Proper data synchronization makes for a secure, streamlined experience both for the customer and for the team. If your team cannot freely access important company documentation, it can result in bottlenecks which bring productivity to a standstill. For this reason, it's important for any digital workforce to have uncompromised access to the tools, documents, and resources that they need to work effectively. This could be achieved through the use of file hosting services such as OneDrive, Dropbox, or Google Drive. Not only does this keep everything conveniently in one place, but it reduces room for human error and prevents important information from getting lost. This is an integral element of any organization's infrastructure if they wish to digitize their processes.
Perhaps you've already begun the process of converting your staff to a digital paradigm. Perhaps you're just getting started with digital workforces and what they might apply to your company. In any case, determining the best strategies to take your team down the digital route is critical. So, Incorporate as many of your business solutions as possible. Don't treat each piece of digital technology as though it were its own solution. It should just be one part of a larger, interconnected solution. Look for companies that have platforms that integrate with the services of other companies. New tools that don't work well with other platforms will end up being more of a hindrance than a benefit. The lack of the new tools you've worked so hard to give is inextricably linked to poor or non-integrating systems.
Employers need to make human resource and leadership support easily accessible for remote employees. One of the upsides to working in an in-person office environment is that human resource support is steps away. HR managers should be easily accessible through email, chat, or phone, responsive, and understanding. The digital workplace needs to offer all benefits of a traditional office in a virtual format, including promoting and investing in human resource services.
We have been remote-working for the last ten years and we rely on a shared digital forum. We used Basecamp for many years and now we rely on Notion. Keeping work, documents, project management, policies, HR documents, business plans etc. etc. in one central, easy-to-use digital repository is essential.
Better bandwidth. A digital workplace is, for the most part, communication enabled. Without communication, how is any individual or organization able to function? Nowadays you can’t imagine a workplace without email, but email is just one aspect of communication. You need the ability to conduct online meetings, teleconferences, voice conferences, video conferences, and even video chats to keep everyone on the same page. If a company relies on email alone, then the email inbox will quickly become overwhelmed and there will be delays, causing delays in the feedback loop. The feedback loop is essential to enable businesses to respond quickly to changes in the market. In addition, there are security issues with email in that it is subject to spoofing and other types of abuse. Most importantly, employees can fall victim to scams that appear to come from the boss, which isn’t good for anyone employed in any way.
The information that any company stores is probably their most valuable asset, but it is also one of the main targets for anyone who would wish to cause harm to the business, whether they be external or internal threats. For this reason, it is vital that a robust security system and policies are in place. Access controls should be in place to ensure that only those who need it can access sensitive information. Two-factor authentication should be used for all devices and services to prevent unauthorized access. To prevent phishing and scam attacks, all personnel must be educated in cyber security. Anti-virus software must be kept up to date. Failure to protect the information your business holds can result in severe financial loss, reputational loss, and potentially, criminal charges. With effective controls, you can be certain that both the business and the customer's information is safe from cyber attack.
With more than 70% of children living in households where all adults are working, our digital workforce needs Child Care support now more than ever. Child care is the backbone of our workforce and is vital infrastructure to our workforce, whether in-office or digital. When organizations provide Child Care assistance, their working parents - especially women - can get the care they need to keep working, and their children can get a strong start toward success.
Accessible and adaptable IT services are especially important in a digital workforce, as collaboration and workflow is often completely dependent on cloud and connective technology. There’s an extra challenge for your IT employees, though, as not only the option to physically come into an office to troubleshoot tech is no longer there, many of your employees are working in different time zones on different schedules. For that reason, it’s important to invest in a broad, capable, and flexible IT infrastructure, as it's the foundation of your organization.
It's essential to define a feedback loop to support your digital workforce. Gathering employee feedback will help you understand which workflow processes are working and which ones must be modified. Your employees are always your best resource. If you get their feedback, you will not only be making their lives easier and offering them well-deserved support, but you will also be creating a work culture that your company can be proud of. When an organization listens to its employees and implements their feedback, employee loyalty rises, and motivation increases. Overall, the company culture will be one of collaboration and solving problems together.
