Tag: working remotely

  • Best Webinar Software Platforms for Marketers in 2023

    It is nearly impossible to communicate ideas and have important discussions face-to-face always, owing to one’s busy schedule. Advanced communication technology can help this situation smartly. Webinar means conducting an online seminar, meetings, and conferences online, using the internet facility. Webinar software can be defined as video conferencing software that helps host or broadcast training, workshop, meeting, lectures, etc. on the web.

    The best webinar software makes recording, sharing, and engaging your prospects. Plus, it should have super high-quality video and audio quality, allow multiple presenters, and even have email marketing capabilities to ensure everyone shows up for your webinar. Most webinar software also comes with features like built-in surveys, polls, live chat, automated webinar sequences, live streaming, and more. These automated webinar sequences are excellent for hosting evergreen content like online courses, podcast interviews, or employee onboarding videos.

    Best Webinar Software Tools in 2023

    This list of the 12 best webinar software tools will help you figure out which tool is best for your business marketing needs.

    Zoom
    Webex
    GoToWebinar
    EverWebinar
    MyOwnConference
    ClickMeeting
    WebinarJam
    Livestorm
    Demio
    GetResponse
    DaCast

    Zoom

    Launched in 2011
    Rating 4.5/5
    Mobile App Yes
    Starting Price Free

    Zoom - video conferencing platform
    Zoom – video conferencing platform

    Zoom comes with a range of cloud video conferencing capabilities, including HD voice and video functionality, dual streams for dual screens, the ability to join as a view-only attendee, as well as by Zoom Rooms and telephone dial-in. It also has accessibility features, which allow employees with physical disabilities to schedule, attend, and participate in Zoom meetings and webinars.

    The group collaboration feature of Zoom allows simultaneous screen sharing, group messaging, whiteboarding, annotation, and co-annotation, iOS mirroring on iPhone or iPad, and the ability to share documents, photos, and videos. Zoom includes unlimited VOIP with toll-free options in more than 60 countries available. You can also integrate any third-party teleconferencing service. Zoom lets you create a personal meeting ID and URL name to share with participants when you schedule your meetings. The security features enable you to give role-based control and include SSL encryption plus HTTPS access.

    Zoom works across all platforms and will record the entire event, including questions asked by viewers. It also offers screen sharing and annotations and allows you to broadcast to Facebook Live or YouTube. It is also one of the only major webinar platforms that offer a free plan. If your webinar is under forty minutes and your attendees are under 100, you can use its basic features for free.

    Pros and Cons of Zoom webinar software are listed below:

    Pros:

    • Interactive features like screen sharing, hand-raising, virtual background options, and live chat.
    • Easy to use.
    • Marketing tools to nurture contacts.
    • Ability to back up meetings in the cloud.
    • Allows meetings with a large number of participants.

    Cons:

    • The free version of Zoom has a relatively low limit of 40 minutes.
    • Zoom has faced security and privacy concerns in the past.

    Pricing Plans of Zoom:

    Free 100 participants (40-minute limit)
    Pro $14.99/month
    Business $19.99/month
    Webinar $79/month
    Event $99/month

    A free personal meeting plan is available with some restrictions. Paid plans start at $14.99/month, with Business and Enterprise plans starting from $19.99/month available as well. Also, Zoom charges per host. If you go with the basic paid plan at $14.99 per month but use two hosts, you’ll pay $14.99 x 2 or $29.98 per month.

    Zoom pricing
    Zoom pricing

    Top 10 Best Video Conferencing Apps for Businesses
    Are you looking for best video conferencing tools? The listed apps are the best video conferencing apps suited for every kind of business.

    Top 10 Best Video Conferencing Tools for Businesses

    Webex

    Launched in 2000
    Rating 4.2/5
    Mobile App Yes
    Starting Price Free

    Webex - webinar platform
    Webex – webinar platform

    Webex is more than a webinar platform, combining a wider range of features for holding online meetings, events, training sessions, interactive presentations and team collaboration. This sets it apart from the tools we’ve looked at so far, although the pricing is very similar. So you get a lot of features for your money compared to GoToWebinar and a completely different set of features to EverWebinar.

    It provides some impressive features, such as a host room along with HD video and audio services that can be accessed on multiple devices. It allows its users a high degree of customization so that the host environment can be tailor-made to suit business requirements. Through Webex webinars, you can hold meetings throughout your organization, offer online and offline training sessions, and provide remote support. The key USPs of Webex include mobility, user-friendliness, and compatibility with all devices and browsers.

    Setting Up a Webinar via Cisco Webex Events

    Pros and Cons of Webex webinar tool are listed below:

    Pros:

    • Offers a free plan for up to 100 attendees.
    • Built-in Q&A sessions, surveys, and polls for audience engagement.
    • Translates live webinar to more than 100 languages.
    • Live polling.

    Cons:

    • Must contact sales to get started.
    • Real-time translation costs extra.
    • Third party devices can be a problem.

    Pricing Plans of Webex:

    Basic Free
    Business $25/month
    Enterprise Custom Plan

    Webex webinars pricing plan includes Free Basic plan for up to 1oo participants. Its Business plan cost for $25 per month up to 2oo participants, and Enterprise is a custom plan for up to 1oo0 participants.

    Webex Pricing Plan
    Webex Pricing Plan

    Best Email and Workflow Automation Tools.
    The software space is noisy. Workflow automation makes complicated business[https://startuptalky.com/tag/business/]processes easier to manage. When a form fill, useraction, or internal signal is triggered, automated workflows can move ortransform data according to your instructions. This hands-of…

    GoToWebinar

    Launched in 2006
    Rating 4.2/5
    Mobile App Yes
    Starting Price Free

    GoToWebinar - Best Webinar Software
    GoToWebinar – Best Webinar Software

    GoToWebinar is by the folks at GoToMeeting, the popular meeting and screen-sharing application/service. GoToWebinar software is designed to cater to your webinar and web conferencing needs. The tool comes featured with functionalities that facilitate retain customers and also generate leads. Reminder emails and notifications help to stay well-prepared and not miss important deadlines.

    You can easily measure participants’ level of engagement with this tool by using engagement metrics. Pre-recorded webinars are available with this webinar platform. The software also allows customization, so your webinar materials can be designed with your company’s logo easily. You can share at ease videos and demos while holding web conferences or during broadcasting events. It is compatible with mobile.

    Some of the biggest benefits of GoToWebinar include a handy video-sharing feature, breakout rooms to split up your audience, and a few mobile apps that can be used for webinar management. As such, it offers some of the best webinar tools on the market. It also features advanced lead management and reporting tools which allow you to integrate with your existing CRM. By doing so, you can handle lead generation and event creation all in one place.

    Pros and Cons of GoToWebinar software are listed below:

    Pros:

    • Audience engagement by conducting online seminars, polls and surveys.
    • Options available for custom branding and registration pages
    • Lead management and reporting tools.
    • Allows for large numbers of participants.

    Cons:

    • Software feels a bit outdated.
    • Relatively expensive compared to other web conferencing and online seminar platforms.
    • Technical issues were reported by some users.

    Pricing Plans of GoToWebinar:

    Free 7 days
    Starter $89/month
    Pro $199/month
    Plus $429/month

    After a free 7 days trial, prices start at $89/month billed annually. GoToWebinar also offers a Pro Plan for $199/month and an Enterprise plan at $429/month.

    GoToWebinar pricing
    GoToWebinar pricing

    How to Remotely Manage your Workforce?
    The rise of remote work [https://startuptalky.com/tag/remote-working/] might beunavoidable, and you should want to take advantage. Allowing remote work canbenefit not only your employees, but you as a manager and the organization as awhole. Not only do remote workers tend to enjoy what they do mo…

    EverWebinar

    Launched in 2015
    Rating 3.9/5
    Mobile App No
    Starting Price $199

    EverWebinar - Webinar automation tool
    EverWebinar – Webinar automation tool

    EverWebinar is a powerful webinar automation tool that aims to help you build email marketing lists. With EverWebinar, you can schedule and automate your webinar footage to play at set intervals and the software aims to recreate the live experience for users. The goal is to increase engagement and attendance by telling users the next webinar is about to begin, even if they choose to replay it a dozen times per day.

