One year of Working From Home: Adaptation vs. Apathy

The IT world has always been one where a forward-thinking mindset has been rewarded. Up until 2020, relying on accepted best business practices was often the best approach to keep abreast of developments.

That all changed when the way we conducted business was so drastically altered due to the global pandemic. Faced with so many new unknowns, many organisations opted for a wait-and-see approach, hoping that things would return to normal before any sweeping changes would have to be carried out.

Over a year later, we have a new set of best practices and a far clearer understanding of the challenges of a decentralised workplace.

But the big question is: has your organisation moved with the times or are you still hoping for a return to the old normal?

The New Normal

Whenever there is a major shift in the way an industry operates, the nature of the opportunities and threats change along with it.

The pandemic forced a new way of working on many organisations and while many have adapted their IT systems to make the most of the changes, others are still patching their existing setups, reacting to issues rather than pre-empting them.

Even if you are one of the late adopters, there are a number of easily implementable solutions that can make a big difference.

Communication

Keeping in touch with employees and clients is one of the major hurdles that had to be overcome in the early months.

Correctly implementing Microsoft Teams is a great way to resolve this issue and facilitate team discussions. Needless to say, this is a crucial competitive advantage that impacts every other facet of the business process.

Productivity

Keeping productivity levels high is another challenge that can seem daunting, especially with so many employees working from remote locations, often outside of traditional working hours.

Access to important files and sensitive information used to mean heading to the office, programs like SharePoint now make it safe and easy to do so from just about anywhere.

It is simple to implement, and the company retains control of who has access to the data.

The Hybrid Workplace

The move back to a full-time office environment is unlikely for many organisations, even if the work/home split favours the office, many employees are still drawn to the benefits of being able to work from home on occasion.

It is not always necessary to invest in additional equipment and hardware infrastructure to facilitate this hybrid setup.

Having employees go through a WVD (Windows Virtual Desktop) ensure that only those authorised to gain access to company files do so, while Azure Single Sign On takes the hassle out of signing into individual applications.

Practical Solutions for real-world issues

A lot of these scenarios and suggestions can seem like abstract examples rather than practical solutions, but we have guided many of our clients through these exact steps over the past year to accomplish some impressive results.

One accounting firm in particular realised a tangible boost in their communication, productivity and response time with their customers by overhauling their outdated software solutions.

Having these WFH solutions in place has made a huge difference to the way they conduct business and it all started with embracing the new normal in the workplace.

For more information on how to optimise your business WFH processes, click here.