Before the pandemic a lot was said about remote working, illustrating its great benefits to both employer and employee, and highlighting its huge impact on worker’s productivity and creativity. Some businesses, such as Octagon, have been adapting to this model and have been using it with great success. We decided to go remote in 2007, however at the beginning of lockdown businesses did not have this choice and were made to switch to remote working, making all their employees work from home. This has been creating many challenges and obstacles of course, making teamwork and project management challenging.
Working from home may not be for everyone and managing projects when all your employees are spread out across multiple locations with deadlines to meet and targets to hit can be one of the biggest challenges you face every day. Without having a physical presence communication is more difficult and may mean that you are spending the majority of your working day on a phone or emailing to make sure your employees are doing what they have been asked to do. Keeping track of individual tasks can be problematic and may mean that you have multiple spreadsheets open or stored on your device, especially for large projects and large teams. Technology is a key driver of this change and it can be tough if you do not have the right tools or even harder if you do not know how to use them effectively.
So how to solve the problem?
So, you won the project, you have the right skillset to deliver the project and you know the deadline but you are lacking the infrastructure that will support this. Or you have the infrastructure but have not been utilising it to its full potential. It sounds familiar, we are asked about these things all the time. Let me just break it down for you.
Sophisticated technology…
I can assure you that you do not need sophisticated technology to manage your team from a distance. Microsoft gives you everything you need. Office 365 and its apps enables you to create, share, and collaborate from anywhere on any device with a cloud-based suite of productivity apps and services. Sounds great? Yes, it’s simple and it’s true.
With this solution you can help your team be productive, connected and involved whilst keeping corporate information secure. With access management tools you can benefit from flexibility and control, seeing real-time collaboration on files or single documents. Sharing documents has never been easier. You can create and automate business processes, engage with your team members on documents or through video conferencing whilst staying assured that the connections between people, devices, apps and data are secured. Advanced tools will not only detect and investigate threats and malicious actions across your network or cloud environment but they will also enable you to work smarter, helping you to make faster and more informed decisions.
Know this stuff already?
Great to hear this! This gives you an idea of the technology we recommend. Of course, it is one of many options available that will help you overcome the collaborative challenges you and your team face so keep up with this blog because there is more to come!
Uncover your full potential!
You’ve got this and have the technology I’m talking about. Great stuff! If you think there are many more boxes that can be ticked and want to make sure that this is one of the greatest tools in your toolbox contact me. There is noting worse than not getting value for money. You may be needing only a short training session with us or perhaps your team needs to learn more about this great technology. We can help you uncover its full potential.
Either way pick up your phone (01522 797520) or email me – kamila@octagontech.com I will be happy to help you manage your team and projects whilst working from home.
Kamila
General Manager
