How Technology Can Successfully Enable a Remote Workforce

The workforce of 2020 looks quite a bit different than just twenty years ago. Back in the early 2000s technology was still a brand new addition to offices and desktops and printers tended to be large and heavy. No one would dream of taking them to work at home.

But just two decades later entire businesses can be run from remote locations, with no physical office at all…and you’d never know it thanks to cloud services for phone, video, file sharing, customer support, and just about every other business process you can think of.

Now, with the ongoing spread of COVID-19, the demand for implementing a remote work policy is at an all time high.

The benefits of allowing a telecommuting option for employees either part of the time or full-time are also well documented. Advantages include:

• Increased productivity: 2/3 of employers report better productivity for remote workers.
• Cost savings: Employers can save up to $11,000 per year using remote workers, and the employees save up to $7,000 per year.
• Less stress: Remote workers report 82% reduced stress.

If you’re a business wanting to implement a remote workforce, there are some simple ways you can successfully enable a team that works remotely.

Using Cloud Solutions Like Microsoft 365 to Stay Connected

Some of the questions that employers have when considering a remote workforce are, “How will they handle their daily tasks? How will I know that they are staying on task? How will they stay connected and not feel isolated?”

Those questions are all addressed positively by using a platform designed to bring your team and their workflows together in a collaborative cloud-based environment.

One of the best tools to do this and successfully enable a remote workforce is Microsoft 365. It includes a full suite of Office tools, including the mainstays like Word and Excel, plus new tools specifically designed to keep your remote team connected, secure, on task, and in the loop.

Microsoft 365 also includes important enhancements for network security and mobile device management which keeps your data protected with centralized administration of remote workers.

Here’s how you can take advantage of Microsoft 365 to keep your telecommuting employees all working in unison.

Microsoft Teams for a Virtual Communication Hub

The Teams platform streamlines your office communications through the use of dedicated chat channels. Remote workers can easily chat via text, video, or audio and share files, collaborate on MS documents, and even invite clients to join as well.

One of the challenges with a remote workforce is how to know when they’re at their desk, away for a moment, or on the phone with a client. Teams allows you to set your availability status manually and it will even pick up meetings on your Outlook calendar and automatically set your status to busy when one starts.

The alert systems in Teams also allows everyone to prioritize the way they get messages, and for the most important they can get an on screen or mobile alert.

Centralized Document Storage

What happens if you have remote employees that need access to files that are stored locally in the office? By putting a centralized cloud document storage system in place that problem is alleviated for remote workers.

Both SharePoint and OneDrive are apps in Microsoft 365 that give you a centralized place to store business digital assets and easily share them between colleagues and clients.

By having your employees store all documents in OneDrive or SharePoint, you can ensure that they’re all safely being stored in the cloud, are accessible from anywhere, and there aren’t any issues with multiple versions of the same file floating around.

Teams also integrates with SharePoint, allowing you to efficiently access files from one central location and work together with colleagues.

Easy to Scale & Secure

Because Microsoft 365 is a cloud subscription service, you don’t have to worry about sending software to remote employees or what to do if someone stops working for you and still has your software on their computer and access to your data.

To add or revoke access to your platform, all the applications in it, and its data, you can simply add or remove users from a cloud-based admin panel. There are also multiple user permission options in Microsoft 365 that allow for sharing and printing restraints on sensitive documents.

Revamp How You Work with the Right Technology

Using the right cloud technologies can help you envision new ways to work that improve productivity at the same time as boosting employee morale.

Contact us today for a free consultation to learn how your business can use technology to improve teamwork, security, and profitability while enabling a remote workforce.