The world has moved to a remote or hybrid way of work which is now accepted as the new normal style of working and business. It has thus become paramount for all businesses, small and big, to look at how they too can facilitate this change and accommodate a remote or hybrid workforce. This article will examine a few of the tech basics that you need to have in place if your business or enterprise is considering going the remote or hybrid route.
Move to hybrid or remote, what it means
There is oftentimes a great deal of confusion around the term hybrid and perhaps even a misunderstanding of remote work. In brief, hybrid-remote is partly remote and has become the biggest change to how we work and live in the modern era. Most companies have been able to keep a formal head office or central office hub while allowing a degree of flexibility for their workforce. This is for two main reasons:- workers want more flexibility and now realize that it is possible, after the global pandemic and the directive to work from home for so long, and secondly:- it has proven to drive an increase in productivity if managed and implemented professionally.
What you need tech-wise for a professional hybrid/remote workforce
● Connectivity
Without good connectivity, there can be no hybridization of the workplace. A high-speed internet connection is a must for any business to be competitive in the hybrid space and be able to provide hybrid-remote workers the possibility of choice as to where is best to work from to achieve their highest levels of productivity.
● A shared/collaborative workspace
An, ‘in cloud’ office space that has all the capabilities of the physical office space has become the norm for hybrid workers. There are now a number of platforms and Software as service products that can host such an office. However, the very basics, such as professional Microsoft 365 services and the actual programs and applications you choose, must be based on their ability to provide a true collaborative feeling at work.
● Serious cyber security
If your business model has moved to adopt a hybrid style of work and is all about sharing and allowing access to your data from remote devices, this will increase the number of end-points, times, and means used to access your network. The only way to remain safe and protect your company and client data will be for your business to have professional cyber security. There should never be a move to remote data access without a clear security protocol being set up and maintained, as having more data online makes it more susceptible to issues.
In conclusion, it is clear from the research that hybrid and remote work are here to stay, and the only way that your business will be able to keep up in the modern world will be to ensure that you have both the understanding of and the actual technology to engage with your workforce.