The covid-19 pandemic has taught us many things. Not least, how important it is to be set up to keep our businesses operating even if the world throws the unexpected at us.
Millions of people and thousands of businesses have recently been forced to adapt to working from home. This has shown us that:
- We could have been doing this all along
- If something like this can happen once, it can happen again
When we look towards the future, this means we need to be prepared. It means we need to embrace change.
It means not only making working from home practicable. It means making it profitable…
Getting back to work after lockdown
We’ve already produced a handy guide for getting back to work after lockdown is over. That’s not what we’re talking about here.
In the short term, getting workplaces open again when it is safe to do so is going to be vital for many businesses. In the long term, smart businesses are going to learn the commercial lessons of covid:
First and foremost, that lesson is that the successful businesses of the future will be those that leverage technology to stay agile and allow their workforces to collaborate more easily. Even if they’re forced to do so from within their individual homes.
The tools which make change possible
Tools like Microsoft Office 365 and other similar platforms not only allow your workforce to collaborate at a distance, they encourage them to do so. This is something which has been proven to increase productivity and engagement with tasks.
The only downside of these tools is the price that’s usually attached. This makes platforms like Office 365 only truly cost-effective when you properly embrace the change of using them.
Properly embracing them involves using all of their features to support and enable the productivity of your entire team.
Preparing for working at home in the future
The COVID crisis has shown us that being prepared to have your team work from home is going to have a huge Return On Investment in the future.
We’ve already put together a whole slew of work from home resources for you to look at. But some of the key steps to take to prepare for a world when you might need to institute working from home again include:
Train your team
Using the minimum features of a platform like Office 365 is never going to get you the best value for money. It’s all the worse if the only reason you don’t use its full capabilities is that no one on your team knows how to.
This makes it a priority to train your team on all of the technology solutions you are going to use to make working from home profitable as well as practicable.
If you’re worried that you don’t have the time to provide training as well as run your business, it’s worth looking into the various e-learning solutions which are available for platforms like this.
Get the Tools
Comparing and contrasting platforms like Office 365 and G-Suite and bringing in those which give you the functionality you need is going to be a very important step.
Bring in outside resources if necessary
The rapid spread of new tools and technology in the past few years has led to there being a shortfall of trained talent out there.
This is only likely to be exacerbated by the sudden avalanche of companies which suddenly need to organise technological solutions to problems with a covid cause. This makes having a go-to partner for your IT support a sensible plan.
Creating your business continuity plan
Getting back to work after the lockdown is over is one thing. Preparing for a commercial future when a lockdown is an event which has happened and can happen again is something else entirely.
It’s time to embrace the change and start thinking about the steps you can take to help your team take their collaboration home with them. Especially if enforced working from home is something which happens again in the future.
Is your business set up for a world where work-from-home pandemics can happen?
Have a chat with us today. Dial A Geek consults with businesses in Bristol who are looking for technology solutions to their problems.
Let us audit your systems (at no charge and with no strings attached) to find out what areas you could improve.
Call for a chat on 0117 369 4335 or email [email protected].
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