Five actions to future-proof remote working
Business and IT leaders looking to embed remote working and the digital workplace into business strategy face a number of technology and human challenges. Our conversations with leaders who are tackling these challenges revealed five key actions for effective change:
Match tools to goals and roles
EY analysts have pointed out that when implementing remote working, responding to the pandemic isn’t a goal in itself5. The first step is to align business and operational goals to digital and remote working investment. Performance management of remote working employees may result in new and different outcome-related goals.
To achieve these goals, taking time to match tools to roles is the next priority, where the aim is to enable people to be as productive as they would be in the office. Some employees will need to use the document-sharing features in some UC solutions, others might depend on remote file sharing, or workflows that benefit from being digitally enabled rather than paper-based.
Felix Bailer, VP of Global Business Services at Vertiv says: “I always find that you need a catalogue of tools. And you build it around the need. I’m a big fan of how Microsoft are deploying Power BI, how they made the digital dashboards a commodity. Power BI came along and made it simple, made it much easier, and popularised the whole visual display. Using Microsoft apps, I created my own app that I can use with the team. Instead of buying in every time, we can tailor some of these solutions for digital collaboration.”
Other businesses choose Zoom as their video collaboration platform of choice largely due to its simplicity. Zoom arrived at the top of the Gartner Magic Quadrant for Meeting Solutions this year thanks to its Meeting and Webinar solutions. Zoom solutions were able to satisfy a range of new and established meeting scenarios. The company is now investing constantly in new and robust vertical solutions, such as hardware as a service, hardened security capabilities, and new video experiences embedded into enterprise workflows.
By integrating the technologies that employees use (from e-mail, instant messaging and enterprise social media tools to HR applications and virtual meeting tools), the digital workplace breaks down communication barriers, positioning you to transform the employee experience by fostering efficiency, innovation and growth.
Tim Marsden,
Senior Director, Technology Partner Ecosystem | Zendesk
Everything that we do as a business normally, there’s a tool which enables you to do it remotely. And they’re very easy to find. So it’s been a very interesting exercise.
Action Points
- Consider how more use of collaboration tools could boost productivity.
- Review current platforms regularly for features and tools that could support different roles and responsibilities throughout the business.
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