As the UK begins to reduce the restrictions imposed and businesses start to plan for life after COVID, now more than ever is the critical time for firms that have patched together solutions that are workable but might not be efficient to plan for the future. At Next2IT we are working with our clients to ensure that the return to business as ‘normal’ is as smooth as possible. However we are looking to ensure that digital capabilities that have been enabled, remain enabled.
The lockdown has also provided a great mechanism for businesses to build business cases for digital transformation. The evidence is clear, digital enablement when implemented correctly, allows businesses to empower there workforce to work from anywhere! Well, with a half-decent internet connection (We all love the laggy Zoom and Teams calls). This presents a whole new way to look at business operational costs. A great example is premises costs. Whilst we believe it is integral to have common areas for meetings and working, we most certainly don’t require everyone to be in the office at the same time. More than ever businesses should be looking to reduce the footprint of their office spaces. We believe the future is collaboration spaces with a blend of remote working.
We also have great confidence in remote meetings. Regardless of the type of business, meetings with clients are inevitable. Why should the process have to be so complex? Why should geographical travel restrict businesses from working with one another? Virtual meetings online now will remove these restrictions. It should be noted though that it will be important for businesses to digital enable there meeting rooms. Having good AV equipment to allow people in a meeting room to communicate with many remote people is essential. Poor AV results in terrible meetings that people simply won’t enjoy. It’s also essential that the solutions deployed are simple and don’t require IT to set up the meeting every time!
Another area that businesses should look to embrace is group chats. Platforms like Microsoft Team, Slack, and Google Hangouts are great for this. But very often businesses haven’t created a group chat for their different teams. Having a group chat functionality enables co-works to collaborate much like they would in the office. Having a fun engaging group chat really makes a difference for users working remotely. Whilst it doesn’t offer all of the interaction one would achieve being in the office, it goes a long way to increasing user interaction and building better working relationships. It is essential that these working practices are implemented from the top down to be fully embraced.
If you are looking to digitally enable your business now and for the future, you need to start planning for this as soon as possible. There are a number of organisations that have quickly implemented services or are still using trials. You need to develop a change over plan and ensure that you have deployed your digital solutions in the most effective way to harness the power they deliver. It’s important to also ensure that the users of the solutions receive training, so they know how the maximise the features available. We hope you are feeling digitally empowered and ready to embrace a new digitally-enabled future!
If you would like to discuss your digital strategy, our team at Next2IT would be more than happy to help. Our digital experts can provide valuable insight into a digitally-enabled future. Please get in contact and find out how we can start supercharging your digital transformation today!
