Here’s how to make remote work succeed for your business

Many organizations in Salt Lake City now grant their employees the option to work remotely or in the office. If yours is one of them (or if you’re considering implementing flexible work arrangements), here are tips for making remote work effective for your business.

1. Establish remote work policies and procedures

Don’t just let employees work from home because it’s convenient for them. That is, they may be out of the office, but you’re still paying them to work for you, so your remote work setup ought to be beneficial for your organization, too. To ensure that remote workers are productive and accountable, you must set what you expect from them by implementing remote work policies and procedures. Examples of such policies include:

Production quotas for output-based staff

Requiring staff to use virtual private networks or VPNs when using public Wi-Fi

Making attending team catch-up meetings compulsory

Examples of procedures include:

Clocking in and out (for shift-based employees)

Logging on to the team’s chat app and indicating oneself as “available”

2. Make sure remote workers have the tools they need to be productive

This includes a good internet connection, a comfortable place to work in, and the necessary software and hardware. If your remote staff are accessing critical company data, issue them firewalls or other network security tools. To completely protect your organization regardless of where your staff members work, get the cybersecurity services of a trusted managed IT services provider like [company_short].

3. Create regular check-in points

Regularly check up on your staff to ensure that remote workers are staying on track and meeting deadlines. You can do this through video conferencing, chat software, or simply by calling them in for a meeting every so often.

4. Encourage remote workers to meet up in person with their colleagues now and then

Your staff must occasionally meet face to face occasionally so as not to lose touch with one another as well as with the company culture. It’s important for remote workers to still feel like they belong in your organization and play a role in shaping its future.

5. Provide communication training

Take the time to teach remote workers how to best communicate with their team and other remote employees. Training can be for honing technical skills (e.g., how to use chat apps, how to prepare for video conferencing sessions) or soft skills (e.g., asking for feedback or questions throughout the course of a meeting). All of these can help prevent misunderstandings and increase accountability among remote workers by making them feel like they’re part of the team.

6. Give remote employees the same opportunities as everyone else at your company

Don’t let remote staff feel like they would be missing out on growth and career advancement opportunities — or even just fun moments with the team — just because they don’t work in the office. For example, if you hold monthly meetings for all staff members who work in the office, then those working remotely should be invited too. This will help remote workers develop relationships with their colleagues and feel like they’re part of the team.

Implementing remote work policies can be a great way to increase employee productivity and satisfaction. With the right IT tools in place, remote work can be a win-win for both your company and your employees. For more tips on making remote work effective, please contact us today!

IT trends businesses must watch out for in 2022

Another year has come and gone, and it seems like only yesterday that we wrote a post about IT’s direction in 2021. Well, here we are again with a brand-new list of significant IT trends to look forward to in 2022. Here are the top ones you need to consider for your business.

1. Businesses are consolidating their IT stacks

Before the pandemic hit, many organizations in Salt Lake City and all across Utah were fine with using disparate but top-of-the-line IT solutions. However, as companies shifted to remote and hybrid work setups when lockdowns were implemented, they had to increase their dependence on the cloud. And with staff members far apart from one another, their coordination suffered when the apps they used didn’t talk to each other.

The ensuing chaos taught business owners and managers the value of integrating apps — and that platforms such as Microsoft 365 already had synergy built into its massive suite of productivity software. To illustrate, Microsoft Teams users can share Word files in their chat threads and collaborate on those files within Teams — i.e., without having to open Word separately. This shows how everyday work processes can be streamlined so that staff can focus on their work instead of having to make their apps work first.

Platforms such as Microsoft and Google are presenting themselves as one-stop shops, which companies find appealing because:

They don’t have to learn different systems.
They don’t have to spend time and money on integrating apps.
Data that’s consolidated in one platform is easier for authorized users to access and secure.
There’s less risk of subscribing to redundant software services.
Installing app updates and patches on one platform is much easier than doing so for many separate standalone apps.

2. On-prem networks are being replaced by distributed clouds

With companies granting employees the option to work remotely part time or full time, there are fewer people to accommodate on premises. Such companies can rent smaller spaces, consume less power, and even tap laborers beyond their immediate vicinity. Since workers and teams are distributed, business apps and data are better accessed via distributed clouds.

Using a single data center would mean that data would have to travel long distances (and incur tremendous costs) to reach far-off contingents. With distributed clouds, however, there would be different hubs serving their respective cloud users, but with the entire operation monitored from one dashboard.

3. Not-so-new but advanced technologies will see greater business adoption

It takes time for cutting-edge technologies to prove their utility and become affordable. Some technologies, such as artificial intelligence (AI), augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), and Internet of Things (IoT), were introduced a couple of years ago. Early adopters found nifty business use cases for these, fueled further innovation, and brought costs down, which is why we’ll see a sharp increase in the number of businesses that will adopt these in 2022.

Artificial intelligence (AI)

Expect to see evolutions in AI such as machine learning and natural language processing being increasingly used by businesses to automate tasks, make better decisions, and provide a better customer experience.

Augmented reality (AR)

AR allows users to see the world in front of them with an overlay of graphics or data. Use cases vary, such as:

Helping interior designers show clients what design proposals will actually look like without ever physically installing a single piece
Visualizing and demonstrating products to customers

Virtual reality (VR)

One area where you can expect to see plenty of VR usage in 2022 is business training. For example, business users will be able to use VR headsets to train in the use of new equipment or procedures before ever taking on the risk of doing things for real.

Internet of Things (IoT)

IoT devices are networked machines that are capable of sensing and interacting with their environment and one another without having to be prompted by a human being. Businesses are using these more and more, such as for automating supply chains and integrating smart systems into existing business infrastructure like elevators and heating/cooling units.

No matter how much IT changes and affects businesses, you can trust [company_short] to help you adapt and leverage it to your advantage. With us as your IT partner, 2022 may become one of your best years yet! Send us a message today to learn more.