    Like evergreen content, evergreen webinars are existing webinars that are re-broadcasted over time. The idea is that some webinars contain topics and content that stays relevant and can be replayed to new attendees (and new potential customers). With EverWebinar, you have three options:

    • Show the webinar live.
    • Show a hybrid – a pre-recorded video with live chat enabled.
    • Show a fully automated video – no work or interaction from you required.

    EverWebinar is the best webinar platform for you if you want to automate screenings of your pre recorded webinars and turn them into a highly effective lead generation strategy. This is a truly unique platform.

    Pros and Cons of EverWebinar webinar automation tool are listed below:

    Pros:

    • EverWebinar has a user-friendly interface that makes it easy for users to schedule and host webinars.
    • EverWebinar allows users to create automated webinars, which means that the webinar can be run without the need for the host to be present.
    • It allows users to customize the look and feel of their webinars, including the ability to add logos, branding, and custom graphics.
    • It can be integrated with other tools, such as email marketing software and CRM systems, which can help users to manage and track their webinars more effectively.

    Cons:

    • EverWebinar is a paid webinar software.
    • EverWebinar does not offer some of the advanced features that are available in other webinar software, such as the ability to conduct polls or surveys during the webinar.
    • As with any webinar software, there is a risk of technical issues occurring during the webinar, such as connectivity problems or audio/video issues.

    Pricing Plans of EverWebinar:

    Free Not Available
    Installment Plan $199×3 yearly
    Annual Plan $499/yearly
    Biennial Plan $799/2 years

    There are a few options in EverWebinar pricing plans. You can pay in 3 installments of $199 or pay $499 annually but most importantly, you can try it out and get a feel for it first with a 14 day trial. There is also a Biennial Plan (799$/ 2 years).

    EverWebinar pricing
    EverWebinar pricing

    MyOwnConference

    Launched in 2014
    Rating 4.3/5
    Mobile App No
    Starting Price Free

    MyOwnConference - web-based webinar software
    MyOwnConference – web-based webinar software

    MyOwnConference is a robust, web-based webinar software. It provides easy access to the webinar room from any popular browser without the installation of additional software. It offers a wide range of features, including Q&A, chat, screen sharing, recording, quizzes, whiteboard, and much more. This makes MyOwnConference useful for different types of events: webinars, video conferencing, business meetings, training sessions, remote work, e.t.c.

    Pros and Cons of MyOwnConference web based webinar software are listed below:

    Pros:

    • MyOwnConference allows users to host online meetings and webinars with up to 1000 participants.
    • MyOwnConference offers a range of features, including screen sharing, audio and video conferencing, and chat, which can be useful for various types of online meetings and webinars.
    • Records webinars in HD.
    • The interface supports sixteen different languages. This enables you to engage with a multilingual audience.

    Cons:

    • UI isn’t that user-friendly.
    • The platform only supports a maximum of 10 different speakers. This may cause problems if you have a lot of expert presenters lined up.

    Pricing Plans of MyOwnConference:

    Free 20 attendees for lifetime
    One Time Plan $12/day
    Monthly Plan $36/month for 60 attendees
    Annual Plan $348

    MyOwnConference offers a free plan for 20 attendees for lifelong use. As for paid plans, it provides 3 types of tariffs: one-time, annual, and monthly. A one-time plan starts at $12/day and includes all available features. The monthly price starts at $36/month for 60 attendees. The annual plan will cost you $348 with 20% discounts.

    MyOwnConference pricing
    MyOwnConference pricing

    Project Management Tools for Virtual Teams
    Project management [https://startuptalky.com/tag/project-management/] software assistsemployees, administrators, and teams with managing team goals and long-termprojects, as well as coordinating individual tasks. Project management softwareaccomplishes this through a range of tools to manage work…

    ClickMeeting

    Launched in 2011
    Rating 4/5
    Mobile App Yes
    Starting Price Free

    ClickMeeting - webinar management tool
    ClickMeeting – webinar management tool

    ClickMeeting is a webinar management tool for businesses who want to increase their digital reach by hosting branded webinars. All features are intuitive and straightforward to use and come in handy while dealing with international speakers and audiences. It is easy to personalize the webinar room and every associated element with just a few clicks while managing all sorts of webinars such as paid webinars, automated webinars, etc.

    Webinar hosting is free from the hassle of device and operating system incompatibility. Types of content that can be hosted include Facebook and YouTube Live, Presentations, Whiteboard, Polls, Surveys, and more. With analytical capabilities, users can derive useful predictions and trends and strengthen their relationships with webinar attendees with regular engagement. With a dedicated webinar tool, it is easier to move prospects through the sales funnel, attract a larger and targeted user base, deliver knowledge-oriented sessions, and measure the progress.

    How to Create and Deliver an Exciting and Impactful Webinar on ClickMeeting

    Pros and Cons of ClickMeeting webinar management tool are listed below:

    Pros:

    • You can stream webinar live on YouTube or Facebook.
    • A user-friendly interface makes it easier to use and manage.
    • ClickMeeting offers a range of features, including screen sharing, audio and video conferencing, and chat, which can be useful for various types of online meetings and webinars.
    • Engage your audience with live chat and Q&A sessions
    • Unlimited webinar landing pages.

    Cons:

    • Can’t schedule recurring meetings.
    • It does not have a phone support hotline.
    • The storage capacity is limited to 10-hour maximum.

    Pricing Plans of ClickMeeting:

    Free 30 Days Trial
    Live $25/month
    Automated $40/month

    The price is reasonable, but the number of attendees allowed is a little low. The rates start at $25 per month (billed annually) for 25 attendees, $40 (billed annually) per month for up to 50 viewers. There is also an option for custom-pricing that’s best suited for enterprise customers.

    ClickMeeting Pricing
    ClickMeeting Pricing

    Chatbot – Perfect SaaS Business Tool
    Software as a Service (SaaS [https://startuptalky.com/tag/saas/]) is a high engagementaffair with its users. Modern businesses face crucial challenges related to customer retention [https://startuptalky.com/tag/customer-retention/] and businessdevelopment. Due to a shift in focus from primarily s…


    WebinarJam

    Launched in 2013
    Rating 3.7/5
    Mobile App No
    Starting Price $39 per month

    WebinarJam - Webinar Software
    WebinarJam

    WebinarJam is developed by the same team as EverWebinar but the focus is on screening live webinars this time. WebinarJam is more like a traditional online seminar platforms, designed for live events so there’s no automation or scheduling with this tool. However, it syncs perfectly with EverWebinar to provide a platform combination that caters to all of your webinar needs – more capable and cheaper than most of the competition.

    It has all the table stakes features like HD video, multiple presenters, slick customer-facing interface and an easy presenter dashboard. It also has features like- live broadcast to YouTube, live chat in webinar, ability to moderate and highlight comments, private messages between moderators, popups for selling your product during your webinar, the ability to poll your audience, or share a video or whiteboard annotation mid-webinar and a super robust analytics dashboard.

    Pros and Cons of WebinarJam webinar platform are listed below:

    Pros:

    • Enterprise plan allows for up to six presenters and 5,000 live attendees
    • One-click webinar registration.
    • User-friendly and quick to set up.
    • Support multiple languages.
    • Interactive and engaging features

    Cons:

    • .Customer support isn’t always friendly.
    • Can’t stream directly from your website.

