Halfway through 2021, we've all felt the pandemic's profound impact on personal and professional lives. Job losses and pay cuts have hit hard, while remote work has become the new normal for many.
Globally, the pandemic led to at least 114 million job losses in 2020, with figures rising amid second and third waves of COVID-19.
Yet, optimism persists: A Gartner survey reveals over 80% of employers plan part-time remote work, and 47% are open to full-time remote setups.
This shift prioritizes work quality over hours logged. Remote teams demand better tools for engagement, performance tracking, productivity, and project management. Legacy software falls short—upgrades are essential.
As startup advisors with years of hands-on experience evaluating SaaS solutions, we've streamlined the selection process. After rigorous testing, gap analysis, and real-world deployments, here are our top 6 picks to help you thrive post-pandemic.
Asana excels in managing projects, tasks, and teams, offering real-time visibility into workloads, progress, and bottlenecks. Trusted by thousands of startups for its intuitive interface.
Personal (Free) – Ideal for startups starting out, with core task management.
Starter – $13.49/user/month; adds timelines, dashboards, forms.
Advanced – $30.49/user/month; includes workload, goals, portfolios, advanced rules.
Alternatives: Trello | Monday.com | Jira for Developers
Kissmetrics, a go-to for marketers, analyzes user behavior across journeys to enable personalized experiences and targeted messaging, boosting conversions.
Silver – $299/month; 3 seats, 10K tracking limit; funnels, reports.
Platinum – $499/month; 10 seats, 25K limit; revenue/cohort reports, 24-month retention.
Alternatives: Sumo | AnswerThePublic | SEMrush | Hootsuite | Google Analytics
Your team is your greatest asset. Gusto simplifies onboarding, payroll, benefits, and compliance for a seamless employee experience.
Base setup fee, then monthly per employee. Scalable for growing teams.
Intercom's all-in-one platform powers customer engagement via chat, bots, and marketing to onboard, activate, and retain users.
Start – Basic chat, Slack integration; single user.
Grow – Adds email, bots, help center; 5 users.
Accelerate – Custom bots, reports, integrations; 10 users.
Scale – Advanced security, workload mgmt.
Alternatives: Freshdesk | Zendesk | Sprout Social
Perfect for early-stage startups, noCRM.io focuses on lead capture, pipelines, and activities without bloat.
Essential for collaboration; real-time messaging, channels, and integrations keep remote teams aligned.
These battle-tested tools digitize operations, empower remote teams, and drive efficiency. Implement them to navigate the new economy with confidence.
