DEV Community: Dave

The 15 Must-Read Remote Work Blogs for a Great Remote Career

Dave — Fri, 21 Jan 2022 10:22:19 +0000

Imagine this: You are sitting on a lounge chair at a beach shack as the light breeze at dawn gently brushes against your face, disheveling your hair while the sound of waves rushing to the shore lulls you into a state of Nirvana.

With your sunglasses on, iced coffee in your hand and lo-fi music playing in the background, you swift back into work mode as the beautiful sunsets into the horizon.

Sounds like a dream, right?

Thanks to our dear friend, the internet, this dream is becoming a reality now.

Worldwide connectivity and technological advancements have opened up new possibilities in terms of work.

The traditional system of travelling to the office is shattered by the leisure of remote working from anywhere you want in the world.

With the onset of Covid, remote work has seen a massive boom as more and more companies are shifting to work from home setup.

This has made people realize that their work can be performed from anywhere in the world as the veil of the necessity of work from office has been lifted.

Travelling to exotic hidden locations that are yet to be commercialized, enjoying the serenity and tranquillity of a mountainside cabin or the breezy vibes of a beachside villa while making enough dough to sustain this lifestyle has become a reality for numerous people now.

Although remote work is a lucrative option with more and more people shifting towards it, it does come with its share of downfalls that can cost you your livelihood if not kept in check.

With all this jazz surrounding it, sometimes it gets challenging to keep track of time.

Next thing you know, you are throwing your phone in the garbage to avoid that scary ringing tone of your bosses’ repeated calls.

Hence, we’ve curated a list of remote work blogs that will help you adjust to this lifestyle in no time.

These remote work blogs are filled with tips, tricks, software recommendations, and more that will help you maintain an optimum work-life balance in your remote work journey.

The 15 Must-Read Remote Work Blogs for a Great Remote Career in 2022

Here’s our list of the 10 Best remote work blogs:

WeWorkRemotely
RemoteYear
Coworkaholic
Remote.co
NomadicMatt
Remotive.io
Nodesk.co
Blog.Trello.com
Shut Up and Go
Hubspot Blog
Remote-How
Hobo With a Laptop
WorkfromHomeHappiness
Home Office Life
Out of Office Gal

10 Best Coworking Space Management Software Out There in 2022!

Dave — Wed, 19 Jan 2022 13:20:50 +0000

Did you know that before the pandemic, only 5% of the U.S. workforce worked remotely full-time. This number, however, has gone up to 57% as of February 2021, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

While the work from home norms was put in to stop the spread of the Covid virus, employees aren’t planning to go back to the office anytime soon.

In fact, 58 percent of employees working remotely over the past year said they would look for a new job if they weren’t allowed to continue working from home in their current position!

Moreover, 65% of employees want to work remotely full-time post-pandemic.

This remote work culture will eventually boost the co-working space business as remote workers often flock to such spaces to get work done.

However, managing such spaces may not be as enjoyable. It is a tricky business if you do not know what all tools are necessary.

Tech companies and experts have built software to manage these spaces effortlessly and create a splendid experience for their members.

A coworking space management software aims to make your life easier by providing various options to supervise your space.

A coworking space management software allows you to:

Set up a location of your preference,
Manage your members by keeping a track of them,
Communicate with your members,
Keep a list of new members,
Send invites, and
Manage all their invoices and payments.

These are all the things that every decent workspace management software will allow you to do.

Today, we decided to curate a list of the top 10 coworking space management software out there so you can quickly find the one best for you!

Before we jump onto the list, let us take a look at what a coworking space is so that we all are on the same page.

What is a Coworking Space?

Coworking spaces are a newer form of workplaces built to produce a productive and collaborative work environment.

The concept of coworking is all about bringing flexibility into how the work is done.

A coworking space can be anything from a coffee shop to a penthouse, it just has to be a space where professionals work.

According to Wikipedia,

_Coworking is an arrangement in which workers of different companies share an office space, allowing cost savings and convenience through the use of common infrastructures, such as equipment, utilities, and receptionist and custodial services, and in some cases refreshments and parcel acceptance services.
_
Well, that was a mouthful!