    Pricing Plans of WebinarJam:

    Starter $39/month
    Basic $79/month
    Professional $229/month
    Enterprise $379/month

    Webinarjam pricing plans starts at $39/month (when paid annually). There are also other options like Basic ($79/month), Professional ($229/month) and Enterprise ($379/month).

    Webinarjam Pricing
    Webinarjam Pricing

    Livestorm

    Launched in 2016
    Rating 4.4/5
    Mobile App No
    Starting Price Free

    Livestorm - webinar software
    Livestorm

    Livestorm is a webinar software that facilitates hosting eye-catching presentation and demonstration of products/services. With this tool you can improve your customer training process, by creating live sessions to answer queries and give tips.

    This webinar software helps creating and sharing online live courses for your targeted masses. You can craft attractive landing pages without a landing page builder software, and emails without any need to opt for email automation software. Livestorm facilitates hosting webinars quickly,without any requirement to download anything. It can easily be accessed from any device, including PCs, laptops, tablets, and mobile phones. Their webinar software also works on any browser without any restrictions for attendees.

    An area where it stands out is the email logistics where you can send promotional emails, automate those emails, check email status, and add a touch of personalization. This webinar tool also takes your data security very seriously and is 100% GDPR-compliant. Livestorm is also focused on customer engagement with activities like polling, Q&A sessions, and the use of up-votes.

    Pros and Cons of Livestorm webinar software tool are listed below:

    Pros:

    • Run live, on-demand, or fully automated webinars.
    • Livestorm is easy to use and set up.
    • Intuitive landing pages.
    • Engage attendees with features like polling, Q&A sessions, and upvoting.
    • Perfect tool when handling interviews and testing candidates.

    Cons:

    • As browser software, video quality can be affected by the host’s internet connection.
    • It does not have a slideshows upload feature in the webinar.
    • Webinar duration must be 20 minutes or less for its free plan.

    Pricing Plans of Livestorm:

    Free Up to 30 active contacts/month
    Pro $88/month
    Business Custom Plan
    Enterprise Custom Plan

    Livestorm offers four pricing plans Free, Pro, Business and Enterprise. Free plan allow Up to 30 active contacts/month, Pro plan cost $88/month, billed annually, Business and Enterprise are custom plans with unlimited active contacts and other attractive features.  Get a personalized quote as per your requirements.

    Livestorm pricing plans
    Livestorm pricing plans


    Try Livestorm for FREE

    Best Shared Calendar Apps
    Business [https://startuptalky.com/tag/business/]owners should constantly be looking fortechnology to make their business and employees more productive. While computersand smart phones come with a calendar, it might not be the best option for youor your business. Thankfully, there isn’t a shortag…

    Demio

    Launched in 2014
    Rating 4.7/5
    Mobile App No
    Starting Price $34/month

    Demio - Webinar Software Platform
    Demio

    Demio is one of the best webinar software platforms available out there. It’s super easy to record your webinar automatically in the cloud. When it comes to visual aesthetics, it delivers real-time, HD streaming, and great looking platform design. The software has powerful tracking options. Retargeting, tracking, or conversion pixels may be freely added on the registration page, thank you page, or in the webinar room.

    Also, demio offers automation rules, such as sending the webinar recording to those who joined only after the 30-minute mark. With these rules, it is easy to segment the audience in real-time based on the actions that people take. Finally, demio is a very simple tool. It usually takes just several minutes to schedule the first event and even less time to setup the recurring webinars.

    Pros and Cons of Demio webinar software platform are listed below:

    Pros:

    • Webinar pages are highly customizable.
    • Includes engagement features like live chat, document handouts, and CTA pop-ups
    • You don’t have to download any additional software to run webinars.
    • 14-day free trial available.

    Cons:

    • There is no general link available instead, there’s a separate link for each attendee.
    • Webinar replays don’t display annotations, chats, and polls.
    • You only got to share the entire screen. Thats so painful in a webinar.

    Pricing Plans of Demio:

    Free 14 Days Trial
    Starter $34/month
    Growth $69/month
    Premium $250/month

    Demio provides a 14-day free trial, which allows you to test out all its features. The Starter plan starts at $34 per month for a 50-person webinar room, Growth plan of $69 for a 150-person room, and Premium Plan of $250 per month for a 500-3000 person room. These monthly rates are valid on annual subscriptions.

    Demio Pricing
    Demio Pricing

    Top Payment Processing Software (SaaS)
    Software as a Service (SaaS [https://startuptalky.com/tag/saas/]) applications’ paymenttypically need a shopping cart / payment checkout or the ability to managerecurring or subscription payments. Both present challenges and opportunitiesfor the SaaS platform. Choosing the right payment processor…


    GetResponse

    Launched in Not Available
    Rating 4.2/5
    Mobile App Yes
    Starting Price $15/month

    GetResponse - webinar platform
    GetResponse

    GetResponse is all-in-the-box solution incorporates not only a webinar platform, but also different marketing tools, including autoresponders, custom emails, list segmentation feature etc. With this, it is possible to have the email database and webinar tool under the same roof. As a result, the account holder may schedule webinar campaigns for the subscribers, send the reminders to them; share the event on social media.

    Like the others on this list, it includes features like polling, desktop sharing, integrated whiteboard, and access to detailed reports. It is also possible to use the registration feature to collect new emails and to send automatic thank-you messages to the registrants.

    Pros and Cons of GetResponse webinar platform are listed below:

    Pros:

    • Lots of templates to choose from, making building almost anything on the platform possible
    • Nothing is left to the imagination – you can view your marketing automation workflows and funnels in a visual manner.
    • Retarget visitors to your webinar page.
    • Comparatively good at split test.
    • Third-party tool integration.

    Cons:

    • No free plan for webinars.
    • Complex email automation structure.
    • Complete automation is not available at the basic plan.

    Pricing Plans of GetResponse:

    Basic $15/month
    Plus $49/month
    Professional $99/month
    Max Custom Plan

    GetResponse Basic plans starts from $15 per month. Plus plan cost for $49 per month, Professional plan cost for $99 per month and Max is a custom plan.

    GetResponse Pricing Plans
    GetResponse Pricing Plans


    Start Using GetResponse Now

    DaCast

    Launched in 2010
    Rating 4.5/5
    Mobile App No
    Starting Price 14 Days Free Trial

    DaCast - webinar platform
    DaCast

    DaCast may be a great choice for companies and individuals who are just trying their hand in webinar conducting. While the majority of webinar platforms are subscription based, this pricing format may not be ideal for those who only hold live events from time to time.

    Dacast is the live streaming platform with a unique approach to pricing. The customers may pay on an event by event basis. Prepaid bandwidth may be used when the client needs it during the following 12 months. However, there are also subscription-based plans for those who hold webinars regularly. With Dacast, it is possible to stream from your website over social networks including Facebook, or any other way.

    While it lacks a few of the more advanced features of other webinar platforms, it offers a good variety of functionality across all plans, including: Quality Streaming, No Viewer Limits, Unlimited Channels, Watermarking, Play on Facebook, Playlist, Third-Party Integration, Multi-Bitrate, Secure Delivery, Analytics, Mobile Device Support, and Video Paywall.

    Pros and Cons of Dacast webinar management tool are listed below:

    Pros:

    • Monetization features like price groups, promo codes, and subscriptions available.
    • Customize your paywall.
    • Free trial for 14 days available.
    • Interactive video on demand.
    • Private streaming.

    Cons:

    • Plans have a bandwidth limit. If you go over, you have to pay $0.25 per GB.
    • Not many customization options.

    Pricing Plans of Dacast:

    Starter $39/month
    Event $63/month
    Scale $188/month
    Custom Available

    Free trial for 14 days available. Starter plan is available for small audiences for $39/month billed annually, Event plan (One time or occasional events) for $63/month billed annually, Scale plan is available for Business & organizational video for $188/month billed annually. There is one quote-based custom plan as well that allows you to cherry-pick the features you require.

