2020 was a tough year for all of us on a worldwide scale, a year that made us even more resilient with a layer of thick skin! We can’t let last year stop us from transitioning into 2021 seamlessly while simultaneously smoothing out all the flaws we’ve spotted along the way. While most companies and businesses will be eager to write about their “new year resolutions”, “2020 retrospective”, or their “2021 objectives” - we decided to give you a different perspective, one that works for you now and in the near future. So without further adieu, let’s hop into the 10 best tech tools (each with an added bonus) we’ve arranged to give you the best work output for the rest of the year all the way into 2022. Think ahead, use your head.
1. Organize your professional life with Trello or Asana
[ Reasons to invest: +Project tracking +Handy integrations +Free options ]
Both these powerhouse organizers will do wonders, both for you as an individual professional and as a team - be it remotely or back in the office. This tech will open the borders of transparency to accompany all projects, objectives, completed tasks, to-do lists, and much more! Both have the user-friendly options to be installed on your desktop, smartphone, and a free tier to get you comfortable with the programs, in case you want to further invest in their premium options. This will come in handy now that most people have organized themselves to work both in the office and from home in 2021. Manage your workflow to the best of your, and your teams, abilities for max productivity on these platforms. Get cracking!
Bonus!: Keeping tabs on the hours we clock in with all these projects can sometimes be a hassle, a burden even. Why not integrate Everhour with your Asana or Trello to keep track of your time and payroll? Time is money - money is time, after all!
2. Need to keep all comms open? Call on Slack or Discord
[ Reasons to invest: +Communications +Group Thinking +Team Building ]
If your company is leaning on the corporate end - it is highly recommended that you take on Slack as your primary communications method. Where the brightest words is a plan and every good idea is a new prototype or progress - the most logical way to go is the 1st option. Discord, on the other hand, is a free realm of ideas placed into mission-driven groups. Being a platform for the creative types and agencies, this system can smooth out all the noise with a neat composure. Even though they may have their differences in mission statements, their vision is very similar - to open all comms within a group of people.
Bonus!: A great new app called Loom has been making its rounds as a visual post-it note. Its main feature is to record mini audio/visual clips to be attached to emails, calendars, or messages. It allows the user to free up their time from writing, look directly into their camera, and record a short snippet of an idea or reminder to send off. A great pair up with the options above.
3. On-Air: Live meetings with Google Meet & Wonder
[ Reasons to invest: +Face-to-face Comms +Objective Thinking +Visual Interactions ]
Google has been around since 1998 starting out as a simple (yet very innovative!) search engine. Today the company has become a giant in the tech world and become a staple in Silicon Valley by constantly pumping out new concepts and world-changing ideas. How we communicate has been no different. Google Meet is offering its premium video conference software for free to book your next meetings!
It’s also important to speak to your audience, build with them an experience, make them and your teams Wonder. This useful bit of tech can create bonds of visual communication that can expand their quest for objective thinking towards their end goal or plans. This platform can optimize time and visual intake by obtaining the corresponding information through multiple interactions.
Bonus!: Double Robotics has made a recent launch with their Double3 robot, which allows for remote “in-house” presence to whoever is plugged in. This machine will grant you access to the interior of a business setting, meeting, or “face-to-face” conference to work better without you physically being there.
4. Plan, Organize, and Present with Microsoft 365 or Google Suit
[ Reasons to invest: +Essential office tools +Cloud based +Market leaders ]
Microsoft Office tools have always been the leading brand for your essential comprehensive suit - and still is with their Microsoft 365 packages. The up-to-date and reliable service is now subscription-based and will fit your needs whether individually, educationally, or be it a small or enterprise-sized business. That’s great to still count on the top name for our Excel spreadsheets, PowerPoint presentations, and Word document needs. But, as of lately, Google Workspace has also grown and made huge gains on its version of how we see and view our essential office tools - and they’re doing a great job! As far as competition goes, these two giants are at the top of their game and provide an excellent service.
Bonus!: Even though all nations independently carry on business in their language within their domain, English is the language of international business (even if Mandarin is a close 2nd) - English is the name of the game. So spare yourself from any possible embarrassments with grammar, spelling, or general vocabulary mistakes by using Grammarly. You will be writing better, clearer documents, and comprehensive emails in no time!
5. Ideas are important, never miss a beat with Evernote or Microsoft To Do
[ Reasons to invest: +Time savers +Sync ready +Focus enablers ]
Evernote has made its name to be considered your “second brain”, by digitizing the world around you, you’ll be able to make notes, keep track of text, and adjust ideas at the click of a button or with a few swipes of your fingers. This will come in handy for those long presentations that we only want the highlights from anyway. In case you do have issues with keeping track of that “second brain”, a to-do list is definitely a must for those who need a friendly reminder of what’s on your day-to-day schedule. We recommend Microsoft To Do where its soul objective is maintaining you - focused.
Bonus!: Keeping up with projects is a responsibility all on its own, but to be able to be more agile is a power we all can rely on. Kanban is a framework that allows professionals to keep up with their work at pace, while also giving access to full visuals of the progress of each project. This project management platform is designed to better envision work, minimize work-in-progress, and optimize productivity (or flow).
It’s time to get started!
With 2021 off to a new year’s launch, we hope that these tools, with all their amazing features, will blast you off into a grand venture. A year where you optimize your capabilities, maximize your time efficiency, and make the best use of your skills at the right place and at the right time. Because even though 2020 was a bust, and will be remembered as such, let’s prepare ourselves for bigger, better, and brighter work experiences this year.
If you need help, guidance, or advice on how we can help you achieve your next shared office needs - reach out to us. We’re eager to assist you in the best way possible to get you plugged in!
