Seamlessly running a virtual company has now become more critical than ever. With the pandemic forcing employees to do remote work, business owners need to have the proper tools so that everything sails smoothly.
Whether you’re handling a big company or a small one, here’s a guide on how to successfully run a virtual business using online tools.
Google Suite for Most Virtual Company Needs
Although Microsoft Office is a popular technology for most businesses, G-Suite is better now that everybody’s working in an online environment. With this, the management can easily create assets, share posts, and centralize everything.
G-suite makes this possible with these business services:
- Gmail, an email service
- Drive, a cloud storage platform to centralize and secure business files
- Docs, for creating and editing documents — you don’t have to attach a file as you can send the link directly
- Sheets, a website for creating spreadsheets that feature graphs, charts, formulas, and tables
- Meet, a communication and collaboration tool for setting up business meetings
- Calendar, a scheduling program that notifies the user regarding company events and other scheduled activities
As a cloud-based program, G-suite makes it easy to share files, make real-time file changes, and track any revision history.
You could integrate this technology easily into third-party apps as well.
Slack for Virtual Business Project Management
Gone are the days when you can go straight to your employee and ask for updates.
Now that members work from home, there’s also the challenge of organizing all the documents you receive through emails.
And, if your team is based in different countries, you can’t instantly call a meeting, no matter how urgent it may be.
Fortunately, Slack can help you address these online headaches. With this tool, you can run the office efficiently through a centralized system.
Overall, Slack’s benefits help you to:
- Create different project boards for various team tasks
- Ensure a seamless workflow through task hierarchy
- Assign projects to different employees
- Monitor in-progress or completed tasks
- Store business files online
Asana for Virtual Communication and Collaboration
One of the challenges of working remotely with teams is communicating and collaborating efficiently with them. You can do this easily with Asana.
As a virtual messaging platform, it eliminates the need to send emails every so often. That’s because it notifies the employee whenever someone shares ideas or solutions.
Asana technology helps you run a successful virtual business by:
- Sending personal messages
- Enabling audio and video calls
- Building various channels for employees
Zoom for Virtual Office Meetings
Businesses need to hold meetings, whether it’s all about appealing to customers or boosting sales. Instead of the usual physical set-up, Zoom can help you do this in a virtual space.
With Zoom, companies can schedule weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly meetings, even if the members are on the other side of the planet. It also offers additional services that allow you to:
- Evaluate each employee’s role and responsibility
- Monitor the progress of specific projects
- Devise an action plan
- Discuss other related issues
Zoom also allows for casual chit-chat so that you can catch up with your co-workers personally.
Loom for Virtual Video Messaging
If you don’t have the resources to access the messaging platforms above, you can still communicate with your co-workers.
As long as you have a Chrome browser and a good internet connection, you can use the Loom extension. This free service helps you record your screen and share its link.
This app is perfect for businesses with employees in various locations. It’s also an excellent way to train a new hire or educate clients with what they need to know about a particular program.
Calendly for Scheduling
You don’t have to contact each team member to remind him or her about the meeting. With Calendly, you can set up appointments and meetings with your co-workers.
Calendly is not limited to business dealings, though, as you can also use it to cater to vendors or clients. All you need to do is share your scheduling link and wait for your customers to choose the time and date that works for them.
World Time Buddy for Remote Business Meetings
Say you have a scheduled meeting with members from other countries. If you often find yourself coming in late or even missing out because of your wrong time and date conversions, World Time Buddy is the perfect tool for you.
As the name suggests, this converts the time and date according to location and timezone. That way, you won’t miss out on your virtual business gathering, no matter where you might be in the world.
Running a virtual business may be hard at first, but it becomes more accessible with the work tools above. Using any of these will help you achieve a seamless workflow and a happy, collaborative business set-up.
