Remote Tools To Keep Connected
Writing this amid a third national lockdown, it is becoming clear that Covid-19 will have a lasting effect on “the office” as we know it.
Sure, working remotely can have its benefits. Forbes recently reported that it’s no coincidence tech giants, young, flexible companies and other visionaries are all adopting the policy of “work from wherever you want”.* However, there are also obvious challenges associated with WFH that should not be overlooked; with mental health, childcare and isolation naming just a few.
Regardless of what may happen in the future, lockdown has meant that working entirely remotely is our current reality. So we’ve put together our top tools to help our community feel more connected.
Combined, Kate and Laura have six kids, two dogs and one hamster, so as you can imagine, background noise in meetings can be a problem.
With 120 free minutes a week, this app for your laptop can be switched on during video meetings. In doing so, all background noise from your side and theirs- whether it’s children, traffic or building work- will be muted, letting you focus on the meeting at hand.
Developed by Analogue Republic, Sneek creates a virtual office for remote teams. With three availability settings you control, it puts together a wall of faces of your team. It’s then instant, you simply click on the photo of one or multiple teammates to start video chats there and then. On top of this, you can integrate Slack and share sneeksnaps to your team's channel.
We even have an exclusive code LIBERTYHIVE30 for 30% off Sneek Pro for a year.
Launched by our very own consultant, Arthur, Busy reinvents the email autoresponder. Blocking out time in your calendar, Busy then lets you prepare a particular response message for that specific time. For people working part time or flexibly (like much of our community), this allows you to take control of your work life balance and be connected on your own terms.
Working all day behind a computer screen does mean you are exposed to more blue light than perhaps usual.
F.lux is a free, downloadable app that adapts the colour of your computer’s display depending on the time of day. This reduces the blue light you are exposed to, particularly early in the morning and late at night. Although it won’t eliminate blue light completely, it is a step in the right direction.
An all-one-workspace we use regularly at Liberty Hive. With hundreds of templates to choose from, you can create all sorts of documents from task lists through to product roadmaps. As well as being stored all in one place, individual boards or the entire workspace can be easily shared with others.
We have multiple Trello boards always on the go. Whether they are personal or team boards, it’s an easy-to-digest way of keeping track of projects and to do lists. You can even prioritise the actions and assign members of your team to specific cards, making it extremely easy to keep track of.
*Enrique Dans, Forbes, Jan 27 2021
