Changing the way you work: Key trends in the office
The way we work is constantly evolving. I often write about the fact that we live in an era where technology rapidly changes the way we work, more than at any time in human history.
So what are some of the trends we’re seeing in the office? And how do you need to address them within your business?
Time to get on the bus
By far the biggest challenge we see is the way that many businesses still ignore technology. 10 years ago you could take a wait and see style approach to new technology, and your business would still be fine. Today, the pace of change means you will rapidly be left behind if you do.
Technology changes affect both the front and back of office operations. For front of house, customers expect you to provide options that offer convenience to them, rather than just 9-5 office hours. Technology means that you can provide a different level of service to a customer in terms of speed, availability, and ultimately in a better outcome for the end user.
In back of house operations, the impact of technology can be even greater. Digitisation of processes means that bottlenecks are removed, accuracy increases, and the overall delivery to your customers, partners, and employees is much improved. Having poor, manual systems can even lead to employee turnover, especially with younger generations. I listened to a great podcast on the future of work and not being left behind, which I think is a great resource for both owners and employees to think about their employability in a technology driven market.
Interconnected Communications
The amazing thing with technology is that it vastly improves the ability for your business to operate. By communicating in real time across a range of processes, you can see dramatic results.
An example I often use is in our own business through the service delivery tools we have implemented. We have the ability to seamlessly log a service call, upload the call to our techs in field, have them remotely log the call when it’s finished and provide our sales and operations teams with real time data. This has revolutionised the way we service our clients. We can remotely manage our service performance, more easily manage KPIs and ultimately deliver a better result for a client.
We’ve seen other businesses across multiple examples changing the way they work by using technology to deliver more efficient results.
Data is king
Technology means that the office is now a huge data silo, with information available on everything from customer trends and service times, to employee performance and backend process roadblocks. How you harness this data is now crucial to your business.
A great example of this is in the way you make data available to your team. So many businesses still rely on paper based, manual processes. We’ve seen the benefits from using a centralised, secure document management system to ensure all our data is in the one place, accessible when people need it. Building security and workflow around your data can assist in making your business compliant with data laws, as well as point out bottlenecks before they happen. With a cloud approach, the cost of these types of solutions has also dramatically reduced in recent years.
Want to discuss your changing office needs? Feel free to contact us to talk in detail about how Inland Digital can transform the way you work.