    DaCast pricing
    DaCast pricing

    Conclusion

    Due to the popularity of webinars, there’s no shortage of platforms to choose from. There are some great webinar platforms on this list and a few outside bets that cater to more specialist needs. The above is by no means an exhaustive list, but it does highlight some of the biggest platforms with the best features, pros and cons and pricing details . The right webinar platform for you, depends on your specific needs, of course. However, I can fully recommend taking a closer look at the options we’ve covered today by trying out a few free trials. Do you know of some other webinar tool? Feel free to drop it in the comments section below.

    FAQs

    What is Webinar Software?  

    Webinar software can be defined as video conferencing software that helps to host or broadcast training, workshop, meeting, lectures, and other virtual events on the web.

    Which are the best webinar software platforms?

    Best webinar software platforms are:

    • Zoom
    • GoToWebinar
    • EverWebinar
    • MyOwnConference
    • ClickMeeting
    • WebinarJam
    • Livestorm
    • Demio
    • GetResponse
    • Webex
    • DaCast

    What is the main purpose of webinar?

    The main objective of conducting a webinar is to instruct, demonstrate, or educate your targeted audience.

    Are webinars live or recorded?

    It can be both, either live or recorded.

    Is Zoom, a good webinar software?

    Zoom Video Webinar is the best virtual platform for hosting meetings, webinars, conferences, etc.

    Are webinars still effective?

    Yes, webinars are still effective, and they should be a part of your marketing strategy.

  • Alternatives to Zoom App while Working Remotely

    The COVID-19 pandemic has made governments across the world to take measures to contain the spread of coronavirus. Many governments have implemented lockdown. So almost all the companies are asking their employees to stay home and work remotely as much as possible to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus.

    The companies are asking employees to keep in touch with one another while working in teams, with the help of phone & video conferencing. To increase the efficiency of work, the right software and tools must be chosen. Many are using video conferencing software like Zoom to get work done and talk to colleagues or family.

    Video Conferencing Software and Apps
    Video Conferencing tools have become the Need of the Hour

    Zoom is one of the fastest-growing video conferencing apps out there. It’s easy to set up and host video calls. But due to recent security and privacy concerns about Zoom, the company has landed itself into trouble. While the company promises it’s working to address those issues, one can switch to other similar apps offering the same services rather than waiting to get issues solved.

    There are plenty of video chat services, each with their advantages and disadvantages making them better suited to different uses. Some of these have free versions, some are paid while some offer temporary access to additional features if you need them. Though some are paid ones, they are worthy of spending money. This article will show you some of the best alternatives to Zoom.

    Cisco Webex Meetings

    The best alternative to Zoom is Cisco Webex Meetings. Webex is a video-conferencing app whose company was originally founded in 1995 and was subsequently acquired by Cisco in 2007. Since then, it is known as one of the best business applications and continues to focus on serving companies. It also offers a trial free version that’s worth checking out. It has expanded the features of the trial free version from 50 to 100 participants, removed of the 40-minute limit on meetings and added call-in abilities.

    Cisco Webex Meetings
    Cisco Webex Meetings

    Webex also offers premium plans starting at $13.50 per month, per host. The premium plans offer additional features like cloud storage, recording transcripts, a downloadable video file of meetings, customizable meeting room links, and more. The company also sells a range of video conferencing products for business users such as the Cisco Webex Room Kit and the Cisco Webex Desk Pro.

    It’s one of the great apps like zoom for small businesses that often hold short meetings, as the service offers a free plan. If that’s too short for you, upgrading to one of the company’s paid plans is the way to go. With Webex, one gets all the standard business-focused features one would expect.

    Key Features

    • Free Trial: Available
    • Free Period: 30 days
    • Premium Price: Starts at $13.5 per month
    • Number of participants: Up to 200

    The Rise Of Video Conferencing Platforms During COVID-19
    The COVID-19 pandemic has adversely affected the market and economies of all thecountries. This pandemic has now become a problem for all types of businesses.Growth outlooks for many economic sectors have been slashed due to this COVID-19pandemic. The present situation is such that the petroleum,…


    Skype Meet Now

    Another alternative to Zoom app is Skype. Skype is one of the few video-conferencing software that was made available to the public in 2003. It is popular for its high-quality audio and video due to its large bandwidth. It’s Meet Now feature offers free video-conferencing. Meet Now in Skype allows you to easily set up a collaboration space and invite both Skype contacts and friends or family who are not on Skype.

    How do I create a meeting in Skype?
    How do I create a meeting in Skype?

    For more professional meetings and conferences, the paid version is also available – Skype for Business that helps you manage your employee accounts with enterprise-grade security. In standard Skype, number of participants is limited to 25 people on a conference call at once but Skype for Business raises this limit to 250, making it much more suitable for large-scale presentations, meetings or live webinars. It just costs $2 per user per month.

    Key Features

    • Keeps a recording of the call for up to 30 days.
    • Can blur the background (if required).
    • Share presentations.
    • Skype for Business Price: $2 per user per month
    • Number of participants: Up to 250

    Google Hangouts & Google Meet

    If you need a google alternative to the Zoom app, we have Google Meet. Google Hangouts is a video-conferencing app by Google, which is free to use. You can use Hangouts to video chat with up to only 10 people. There aren’t a lot of features. You still have access to a text chat and can share your screen, but that’s all about it.

    If you are an existing G Suite (paid) customer, you may want to consider looking at Hangouts Meet. Meet allows a few additional features like real-time captions and support for up to 250 participants and 100,000 live stream viewers. The video conferencing service is part of the company’s G Suite subscription that includes several other features.

    Google Meet
    Google Meet

    G Suite starts at $6 per month per user and includes access to Gmail for Business and also up to unlimited cloud storage space, as well as access to all of Google’s other services such as Calendar, Docs, Sheets, Slides, etc. for your business. Thus, Hangouts Meet gives you all the business-centered tools you need to hold online meetings. You can record and then save them to Drive, easily invite people to join in via a link, and much more.

    Key Features

    • Free plan available: Only Google Hangouts
    • Free trial: 14 days
    • Meet Pricing: Starts at $6 per month
    • Number of participants: Up to 250
    • Gives access to all of Google’s services like Calendar, Docs, Sheets, Slides, etc

    Top 10 Best Video Conferencing Apps for Businesses
    Video conferencing refers to conducting a conference between two or moreparticipants at different sites by using computer networks to transmit audio andvideo data. Video conferencing work for people who are living in different areasof the world and needs to have a meeting or have contact. Video …


    Microsoft Teams

    Another Zoom alternative is Microsoft Teams. In 2017, Microsoft replaced its Skype for Business tool with a new service called Microsoft Teams that combines messaging as well as video conferencing into one. It allows you to host online meetings for up to 250 people. You get all the business-focused features expected from a tool like this including screen sharing, instant messaging, and the ability to record meetings.

    Microsoft Teams
    Microsoft Teams

    Microsoft Teams pricing starts at $5.00 per month, per user. Microsoft’s video conferencing tool is just one part of the Google Teams subscription plan. You also get access to all Office apps, 1TB of OneDrive storage, and more. The exact features depend on the plan you go with.

    Key Features

    • Free plan available: No
    • Free trial: No
    • Pricing: Starts at $5 per month
    • Number of participants: Up to 250

    Zoho Meeting

    Zoho Meeting is a nice alternative to Zoom app. It is a great tool for online meetings as well as webinars and comes with lots of features. You can share your screen, mute the mics of the participants, and record your group chats & calls among other things. And you can easily import documents, spreadsheets, and presentations since the service is integrated with Zoho’s Office suite. Zoho Meeting pricing starts at $8 per month.

