from almost anywhere using devices, including mobile phones, tablets, and PCs. Apart from sharing files and documents stored in OneDrive, you can select files that you want to access offline. Being a cloud-based storage service, you can use OneDrive to make sure that you never lose important data.

Pricing: Office 365 Home Plan available at $9.99 per month with 1 TB storage space per user (Maximum user limit is 6)

13. Dropbox

Centralize all the content that your team needs to work together using Dropbox. The cloud storage solutions offered by Dropbox make team collaboration easier and more effective. You can store files and share them with your team any time, anywhere using devices of your choice.

Pricing: Advanced plan available for $20 per user per month.

For Time Tracking

14. Toggl

Toggl is a simple time management app for remote teams. You can use it to track working hours in real-time so that you and your team can stay productive and avoid idling. You can track time for each task and activity with just one-click. It also comes with tracking reminders features that notify you whenever you forgot to start or stop the timer.

Pricing: Premium plan available for $20 per user per month.

For Team Collaboration

15. Miro

Miro is a cloud-based, online visual collaborative whiteboarding platform that enables distributed teams to work effectively together, from brainstorming with digital sticky notes to planning and managing alige workflows. Miro allows you to communicate through embedded video calls or online chats. The solution's whiteboard toolkit enables users to create mockups and schemes, write down ideas, and leave feedback on other members' input. Miro gives you a platform to brainstorm ideas together and create different ideas. Users can create workflow systems that use Agile, so your team knows the currents status of tasks as you start to nail down the specifics. Users can also upload files, images, and documents from their computer or Google Drive.

Pricing: Free plan is available. The paid plan starts from $8 per user/month.

For Remote Access and Support

16. TeamViewer

TeamViewer is an effective solution for remote support, remote access, and online meeting which allows you to assist customers remotely, work with colleagues from a distance and also stay connected with your own devices. TeamViewer provides a powerful and highly accessible system that is popular among individual users to large corporations. This software does make things a lot easier as users can access other's computers remotely if it has the same application installed and you are provided with the necessary login details. TeamViewer's system is reliable, and you can trust this software when you want to access a remote device safely.

Pricing: The paid plan starts from $19.11 per user/month. The Multi-User plan is priced at $36.19 per month for 15 licensed users.

For Meeting & Scheduling

17. 10to8

10to8 is more than just appointment scheduling software. With 10to8, you can schedule and run virtual appointments smoothly and make your business fully remote! Its native Zoom Video Conferencing and Microsoft Teams integrations allow users to host video appointments of all kinds. For remote teams, staying in touch constantly and sharing ideas, updates, and information is critical to project success. 10to8 can handle team members in different geographical locations and time zones, which makes it easy for managers and team members to coordinate and collaborate on work. Quick and convenient online booking allows clients to book and manage their appointments. You can also track attendance, report on no-shows, track the popularity of your services, and get data on staff performance.

Pricing: The paid plan starts at $9.6 for up to 100 appointments per month.

Conclusion

Shifting to remote working or work from home can be challenging for teams and individuals. The biggest challenge that you might face as a new remote worker is to find tools that can make your remote work-life easy and at the same time productive. The work-from-home tools mentioned in this article will help you to perform at your best as a remote employee.

Share this article with your remote teams and colleagues to let them know about the best work from home tools that can work for them too!

Refer to Proofhub.com