As novel coronavirus continues to stretch its foot on the world map, enterprises all over the world are accepting the new reality of remote work. Global enterprises - no matter small or big - are forced to leave their physical office spaces behind due to the legal-enforced quarantines and mandatory lockdowns. This pandemic has also boosted an already prevailing trend in the IT consulting, website and mobile app development industry- the remote work. During 2005 to 2017, the US alone experienced 159% upsurge in telecommuting. 

Without a doubt - remote work is here to stay. Employers around the globe are offering work from home tips to employees to keep them productive and healthy.   

Working from Home - Does it Really Help Employees? 

As discussed, during a pandemic like COVID-19, remote working or teleworking is an obvious solution for most global enterprises - be it retail & ecommerce, food & restaurant, education & elearning or others. 

A robust remote work policy offers great benefits to both employees and the organization. According to Forbes, work from home enables the employees to work more efficiently. 

Remote working offers flexibility, unparalleled agility, and a better quality of life to employees, according to business research studies from the past. Employees can work with confidence and higher morale as they don’t have to deal with daily issues like traffic, food timings, etc. during regular work. 

For companies, they don’t have to think about their operational costs, the systems, office settings, etc. for once while working under the remote working model. However, productivity takes a hit in most cases for enterprises working remotely in uncertain situations like COVID-19. 

The Business Challenge - How to Maintain The Same Level of Productivity?

Remote working brings a number of challenges for enterprises, especially the ones who have no previous experience with it. The foremost challenge includes - maintaining the same level of business productivity while working remotely. Along with this, ensuring consistent communication, improving collaboration and boosting staff morale are some other issues that are faced by employers during remote work. 

For employees, the biggest challenge includes adjusting to flexible work schedules during remote work. Their productivity can take a hit and they may also find themselves procrastinating due to distractions at home. Employees may experience burnout in case of working beyond usual hours to compensate for the work - they fail to deliver due to remote working. 

The Solution - Workplace Apps 

No matter which IT services sector you operate it, technology has a strong role in the smooth sailing of your business. Often, the simplest technological integration during remote work is a smartphone app. In fact, workplace apps have become a common part of most businesses daily operations - be it communication, collaboration or any other routine service operations. 

Unless you request a custom app from an experienced app development company, you can easily use these existing workplace apps for teleworking. 

Also Read: Top 5 Tools for Cross-Platform Mobile App Development

How to Use Mobile Apps to Improve Employee Productivity during Coronavirus? 

During a crisis like COVID-19 when the majority of employees are working remotely, mobile apps can deliver immense benefits to both employees and companies. From productivity to higher employee morale - using the right app is all that companies need to do today for seamless teleworking. 

You can start using video conferencing and collaboration mobile apps or tools like Slack, Zoom, Skype, etc. for your businesses to hold virtual meetings with employees. Team leaders at your firm can guide their subordinates about daily work and solve their work-related problems easily through these apps. These apps easily sync with the daily calendar, and support screen sharing and replay recordings functionality to improve collaboration among project teams.

Cloud-based productivity apps like Google Drive, Office 365, etc. are also a great solution for collaborative editing of important businesses documents for employees. 

Besides this, time tracking apps like TimeDoctor, Toggle, etc. can help you measure the overall productivity of employees by tracking their daily work hours and time spent on each task. These apps are pretty handy for remote workers to manage their time better and improve work-life balance. 

Also Read: 7 Reasons Why Your Business Needs On-Demand Mobile Application

Here are some of the hottest mobile apps that you use to boost productivity while working from home during COVID-19 outbreak: 

Zoom (Available for Android, iOS, Windows, and Mac)

In the middle of the COVID-19 outbreak, Zoom has become one of the most popular apps for video conferencing and collaboration among businesses. This app has seen a huge upsurge in usage as coronavirus spread globally. It is now competing with top tech giants like Microsoft and Google in the video conferencing domain. Zoom’s company shares have also seen a jump of more than 70 per cent in the share market. Zoom is transforming the way how people work and communicate during this isolation period. It has both a free and premium version for enterprises. You can use zoom for: 


Source: Zoom

Slack (Available for iOS, Android and Web)

Workplace messaging service app - Slack is not behind Zoom, as it has seen a net increase of 7,000 paying customers during the lockdown period in 2020. According to the CEO, Stewart Butterfield, the company has observed a 40% rise in its customer’s base in Q1, 2020, thanks to the increasing number of remote employees. Slack is the most popular online work application tool for file sharing and office conversations. Also, it offers third-party platform support to make office work easy for remote workers. You can either use the Slack mobile app or build your own custom app like Slack by partnering with an experienced iOS and Android development agency.


Source: Slack

Trello (Available for Android, iOS, Windows, and Mac)

 

Source: Trello

Trello is another excellent tool that can be used to manage your company projects. Using this popular app, you can oversee all important projects and related tasks with the help of colourful boards or cards. You can even apply a blend of text, pictures, emoticons or document attachments on the project boards to make it more engaging. Even the free version of Trello app enables you to team up with all your project members for working on important projects. Use this powerful mobile app to streamline project activities while working apart. 

Skype (Available for Windows, Android and Web)

Source: Skype

Without any doubt, we can say - Skype keeps the business world talking. It might be the most popular text, video, voice call and file sharing app that businesses use today for day-to-day interactions. Workplace chat apps like Skype are a great option to stay connected for remote workers during uncertain times like coronavirus pandemic. More than 40 million people today use Skype, globally. 

The app has both a free and premium plan for users. Recently, Microsoft has stated that it has seen a huge upsurge by 70% in the number of Skype video call users, as more individuals stay working from home due to coronavirus. Also, the call meetings via Skype have jumped up to 220% per cent in March 2020, compared to the previous month. It’s a great app to use for improving the overall productivity of your team by staying connected, every time you work remotely. 

Microsoft Teams and Facebook Workplace (Available for Windows, Android and iOS)

Both Facebook workplace and Microsoft teams are unified communication and collaboration tools. As the name suggests, the Facebook workplace is developed by Facebook whereas Team is designed by Microsoft. Both these tools have a free version available for Android, iOS and web platforms. In the present lockdown, Microsoft teams is an ideal option for large enterprises as it offers seamless integration with Microsoft 365 applications and other collaboration tools. Whereas, Facebook workplace can be used by businesses for asynchronous communication - personal pages, events and groups while they operate remotely. 

Wrapping Up….!

Hope you enjoyed the list of online work applications for boosting employee productivity while they work from home during the coronavirus outbreak. Also, if you need a custom workplace app for your business, partner an expert Android and iOS app development agency like Alogics to get the best app solution. 

Contact us directly to know more about our app development services.