Second part: in times of teleworking, there are different communication options that allow optimizing production and improving the resources of professionals.
by Osvaldo Callegari*
In the first part of this article that appeared in issue 24-4, details were revealed about two basic tools for good remote work: simple remote access and video conferencing and chat. Continuing from the previous article we will mention the following tools:
3 Time and schedule control
4 File sharing
5 Maintaining the balance of the mind
6 Spreadsheet, text, graphics.
3 - Time and schedule control
There are currently many applications that allow teamwork and in turn bring the information centralized in one or several points. As they are a large number and very effective we will cite some for the sole purpose of showing their benefits.
We can infer that within the time control applications are those organizational, allowing the synchronization of the flow of data of the company.
One of the best known and free agenda applications is Google Calendar®
Having a good synchronization is synonymous with effectiveness, being punctual to a meeting, controlling deadlines, hours affected to clients. These are some of the benefits of Google Calendar.
It is possible to use different calendars, send meeting requests by Gmail. If the browser has notifications enabled, it is possible to view the expirations or notices of meetings. It is based on Ajax, it means that you can drag and drop tasks without reloading the page.
From simple agenda to project
Lately common agendas or dynamic calendars have been integrated into more complex applications. As are project managers. The fact that due to current situations you have to work from home, makes variables that one controls manually in the office must be integrated into several processes. That is where project managers emerge, which allow multiple access and control doors, from the superiors reaching all the employees of the company. The hive concept is given in these cases, a centralized and synchronized place.
Google Suite, a good example of integration applications, integrates documents such as Google Docs, Tables (Sheets), calendar. Almost all processes are done in real time. The union of several products allows to improve productivity hand in hand with comfort.
Project management is a methodology used worldwide, by companies and institutions to achieve objectives in a certain time. It also means balancing management, separating urgencies from tasks that are really important to the client. The volume of work, variables and increasingly complex requirements have resulted in more and more companies and institutions managing their work by projects.
The five phases considered for the projects are:
1. Home.
2. Planning.
3. Execution.
4. Control.
5. Conclusion.
The 10 areas of knowledge are:
1. Integration.
2. Scope.
3. Time.
4. Cost.
5. Quality.
6. Human Resources
7. Communications.
8. Risks.
9. Acquisitions
10. Interested parties.
The 47 processes are distributed in the phases of the project as follows:
1. Start-up phase: two processes
2. Planning Phase: 24 processes.
3. Execution Phase: eight processes.
4. Monitoring and Control Phase: 11 processes.
5. Conclusion Phase: two processes.
Description of the phases:
• Administration: It is the process of achieving objectives through people.
• Project: it is the set of activities to be carried out to achieve a goal.
• Strategy: is the route or path that is followed to achieve a goal.
• Objective: it is what you want to achieve through a set of activities in the long term.
• Goal: It is what you want to achieve in quantitative terms in the short or medium term.
Additionally we mention project managers, an article may be needed to detail their scope.
• Airtable
• Asana
• Pivotal Tracker
• Trello
• Wrike
4 - File Sharing
A current way to link information is to share files in the cloud. Some of the ways to do it.
1- With specific applications such as Google Drive
2- With download links such as Wetransfer (insertable within an email facilitating the sending of attachments)
3- With Opensource servers in the cloud such as Owncloud
Today all these services are integrated into cell phones, tablets, notebooks, etc. In a short time this concept will be a constant and will be understood.
Products that provide this service
• Dropbox ®
• Microsoft ® One Drive®
• Google® Drive
• 4Shared®
• Mega®
• Upload ®
• RapidGator®
• Nitro®
• 1Fichier
5 - Maintain the balance of the mind
With remote work new challenges appear and it's not like those who think working from home is a panacea.
Healthy rules to consider.
A- Working environment
• Select an environment with as little outside noise as possible.
• Many times an employee lives in a small apartment with very young children and it is inevitable that the daily bustle is filtered in our videoconferences, for this there are noise suppressor applications that isolate in its entirety the external sound or other applications, in turn we can say that videoconferencing applications have this function incorporated.
• If possible, have access to sunlight so that the view does not get so tired, make the most of the sun.
