Covid Has Created Remote Work Opportunities and Challenges
For so many of us, COVID-19 created a huge shift in the way we work. As businesses across the globe turned to remote working, some saw it as an opportunity, and others found it to be a challenge.
In Australia, we have largely returned to normal. However in a lot of countries, many businesses have settled into this “new normal”, whereas others are looking forward to the day they can go back to the office.
The challenge of remote working combined with the uncertainty of the situation has left many employees feeling stressed, unmotivated and unproductive. Plus, the distractions that come with home working have added to the decreasing productivity levels of employees.
Take Advantage of the Cloud
Migrating to cloud storage has an array of benefits of your business, including boosting employee productivity. G Suite, Office 365 and Dropbox are the most popular tools providing cost-effective business solutions.
Migrating your emails, calendars and files to one platform creates a collaborative workspace that can be easily accessed by all employees, no matter where they are. Your team will have everything they need on a fast, user-friendly platform.
In addition, migrating to the cloud enables you to safely store data, maintain data protection and compliance.
Encourage Non-Work Interactions
Working remotely can be an isolating experience for many. To keep employees productive, engaged and most importantly, happy, you should be increasing communication. If there was ever a time to over-communicate, it is now.
Working from home has taken away those small yet important in-person social interactions we had in the office. Creating a sense of community will help your team connect and collaborate when working remotely.
If you have a small business that is embracing home working, set up a group chat for your team to communicate with each other whilst working remotely. If you have a large business with numerous departments, encourage each manager to interact with their team regularly.
Provide Your Team With The Right Tools
Ensure your team can work seamlessly from home by providing them with the tools and resources they need.
Project management and collaboration tools, such as Trello or Asana, will be incredibly useful for your team when working remotely. They allow your employees to manage their workload, set priorities and work together on projects.
Video conferencing apps and messaging apps, such as Google Hangouts, Zoom or Microsoft Teams will also make life easier for your team.
Co-working Spaces Can Provide A Different Way of Thinking About Business Space
Many organisations are re-thinking their need for office space – either for expansion, or for consolidation. To find out how Spacecubed are focussing in this area, see The Future of Flex Working
Many businesses are seeing the benefits of a combination of home and office locations for work. Adding the right technology can make a bit difference.
