In an increasingly competitive and frenetic global business environment, companies must attract the best candidates wherever they are. That is why, according to a recent study by Upwork, 57% of companies are betting on remote work and plan to hire more workers in this modality in 2024.

For its part, Forbes points out that currently around 16% of companies already operate entirely remotely, i.e. without a physical office.

This data is in line with the preferences of workers, who overwhelmingly choose the flexibility, autonomy and work-life balance that remote work offers.

So how do you boost productivity and collaboration in remote work? Without a doubt, with the best equipment and the latest technologies.

8 indispensable tools for remote work

Organization becomes crucial when working remotely, being an essential requirement for both individual project management and teamwork. In addition, effective communication and collaboration with the work team become fundamental. In order to maintain productivity, accurately track the progress of assigned tasks and foster smooth collaboration, it is key to use the right technological tools.

What are the digital platforms that should be provided to remote collaborators to boost their productivity?

Communication and collaboration platforms

Effective communication is one of the most important pillars of remote work. Collaborators need to be permanently connected to each other for the tasks and projects they carry out to be successful.

Although some still communicate via e-mail, this channel is not sufficient for smooth interactions.

Therefore, it is important for remote workers to have platforms such as Slack or Teams where they can not only chat, but also share documents, audio notes and images and create collaborative boards.

Establishing good practices in the use of these platforms is essential to ensure their effectiveness. It is recommended to define specific channels for different topics and expected response times.

Tools for videoconferencing

Video calls bring people closer together, providing the possibility of seeing and hearing colleagues and bosses as if they were in the same room, even if they are miles away. Face-to-face communication to define the direction of initiatives or explain key business issues is sometimes much more efficient than sending hundreds of messages and exchanging documents.

Applications such as Zoom, Temas or Google Meet are central to effective communication in remote environments.

Cloud storage solutions

When working remotely, it is crucial to have secure and accessible storage for all of your organization's documents and files.

Cloud-based storage solutions such as Google Drive, OneDrive and Dropbox provide a centralized platform for storing, sharing and collaborating on files from different devices, anytime, anywhere.

By ensuring joint access to documents, they eliminate the need to email files and allow users to work on them simultaneously and in real time.

Concerned about data integrity? Cloud storage platforms have advanced security and backup features, so data protection is no longer an issue.

Project management software

Project management platforms, such as Monday, Asana, Jira or Trello, are fundamental allies when it comes to organizing workflows, assigning tasks, clarifying the different activities, setting deadlines and tracking the progress of each action.

In addition to having an intuitive and clear visual design that facilitates interactions between users, many of them can be integrated with other remote work tools (such as communication or storage solutions), which further streamlines processes.

Time management tools

Being productive and maintaining a healthy work-life balance can become a major challenge for those who work remotely.

The use of time management platforms provides the ability to track how many minutes or hours are spent on each task, providing valuable information on work habits and efficiency.

At the same time, these solutions make it possible to reconcile professional and personal activities, helping to set boundaries. Remember that if a teleworker remains connected and works for longer than the time actually required, it is likely that, sooner rather than later, he or she will suffer from burn out.

Virtual private network (VPN) and security solutions

Security is one of the main concerns of organizations. To mitigate risks and protect information, it is advisable to use a Virtual Private Network (VPN) that encrypts data and guarantees privacy if a specific server must be accessed over the Internet.

On the other hand, firewalls also play a relevant role, since they control network traffic, verifying that the corresponding security rules are complied with.

It is important to clarify that for a cybersecurity policy to be effective, it is essential to train employees on best security practices, explaining the risks to which they are exposed and how they can mitigate them.

Automation tools

Why waste time and effort to perform a task that can be automated?

Automation tools systematize workflows, eliminating repetitive tasks that, in addition to being unmotivating and tiring, take time away from employees to dedicate to strategic functions.

These solutions offer the possibility of automating diverse actions such as data entry (names, dates, times, etc.), text writing, error correction, among others.

Moreover, some of them also automate communication between applications, so that employees do not have to move information from one platform to another manually.

Good connectivity

Having a solid and reliable Internet connection is essential to ensure productivity and work efficiency.

Good connectivity not only facilitates seamless communication and collaboration between geographically dispersed teams, but also enables fast and secure access to online resources.

Starlink, SpaceX's initiative, has emerged as a major player in this scenario, making strong inroads in Latin America. Its proposal to offer high-speed internet access via low orbiting satellites promises to transform connectivity in regions where traditional infrastructure may be limited today.

Having a hardware provider for remote workers, a fundamental part of the strategy.

These tools are fundamental to boost the productivity and collaboration of remote employees, but, fundamentally, to build a strong organizational culture that gives them the necessary confidence to be able to do their job in the best possible way. However, for these applications to work properly, it is necessary to have the right hardware.

Just as the suggested platforms are different depending on the use and tasks of each remote worker, there is no single ideal hardware for remote workers. Each collaborator will require a different set of elements depending on his or her role.

For example, a developer will need a computer with 16 GB of RAM and a 512 MB disk as a minimum to perform his activities correctly, while a commercial agent will be able to work successfully with a light computer with 8 GB of RAM.

Having a hardware supplier for remote workers that can provide equipment according to the needs of each collaborator is a fundamental part of the strategy of companies that adopt this working method. 

Being able to monitor from a single platform the hardware delivered in Latin America, North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific or Africa substantially simplifies and streamlines the management of equipment. 

At TecsPal, we take care of providing your remote teams with all the hardware and equipment they need and also to recover or repair it if necessary. Stop worrying about lengthy purchasing processes and time-consuming deliveries with complex logistics. With us, remote contracting is much easier. Let's talk.