More people are working from home now than ever before, and for some, having this type of flexibility can be a deal breaker.
As a matter of fact, 51 percent of employees in a Gallup survey said they would switch jobs for a more flexible remote schedule.
Related: You can check out more interesting remote work statistics like these in our latest roundup.
Working from home has empowered millions of workers globally. It has shown to reduce stress, increase satisfaction with day-to-day tasks, lower overhead costs for businesses, increase talent pools for recruiters, and more.
However, working from home simply wouldn't be possible without advances in software and apps that enable remote workforces.
So, whether you're a business that's enacting a new remote work policy or a freelancer looking to add to your toolset, you'll find the essential types of work from home apps below to get started.
For remote workers, it's not unlikely that digital interactions are the only interactions they'll have throughout the day, which is why starting with team collaboration software is an obvious first on this list.
Team collaboration software helps facilitate communication across teams in a fast and reliable way. By using this software, remote teams can collaborate on projects, share important files and process docs, share status updates, and much more.
There are actually a variety of apps that fall under the team collaboration software umbrella. One of these apps is called whiteboard software, which enables design teams to collaborate remotely by drawing, annotating, and customizing designs on a shareable whiteboard.
Another team collaboration app is called virtual workspace software, which simulates a remote office-space for teams who don't meet regularly. These apps act as central hubs for team communication, collaboration, and knowledge sharing.
You can explore more types of team collaboration software below:
Whether you're huddling the team together for a brainstorm or doing daily stand ups, video conferencing software is a viable option for connecting remote teams.
Maintaining collaboration is extremely important when it comes to working from home. One of the best ways to collaborate remotely is through screen-sharing . Users of video conferencing software see this feature as an immediate use case.
Another capability of video conferencing software includes screen-recording for important internal and external meetings. Have a call scheduled at 11 a.m. with your VP? Make sure to use screen-recording as a backup for note taking.
You can explore more types of video conferencing software below:
One of the challenges with remote work is that employers and clients want to know that work is getting done and productivity isn't falling off. At the same time, employees don't want to have constant check-ins and feel like someone's watching over their back. In this case, exploring time tracking software comes in handy.
Using a time tracking tool is a great way for businesses to measure employee productivity but also hold employees accountable for their work.
On the employee side, especially for freelancers and independent contractors, time tracking software can be critical when it comes to sending invoices to payroll. All parties involved benefit from unbiased time and productivity tracking.
You can explore more types of time tracking software below:
Is everyone on your team equipped with the files and information they need to succeed in their job remotely? If not, it may be time to explore cloud content collaboration software.
When it comes to remote work, collaboration doesn't just take place through video chat, but on files as well. This is why it's imperative to have an app that enables project stakeholders to share and edit files with their remote teams.
With this software, you can store multiple versions of all of your documents and control permissions to ensure everyone has access to what they need. You also have access to file edit history to see who changed what.
You can explore more types of cloud content collaboration software below:
One of the most obvious benefits to having in-office teams is knowing their Internet connections and web activity are secure. Unfortunately, when it comes to distributed teams, that same sense of security goes out the window. This is why deploying endpoint protection software is crucial.
With this type of software, IT teams can rest well knowing malicious content has to pass through multiple layers of detection and prevention features before a data breach can ever occur.
Important security updates and scans can be pushed through in real-time by IT teams, making sure every team member, regardless of where they are in the world, is completely protected.
You can explore more types of endpoint protection software below:
The remote workforce trend is taking businesses everywhere by storm, and while looking into software is an important first step, it'll take some time to get processes and strategies in place for your team.
But don't worry, we've done the heavy lifting and had our entire content marketing team work from home for a week, then wrote and compiled our experiences in a single hub. Check it out below:
Working from home isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.
by Deirdre O'Donoghue
The work from home lifestyle is here to stay.
by Lauren Pope
Modern technology has brought remote work from reveries to reality.
by Sagar Joshi