Remote working used to be perceived as something that could work only in a very limited number of industries, such as IT. However, thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, it quickly became the new standard for a modern workplace. One study even suggests that on top of protecting the workers from falling sick, it can effectively boost their productivity!
But to give such great results, remote working has to be planned out and implemented with a lot of foresight and care. For example, not every employee might have access to a fast and reliable Internet connection, and using the new software that you’re so keen on trying out might easily confuse those who have never got to use it before.
On top of that, many business owners don’t really know what online tools they should be using and how to use them in order to harness their employees’ full potential. Because of that, we came up with a few tips on getting your business ready for effective remote working. By putting them into action, both you and your employees will be ready to work remotely in no time!
Ensure Efficient Ways of Communicating
Many businesses might find it hard to switch to remote working due to communication issues. It’s understandable, especially when attending in-person meetings or answering phone calls used to be the norm. However, you can easily replace the vast majority of such traditional ways of going about your business without any major issues.
For instance, if your organization had been using a traditional telephone system at its headquarters, you can choose to invest in a hosted PBX. It operates by using the Internet, making it extremely easy to use as long as your workers have access to a stable Internet connection. For more information, visit https://www.yeastar.com.
When it comes to in-person meetings, you might want to look into video conferencing platforms instead! The most popular ones, such as Google Meet or MS Teams, are very user friendly and relatively easy to use. While they might be hard to get used to at first, they get the job done quickly and effectively.
Invest In Proper IT Management
Some companies use many different applications instead of one to perform some tasks, which might prove to be very annoying and confusing in the long run. Your workforce might consist of a few different teams that have to communicate with one another. If you don’t introduce proper guidelines, they might all end up using different video conferencing apps and cloud storage services.
As a result, your workers will have to sign into three different video calling platforms and four cloud storage services to open the files and messages that they need for work. Doesn’t sound well-organized, does it? Even if it’s virtual, such a work environment is extremely challenging to deal with and can result in a lot of chaos and misunderstandings.
To prevent such issues from happening, you need to publish proper guidelines on working with some pieces of software, set up company accounts on the platforms that you and your team will be using, and then make sure that everyone can access them with ease. On top of that, you have to do it at least a few days before really getting to work so that your employees will have at least a little while to get accustomed to their new work environment.
Make Sure that Your Employees Are Ready
It might not seem that obvious at first, but your employees might be completely unprepared for remote work. Just because someone has a working smartphone doesn’t mean that they will do just fine without access to the company’s on-site resources. Most solutions used in remote work require a reliable Internet connection and either a laptop or a PC.
Before your employees get down to work, you need to inform them about what kind of tools they are going to need in the upcoming days. When it comes to their Internet speed, consider posting a link to a website that can check upload and download speeds of one’s Internet connection to ensure that it’s fit for a digital workspace.
Conclusion
All in all, having your employees work remotely might seem like a challenging task. Luckily, remote working solutions have really progressed in the last few months. Many applications and platforms have become more user-friendly, and using them has become more intuitive. As a result, even if you are a total beginner, you should be able to adapt fairly quickly.
Remember that by building an organized and efficient digital work environment, you protect your workers’ health and safety. At the same time, your business stays fully operational and profitable. Besides, the solutions that you invested in because of the pandemic may be of great use long after it’s over!