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Aug 6, 2023

The Best Software for Working and Engaging with Employees Remotely … on a budget!

The Challenges that Businesses Face with Remote Working

60% of companies don't have a strategy when it comes to internal communication and employee engagement. This may not seem like a big deal - but when you factor in the increased call from workers to feel connected with their company as a whole, not just in understanding their role but also in understanding the bigger picture and the way the company works, it follows that having some kind of strategy around the way you engage employees is key.

A successful and effective strategy considers company culture and pulls every team in your business together to increase productivity - from HR to Payroll, Marketing, Digital and Online, and Operations. It all starts with the right software and a top-level method of communicating as an organisation - rather than a series of individual teams.

Since your staff is the heart of your company culture, actionable insight into what drives an engaged employee and continuous improvement will directly impact employee turnover.

Introducing the Tools that are here to Help!

MOONWORKERS

Who would we be if we didn't start with our solution?

Moonworkers is a start-up that has been born from the pandemic and all those challenges that businesses are now facing as a result of remote and hybrid working. The very name itself draws on our foundation as a software tool that connects those working at all hours and in all locations, creating a central hub for every team and every employee to use and receive live updates on projects and other admin requests and comments.

Moonworkers focuses on the HR side of the business, managing every business area and HR in one place. We understand that separating HR into different touchpoints is a drain on both time and resources - but until now, there hasn't been a solution that allows it to come together. Now there is, and we're ready to bring you onboard to discover more.

Pricing: From £2.50 per employee

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SLACK

Slack supports free communication between different areas of the business and different projects by creating an unlimited number of work boards and conversation streams. Each one supports file upload and open lines of communication while also supporting private conversations where necessary.

As a remote working tool, Slack is ideal as an alternative to email with faster responses and more of a conversational working style. You can get a sense of employee sentiment through their conversational engagement, measure employee feedback with a survey plugin, drive peer recognition with shout out channels, or monitor their productivity with various shortcut workflows and channel analytics.

Best of all, it keeps entire companies and teams connected with notifications and the ability to send video updates and news bulletins as well as project updates.

Pricing: Free plan available

 

ASANA

Asana is a project management tool. It offers a range of solutions that allow companies to create task lists and job boards which focus on assigning jobs to individual employees and updating those jobs with comments and deadlines. Every user on Asana has their task list to follow, which means deadlines are easy to track, with colour coding and other tools available to help prioritise and connect the right people to the right tasks.

As a time-saving and productivity tool, Asana enables anyone to log in and see the progress of a project without the need to call meetings and send emails - particularly beneficial for large teams and international companies.

Pricing: Free plan available

 

CALENDLY

Calendly is scheduling software that finally removes all those endless emails and conversations as you try to find a time to set a meeting. This software is an excellent time-saver by updating individuals’ calendars with their work status and inviting users to book or schedule a call with them automatically. Plus, there are options to send automatic reminders to improve attendance to your calls.

In terms of usability, Calendly is particularly popular with small business owners and entrepreneurs as it is low cost (starting from the most basic membership a £0) and makes the most of every spare minute in your schedule - allowing you to book more sales and marketing calls, and manage everything from one central system.

On top of that, Calendly integrates with other commonly used software and platforms for seamless business management.

Pricing: Free plan available


LOOM

Loom is a one-of-a-kind video messaging platform that allows you to create recordings of your screen and your camera together. It is the ideal software to use when you want to create and send out instruction videos and direct guides, with hybrid workspaces and remote managers, in particular, drawing on Loom as a way to make communication more effective.

Loom creates automatic subtitles so that you don't have to waste time typing out what you mean, and it allows for quick and easy responses to questions and comments. As a software for managing and engaging remote employees and colleagues, Loom is one of the best platforms right now.

Pricing: Free plan available

 

GOOGLE WORKSPACE

Google Workspace is Google’s online Workplace - and it literally is the hub of all Google activity, including email, video messaging, chat, your calendar, Google Drive, online documents and spreadsheets, and so much more. While this can seem quite overwhelming, users need only tap into the areas of Google Workspace that they actually need to use - linking accounts and ensuring that only the right users are given access to different areas of the business Google Workspace.

The automated linking between video chat, calendars, mail and more means that remote meetings can be scheduled and held much faster, decisions can be made more quickly, and different projects can be updated and signed off in one place.

Pricing: From 4.14 per employee

 

GOOGLE MEET

Following on from Google Workspace, Google Meet is included as part of the Google Workspace software. It is automatically integrated with other aspects of your workspace, such as Google Calendar and Gmail. In addition, the video aspect of Google Meet makes it very similar to Zoom. It is incredibly interactive - allowing this software to feel more personal and more comprehensive check-ins than other messaging apps like Slack and Asana.

All in all, Google Meet is about bringing the team together for check-ins and updates on more of a face to face level, with a high-quality user experience and integration with other Google apps making it a seamless one to bring into your remote working package.

Pricing: Free with Google Workspace

OFFICEVIBE

While you can get a quick sense of how someone feels through Slack, Officevibe can measure employee satisfaction more thoroughly and provide actionable insight to managers. This is a safe place for individuals to provide honest feedback so leaders can take the guesswork of understanding what their team needs or wants.

This engagement software creates an environment for healthy internal communication, measurable surveys, and anonymous feedback to help organisations reinforce their company culture.

Pricing: Free plan available

 

BONUS: SHOP STREET

Remember our first tool, Moonworkers? Well, Shop Street is a bonus that we offer as part of a Moonworkers sign up - and it's all about engaging and motivating your team with added benefits and discounts that they can enjoy outside of the office. 

While in-office yoga and snacks are used across the UK and beyond to keep employees on site and address their wellbeing by a large portion of businesses, other benefits can be a driving force in employee satisfaction and retention, with Shop Street making it super easy for employees to log into one place and see all the discounts and offers they can benefit from when browsing and shopping for everyday essentials (and the odd treat or two!).

Pricing: Free with Moonworkers

 

The Takeaway

Each of these different software options present solutions to some of the more prominent challenges that have arisen with the new remote and hybrid working style of companies - allowing teams to work together and support each other from the comfort of their own home office. 

The right strategy and toolset will increase productivity, improve employee satisfaction and morale, and unify organisational goals. 

Whether you're looking to engage employees with an internal communication strategy or bring different teams together to benefit from a united way of working, all of these tools offer their advantages - with Moonworkers sticking out as the first platform of its kind to provide a single place for all HR operations, employee updates and employee benefits.

For more information on Moonworkers and our bonus Shop Street, get in touch or visit our website.

Total cost of all the solutions listed above: £6.64 per employee

Give us a shot.

Choose Moonworkers online payroll services for professional, reliable, and knowledgeable service.
We have been using Moonworkers for quite some time and compared to other software in the market, we found it very simple to use and excellent. Moreover, the customer service is great.
Shabir D.
Euro-accounting

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