Now that most work is online, we need to find ways to digitize internal processes. Workflow apps are ideal as they maximize productivity within remote teams.
As there are barriers to meeting up physically, workflow apps counteract these limitations and introduce new ways for users to work together online. These apps allow for collaboration, team communication, and quick decision-making.
These are just some of the workflow apps we recommend for any remote worker or organisation operating online.
Google Drive is file storage, data organisation, and synchronization application.
Operating in the work-from-home set-up means no more printing and passing physical documents nor face-to-face presentations. Google Drive is almost essential to any kind of remote work, as app users can easily share, edit, comment, or view files uploaded to a Google Drive.
Google Drive gives power to the creator, as they often get to control who has access to these files. That’s how this workflow app maintains security over shared and personal files.
Besides its file-sharing features, this app promotes transparency and responsibility in the work-from-home setup. While apps like Slack and Notion also allow users to leave comments on messaging threads or files, Google Drive’s commenting feature is highly collaborative.
Teammates can be tagged in comments, suggestions can be left, and edits can be made—complete with timestamps. All of these actions are labelled under your Google account, which encourages workers to be accountable for their thoughts and actions.
What Google Drive lacks in instantaneous communication or customisation, it makes up for in organisation-wide collaboration.
Notion is a workflow app that provides a wide array of tools used to plot and plan to-do lists, notes, and reminders.
Its app features are ideal for working on a project or assignment that requires databases that are easily accessible and editable. The in-app commands are intuitive and navigable for the novice Notion user.
Not only does this workflow app have a user-friendly interface, but the workflow app also lauds itself for its customisable features. You can easily change the font, font size, colour, icon, and even layout of the whole platform.
Most Notion users create personal dashboards and arrange their own sets of elements based on their working needs. Users can even embed widgets onto their dashboards. Some of these include study/working timers, music playlists, and goal trackers.
What this application may lack is team communication, it excels in increasing personal productivity and notes organisation.
Slack is the ideal workflow app for communicating with and disseminating information quickly to remote teams. What makes their messaging systems stand out is the navigability of text channels.
Slack users can easily send out messages to their team, other departments, or even the entire organisation. Its interface allows users to easily reply to threads or even react to them using fun emojis.
They can also choose how recipients are notified depending on the urgency of the message with just a quick tag (@user/@everyone). As a result, decision-making becomes strongly optimized.
This workflow app’s hidden gem of a feature, however, can be found in its ability to schedule reminders. Slack users can type up a command that allows the app to remind the user or their teammates of a specific task due at a specific time. Workers can even use this feature to remind themselves of personal tasks.
Although Slack leans more towards the side of messaging tools, it does reduce miscommunication, thereby promoting productivity.
Choosing the best workflow app
There are many workflow apps available to you, each with its own special features. Some apps may share the same features, but each app is created with a specific remote worker or team in mind.
As there are plenty of workflow apps to choose from, figure out what productivity feature aligns most with your working style. Then you can find out which workflow app suits your needs best.
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