While many companies have been able to adapt to the remote policies forced upon them by the COVID-19 pandemic, there are many others who have struggled with this adoption. Thankfully, remote technology which enables these practices has never been easier to manage or more accessible. Let’s discuss some of the policies you can implement to make sure that remote technology helps more than it hinders your operations.
Team Management Tools > Heavy Management Practices
We don’t care who you are; you don’t like to do anything if you have someone breathing down your neck the whole time. Your employees feel the same, especially when it comes to remote monitoring. It’s important to make sure that your team is being effective, but if they feel they are constantly being watched, this is not going to help matters. They may feel stressed or even violated by too invasive of remote monitoring practices. With remote jobs being on the up-and-up, they can simply jump ship and find work elsewhere, so you should do your part to make sure they stay happy–within reason, of course.
Rather than monitor their every move, you should implement a project management platform to help them stay on task and accountable for work you assign to them. You can easily see who is pulling their weight and who isn’t, and it doesn’t take watching them every waking hour of the day to see this. If you do notice problems, you can start to have a conversation about the problem and perhaps find a solution.
Remote Work Communication Tools Are Still Great for In-House Work
Remote communication tools have given employees the ability to communicate while out of the office in much the same way they would if they were all in the same location. Even when they do return to the office, they may find these tools helpful. They are designed with collaboration in mind, regardless of physical presence, so they are valuable investments for times when your staff can’t all be in the same place at the same time.
Just look to the traditional staff meeting for a perfect example. Instead of gathering everyone together in the conference room and finding a time that works best for everyone, you can instead gather them in a virtual space. You can also send out instant messages for quick and efficient communication. Platforms like Slack, Zoom, or Microsoft Teams are all valuable tools your business could potentially implement, even for a hybrid workspace.
Zero-Trust Policies Create More Comprehensive Security
A remote workplace is the textbook definition for a security problem, especially considering the number of devices accessing company data that aren’t necessarily under the purview of your company’s security measures. You must know who is accessing data, on what devices, and why. A zero-trust policy can be an effective way to protect your data. What this entails is having each individual device accessing data be verified and confirmed before it’s allowed to access any data. It’s useful not just for remote operations, but in-house ones as well. Considering the prevalence of major security threats like ransomware, it never hurts to take too much caution.
SRS Networks can help your business implement any technology it needs to make a remote or hybrid workplace succeed. To learn more, reach out to us at (831) 758-3636.