    Zoho Meeting
    Zoho Meeting

    The open-source video conferencing service allows you to host end-to-end encrypted video meetings and calls for up to 100 people. Participants don’t need to sign up for a login; they can access the meetings through a link or a dial-in via web browsers, desktop clients, or mobile apps. Zoho has even provided a handy chart comparing its product to Zoom.

    Key Features

    • Free plan available: No
    • Free trial: 14 days
    • Pricing: Starts at $8 per month
    • Number of participants: Up to 250

    GoToMeeting

    GoToMeeting is a feature-packed Zoom alternative and one of the first video conferencing services out there. The entry-level plan allows for 150 participants, while the enterprise plan can include up to 3,000. GoToMeeting pricing starts at $12 per month. It also offers a free 30-Day Trial.

    GoToMeeting

    GoToMeeting offers all the standard tools, like the ability to record meetings and share your screen. You can also have multiple meeting facilitators. And the service is accessible on web browsers, Mac, PC, Linux, iOS, and Android. Whether you’re a small business or a large company with thousands of employees, GoToMeeting has you covered.

    Key Features

    • Free Trial: Available
    • Free trial Period: 30 days
    • Pricing: Starts at $12 per month
    • Number of participants: Up to 3,000

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    Crowdcast

    When you want to offer a special member or audience the opportunity to learn from you or share the news with your fans who are excited to attend, you need to host seminar-like event. With your topic and materials on hand, all that’s left is setting up a webinar to broadcast the workshop. For this Crowdcast is a great tool.

    Crowdcast is the most engaging and easy-to-use live streaming experience on the market. It is a browser-based solution for creating interactive webinars, live Q&As, workshops, and online summits that meet your needs. Crowdcast offers a simple platform to engage with attendees via live chat, polls, time-stamped Q&As, and face-to-face calls. Beyond collecting emails, Crowdcast provides advanced data and analytics around your event and audience and much more!

    Crowdcast
    Crowdcast

    Crowdcast tries to simplify that by making webinars a teaching tool to connect with your audience. Teachers, thought leaders, and professionals can use Crowdcast to reach out and share their knowledge with their fans and followers. Whether you’re hosting a workshop or a 3-day digital conference, you can create events where interaction and conversation are necessary.

    Crowdcast costs little more due to its features at $49.00 per month. Managing live events successfully requires careful preparation and hard work. With multistream, built-in engagement tools, and quick payments for paid events, Crowdcast makes sure you only need to focus on bringing high-quality content to your audience.

    Key Features

    • Pricing: Starts at $49.00 per month.
    • Free trial: 14 days
    • Number of real-time viewers:  Up to 3,000
    • Lets you hold digital conference up to 3 days

    FAQs

    What is Zoom app?

    Zoom is the leader in modern enterprise video communications, with an easy, reliable cloud platform for video and audio conferencing, chat, and webinars.

    Is Zoom secure?

    Yes, it is secure.

    Who are zoom competitors?

    Competitors and Alternatives to Zoom:-

    • Microsoft
    • Google
    • Cisco
    • 247meeting
    • TeamViewer
    • BlueJeans by Verizon
    • Zoho

    Are there safer alternatives to zoom?

    Yes, there are safer alternatives to zoom.

    What is the safest way to use zoom?

    To maintain the security of your next meeting, our recommendations are below:

    • Password protect your meetings
    • Authenticate users
    • Join before host
    • Lockdown your meeting
    • Turn off participant screen sharing
    • Use a randomly-generated ID
    • Use waiting rooms

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  • 5 Simple Steps to Evaluate a Company’s culture during Remote hiring

    There are a lot of generic expectations from a job you would look for. It can be a good salary, work timings, the manager you are going to work with and many others. But more than all these the company’s culture plays an important role in you getting satisfied with the Job.

    Analyzing the Company’s culture especially through remote hiring or for a remote job is considered to be a tough process. Here are certain steps you can follow to understand and analyze the company’s work culture during the remote hiring process.

    Know your Expectations
    Research about the Company
    Get in touch with Employees of the company
    Ask questions
    Try to Observe Everything
    FAQ

    Know your Expectations

    You would obviously have certain expectations regarding your job. Even if it is a remote job or a normal office going job, you will have certain must-haves in your mind. The first step is to get a clarification on it.

    You should try to analyze what you are expecting from the company other than the remuneration and the benefits. You should be sure about the work-life balance you require and especially if you are working from home you will have to maintain certain boundaries.

    Maybe you would be looking for a highly collaborative work environment. It can be anything but you should first realize and understand what you are expecting from the company.


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    Research about the Company

    After setting your expectations you should start researching about the company to understand whether this is the best company according to your expectations. You may feel that remote hiring is a disadvantage to understand all these.

    But that’s not the case you have all the information you require at your fingertips. You can always try to dig into the online resources to understand more about the company such as

    Website:

    You can invest some time to go through the company’s website. This will give you a brief idea about how the company shows its work culture to the outside world. This can be considered as a starting point of your research activity.

    You can invest more time in the company’s about and career page. This will provide you with more information about how the company’s culture would be.

    Social Media:

    You can always check the social media profiles or pages of the company. You can check the company’s activities, their social media posts, the content they interact with, etc. This can provide you with some insights into the culture of the company.

    Blogs:

    Blogs can be a valuable source of information. You can look into the company’s blogs if the company has one. They may list all the activities happening in the company. You may also find some information about the remote working culture of the company.

    Employee Reviews:

    You can check certain platforms where the employees leave a review about the company. While going through it you can get an understanding of the company’s culture and information regarding the company which you wouldn’t have known.

    But never judge the company with just a single review always go through multiple reviews and then come to a conclusion.

    Learning opportunities
    Learning opportunities

    Get in touch with Employees of the company

    You can try getting into contact with current or former employees of the company. Nowadays you have various sources through which you can easily connect with them. LinkedIn is one of the sources which lets you connect easily with professional people.

    You can get in contact with the employees and ask them various doubts you have in your mind. You can have a conversation with them and understand whether this company matches your expectations. This will give you a proper idea about the work culture of the company.


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    Ask questions

    At the end of the interview, you will always get a chance to ask questions to the hiring managers. This is a chance provided by the company to answer your queries regarding the company.

    You should always take this opportunity and ask the hiring managers politely. Try not to ask them in a generic way such as Tell me about your company’s culture. Instead, try making it as a conversation and putting things in a nice way.

    It should look like you’re having a conversation and not shooting questions at the manager. You should use this opportunity to get all the information regarding the company.

     Questions during Interview
     Questions during Interview

    Try to Observe Everything

    You should always try to observe everything you can during the interview. Pay attention to even the minute detail. You should know the importance of attention to detail.

    Particularly when you are having a remote interview you should try to grab all the information you can possibly find and take in all the clues. When you are being interviewed by the hiring managers always observe how happy they are with the job.

    You can always observe keeping these questions in your mind, Are they excited about bringing someone new to the team? Or are they exhausted at the need to onboard people and train them?. You can also observe whether they are providing relevant answers and trying to solve your doubts or just rushing through them.

    FAQ

    What are the best jobs to work remotely?

    The best jobs to work remotely are Graphic designer, Travel agent, Tutor, Freelance writer, Accountant, Freelance translator, Digital marketer, and Operations manager.

    How do I hire someone remotely?

    The three main steps to look when hiring someone remotely is Use hiring tools to help create a cohesive recruiting experience, Invite top candidates to a video call interview, and Put top candidates to the test with a project.

    Why do companies hire remote workers?

    Hiring remote workers can result in huge business savings It also reduces office costs.

    Conclusion

    All these would give you a basic understanding of the happiness of the employees in the company. The above points should be kept in mind before you accept a job offer through remote hiring or for a remote job.

  • Checklist for Hiring Remote Employees – Everything that you need to do

    The rise of the global pandemic and the lockdowns implemented around the world had forced every organization to implement work from home culture. Even though the situations are becoming normal, most of the organizations are continuing work from home for the safety of their employees.

