Mar 24 2020
As we write this article, the COVID-19 outbreak has been categorized as a pandemic and governments worldwide are taking action to slow the spread of the virus.
One reaction from companies across the world has been to encourage, or require, their staff to work remotely. For many, this is the first time they’re working from home — and it’s daunting!
But rest assured, even before COVID-19, companies across the world had operated with entirely remote teams. As a matter of fact, the whole Zapier team works remotely along with 4.7 million other Americans!
That being said, if your team is completely new to remote working, it’s difficult to know where to start. We’d recommend Google Apps to share documents, manage calendars and send emails, a company-wide chat tool (we like Slack), and a way to communicate live (like Zoom or Whereby).
This guide will focus on ways to connect these systems in a way that supports productivity.
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As Zapier Certified experts and seasoned remote workers, we've discovered the best Zaps to make you more productive and keep connected, even when you can't make it to the office.
Emails have been one of the most dreaded aspects of office life for a while now. So one upside to this situation might be that emails become obsolete. If you’re already holding conversations on Slack, you can redirect incoming emails to that platform and kiss your inbox goodbye.
With Zapier, you can build a Zap that sends new emails to a Slack channel:
The possibilities are endless:
When you work in an office, it's obvious when you’re in a meeting, on an important call, or out to lunch. But in the world of remote work, you’re just a Slack message away. This ever-presentness can blur the line between work and regular life, making it difficult to switch off at the end of the day.
Thankfully, Zapier can help with this. Keep your team updated and protect your work-life balance by using Zapier to update your Slack status automatically.
If you use Google Calendar, you can update your Slack status automatically to let your team know that you aren't available at a given time. To set this up:
If you don't use Google Calendar, or don't want to add your afternoon coffee break to your work calendar, you can also have Zapier change your status according to a schedule. Simply:
There’s always one person in any office who forgets about the weekly meeting. Every. Single. Week.
When you’re working remotely, that weekly meeting is probably a Zoom, Google Hangout, or Whereby call...and it's always a different link.
To make sure everyone is on the right conferencing link at the right time, you can connect your Google Calendar to a Slack channel that automatically reminds everyone about meetings. To set this up:
As most meetings switch to video conferences. But given the unpredictable, fast-changing environment, customers are canceling meetings and rescheduling at the last minute.
Be proactive and make it easy for your attendees to reschedule, without you needing to send dozens of emails to find a convenient time.
By connecting Calendly and Zoom with Zapier, you'll crush your sales targets without stepping foot outside the house. With Calendly, you list the dates and times you are available and connect your calendar. You can then create different types of meeting for people to schedule, with a range of durations.
An unfortunate aspect of remote work is that much of the social side of the workplace is lost. In an in-person office, you'd celebrate each other's successes, share gossip, and have a laugh whenever possible.
With Zapier, you can set up automatic prompts for these conversations to occur. Try some of the ideas below and see what your team enjoys
If your business sells goods or services online, you could celebrate new deals. Create a new #sales channel on Slack and set up a new sales Zap:
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