40 Essential Tools for Working from Home

Workplaces everywhere are implementing and expanding programs to help their employees work remotely. With the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention predicting that COVID-19 effects could last into 2021, it’s likely that remote work will become a new normal as countries try to flatten the curve of exposure. In light of a possible new status quo, here are 40 essential tools for working from home to make the change easier for management and for employees.

Basic Tech Tools for Remote Work

Technology is what makes work possible, both in the main office and the home office. As your employees begin working from home, communicate with them to make sure they have all the essential tech tools for remote work.

Check out these 5 essential tips for working remotely.

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Communication Tools for Remote Work

When employees and teams are learning how to work from home, they have to adjust their habits. This includes finding a workaround for walking over to someone’s desk or asking someone to look at a screen. These communication tools for working remotely help ensure clear, complete communication as your employees adjust to the realities of remote work.

Accountability Tools and Techniques

While you care for your employees’ experience, you also have a responsibility to your organization to ensure that your employees are as productive as they can be. These remote tools can help everyone stay accountable in spite of the distance between you.

Best Engagement Tools for Working from Home

Your employees’ physical and mental state is critical when it comes to staying productive while working from home. Encouraging your people to get comfortable, get into the right mindset, and take regular breaks can help them stay engaged in the long run.

Necessary Tools and Techniques for Remote-Work Focus

The new normal of working from home isn’t just an adjustment for employees and workplaces. It’s also an adjustment for everyone in the employees’ households. In these extraordinary circumstances, these adjustments could include children who need help with online learning, housemates practicing guitar or watching television, or a spouse who is also facing work, family, and domestic disruptions.

There are two essential principles you need to help your employees follow if you want their full focus while they’re working from home:

  1. Clear expectations. Encourage employees to fully explore their work-from-home situation with other members of their household. Remote work can make distractions even tougher to deal with, from a stiff back to a spouse’s quick reminder about soccer practice. Explaining the importance of focus to everyone involved is the first step to helping employees meet both their own expectations and your organization’s expectations.
  2. Privacy. As much as your employees’ loved ones want to be around them, shoulder-tapping at home is about as distracting as shoulder-tapping at work. Have managers help employees know how to put distance between themselves and others during periods of focus. This includes helping everyone respect these boundaries, including managers.

Each employee will face different circumstances in working from home. Sharing this list of focus tools can help them decide which will work best to help them create the space they need to meet expectations each workday.

Remote Tools Make Working from Home Feasible

Whether it’s due to a crisis like COVID-19 or simply the evolution of digital marketplaces and global recruiting strategies, it’s good to know that remote work doesn’t have to be an obstacle for employees. With the right technology and techniques, you can help give your employees a great place to work no matter where they are—and even when there’s no office at all.