6 Apps to Help Your Organization Transition to a Remote Work Culture

The Future of Work Literally Can’t Wait

With the urgent need to contain the spread of an unprecedented virus, it has become mission critical for companies and organizations to communicate their readiness plans to staff and customers while simultaneously rolling out the digital infrastructure needed to support remote work culture and productivity.

As a digital business, it made sense for Xponent21 to institute a telework model when considering it two years ago. Since then, we’ve not only doubled our productivity. We’ve also moved to a four-day, 8-hour-per-day workweek for all full-time staff members.

Having enjoyed the fruits of moving mostly into the digital working space, we decided to partner with the software companies who power our company so we could deploy critical workflow, telework, and cloud collaboration solutions to our clients.

Since many interactions with customers, prospects, workers, volunteers, and donors happen on a company or organization’s website, it only makes sense that we would influence the customer experience by introducing speed and efficiency into our clients’ service delivery model. By taking transactional information from your website and automatically moving it into your management systems, you save time (and money) and customers have a more delightful experience.

Our Productivity Stack

There’s no better way to communicate how a company could move workers to a cloud-based or remote work environment (and improve customer outcomes) than to share the cloud-based tools we use to achieve high productivity.

Here is a list of the core apps we use:

• Asana – Workflow and project management software. It literally runs our company (and it also tells me when to clean the litterbox). Asana automates workflows and assigns tasks as work is advanced, and it helps managers keep track of work in motion. It offers robust connectivity to other systems to maximize its automation capabilities.
• Slack – There is no better tool for team chat and on-demand screen shares. There are hundreds of bots and automation tools that run on Slack to enable an array of unique functions.
• G Suite – Store files in the cloud, collaborate on documents (simultaneously from anywhere in the world), organize and automate email, share calendars and so much more. I can access and share any client file from anyplace with an Internet connection, using my laptop or my phone.
• Zoom – Easily schedule and deploy web conferences between staff members or directly to your audience. Host meetings with as many as 100 people or more with a large meeting add-on.
• Calendly – Open your calendar to clients, prospects, vendors, or your team and allow them to book meetings on your schedule. Automate the setup of a Zoom web conference when scheduling. Create dynamic rules that limit your availability and provide buffers to ensure others book your time on your terms.
• SharpSpring – Email marketing automation that triggers emails when people interact with your brand online. It can empower marketing teams for e-commerce sales, marketing drips, customer experience emails, appointment scheduling and much more. SharpSpring also has a powerful CRM and customer intelligence engine that enables sales teams to boost their close rates.

You’re Not Just Remote, You’re Mobile Too

One of the best parts about moving into the cloud is the ability to be productive from your mobile device. Heavy creative work is still reserved for the tablet or computer. However, managers and process workers can be extremely productive when you place management tools in their hands on the go.

As we’ve grown, I’ve taken a large step back from production work. I’ve filled my calendar and powered our sales by asking others to conveniently book my time. I’ve also been able to respond to client and team needs on the go using the mobile apps integrated into our tech stack.

Receive Expert Guidance

Since the need to act fast is a component of decision-making, we encourage those seeking solutions to reach out. We’ll be happy to discuss your options and help you get to find what’s best for your team’s needs.

While the focus of our first interactions will likely be enabling remote work, we’ll set you up for success so you can use your new tools to drive better customer experience, improve operational efficiency and implement tangible automation strategies that come standard with modern management software.

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Will Melton is a technologist, entrepreneur, marketer, and community volunteer with lengthy experience in technology, a passion for making customers happy, and a drive to help others achieve their dreams. You can book a consultation on Will’s calendar here.