Practical Digital Tools for WFH (Working from Home)
When it comes to working remotely, we’re basically experts. Since 2008 we didn’t even have a physical office until 2018! Over the years, we’ve mastered a few tricks and discovered some very helpful digital tools for WFH. We’ve settled into some processes and learned a lot of lessons.
But we won’t tell you how you’ll need a dedicated space, a routine, and – oh, don’t forget to keep a work-life balance; you’ll see that a lot on other blogs. We’ll share the digital tools we use to make working remotely as easy as possible. So here we go, the Bright Pink WFH essentials:
Cloud everything
This is our mantra. We don’t store files on our local computers, everything is in the cloud. So, if a computer vanishes or disappears tomorrow, we can literally pick up exactly from where we left off, on a new one. In fact, that’s what Madalina, our CEO, had to do last December when her MacBook’s video card crashed. In two hours, Apple had a new MacBook at her door. In two more hours, everything was restored.
The applications we use
Dropbox for file storage and sharing. As soon as one of the team members edits and saves something, everyone has access to the same version. Something got deleted or overwritten on accident? Easy to restore any version. The desktop and mobile apps are also very useful.
Slack for team communications. Beats one-on-one chats by far. Perfect for quick interactions between team members. We keep the channels organized by topics, projects, and even share channels with clients or partners.
Active Collab for project management. This works for us as an agency and it’s mostly geared towards creative work. We track projects, tasks, subtasks, time and expenses associated with a project, monitor workload across our team. Other project management apps might work better for other teams.
Dropbox Paper for text editing. Some people prefer Google Docs. We love Paper. Great for text documents like research papers, meeting notes, client profiles, reports, etc. It’s collaborative, shareable, good-looking, organized and effortless to use.
LastPass for password management. This is crucial for keeping everything secure, especially our client’s passwords. Need to share a password with a team member? You can grant access to use the password without actually seeing the password.
Zoom for client meetings. Simply the easiest video conferencing application, from scheduling to sharing, to using by the least tech-savvy clients. Bar none.
We also use Adobe Creative Cloud for all creative work, Hootsuite for social media, Proposify for pitching, Pipedrive for leads tracking.
And a couple of notebooks and pads of sticky notes for good measure.
But communication is everything
Tools are awesome, but people are better. At the end of the day, it’s people, not tools that get the job done. We found that the best way to keep everyone across both continents on the same page is to have a 15 min daily brief every morning. We do a Slack video call where we quickly run through the day’s tasks and priorities.
What is one digital tool for WFH or tip that is better for you?
Stay productive!
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Bright Pink Agency is a franchise marketing agency working with franchisors and franchisees throughout North America. We help our clients clarify their message and tell their stories so that they can fulfill their purpose.