Simply put, if an outlet has an ample amount of space where professionals can interact with each other and work together, it’s a coworking space.

Apart from giving you a space to work, coworking spaces also provide other amenities like food and drinks, technologies (like wifi, charging ports), modern furnishings, and more.

All these factors make it an amazing place to work from instead of working from home or traditional coffee shops.

Problems with Managing Coworking Spaces

As enjoyable as it seems to work in a coworking space, there are a few problems with their management. Let’s take a brief look at these problems:

1. Endless Distractions

One of the biggest challenges for any workspace is the constant chatting amongst people/on calls and the keyboard/mouse noises.

Everyone wants to work in a quiet environment, however, coworking spaces often do not provide one.

Even the most productive and patient employee can get crazy and do poor quality work.

All of this can be avoided with noise-canceling headphones. However, restricting endless noises can be challenging.

The coworking space can set rules for its employees such as silencing phones or designating a particular area to get on phone calls.

Looking for a coworking space that offers a peaceful environment to work in is probably the best way to avoid any distractions.

2. Absence of Privacy

Another challenge in coworking spaces is the absence of privacy.

While some minds work great in isolation, not every coworking space has a dedicated private space for creative work.

Privacy is crucial as it allows employees to work freely, concentrate without any distractions, and not let others copy their work.

3. Confined Space

A lot of times, a coworking space only provides limited space for its employees. This can make them feel like it hinders their personal space.

Confined spaces can also lead to low productivity. With so much background noise, doing creative work or making phone calls can be a challenge.

This can be avoided if enough space is allotted for each employee. Arranging the desks by spreading them out and assigning specific areas to employees can do the trick.

This also avoids confusion among employees related to their desks as well as everyday conflicts to a great extent.

10 Best Coworking Space Management Software in 2022

Let’s quickly take a look at what the top coworking space management software is and what they can do to manage the problems that take place in a coworking space.

Nexudus
OfficeRnd
Coworkify
Cobot
Optix
Essensys
Yardi Kube
Andcards
Satellite Deskworks
Habu

The 32 Best Free and Paid Notion Alternatives

Dave — Wed, 19 Jan 2022 13:14:03 +0000

Notion is one of the most commercially successful and feature-rich productivity app on the market today.

Notion was introduced to the world in 2016, and since then, it has amassed a cult-like following. Valued at $10 Billion, it’s fair to say that people have loved the concept of an ‘all in one workspace’.

The reason people love Notion is because of its flexibility and versatility. Whether you want to store documents, take notes, jot down to-dos, track projects, or manage databases, Notion can do it all.

However, it is not the only tool that makes knowledge management easy and makes you and your remote team more productive.

There are many Notion alternatives out there, free and paid, that are on par or even better than Notion.

But before we jump into our list of Notion alternatives, let’s find out why do we need a Notion alternative in the first place.

Why look for a Notion Alternative?

While Notion is feature-packed to the brim and has raving fans who swear by the product, it does come with its fair share of drawbacks.

There could be several reasons why you may be looking for a Notion competitor:

The tool is a bit overwhelming. If you are a newbie, getting around a myriad of features can be a bit intimidating. (source)
The mobile apps are not up to the mark of what one would expect from a quality tool like Notion. (source)
Notion can be a bit sluggish and slow, especially when you have stored a ton of content. (source)
The pricing can be a bit high, especially for a large team. (source)

If you have experienced one or more problems mentioned above, don’t fret as we have handpicked a vast list of Notion alternatives that you can choose from.

The 32 Best Notion Alternatives You Should Check out in 2022

Here are our picks for the best Notion alternatives you should explore:

Coda
Walling
Remnote
Evernote
Routine
MyMind
Notea
Organizedly
Nimbus Note
Dropbox Paper
Zengobi Curio
Slite
Milanote
Workflowy
Microsoft OneNote
Confluence
Notebook by Zoho
Tettra
Obsidian
Quip
Scrivener
Slab
Nuclino
Centered
Amplenote
Notejoy
Day One
Agenda
Octo
Supernotes
Dashword
Google Workspace

For detailed review of each tool mentioned above, check out this post.