    Hiring a remote employee can be quite a tedious task and would require the employer to understand certain skillsets and the mindset of the candidates.

    Here is a checklist you should consider while hiring remote employees.

    Quick responses
    Communication skills
    Showing results
    Time management
    Being independent
    Giving a test project
    Prior experience
    FAQ

    Quick responses

    Keep an eye on how quickly the candidate responds to the mail and follow up regarding the selection rounds. If he takes some days to respond to the emails or if you find that the candidate hasn’t followed up regarding the job, it shows that he is not much interested in the work profile.

    If the Candidate is motivated and loves the job profile, the candidate would be waiting for the emails and would check their email on a regular basis.

    If the email hasn’t been received the candidate would follow up regarding the process to know the results. This would show how interested they are to work for the company and job profile and how motivated they are.

    Communication skills

    A remote employee will have to communicate with other members of the team. Unlike the normal employee and remote employees will have to communicate over emails or other applications which are provided by the company.

    You should make sure that the candidate has good written and oral communication skills. If the hired employee has poor communication skills there will be a problem to effectively communicate. The productivity and the quality of the work would reduce.


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    What's the biggest benefit you see working remotely?
    What’s the biggest benefit you see working remotely

    Time management

    Time management is one of the basic and most important skills necessary for a remote employee. A remote employee should be able to manage his time and make sure he’ll be able to finish the assigned work on time. The employee will have to handle his personal and professional life in a systematic way.

    You should make sure that the employee can differentiate between the personal and professional life and able to manage the time accordingly and not mix both.


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    Being independent

    You should make sure that your remote employee is independent. The employee should be able to do his research and able to complete his works at the given time.
    At times when there is a problem to communicate, the employee should be able to work on his own without depending on anyone else. An independent remote employee can be an asset to the company.

    Giving a test project

    You can give your candidates a test project according to the domains they have applied for. Apart from the technical and interpersonal skills, you can’t hire someone without knowing their skills and knowledge in the specific work domain they have applied for.

    Giving a test project also provides you with an idea of how they would be able to manage their time, keep up the deadline, the quality of their work, and a basic idea of their productivity. It would help you understand how their work would be without actually working with them.

    Giving a test would help you understand whether he meets the criteria of the remote employee you are looking for.


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    Prior experience

    Candidates with prior experience as remote employees would have the required discipline and motivation to complete the work. They will require very little training and will be able to meet all the above criteria.

    Prior experience is a sign that the candidate has the organizational skills which is required to work effectively. Depending on candidates who have prior experience would help in reducing the risks.

    Showing results

    A remote employee should be oriented in finishing his tasks. A remote employee wouldn’t have a supervisor or anyone to look over him on a daily basis. The employee should be responsible enough to make sure he performs.

    He should take action and show the results and not just log in for the work every day. You should make sure you would hire an employee who is a person who takes actions and shows results.

    During the interview, you should make sure you get to know about the employee’s past experiences and the results he has obtained from those experiences.

    FAQ

    What are the best jobs to work remotely?

    Teacher, Data Entry, Coding, Medical Billing, Web Developer, Graphic Designer and Freelance Writer are the best jobs to work remotely.

    Are remote workers less productive?

    Various studies proved that employees felt more productive and more engaged with remote work than work from the office.

    Which two tools are most useful to remote employees?

    Video Conferencing and Productivity or Project Management Tools are most useful for remote employees.

    Conclusion

    Finding the ideal remote employees can be hard. But, through the right approach and proper screening process, you will be able to find your desired employees. Even after finding the right employees, you should be able to communicate effectively and ensure that you keep them motivated.

    Providing them with the right environment, conducting frequent virtual meetings, virtual team building programme, following up regularly, ensuring that their remuneration is on time, etc. All these would make the employees stay motivated and would make them work collectively in building the company.

  • 5 Tips For Scaling Your Startup When Working Remotely

    Most of a year has passed since the COVID-19 pandemic pushed countless businesses and workers into remote operation, but we’re still trying to figure out how to make the best of it. Remote working presents distinct benefits and challenges, after all. On one hand, you get to avoid commuting and enjoy more free time. On the other hand, you lose valuable in-person interactions.

    Similarly, the broader repercussions stemming from global lockdowns and recessions have had mixed implications for entrepreneurial types. It’s a tough time to start a business, inarguably: investors are reluctant to commit, no one knows what the immediate future holds, and huge parts of society are essentially in suspended animation. At the same time, chaos presents opportunity, and more people than ever before are seeing the appeal of self-employment.

    Maybe you started a business before the events of early 2020, or maybe you took the plunge after the outbreak was a familiar fixture. Either way, you’re looking to scale it up in the new year, but you’re not sure how best to do that while working remotely. Here are some tips to help.

    Invest in suitable software

    When your laptop is your primary window to the world, you need to make the best of it, and that means investing in software that can support your operation’s growth. The best productivity software for small businesses will focus on making it easier to get key tasks done efficiently. GetBusy’s list of options is a good place to start: you should focus on eliminating admin and improving communication while keeping costs low (some tools offer more value than others).

    As for exactly how much you should invest, well, it depends on your overall budget and what kind of ROI you can reasonably anticipate from any given tool. Given that most tools and services offer free trials (or free versions with enough functionality for you to test them), it’s worth spending a month testing various tools to see how they can help you. You can keep those that prove most useful and discard the rest to save money.

    Learn how to automate workflows

    Many of the software tools you look at will involve automation to some extent, but it’s also worth learning how to create custom automation workflows. The key to this is getting familiar with an all-purpose automation tool, with the two most common options being Zapier and IFTTT. Each has a huge range of integrations with popular services, presenting various possibilities.

    Take a look at those systems to see which interface you prefer, then run with your favorite and start getting to grips with basic workflow types. As you learn, think about which of your daily admin tasks could be improved through triggered workflows. Relying on automation templates can be highly effective, but there will always be value in knowing how to create your own.

    Get used to outsourcing tasks

    It’s always been possible to run a solo business, and moving businesses online has only made it easier — but that doesn’t mean it’s possible to grow a solo business to a great extent. Soon enough, you’ll run into the fundamental problem that you just don’t have enough time in the day to handle everything that needs to be done.

    Now, you could hire some full-time employees, but that would reduce your flexibility. If times got tough down the line, you’d have more financial obligations to deal with. Instead, learn how to outsource tasks through freelance marketplaces like Fiverr and Upwork. If you can pick out some trustworthy freelancers, you can have all the support you need without making any long-term employment commitments.

    Network via digital channels

    Prior to the remote working revolution, professional networking was done through conferences, trade shows, training seminars, and in-person events of other varieties. Today, those events either don’t happen at all or take place online — and you need to adapt accordingly. A huge problem with running an online business is the lack of visibility, after all.

    The onus is on you to painstakingly build a respectable brand through online activity. Engage with actual or prospective customers through social media, showing trustworthiness and expertise. Reach out to industry professionals in charge of compatible businesses: steadily build up familiarity and look for ways to pitch partnerships. In the end, one of the secrets to success is simply making a concerted effort to promote your business.

    Commit to an SEO strategy

    Search engine optimization is a long-term concern, which is why it makes sense as a priority when you’re aiming to grow your business. By investing in it and slowly making progress, you can build up a lead-generation pipeline that takes little effort to maintain. So how do you build your website into a respectable performer in the search results?

    There are technical elements, of course: your site needs to be fast, mobile-responsive, in line with current coding standards, and configured correctly so crawlers can find it. Mostly, though, it’ll come down to the quality of your site content and the breadth of your backlink profile. That means running an insightful blog covering popular industry questions and looking for ways to appear on high-quality sites (you can write guest posts, provide PR statements, propose collaborations… there are plenty of options).

    There you have it: five tips that can help you scale your startup when you’re in the remote-working groove. The old office model was great in some ways, but the new approach offers a lot more flexibility. All you need to do is embrace it.

