78% of today’s employees say they’d be more productive if they had the choice between working on-site or remotely, depending on their tasks for the day.
Hybrid workplaces are on the rise, and many experts agree they’ll be the new norm for the majority of businesses in the years ahead. However, there’s more to launching a successful hybrid work strategy than simply giving your teams more freedom with their schedule.
To ensure you continue to generate the same levels of productivity and efficiency from your staff moving into the new age of hybrid work, you’ll need to ensure your teams have access to the right technology. But, with so many options on the market, how do you compare the available tools and make the right choices?
Step 1: Know Your Hybrid Work Format
First, it’s important to think about what your hybrid work environment is going to look like. Are you going to have a number of employees who need to work within the office, but stay connected to their remote peers? If so, a room system with plug-and-play video conferencing, content sharing, and messaging technology will be essential.
If your employees are going to be working from several remote working locations (rather than just from home), you may need to look into additional technology within your UC solutions, like VPN access to ensure more secure connections. The right connectivity is likely to be a critical consideration in the future of hybrid work.
For companies concerned about the performance and security of communications tools for both remote and in-office employees, an SD-WAN investment may be a critical part of the overall UC strategy. You might even need to look into things like 5G smartphones and business SIM cards for field workers and employees on the move.
Step 2: Prioritise User Experience
When comparing technology for the age of hybrid work, the user experience will be one of the most important considerations for any business. Without access to an always-present IT team or tech support professional, your remote workers will need to figure out how to use most of their technology (both hardware and software) alone.
The simpler your UC solutions are, the fewer issues you’ll have getting in the way of team efficiency. Look for highly flexible UC software that your staff members can access at the press of a button. Open UC platforms which integrate with existing tools will make life much easier for your teams while reducing the amount of time they need to spend jumping between apps.
When buying hardware, plug-and-play simplicity will be critical. Look for something which requires no technical knowledge. BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) UC and collaboration tools will ensure team members can use any technology they choose with the software they need for conferencing.
Step 3: Consider Interoperability
As mentioned above, the easier it is for your employees to continue using the hardware and software they’re already used to in their UC system, the better their productivity will be. For the age of hybrid work, companies need their technology to be as flexible as possible.
Device-agnostic tools for video and audio conferencing will ensure anyone can take part in a crucial meeting or conversation, wherever they are. At the same time, flexible UC software should allow your team members to integrate the tools they use every day, for better single-pane-of-glass functionality.
