What is hybrid working?
Hybrid working is an arrangement whereby employees spend some of their time working in the office, and the rest working remotely. Whilst hybrid working has always existed, the COVID-19 pandemic has forced many employers to adopt it, with many continuing indefinitely.
Our five recommendations
Our support is designed to keep your employees working securely, wherever they are based. After almost 18 months of working from home, you’d think businesses would be fully set up to continue. However, this is not the case. If your organisation is moving forward with hybrid working, here are our core recommendations:
Laptop over desktop
It’s hard to believe, but yes, some employees are bringing a desktop computer between their workplace and home. If you want your employees to be truly flexible in their work, a laptop is the way to go. In addition to this, make sure your employees take their laptops home with them every night, even if they work in the office full time. This allows flexibility for emergencies.
Install Softphones
Many organisations were and still are stuck without a sufficient telephone system. A softphone is a software used to make calls over the internet on your laptop or desktop. This means your employees no longer need a physical phone to make calls. Just a headset or earphones. Softphones still have all the functionality of your normal phone system too and can be accompanied by a mobile app.
Replicate your employee setup
If your staff have two monitors in the office, give them two at home too. Many employees have found they are more productive when working from home. If this is the case, then don’t hinder them by giving them an insufficient workspace at home.
Whilst this may seem like a large additional cost, the result is productive, happy employees. Additionally, many businesses are considering downsizing their office space and adopting hot desking. Something we can help with…
Desk booking app
So, you want to downsize your office and start hot desking? Our desk booking app can help with that! The idea of hot-desking is having more staff than desks available. And that sounds like a bit of a nightmare to manage who is coming in and when to make sure you have enough desks. Our desk booking app sits within Microsoft Teams and allows employees to book themselves a desk when they need it. That way, staff can pre-book where they’re sitting, and who with if they need to sit with a specific colleague for a project or task.
Adopting Microsoft Teams
Microsoft Teams has already been a saviour during the pandemic. But many still only use the application for video calls. Microsoft Teams has a range of communication and collaboration tools to streamline your business, particularly whilst hybrid working. It includes chat, file storage, live broadcasts, and its own VoIP telephone system.
Fully adopting Teams, including moving your files and data into the application, will open a range of possibilities. Additionally, you’ll gain access to their range of in-built apps such as approvals, planner and to-do, and lists.
If you’d like to know more about any of these options, as well as how our support can help you wherever you’re working, let’s chat today!
