Not much has changed on the planet of remote workers. We’re still using the kitchen table as an office while hoping to replace the virtual coffee breaks with water-cooler conversations in the office.
We got used to remote work, and when you adapt to something, you get creative with it. The freedom to make shortcuts and eventually save yourself some time – some call it #lifehacks, but we’ll stick to “useful business tools”.
A business tool can be any software solution that supports an organization’s processes to enhance productivity, collaboration, communication, and other operations. They function digitally, and aside from making everyone’s work life easier, they also give Return on Investment (ROI).
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We know that sharing is caring, and that’s why we’ve prepared a list of this year’s best business tools – read on to make your life easier. We’ve picked tools for different business needs, so there’s something for everyone.
We’re kicking off today’s list with one of those apps that you didn’t know you needed until you found it. It’s not a coincidence that we’re starting with Toggl – an online business tool that tracks and reports on time spent working. Overworking has been one of the bumps in the road for remote workers, and that’s exactly what this business tool is designed to help with.
Toggl tracks your daily activities across platforms (and devices!), and acts as a nice reminder that quality is over quantity, or as they go about it, "better work, not overwork". It’s not a scary tool that reports on the actual time you work to your manager – it only informs you on the time you spend on projects.
To create a digital Holy Trinity, Toggl adds two more tools next to Toggl Track: a project management tool, Toggle Plan, and a hiring tool – Toggl Hire. All of them have a sleek design for both desktop and smartphone.
In case you’re wondering how this business tool can help with the latter, and while we’re still on the topic of time: Toggl Hire provides skills tests to help employers find the best matches for job positions while saving up to 80% of the time spent on candidate screening. It’s also great for individual use, and is available for a free trial – what more can you wish for, really?
To those in (frequent) need of customer support – LiveAgent is here for you. They’re a dedicated team of tech savvies with a mission to reach customers on the channels they use the most.
LiveAgent is a customer service help-desk solution that combines live chat, a built-in call center, automation, and ticketing systems to support their clients. With over 180 features and more than 40 integrations (including Slack, Shopify, PayPal, Asana, Salesforce, Jira, and most Google apps), LiveAgent is a robust solution that applies to all business sizes, without it pretending to be a one-size-fits-all solution. You get 14 days to try it out for free, no credit card details required.
And before you ask – yes, LiveAgent is multilingual, offers customer support 24/7, and has a mobile version.
Don’t worry – we’re not listing all 180!
Image source: Hubstaff
Back to the topic of time management – seems like a hot one nowadays, so we’re going back to it. Hubstaff is a time-tracking online business tool that monitors employee activity to support managers of distributed teams and freelancers. Speaking of freelancers, Hubstaff’s Talent feature lets you search for them internationally. But it doesn’t stop there: Hubstaff Field gets your on-site crews covered by monitoring their location and clocking them in and out accordingly, for the most accurate payroll. Fans of agile project management can use Hubstaff’s Task feature to check the status of different projects.
Hubstaff boosts productivity by automating team management. It has both a mobile and a desktop version and integrates with Slack, Asana, Trello, and many other third-party tools that your organization might already be using.
Image source: HelloSign
There’s a reason people associate the word “paperwork” with something annoying – it’s messy. When it comes to organizations, the process of managing paperwork can be quite a headache, especially nowadays, when new hires start positions remotely and employers are hiring talent internationally.
The #lifehack: HelloSign. This platform saves you the fuss around printing and scanning just to sign a document by letting you digitally place your signature. You can also request other people’s signatures. Once everyone has signed the document, they will get a copy sent to their inbox. In the meantime, HelloSign will send you notifications to keep you up-to-date as the signing progresses.
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Image source: Hive
How do you keep your workforce productive, especially when they’re remote? That's one hell of a task, and we’re all looking for the answer to this almighty question.
Well, Hive seems to have developed a great solution: a flexible project management software.
Hive's business tool lets your teams decide what works best for them in terms of project management and screening for the highest productivity. Some teams prefer placing their tasks onto a calendar, while for others it is Gantt, Kanban, or Table that work best. To embody productivity itself, Hive has integrations with Google Workspace, Slack, Outlook, Dropbox, Hubspot, and many more. Like the rest of the business tools on today’s list, this one is also backed up with analytics to report on projects in real-time. Next to the analytic tool, Hive adds several key features such as planning, chat, document and form sharing to help boost productivity.
Image source: Hubspot
HubSpot's meeting scheduling tool provides you with a personalized booking link you can use to invite people to view your availability and book meetings with you. When someone schedules a meeting, their contact details will automatically be added to your calendar and pushed to the HubSpot CRM database (the CRM is free-forever, for unlimited users). When you sign up for HubSpot Meetings, you’ll gain access to HubSpot’s free CRM, marketing, sales, and customer service tools including email marketing automation, live chat, and forms, as well as HubSpot Academy, a free online educational resource.
Image source: Happeo
Happeo is a business communication software that combines social intranet, enterprise social network, and a digital workplace – all in one. Designed to make work a happier place, Happeo is the platform where communication meets collaboration. It’s powered by Google Workspace, so it integrates seamlessly with each Google app. It has both native integrations with other online business tools like Slack and AODocs, and also offers an API to connect to Asana and...well, any tool you can imagine, really.
Happeo’s centralized hub helps workforces connect and engage from anywhere, at any time. Pages provide employees with static information while Channels is the place for a dynamic, two-way conversation to happen. Fast communication is carried through Slack – thanks to our deep integration with the chat tool, employees can get notified every time someone posts on Happeo.
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Last, but not least, Happeo is designed with the user in mind: intuitive to use for employees and highly customizable for employers – from logo and colors to email digests.