The 9 Best Apps For Finding Coworking Spaces

Dave — Mon, 12 Jul 2021 10:52:17 +0000

There are many apps out there that can help an individual find a coworking space nearby and book their desk or meeting room.

To save you the trouble, we scoured the internet and hand-picked our top favorites.

Here are the 10 best apps for finding coworking spaces:

GoWork

With a capacity of 12,000 seats, GoWork is India’s largest collaborative app for finding coworking space.

LiquidSpace

LiquidSpace started out as a shared workspace tower in Boise, with the intention of building a network of shared office space over the years.

myHQ

With over 125 sites in its network, myHQ has become one of India’s fastest-growing workplaces.

The Hack

When looking for a place to work that has a positive environment and an inspiring ambiance, the Hack app is precisely what you require. Hack’s Coworking Model reflects the workforce of the future.

WeWork

One of the most prominent apps to find coworking space, WeWork was established by Adam Neumann and Miguel McKelvey in New York City in 2010.

Breather

Julien Smith and Caterina Rizzi launched Breather in 2012, intending to provide a calm working environment for different professions.

Outsite

Home sharing, remote work, work-life balance, and sustainability are the four primary pillars of Outsite’s coworking service.

Awfis

Awfis, founded in 2015, is a one-stop for finding ready-to-use workspaces, workstations, and more.

91Springboard

This coworking space booking app can be used to book cabins, workstations, and conference rooms on the go.

What is a Business One Pager & How to Write One!

Dave — Mon, 12 Jul 2021 10:22:18 +0000

According to a study by Microsoft, the average human being now has an attention span of eight seconds.

Similarly, another study found that the human attention span decreases by a staggering 88 percent every year!

Let that sink in.

From a business’s point of view, this is nothing short of a disaster.

Decreasing attention spans is a huge obstacle for businesses trying to get their name out there and acquire new customers.

Low attention spans means no one has the time and patience to go through your website/blog posts/videos/pitch decks and understand your value proposition.

This is why businesses need to convey value in a short and concise manner before they lose their prospect to another distraction.

While it sounds hard, it really is a matter of some smart decision making.

A great way for companies to introduce their product/service to customers or investors is via a business one-pager.

But before we discuss how to create an amazing looking one-pager, let us first understand what do we mean by a one-pager and why your business needs one immediately.

Read on…

What is Business One Pager? (Definition)

A business one-pager is a one-page document that demonstrates your business overview or your product/service information on a single page.

A business one-pager is like a one page executive summary or pitch of your company.

It describes what your company is about, what is the business problem you are trying to solve, how you are different from your competitors, and what value you will provide to your customers.

Think of one-pagers like an elevator pitch for your company. They needs to be clear, concise, and purpose-driven.

How to Write a Business One-pager Effectively: One-Pager Format

Now that we know the importance of creating a one-pager, it’s time to dive into the details and learn how to create a one-pager quickly.

There are two pillars of a great one-pager: Design and Content.

While the marketing one-pager should be inviting and visually appealing, it should also be very succinct.

Remember, the one-pager needs to hook the audience in and not drive them away.

Make sure you remove all fluff from it and write only the things that truly matter.

Here are the key elements every one-pager should have:

1. Company Overview

Start off by stating your company name and adding your logo. Your audience should instantly know who the message is coming from.

If you are in the early phases of your company and haven’t decided on the name yet, make sure you choose a name that is easy to remember.

After adding your name and logo, it’s time to talk about your business. Describe what your company does and why does it exist in the first place.

However, make sure to keep it as short as possible.

2. Paint Point/Problem

This is one of the most important parts of your one-pager. Discuss what problem your product or service intends on solving.

Describe in detail the pain points of your customers and why the problem needs to addressed as soon as possible.

The more you make your reader feel the pain of the problem, the better.

3. Solution

Now comes the pivotal section of your marketing one-pager.

This is the section where you need to convince the reader why you are the best entity to solve their problem.

Take your time in this section and create a compelling message that lures in readers.