Organizations should create infrastructure to easily schedule meetings and eliminate the back and forth of unnecessary emails. A scheduling platform like Calendly or Acuity Scheduling is essential in order to create this infrastructure. A scheduling platform allows a meeting to be scheduled in minutes and also provides the opportunity to create email automations when the time is right.
Telecommunications tools are essential for supporting a digital workforce. In addition to email, remote and hybrid employees need audio, video, and web conferencing technologies to communicate effectively. The right digital savvy leader will be able to ensure that everyone not only has access to these tools, but they know how to use them correctly. A healthy workplace is a workplace that communicates consistently and efficiently.
To ensure your digital workforce can access and record critical data, you’ll need a cloud storage app that your team can access from anywhere and on any device. A system that allows you to change access permissions easily will help you keep data as secure as possible, sharing only the data necessary with each teammate with a few clicks. You’ll also want to put a secondary backup system in place so that critical data can never become inaccessible to the business. Create a backup policy and review it regularly with your team, ensuring they follow best practices.
The idea of a digital workplace implies unity in what is often a disconnected set of digital experiences that can create productivity challenges for employees. If they have to spend huge amounts of time looking for information, policies, or colleagues in several different systems, employees have a poor experience. Intranets connect all these different business apps, documents, and people directories, so that workers have a single point of entry (with single sign-on). This means that they have a better experience of the company and increase productivity. Intranets are also the only business app that a company spends time and money on branding in their house style. This can be incredibly important for promoting and sustaining your brand internally, and for spreading an organization's pupose.
One of the problems of working digitally that we initially faced was a lack of communication. However, with collaborative tools such as Trello and Slack, we’ve not only improved our communication, but also become a lot more productive. Slack allows to bridge the gap between different departments and bring us all in one place, connecting us together. Whereas Trello allows us to stay on top of projects, collect data all in one place, easily assign tasks, check progress, receive and give comments and work on the updated versions of documents without having to wait for other team members to send files. It has really boosted our communication skills, improved collaborative work and boosted productivity.
Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) are an essential tool for a digital workforce. A VPN allows you to securely access remote networks and public Wi-Fi. It also encrypts your data so that others can’t see what you’re doing or steal your information. A VPN is a must-have for a digital workforce because it allows you to securely access your company’s internal resources. It also prevents your data from being monitored if you’re accessing public Wi-Fi.
Digital office suites have quickly replaced traditional software packages, and they’re a necessity when shifting your team to a digital setup. Using Microsoft Office Online or G Suite, your team can perform any word processing, spreadsheet, presentation, and note-taking tasks from any device with access to the internet. Files are more easily shared among the team, and group edits can happen simultaneously in real-time.
Making investments in infrastructure, particularly geared towards advancing communication, is priceless when you have a remote workstyle. By implementing digital adoption platforms, a seamless onboarding SOP, and integrated messaging systems, you can streamline the communication process and thereby develop smart building capabilities throughout your organization set up for success from the start. Moreover, when you have a digital workforce, you eliminate the need for a commute to and from the workplace, reducing costs put into gas or transit systems that can be expensive. As a result, you can reach talent from all over and create an adaptable and knowledgeable workforce by providing them with the necessary tools.
Any remote workforce must have a digital security infrastructure in place as a layer of protection against any data security issues. While the digitization of workspaces has provided great agility and efficiency to office operations, it also brings with it cyber threats. It is crucial for companies to set up digital security infrastructures to protect valuable data and keep them accessible offline for contingency.
A digital workforce needs a collaboration platform to allow team members to communicate anytime and from anywhere. Important features include video conference calls, online project management, and secure sharing of data. Today’s teams need to be more connected for an organization to be agile enough to react to sudden changes in the market. Collaboration tools allow companies to relinquish traditional hierarchical structures to give employees greater autonomy and freedom.
Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS) connects all the digital tools we use to stay connected. When your telephony, video, IM and more are all unified, you have a better sense of what systems are in use at a particular time. This allows you to make more strategic investments in the most used channels, and cut or limit the ones that aren't driving productivity. You need a cohesive view of the data to make effective changes, and UCaaS is what empowers that.