  • 8 Tips to Stay Productive while Working Remotely

    Due to the drastic spread of novel coronavirus or COVID-19, companies are making several efforts to keep their employees safe and maintain the productivity at the same time. Most of companies have asked their employees to work from home. As majority of the people don’t have experience in working remotely, it is difficult for them to stay productive as much as they would be in their offices. Here are the tips for employees to maintain the productivity while working remotely.

    Set Up a Routine

    The remote work obviously often allows you to set your own hours, a lack of structure or routine can be damaging to your workflow. When you engage in remote work, it’s easy for your colleagues in regular offices to think that you’re always there to “take calls.” It is better to use a digital calendar tool to let co-workers know what your working hours are so that they can know when it’s appropriate to ask you questions or when you should be left alone. One must schedule their hours around appointments, lunch, and other activities just as you would at an office job but it’s also important to pencil those into your calendar as well. Make sure to discuss your remote work hours with your manager before you begin and once those hours are established, make a point of sticking to them. Within that “block” of time, divide out your subroutines. It is essential to make sure that you clearly establish which times you’re receptive to emails, phone calls, etc. and when you’re officially off the work.

    Keep Your Workspace Clean

    At the end of every day, or at least every week, it’s worth cleaning your office(your workspace). Make sure that you have dedicated space that’s “yours” to work in. It can help you effectively if that space is solely devoted to work only. After a few weeks, you’ll instinctively know it’s time to lock down as soon as you sit down. Throw away what’s unnecessary. It will help clear your mind too. Psychologically, it is proven way to boost efficiency. It is important to keep things at right places. You can start by creating a dedicated and welcoming workspace. Next, invest in the equipment you’ll need. For example – an office chair and desk, a speedy internet connection, a hands-free headset, a good quality webcam for your video conference calls, etc. Creating a cozy and inspiring environment is important too. This is a space where you’ll be spending a lot of time. Give it some love.

    Communicate Frequently

    When we work in a team, communication becomes extremely important. When in doubt, communicate with colleagues and managers. This will make sure you remain in touch with them. When working remotely, it’s better to over-communicate than it is to under-communicate. After all, your employer won’t necessarily know you’re working, so you’ll need to make sure everyone is aware of what you’re doing. It is advised to keep records or updates on any messaging platform to let other Teammates know what you’ve been up to today. It encourages us to get things done every day and lets others know what we’ve been working on.

    Be transparent

    When you’re out of sight and people can’t reach you as easily, small doubts can begin to arise. Therefore, it is a must to build trust from the start by agreeing with your employer and colleagues by keeping them updated on your progress and activities. You could propose quick but regular status calls to teammates or a simple progress report that you can send out at regular intervals to your manager. If in case you aren’t going to be reachable for a period of time, provide advance notice to the colleagues who might miss you.

    Communication becomes essential while Working Remotely

    Use the right tools

    The right kind of tools can be game changers when it comes to remote teamwork. Tools like Slack, SmartSheet, Skype, Hangout, Zoom and Google Drive are just a few to name. These tools are really essential because they can help you collaborate on projects and share documents. Now, many of these softwares & tools have cut down their charges. Moreover, they are also providing the additional features. Thus, by using the right video conferencing software like FaceTime, Zoom or Skype, etc., one can stay connected with their team to increase the productivity.

    Set goals & meet them

    As mentioned above, it is important to create the routine but it is equally important to stick to the plans. Distractions are an issue when you work from home. At the start of the week, determine what hours you plan to work and stick to them. That’s why it’s a good idea to set concrete work goals to keep you focused and moving forward. And while setting goals is important, one must make sure to hold themselves accountable to them too. Use your smartphone for information and not distractions even though you have got liberty use it whenever you want to. When one works with focus & discipline, after completing those goals, it inspires them more to follow the same attitude towards their goals.

    Take Breaks

    It is the best to mimic from home the same habits you would have if you were working in a physical office such as taking a moment to chat with coworkers or grabbing a cup of coffee at your local cafe. It’s also vitally important to move your body. Don’t sit still for the entire day. Get creative with your breaks and run out for lunch with a friend or take a walk around to get some fresh air. Ideally, try to work out once a day, or at least go for a daily walk. One can rock out at home with a rich playlist to get into the zone. Essentially, anything you can do to give your brain and body a break will be beneficial to your overall experience and productivity. Mentally, too, it’s good to occasionally stop working and move around.

    Separate Work from Life

    Now that you work from home, the boundaries between work and life will seem thinner. But it’s important to keep those boundaries as interference of either of these would land you in troubles. So, avoid working where you sleep or where you eat. Find a space where you work and only work.

    Conclusion :

    A remote team can be just as effective, if not more effective, than a local, in-house team. Although it requires some coordination, it allows everyone more flexibility, which can help your team maintain a healthy work-life balance. When done the right way, a remote job can provide both workers and their companies with a healthy balance of freedom, flexibility, and production. Using the tips above can serve as a guide for how to make remote work as effective as possible.

  • How to Manage Remote Teams?

    Virtual teams are becoming more and more common across the globe — from virtual assistants at small businesses to teams within big companies such as IBM to digital start-ups with fully remote teams. The benefits are clear. According to Global Workplace Analytics, remote teams increase employee productivity, satisfaction levels, and can save a company more than $10,000 annually. That’s not including the benefit of tapping into a global talent pool.

    Team
    Team

    As it becomes more common for companies to utilize remote workers, these businesses are discovering an influx of unique and new challenges related to managing virtual teams. As with any business, there are definitely hurdles to overcome.

    Benefits of Hiring a Remote Team

    Access to the best employees

    Top talent doesn’t always just come knocking on your door. Significant effort is always required to build a world-class team. Of course, you have to carefully consider candidates during the hiring process. This often involves creating a team member persona, or in the case of a remote hire, a “remote persona” (just like you create buyer personas for your customers).

    You should look for people who meet your criteria in the following areas:

    • Company values
    • Discipline
    • Focus
    • Work/life balance
    • Decision-making skills, etc.
    Criteria for Hiring
    Criteria for Hiring

    One of the benefits of hiring remotely is that it gives you more options than limiting yourself to local employees. If you choose to broaden your horizons and decide to hire remote workers, you will be able to find excellent team members anywhere in the world. The A-players that you hire around the globe will surely help your company grow.


    Also read:


    Employees with flexible hours are happier

    The fact is, employees who are allowed to set flexible schedules are happier than those who have to live under the rule of the clock. They tend to have fewer family conflicts than their colleagues who work at the office.

    Flexible work hours
    Flexible work hours

    Moreover, employees who work from home say managing balance between work and family is much easier for them. Not surprisingly, the happier your employees are, the more productive you can expect them to be, which leads to faster company growth and good company moral.

    Low employee turnover

    According to 2017 research, 32% of people would quit their job as they are not allowed to work remotely. Many companies take this fact into account as losing an employee and hiring a new one involves significant expenses. As a result, smart companies embrace the remote work policy to keep their employees’ turnover rate low.

    Low overhead

    Having a team of remote workers allows you to lower your overhead by cutting office expenses. Recent calculations show that companies would save more than $500 billion a year on office rent, utilities and turnover if they chose remote work schedule. Instead of spending money on maintaining your office, you will be able to invest it in your business.


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    Challenges of managing a remote team and how to overcome them

    Communication problems

    If you want to foresee and fix one issue from this list, choose communication. It’s the cause of almost every other management issue. Managers provide direction at every step of a project or business initiative, so they need to be extremely good at communicating the strategy and understanding what’s happening within a team. Communication is the key to success for most teams. It’s critical to gather input from all members and to know what each person is working on.