Explain precisely why you are best suited to solve the above-mentioned problem, in what ways you are better than other solutions out there (if any), and how your customer’s lives will change once they invest in you.

4. Product/Service Summary

It’s time to introduce your core offering and give an overview of your product/service.

In this section, you need to describe what you are offering, who are your target customers, why the reader needs it, and how you are better than your competitors.

List down the key features your product/service offers and the benefits they will bring to your customer.

If you are creating a one-pager for investors, you can use this section to talk about how far in the development stage is your product, share images of the product in action, explain your roadmap, and more.

5. Business Model

Explain quickly how you are planning on generating revenue for your business and generate ROI (return on investment) for your investors.

Include key metrics like revenue model, average lifetime value of a customer, average customer acquisition cost, etc.

6. Team

Next up, you need to introduce your team. The team behind a business is as important (if not more) than the product or service they are trying to sell.

List down your company founders, management, the board of directors, advisors, etc.

Include your past employment data if it’s relevant to your current business as it can help solidify your know-how in the industry.

7. Milestones/Accomplishments

It’s time to showoff by highlighting your business’s major accomplishments or milestones achieved.

This segment of the one-pager offers a glimpse of your journey to the readers.

It showcases how far you have come and what challenges you overcame to get to where you are right now.

Use this section to show how many users your product has, how much money you have raised so far, how many employees do you have, users, how much revenue you have generated since inception, and more.

These are some of the key elements every company one-pager must-have.

The 9 Best Internal Wiki Tools For Remote Teams in 2021

Dave — Fri, 11 Jun 2021 10:21:37 +0000

Looking for a wiki tool for documentation? Check out the following wiki tools for remote teams! Read on…

A wiki or an internal wiki is a must-have have software for businesses, especially those who have a distributed workforce.

A wiki helps remote teams share information quickly, solve problems, onboard and train new hires, and acts as a knowledge base for customer queries.

But before we dive into awesome wiki tools your remote team can use for documentation, let us first understand what exactly is a wiki tool.

What is a Wiki Tool?

A wiki tool is software that allows employees to collaboratively create, edit and share information inside or outside an organization.

The word wiki comes from the Hawaiian word for “quick”. A wiki is indeed, a quick and easy way to manage and share information.

According to Wikipedia, “a wiki is a hypertext publication collaboratively edited and managed by its own audience directly using a web browser.”

Wikis act as a single source of truth for all knowledge within an organization. This knowledge is accessible to anyone within the organization.

single source of truth image
Think of it as a central repository to store all company data and important info.

Documents like meeting notes, process documentation, shared logins, checklists, onboarding and training material, company policies, HR documents, etc are all stored in an internal wiki for easy access.

While mostly used by organizations, the use of a wiki is beyond the boundaries of a business.

Different Use-Cases of a Wiki

Wikis can be used by teachers, librarians, and even individuals- simply anyone who needs to store and share information.

Wikis can be public-facing, private, or personal. You can use the wiki as:

An internal wiki software for collaboration amongst team members
A corporate or private wiki software for storing and sharing your company’s info
A classroom wiki for teachers to share resources with each other as well as with students.

The 9 Best Wiki Tools For Remote Teams in 2021

To make the process of creating and sharing knowledge easier for you, we have curated a list of some of the best internal wiki tools for remote teams on the market right now.

Are you ready? Let’s dive in…

1. Confluence Wiki

Kicking off our list of awesome wiki tools for remote teams is Confluence. Connecting people, content, and ideas, Confluence is a knowledge management tool built by the software giant Atlassian.

With real-time editing, Confluence wiki allows team members to remotely collaborate on the same page, add in-line comments, @mention someone, and more.

Apart from creating docs from scratch, Confluence Wiki also allows you to drag and drop your Office docs, PDFs, images, etc.

Files on Confluence are automatically versioned, removing all confusion and chaos. Users can also track every single change made to a document easily.

Flexible permissions allow teams to secure their content from unauthorized access and have complete control over their files.

With amazing mobile apps, teams can stay informed no matter where they are in the world.

