The modern work environment looks vastly different than it did 10 years ago. In fact, it even differs significantly from what it looked like even 3 or 4 years ago. 2020 brought with it a swooping series of changes that will have long-term impact on many facets of society. A lot of this is due to the impact of the global COVID-19 pandemic. Many organizations were forced to make the transition to fully or at least partially remote operations in the wake of the pandemic. However, the transition to a mostly remote workforce actually benefited both employees and employers.
Employees reported achieving better work-life balances, and higher levels of job satisfaction in remote environments as well. Not only that, but in some areas, productivity actually rose because employees weren’t wasting time, energy, and money on commuting to work in the midst of rush hour.
However, the new remote-work-world has brought with it its own series of challenges, like keeping employees organized across their digital platforms.
“Different organizations will have different needs regarding these business tools, so it’s essential for business leaders to make sure that employees are able to effectively and efficiently utilize these technologies.”
– Intellezy –
What to Look for in an Organization App
When it comes to shopping the market for business organization applications and tools, it serves to use the same logic you would with shopping for anything else. Be critical, do your research, understand your needs, and compare the available products.
Some of the most common features that an organization app should offer are task prioritization, scheduling, task templates, automation, multiple-views, and third-party integrations. Other considerations to factor into account are price, and ease of use, as well.
“I didn’t really know what I needed from my organizational application until I started using one. Suddenly there were things I wanted to do that I couldn’t and things I could do that I had no use for. That helped us find the right one, though. And once we did, it fit like a glove.”
– Fred Gerantabee, Chief Experience Officer, Readers.com –
Connecteam
Connecteam is one of the most popular all-in-one organizational business applications on the market. It has a robust suite of features that allow your team to get and stay organized quickly. Connecteam has native timesheets, super quick task-management features, and communication based checklists.
There are plenty of automated and recurring task settings also that give employees a clear view of their tasks and their deadlines. Of course, this wouldn’t be completed without follow-up and reminder notifications to keep employees focused on the jobs that need to be done.
Connecteam also lets users assign tasks based on teams, location, or any other number of variables. Within these assignments, sub-tasks, descriptions, files, and media can all be created and attached to further facilitate a smooth and timely project.
“We started using Connecteam for the simple and easy scheduling features, but then it swiftly overwhelmed us with how much it can manage. Now we use it for just about everything.”
– Ryan Rottman, Co-Founder & CEO, OSDB –
Any.Do
Any.Do is another task-manager organization application. However, this application is a bit more lightweight than the all-in-one Connecteam discussed above. Any.Do focuses more specifically on creating and assigning to-do-lists and other types of lists.
These checklists can be assigned to different users, groups, or teams, and automatic reminders and notifications can also be scheduled through the platform. A fun little note is that Any.Do can also be helpful in your personal life as it offers a grocery list feature capable of importing and storing recipes.
“We like the simplicity of Any.Do. We don’t really assign any heavy-lifting to the application, per se, but it certainly helps us keep our weeks organized and makes sure that we’re all on the same page when it comes to project status.”
– Dr. Michael Green, Chief Medical Officer, Winona –
Monday
Monday is one of the softwares on the list that is a more traditional project management type organizational application. This means it excels when it comes to creating and tracking schedules, planning projects, time tracking, and task management. The versatility makes Monday an excellent option for organizations and project leaders who are looking for some granular control over the project flow.
“Project scheduling and tracking is something we rarely get right on the first try. It’s not because our data is bad or anything like that, we just can’t account for every variable out there. Having automated schedules to reference though, helps us be flexible and make adjustments on the fly when issues arise.”
– Chris Bridges, CEO, VITAL –
Akiflow
Akiflow is super helpful when it comes to calendar-management specifically. If you’re a calendar-junkie who likes to plan their day down to the 10-minute interval, Akiflow may be the product you’ve been looking for. Chronic-schedulers often find themselves using more than one calendar to track their busy days and hectic weeks. Akiflow, though, can import all of the information from these calendars into one seamless scheduler.
The daily notifications are great to help you keep your week on track while the desktop-only-application also offers users a wide library of short-cuts for easy management.
There are even quick-task creation tools with varying priority levels that make it easy to create last minute additions to your day.
“Having all of my calendars consolidated into one is like a breath of fresh air every day I look at it. It just brings me peace seeing everything sorted and organized in one central spot.”
– Max Schwartzapfel, CMO, Fighting For You –
Todoist
Todoist is another more comprehensive project management tool. Todoist allows users to track and manage projects, set alarms, and track due dates. Additionally, there are user and manager profiles that can be set up in Todoist.
This makes it easy for managers to assign team members tasks and subtasks while simultaneously tracking a project status. Meanwhile non-managerial users can make use of Todoist to keep track of their individual tasks, while also collaborating seamlessly with the rest of the team.
“We all strive to attain the highest level of productivity, and it’s only a matter of exploring how to use modern tools and technology to our advantage.”
– Tanvir Zafar, Founder, ISU Technologies –