    Communication in remote teams
    Communication in remote teams

    When teams work remotely, it isn’t always easy to foster open communication. Traditional email marketing often seems like a formal tool that doesn’t enable quick conversations. Efficient, effective communication is the cornerstone of any functioning group, and it is especially crucial for remote teams. Coordinating virtual team members can be challenging, and communication can be a big stumbling block for many companies trying to successfully navigate remote hires.

    Potential solutions

    1. Make use of communication-based technological tools. Instant messaging, chat, and other two-way communication channels make sharing problems and potential solutions easier than ever.
    2. Keep these channels open, and consistently monitor them throughout the day. If an employee has a problem, idea, or thought that needs to be shared, you should be as responsive and available to a remote employee as you would to any on-site worker.
    3. Use project management software such as Hubstaff Tasks. Having one central tool for organizing projects and tasks ensures that everyone who needs to be in the loop stays that way. You can assign tasks to team members, add comments, outline the project steps in a checklist, and more.
    4. Generally, it’s a good idea to try and clarify as much as possible about the role: what’s expected, which KPIs to measure, resources that are available and so on. It’s very important to clarify these things with your virtual employees, as they have no other medium to find out such details.
    5. Finally, a more practical yet potentially time-consuming suggestion is to check for understanding after each meeting. Before you end, make sure everyone knows what their next steps are, then check if these matches and if the interpretations are aligned. This is very important in remote teams where you’re relying on emails, chat, and calls. Usually, you’re managing all of them combined. Important details can easily get overseen, skipped or misinterpreted.

    Scheduling difficulties

    Working with a remote team offers the potential for increased productivity, but managers must also overcome some virtual-related inefficiencies. For example, one of the most difficult challenges is managing workers across several time zones.

    Scheduling difficulties
    Scheduling difficulties

    First, there are tools you can use online to help make scheduling a call, video conference, or meeting with remote teams easier. From a simple online poll that lists selected dates and times that team members can choose to calendaring apps and a variety of websites and free hosts that assess participant availability, there are ways that make the process of scheduling a meeting less stressful. It also helps if team members’ schedules are flexible, since some time zones don’t line up well with traditional working hours.

    Potential Solutions

    1. Whenever all employees are meeting (via phone, teleconference, or video conference), find a time that falls within everyone’s workday. This might mean first thing for some and end of the day for others.
    2. If the time difference really makes coordinating schedules impossible, get creative. For example, record meetings for employees who can’t attend live. This way, they can view and/or hear what happened.
    3. Collect feedback regarding meetings via e-mail. This gives everyone the opportunity to chime in; even those who couldn’t attend while it was actually happening.
    4. Use email to document big and important announcements such as process changes, company directives, and other important announcements that don’t require a meeting, but are nonetheless important.
    5. Use scheduling software that allows you to schedule shifts for each team member and get alerts if they haven’t started tracking time during that window. You’ll also get email alerts if a shift is abandoned or there are missed shifts altogether, ensuring that teams are working when they say they will and avoiding downtime for your business.

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    Tracking work and productivity

    Do you know how much work your remote team accomplishes and at what rate? For many managers, the answer to these questions is unclear. It’s hard to know if someone is being underutilized or is not pulling their own weight without an understanding of their productivity. For this reason, remote managers need to establish ways to track productivity for all employees. This can include setting up metrics for how much work is expected to be completed each day. This might look like:

    • Creating and maintaining a company blog.
    • Scheduling 20 social media posts per hour.
    • Making 150 cold calls per shift.
    Tracking work and productivity
    Tracking work and productivity

    The KPI metrics you choose to evaluate the productivity of remote employees should also be the same criteria used for in-office employees. This ensures that there are clear expectations in place, regardless of how and where your team works.

    Potential solutions

    1. For customer-facing team members in remote agencies, have a system in place to ensure open channels of communication between you, the customer, and the employee. If a customer doesn’t feel a remote employee is meeting expectations or hitting necessary benchmarks, you, as the manager, need to know this as soon as possible.
    2. When you manage remote workers, you have a lot less insight into how work is getting done. Employees must know what’s expected of them at all times, including if you’re concerned about hours logged or if you’re simply interested in the end product (regardless of time spent).
    3. Even remote teams can implement some rules about how work is done. Some virtual companies insist on employees working from an office or offer to pay for a coworking space if the employee chooses to work from one. This works well to provide a distraction-free work environment.
    4. To avoid problems, it’s helpful to have a quantitative way to evaluate a remote worker’s contributions. This way, if you’re in any way unhappy with the work, you can explain exactly why. This will make it clearer for the worker, and it helps get that employee up to speed about expectations as quickly as possible.
    5. Utilize employee productivity software to get the best sense of what your remote team is up to during the workday. Depending on the system you use, this platform could even provide intermittent screenshots to show you exactly which projects are being worked on, and what the status is. This tool provides invaluable data to you, and it encourages remote employees to stay active and engaged in company priorities.

    Building trust

    Building trust is difficult for remote managers and team members. Managers worry that workers aren’t completing work, while workers have a range of concerns, including whether they’ll be paid on time. Being transparent can help to build trust for all parties. You can help build trust by being transparent about: Working hours, Project expectations, Pay rate, Payment timelines, and Status updates on projects

    In terms of expectations, be honest about the workload you expect to have for your contractors. Many B2B marketing companies tell freelancers they can expect the amount of work to increase substantially over the coming months, even when this isn’t the case. These kinds of statements might be well intentioned, but it may lead some freelancers to believe they’ve been strung along. They may even have negotiated for a lower rate because of the volume and then feel duped when it doesn’t pan out.

    Potential solutions

    1. Employees need feedback often in order to correct problems early on and become satisfied, top performers in their role. Be sure that all managers are giving frequent feedback to address any issues, blockers or challenges people are facing. This will help the managers to develop trust with the team members and give them the flexibility needed to make virtual teams work.
    2. Put a premium on video conferences. Seeing each other’s faces is the next best thing to meeting in person.
    3. Trust your employees, but also utilize time-tracking software. It keeps everyone accountable and can help team members feel confident in the hours they put in.

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    The Solution?

    So how can SaaS leaders and companies effectively support and manage employees who aren’t in an office? There is the REMOTE formula to help. Resources, Engagement, Motivation, Objectives, Trust and Expectations are what you need to remember when working with, or developing a team remotely.

    REMOTE formula
    REMOTE formula
    • Resources: Get the right tools. There’s an abundance of online collaboration resources which, in some cases, are specifically designed to ease the struggles of remote working.
    • Engagement: Engage with your remote workers on a daily basis as you would do if they were based in an office. You must eradicate all feelings of isolation. Communication is key and setting out clear goals and outcomes is important to achieving success.
    • Motivation: This is exactly the same as in an office environment. You don’t want your team soft pedalling and giving just a small percentage of their full potential. Motivating your team to achieve tasks they may have never done before will better utilize their just discovered skillset, improve productivity and maximize effort.
    • Objectives: SaaS team leaders should focus on setting direction via goals, not activity. Try not to be overly concerned with details, and when goal achievement confidence is low, know when and how to jump in and find a way to support the area that’s a challenge.
    • Trust: This is a biggie. You must trust your remote workforce. It starts with whether you’re a high trust company or a low trust company. A high trust organization would have their fair share of multipliers. The company shows empathy, collaboration and recognizes their employees as people who are achieving great things. A low trust organization tends to express toxic cultures and would have diminishers amongst the teams. Most of the time formality takes over friendliness.
    • Expectations: By introducing a remote working culture you’re leaving your employee more control of their working structure. Expectations of them and the work they produce for the company needs to be made extremely clear.

    Conclusion

    The debate of remote working is one that will continue to develop. The purpose of this long post is to aid SaaS companies when making a decision to grow and scale, but a work from home culture is not for every organization. Despite the fact that creating and managing a remote team is not easy, it’s definitely worth trying if you have the tools to be successful. So, let’s create your remote team now. Please tell us your views in the comments section below.