• There are applications to calibrate the screen according to the time of day. Flux Example.-
◦ Flux is a free desktop application that allows you to adjust the intensity of the screen according to the time of day, in turn allows you to improve readability. Currently the product is available to control home lights with an IoT device, we will develop a complete article about this new trend. It maintains the information of the hours with light and the respective dimming according to the season.
• A warm illumination of a lamp on the keyboard substantially improves the visual at certain times.
• Aromas
◦ A sahumerio or some pleasant aroma from time to time harmonizes the workplace.
• Oxygenation
◦ It is convenient to have an indirect external ventilation with pure air to be better, many times a heating (in winter) of course generates a feeling of confinement, it is corrected with adequate ventilation.
B- Keep the job tidy
• Having the desk tidy allows you to work more comfortably and gives amplitude when solving problems.
• Maintain the hygiene of the place
• Hand washing periodically (today more than ever)
• A good block of notes with markers or pens of comfortable writing or softpen.
• If you use very heavy video games, it is advisable within the possibilities to use them on another device, since this option can slow down your computer,
• Your computer should have cleaning tools to streamline daily tasks. An example is CCleaner, a desktop application that keeps the browsing history in your browser clean by optimizing the speed of opening and execution.
C- Musical setting
• Instrumental themes and songs
◦ By not having the letter incorporated, it makes one not distracted from the work that is being done, in turn it accompanies indirectly.
• Spatial sound
◦ If possible have speakers distributed spatially avoiding the classic posture on the sides of the monitor.
• In times of great concentration it is best to work in silence and only with the sounds of nature, of course in the place where that is possible.
• There are musical themes that include relaxation and healing processes
• The use of headphones is acceptable at times.
D- Rest and stretching
• Spending a lot of time still forces you to maintain an exercise routine, on the Internet there are many short courses to exercise by renowned professionals in the sector.
• You have to avoid sitting for a long time, many times it is healthy to work standing writing things down or writing on the mobile, the change of position is fundamental.
• There is an Italian method that indicates work for x time and mobility for x time, so as for example to be sitting 20 minutes and 10 minutes of activity this in a random way.
• Exercises such as Yoga or Kung Fu positions are very healthy help an integral balance.
6- Spreadsheet, text, graphics
Useful tools for teleworking - Annotators
By default in systems like Windows comes the note block a classic to take notes, attach chats etc. There are other similar applications such as Notepad++ that in addition to handling plain text can read programming formats such as Html, Css and others with the correct indentation and their respective colors. Sticky Notes is a desktop application that provides the classic square colored notes.
Many times another tool that can get us out of the way is Paint (Paintbrush) a desktop application that has been throughout the Windows® versions, allows among other things to copy and paste screen prints, chat photos etc. to a lighter format such as PNG to send by email.
A famous online annotator is Pastebin®, widely used in the world for temporary texts, also a favorite place for hackers to exchange anonymous information.
Spreadsheets, a large majority use the Office package, in the market there are similar open source as Libreoffice that go very well.
Many applications that are embedded in browsers, known as browser extensions, are also used. We can say that it is a growing trend the overlapping tools.
Mostly we all use the browser of our mobile or our computer for an infinity of tasks. There are excellent applications ranging from a language translator to video downloaders, annoying ad blocks, file handling with Google Drive, Pastebin extension etc.
The computer screen plays a primary role, choose colors and pastel backgrounds to rest your eyes more. Take some time to select for example in word processors such as Word® what font type and size is comfortable for you, this will prevent fatigue or eye strain.
Conclusions
Applications help you improve teamwork and maintain a consistent workflow. With the right applications you will improve the quality of performance towards others. A greater follow-up of the topics depending on the business that is found. There is an emerging market supporting remote work. Ideally, you and your team should use consistent applications that make your life easier.
This modality (remote work) is here to stay, as always these are basic guidelines as a guide to have a healthy way of working, the important thing as an end user is that you know that there are many options to improve your conditions of the new work fashion.
Undoubtedly, as we always say: new emerging technologies, benefits, services; they often arise as global problems, as is the Pandemic almost as a forced learning.
The brands and companies mentioned in this article belong to the names and trademarks of their own companies. Project description structure is Wikipedia® source
* To contact the author of this article write to [email protected]
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