Remote Working Guide and Tools
Posted: Mon Dec 09, 2024 8:19 am
Nowadays, the evolution of company infrastructures to allow remote working and the establishment of an order independent from the office, although not 100%, has become a more common situation in recent years. As in every field, the solutions developed for the increasingly digital working life go a step further in areas such as in-office communication, work tracking, documentation and operations, and today allow teams to work without being in the same place.
Remote working, which we have seen fully adopted in some global companies, was mostly implemented in Turkey as allowing work from home on certain days of the week or month; until the coronavirus outbreak emerged. During this period, as part of the most effective and easiest method against the virus, social isolation, office workers started to take their computers and work from home. While there were still those who had to go to work within the scope of their job or who only worked from home on certain days of the week, this displacement seen in different sectors and departments also brought about – or made necessary – a rapid adaptation process.
Statistics on working from home in Turkey
According to the research of the European Statistical Office (Eurosat), while the rate of people working from home in Turkey in 2019 was 2.1%, according to 2018 data , 73% of employees wanted to work from home. The fact that this working style, which is considered very valuable by employees in terms of balancing work and social life, has become a necessity today indicates a period in which we will see its effects in the longer term. Although the process we are in creates uncertainty at the moment with the 'not leaving home' requirement and the psychological burden caused by the pandemic, it is possible to say that it will affect the steps that companies will take from now on.
According to a survey conducted in April, in which 1,346 white-collar employees and 570 employers/HR officials participated , it was revealed that although 70% of companies had infrastructure suitable for remote working before the pandemic, only 24% had implemented this model before the pandemic.
Communication and productivity in the remote working era
Discussions on the advantages and disadvantages of working from home ultimately focus on the productivity of employees and, directly related to this, companies. Productivity is not a subject that can be addressed under a single heading. Being able to communicate within and between teams as if you were still in the same place, while the conditions that make it difficult to focus by distracting you in the office are eliminated, being able to cope with new ones at home and being able to discipline yourself to manage time; factors that determine physical and mental health such as the need to socialize and being able to separate work and rest hours are among the headings that change happiness and therefore productivity.
At this point, online technologies that some companies currently use have become primary tools in the context of home business management. In addition to the services that we already benefit from employment database on a daily basis and are well-known to different audiences, this is a period when we, as Zeo, discover new tools to make our processes beneficial in every sense for our team.
Survey results
With our curiosity about the subject, we conducted three different surveys on Twitter and LinkedIn to get an idea of what tools other companies use. In the answers we received to the question, "What tool do you use for team communication?", WhatsApp, which is an inseparable part of our daily lives, came in first with 31% of the votes, followed by Slack with 26.2% and Discord with 11.9%. Mattermost, Microsoft Teams and Google Hangouts were among the other applications listed. In the answers to "What tool do you use for your video conference calls?", Zoom, which has recently reached 200 million users and is widely discussed in terms of security vulnerabilities, came in first with 55.8%. Skype received 21.1% of the votes, while Google Hangouts had 15.8% and Cisco Webex had 7.4%.
In addition to Discord and Google Meets, which we encounter in instant communication, we also saw alternatives such as Whereby, Jitsi and ClickMeet being used. In our question about time tracking tools that are quite effective in terms of productivity, we observed that Time Doctor dominated with a rate of 60%. Toggl received 13.3% of the votes, Bitrix24 6.7% and the Other option 20%. We prepared the following lists by expanding our research in order to have more detailed information about the tools used and to learn about the alternatives. I would also like to point out that each tool actually has many different features that support working from home and that the lists, which are actually a selection, are of course open to additions.
Internal Team Communication Tools
Slack
Slack , one of the most preferred applications for team communication , offers a very simple system for both large teams and individual conversations with its structure consisting of channels that can be opened under different titles specific to departments and projects. The application, which eliminates the psychological burden created by piling up e-mails with a more organized interface, allows you to analyze more easily which topics are urgent and which can wait, while also allowing you to easily find the file or conversation you are looking for within project titles. Thanks to Slack's Team Time Zone add-on offered as part of the PRO plan, it allows employees working in different time zones to organize by seeing each other's active hours. It integrates with many applications from Google Calendar to Zoom, making it easier to control different tools from a common place. It has a free version.
Discord
Discord , which was originally developed for the use of computer game enthusiasts, namely 'gamers' , has prominent features for the use of large groups. The application, which offers voice call, video chat and correspondence options, provides an effective solution especially for teams that need to talk constantly while working. Discord, which can be used by opening a new channel or joining an existing channel, can be run as a desktop application or via the web with many platforms and operating systems. In addition to its connection speed and quality, it is also preferred because it allows screen sharing without straining the computer. It has a free version.
