3 cloud apps that transformed the way we work.

In recent years the democratization of technology has helped small businesses to make leaps by exploiting tools that until a few years ago was very expensive and cumbersome.

The main problem we faced when we started our agency, was working from a distance since we did not have offices.Due to the poor communication system, we had spent more time on phones and emails than to actual projects.For this reason, we decided to start using some cloud-based collaborative tools which dramatically improved our performance.

So below I quote three tools that have transformed the way we communicate and do business.

Project Management- Asana

When you run a creative agency is reasonable to have many different projects, different clients, and deadlines to come one after another. Asana solved this problem because is a project & task management software that you can directly from the browser or your smartphone. For us, we could say that is a virtual office where all the actions and communications take place

Here are some of the features that you get with the free plan:

- Activity feed

- Add assignees, attachments, and hearts to tasks

- Automatic updates to email/inbox

- Create custom calendars and views

- Email bridge

- My Tasks list and Focus Mode

- Track tasks and add followers

- Get notifications and reminders

- Multiple workspaces

- Project Sections and Search Views

- Real-time updates

- See team members’ tasks and priorities

- Set goals, priorities, and due dates

- Set project permissions

- Project and task creation

-Comment on tasks

G-Suite (Google Apps)- Office Suite

In past, in order to be able to work on files such as docs, excels or ppt, you needed a software like Microsoft Office, while working with others in the same file simultaneously was a sci-fi scenario.

But Google apps (docs, sheets, slides and drive) radically changed the traditional way we do business. Now, all files are accessible and editable by everyone on every device.

Here are some of the features that you get with the free plan:

- 15gb storage space in Google Drive

- A complete set of offices apps (docs, sheets, slides, forms etc.)

- Google calendar, gmail & contacts

- Automatically sync and save files

- Online and offline access from the browser or smartphone

- Simultaneous viewing and editing by different users

- Sharing files directly through the Drive

- Extracting files to most common formats (doc, xcl, ppt, pdf, etc.)

-Ready-made templates for documents, sheets and presentations

Online Invoicing- Elorus

When we first started issuing invoices, most programs we found on the market were expensive, cumbersome and required installation on a computer. After some research about online invoicing software, we found Elorus. It is a cloud-based application created by a Greek team, which motivates us even more to try it.

Here are some of the features that you get with the free plan:

- Up to 3 clients/suppliers per month

- Online billing

- Generate professional invoices

- Create online pro forma invoices and estimates

- Schedule recurring invoices

- Customize all types of invoices

- Multiple languages

- Keep track of payments

- Detailed reporting

• Automate receipts & payments

Now with the Internet and its applications, office and standard work hours have become obsolete. Small and large groups can collaborate remotely and individual employees can choose where, when and how they work

So based on our experience as a remote team so far, we have come with two main conclusions:

1. Technology has redefined the way we work

In the past, people should be in a particular place (office) for a specific time to be able to work and communicate with colleagues. Now with the Internet and its applications, office and standard work hours have become obsolete. Small and large groups can collaborate remotely and individual employees can choose where, when and how they work. This way, we leave the traditional model based on the hours spent on a job and we head to a model which enhances productivity, efficiency and motivates people to work whenever and wherever they feel comfortable.

2. The cost to operate a remote business is much smaller

If you wanted to start a business like ours ten years ago, you had to spend a sizable amount of money in office equipment and professional software. Today, however, we can work wherever we have internet access, even with our smartphones directly, by taking advantage of tools such as those mentioned above. In this way, we have much smaller operating costs and gain time by eliminating unnecessary commutes.

So this is it, my first article! I hope you find it useful!

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