Remote working? Here’s how better collaboration can help
As we continue through the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s safe to say that we’re now more experienced at remote working than ever before! It’s interesting, some people seem to love it, while others hate it and can’t wait to get back to the office. For me, it has been mixed; I’ve found some days I’ve really enjoyed it but on others, I’ve missed the interaction of working with our team in the office.
As a business that focuses on helping our clients to transform the way they work, we’re always looking at new and interesting ways you can use technology. A common request we get from businesses is around how to continue working together and communicate across teams in a remote workplace.
Collaboration is the focus
For all of us in business, there’s plenty of evidence to suggest how important strong communication is, both internally within our team and with our customers. The ability to communicate effectively across large geographic boundaries is nothing new. We’ve all had to work with teams across different towns, cities, states or even countries. It’s just become the new norm to do it from home!
But it goes beyond communication. Collaboration is a word we’ve focused on for some time and it’s one part of this new working norm that we believe we can help our clients to improve.
It’s more than Zoom calls
With the need to work from home, we’ve seen an explosion in the use of video calling. It was an obvious tech winner, as businesses looked at ways to ensure meetings and staff interaction could go ahead as best as could be expected. But it hasn’t been all smooth sailing, with Australia’s well-documented Internet issues and a few new challenges for tech companies, such as Zoom.
While video can be a good way to stay connected, it’s not the only way. There are tools and technology that can take this to another level.
Work together in real time
SMART board technology is a really interesting tool, and we’ve seen a rise in demand for it, especially from clients who have split their workforce across the home and remote environments.
SMART allows all the benefits of a video conference combined with the ability to work together on the same interactive whiteboard. We have used it for many years ourselves and have a number of client stories showcasing how this technology has improved the way they work.
Collaboration through tech
Team collaboration doesn’t just refer to communication. At times, it means you have the right tech set-up available to you at home. That might be communication tech like headsets and the availability to take calls with clients just as easily as you can in the office. For others, it means access to systems and tools that allow them to work with colleagues and teams across the organisation.
We’ve seen increased demand for cloud based document management and workflow technology that makes it easy to share information and build automated information- based workflows. The right technology means that processes can not only continue as before but are often improved. We’re also looking at options that can provide your staff with in-home hardware, like a document scanner for those that require it.
Transforming business is more than just a tagline for us; it’s core to what we do every day. Keen to discuss how you can manage the COVID-19 crisis better? Email me at lbreen@inlanddigital.com.au and we can arrange a time to discuss what’s happening in your business.