5 Free Work-From-Home Apps During Quarantine

Remote work has been a rising trend in business for a few years back. Employees are given flexibility ranging from mere options to work from home when needed to be able to work off-site full time.

However, this pandemic suddenly rendered most, if not everyone, working from home. Despite this, not all companies are fully prepared. To help your business accomplish your goals despite your teams working remotely, these work-from-home apps are a must-try.

Quarantine Routine

Before the Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ), here’s how my usual morning goes: I wake up at 5:00 AM to prepare for the workday. Then, by 6:15, I start walking to the train station, ride the train, and a UV Express straight to the office. I reach my desk a few minutes before 8:00 AM and get started working.

Now, here’s my new routine in the morning: I wake up at 7:00 AM, do a quick workout, eat breakfast, and get started with work at 8:00 AM. No walking, no public transport, no rush hour. This is also the case for everyone as we all try to cope with this new normal.

Working in a different environment is challenging, especially in the middle of an epidemic. But it doesn’t have to be too difficult. Read the article below and discover these free work-from-home apps that will help you be collaborative and productive.

For Online Meetings: Zoom

Video calls are great to keep your team in check and monitor progress despite working remotely. Having the team face-to-face, even digitally, also keeps engagement up when compared to plain email or chat. 

Try using Zoom for your next huddle! It’s free to use and can include up to 100 participants in one video call. Either use it on your browser or download the app on your computer. With features like screen sharing, “raise hand,” and group messaging, it will feel like you’re all together in your office meeting room.

For File Sharing and Collaboration: Google Drive

If you have to choose only one of all these work-from-home apps, this is it. You might have been used to using Office 365 apps in the office. But in this digital age, being able to collaborate with a teammate adds a whole new level of efficiency and skill to your work.

The next time someone from the team has to take note of minutes in a meeting, create a meeting deck, or manage the books, use Google apps. You can share your document with others and be able to simultaneously edit documents, slides, and spreadsheets in real-time.

To get started, all you need is a Gmail account and you’re set with 15GB available cloud storage.

For Internal Communications: Slack

In the office, what do you do when you need to ask someone a work-related question? You walk over to their respective desk and discuss, right? Easy. Now, there are no desks to visit, so if you need to talk business with a coworker, try Slack.

This work-from-home app should be set up for the whole company. Then, you add in all employees. Once ready, you can send a message to anyone—yes, even the CEO. Just search for their name in the Slack directory and ask away. 

With this useful tool, open company communications are encouraged. It gives more room for collaboration and feedback regardless of team and position.

For Task Management: Trello

There are times when several projects come in simultaneously, making it difficult to keep track of the status of each. This is where Trello shines.

This task management system lets you make use of cards and boards for your projects. Add all important information for the team to see, include a checklist to keep track of progress, and assign cards to specific team member/s for accountability.

Sounds great? Because it is. Head on to their website and try it for yourself.

For Creative Work: Canva

Graphic designers usually use desktops for work since their jobs require a more robust computer system to function effectively and efficiently. If your desktops are stuck in the office and the team needs design work, Canva is a great option to try.

Its straightforward functionality works for beginners to advanced designers. Templates are also available for rush work. These give you the freedom to customize the graphics based on your brand, but also the ease to be able to churn out designs in a matter of minutes despite working remotely.

They even offer Zoom backgrounds to use the next time you’re in a video meeting!

At the end of the day, we’re already in the digital age. Businesses who have not yet started digitizing have now been forced to shift towards these new processes and systems. 

As a manager and as a leader, it’s your role to take these first steps towards digitizing your business and being more efficient and productive—pandemic or not. Trust us; if these work-from-home apps help achieve your business goals in this challenging period, it will also do great when we all get back to our offices and previous routines.