Remote working, which we have seen fully adopted in some global companies, was mostly implemented in Turkey as allowing work from home on certain days of the week or month; until the coronavirus outbreak emerged. During this period, as part of the most effective and easiest method against the virus, social isolation, office workers started to take their computers and work from home. While there were still those who had to go to work within the scope of their job or who only worked from home on certain days of the week, this displacement seen in different sectors and departments also brought about – or made necessary – a rapid adaptation process.
Statistics on working from home in Turkey
According to the research of the European Statistical Office (Eurosat), while the rate of people working from home in Turkey in 2019 was 2.1%, according to 2018 data , 73% of employees wanted to work from home. The fact that this working style, which is considered very valuable by employees in terms of balancing work and social life, has become a necessity today indicates a period in which we will see its effects in the longer term. Although the process we are in creates uncertainty at the moment with the 'not leaving home' requirement and the psychological burden caused by the pandemic, it is possible to say that it will affect the steps that companies will take from now on.
According to a survey conducted in April, in which 1,346 white-collar employees and 570 employers/HR officials participated , it was revealed that although 70% of companies had infrastructure suitable for remote working before the pandemic, only 24% had implemented this model before the pandemic.
Communication and productivity in the remote working era
Discussions on the advantages and disadvantages of working from home ultimately focus on the productivity of employees and, directly related to this, companies. Productivity is not a subject that can be addressed under a single heading. Being able to communicate within and between teams as if you were still in the same place, while the conditions that make it difficult to focus by distracting you in the office are eliminated, being able to cope with new ones at home and being able to discipline yourself to manage time; factors that determine physical and mental health such as the need to socialize and being able to separate work and rest hours are among the headings that change happiness and therefore productivity.
At this point, online technologies that some companies currently use have become primary tools in the context of home business management. In addition to the services that we already benefit from employment database on a daily basis and are well-known to different audiences, this is a period when we, as Zeo, discover new tools to make our processes beneficial in every sense for our team.
Survey results
With our curiosity about the subject, we conducted three different surveys on Twitter and LinkedIn to get an idea of what tools other companies use. In the answers we received to the question, "What tool do you use for team communication?", WhatsApp, which is an inseparable part of our daily lives, came in first with 31% of the votes, followed by Slack with 26.2% and Discord with 11.9%. Mattermost, Microsoft Teams and Google Hangouts were among the other applications listed. In the answers to "What tool do you use for your video conference calls?", Zoom, which has recently reached 200 million users and is widely discussed in terms of security vulnerabilities, came in first with 55.8%. Skype received 21.1% of the votes, while Google Hangouts had 15.8% and Cisco Webex had 7.4%.
In addition to Discord and Google Meets, which we encounter in instant communication, we also saw alternatives such as Whereby, Jitsi and ClickMeet being used. In our question about time tracking tools that are quite effective in terms of productivity, we observed that Time Doctor dominated with a rate of 60%. Toggl received 13.3% of the votes, Bitrix24 6.7% and the Other option 20%. We prepared the following lists by expanding our research in order to have more detailed information about the tools used and to learn about the alternatives. I would also like to point out that each tool actually has many different features that support working from home and that the lists, which are actually a selection, are of course open to additions.
Internal Team Communication Tools
Slack
Slack , one of the most preferred applications for team communication , offers a very simple system for both large teams and individual conversations with its structure consisting of channels that can be opened under different titles specific to departments and projects. The application, which eliminates the psychological burden created by piling up e-mails with a more organized interface, allows you to analyze more easily which topics are urgent and which can wait, while also allowing you to easily find the file or conversation you are looking for within project titles. Thanks to Slack's Team Time Zone add-on offered as part of the PRO plan, it allows employees working in different time zones to organize by seeing each other's active hours. It integrates with many applications from Google Calendar to Zoom, making it easier to control different tools from a common place. It has a free version.
Discord
Discord , which was originally developed for the use of computer game enthusiasts, namely 'gamers' , has prominent features for the use of large groups. The application, which offers voice call, video chat and correspondence options, provides an effective solution especially for teams that need to talk constantly while working. Discord, which can be used by opening a new channel or joining an existing channel, can be run as a desktop application or via the web with many platforms and operating systems. In addition to its connection speed and quality, it is also preferred because it allows screen sharing without straining the computer. It has a free version.