Three tech pieces you need in the new ‘norm’
By Lawrence Breen
What a year it’s been! If you had told me in October 2019 that in the next 12 months we’d see major bushfires followed by a global pandemic I’d have laughed at you. But here we are!
What has been challenging for all of us in business is the change to our day-to-day routines. We’ve been forced to work remotely and it’s changed the way we work together. Some argue that it’ll be a permanent change and it may well be; we’ll see over time. What’s even more interesting is the technology side. I’ve spoken to so many clients and partners about what has been vital for them during this period and I received some interesting answers.
Here are a few tech platforms that have been incredibly useful and were a hot topic of conversation.
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Video and collaboration
Geez haven’t we embraced video! I think a lot of people will have found it indispensible during COIVD-19. Face to face meetings have been replaced with video and we’ve seen plenty of our colleagues’ lounge rooms, studies and kitchens in the background. I’ve even seen people doing video meetings from bed!
In some cases video has shown us that we can collaborate over long distances and it may see a few businesses tightening their travel budgets over time. Zoom has made a killing, as have Google Meet and Microsoft Teams. Everyone has their favourite tool and I’ve joined the Zoom bandwagon by and large.
We’ve also had clients look at new ways of collaborating across teams and there’s been a big increase in interest in tools like the SMART collaboration whiteboard technology that allows your team to collaborate and work together on projects wherever they are.
The verdict? I still love human contact and while video works in some scenarios, I think there will still be a place for face-to-face. Find a video platform that works for you, one that specifically fits your business requirements.
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Set up a space at home and resource it
Working from the kitchen table is hard. Home is great in some ways but in others it can be distracting.
The best advice I’ve heard is to find a space in your home that you set up ‘for work’. I’ve even heard of people dressing as though they’re going to work and then heading into the newly kitted out study just down the hallway!
If you are building your own in-home office, look at how you can kit it out with the technology you need. I don’t mean just having your work laptop. Make sure you find a good ergonomic chair and set it up to work for you. Make sure you have the right cabling and desktop devices to ensure you can still work with the same effectiveness as you do in your office space.
If you need to print, make sure you’ve got the right tech do the job you need. You can find some great deals and if you’re looking to match your office set up there are some incredibly cost effective managed service options that can now include your staff working remotely at home.
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Make documents work for you
One issue that’s driven people mental: Not having easy access to information. Fortunately that wasn’t an issue for us as we have a full cloud based document management and workflow system in place. I didn’t realise how important that would be over the past 6 months.
Our team are well versed on making documents work for us, instead of wasting huge swathes of time on admin. So my advice here is to look into a proper cloud based solution. People I’ve spoken to have various products but make sure its one with robust workflow capability and strong data security.
Transforming business is more than just a tagline for us; it’s core to what we do every day. Keen to discuss how you work better in the new norm? Email me at lbreen@inlanddigital.com.au and we can arrange a time to discuss what’s happening in your business.