Some key features of Confluence:

Customizable templates to kickstart work
Integration with JIRA and Hipchat for enhanced collaboration
Version tracking and real-time editing

Pricing:

Paid plans start at: Standard ($5 per user/month), Pro ($10 per user /month), Enterprise (contact sales).

2. DokuWiki

A highly versatile tool, Dokuwiki is open-source wiki software. The tool doesn’t require a database and is very clean and simple to use.

The wiki has very low system requirements and is a breeze to install. Even though the platform allows anyone to create, edit, and share files, it also has access control features to keep stuff private.

A great part of Dokuwiki is its vibrant community that constantly supports and builds new plugins to improve the tool.

Moreover, the software also has a ton of templates to quickly start creating documents without worrying about formatting.

Users can even create their own templates and submit them to Dokuwiki for others to use.

If you are looking for an open-source wiki software that easy to use and install, Dokuwiki might be the one you need!

Some key features of Dokuwiki:

Access controls and authentication connectors
Numerous plugins and extensions
Open source wiki tool

Pricing:

Free to use

3. Nuclino

Following the trend of lightweight wikis, Nuclino is next up on our list.

The ‘collective brain of your team’, Nuclino empowers employees to ‘dump’ all their knowledge and organize it in Nuclino.

Using Nuclino, teams can create an internal and external knowledge base, company wikis, or simply use it to store important company files in a central location.

For faster writing, Nuclino supports Markdown and other formatting features.

Nuclino also allows teams to add one item inside another using the ‘@’ command, helping them to organize content in a meaningful way.

Teams can view their items in different views- the ‘recent‘ view (to show all the recently updated items), the ‘board’ view (to track items in a workflow), and the ‘graph’ view (to create a mind map).

Some key features of Nuclino:

Available in the browser or as a desktop and mobile app
Export your data quickly in formats like PDF, Word, Markdown, etc
Access settings to control who can view or edit content.

Pricing:

Free plan for 50 items
Paid plan starts from: Standard ($5 per user/month)
Read More: The 10 Best Digital Whiteboard Software for Remote Teams!

4. You Need A Wiki

Do you use Google Docs for a lot of your documentation? You are going to love this tool!

You need a wiki- internal wiki tool
You need a wiki that converts your Google Docs files and folders into a fully functional wiki in less than 30 seconds! Yes, you read that right!

Simply import your existing Google Drive folders and files and let this amazing wiki software do the rest.

Search has never been Google Docs’ strong suit. This is why You need a wiki that has a nested tree menu that lets you quickly find the files you are looking for.

Moreover, you can set up a table of contents or link to other documents easily, making organization easier.

The best part is that you can still use all the good features of Google Docs- real-time collaboration, advanced formatting, commenting, and more.

If you are a heavy Google Docs user, You need a wiki is a great wiki tool for your remote team!

Some key features of You need a wiki:

Quickly create a wiki with your existing Google Docs
Save file automatically to Google Drive
Unlimited wikis and read-only users

Pricing:

Free plan with limited features
Paid plans start at: Up to 10 users ($10 per month), up to 25 users ($49 per month), up to 75 users ($99 per month).

5. Slab

Trusted by over 7000+ companies including Asana and Vox Media, Slab is another great wiki tool for documentation.

Slab provides a great editor to create beautiful-looking content. You can even embed docs and files from other tools into your Slab documents.

All your documents appear on the left side of your homepage. Content in Slab is organized by topics and not in messy folders or tags, making it easier to find.

Slab also provides analytics to understand whether your knowledge base is being read and understood by your team so you can make changes accordingly.

With robust integrations with Google Docs, Dropbox, Slack, Github, Asana, and more, users can search for content across their different tools and not just inside Slab.

Some key features of Slab:

Intuitive interface
Integrates with other knowledge base tools and searches across each of them.
Organizes content by topic and not folders.

Pricing:

Free plan with limited features
Paid plans start at: Startup ($6.67 per user/month), Business ($12.50 per user/month), Enterprise (contact sales)..

Check out the complete list here: https://remoteverse.com/internal-wiki-tools-for-remote-teams/