As our global society adjusts to a new normal in the wake of the Coronavirus (COVID-19), businesses are scrambling to adapt in order to keep their operations afloat. With local and national government strongly encouraging individuals to work from home if possible, many business owners are wondering how they can seamlessly do it all without having to take on exorbitant costs in light of dwindling profits. Although pay-for-use programs are a dime a dozen, fortunately there are quite a few free options to help put some worries at ease while keeping your team fully functional.
Slack – Team Communication
Want to stay organized and focused with central places for conversations, files, tools and people without having to access your inbox? Slack is great for that. Through instant messaging, your team can stay on the same page and make decisions faster by bringing all of your work communication into one place. Best of all, every message in Slack is indexed and searchable (limited to the first 10,000 messages for the free version).
Google Docs – Collaborative File Editing
As a browser-based word processor, you can create, edit, and share documents online and access them from any computer with an internet connection. How does this differ from Microsoft Word? Google Docs has simplified the ability to share documents across multiple platforms and has enabled users to work on them in real time from a browser window. It’s also completely free to use and collaborators don’t even need a Google account to view or edit files you share with them.
Asana – Project Management
Get the power, control, and organization you need to manage projects. Free for up to 15 teammates, you can ensure every project is a success with the ability to map out each step and organize all the details of your work in one place. The Timeline feature also shows you how the pieces of your project fit together, and helps you keep work on track as things change.
Zoom – Software-based Conferencing
Meetings are an inevitable part of business. Whether you need to host weekly check-ins for your department or keep tabs on prospects and clients, Zoom can ensure that you don’t skip a beat with online phone and video conferencing. Through its freemium version, you can host up to 100 participants but keep in mind there is a 40 minute time limit for meetings with three or more people.
Toggl – Productivity Tracking
For teams up to five members, a free version of Toggl is available for hassle-free time tracking. In just one click you can either start time tracking for a new task or continue tracking on a previous track. Toggl also has some intuitive programming to provide reminders if it detects idle time or believes you haven’t started tracking a new task.
