Homeworking - Coping with the New Normal

Working from home is something we have all had to adapt to rapidly. The Covid-19 lockdown led to a rush to set up remote working facilities across the UK, but several weeks on, flaws in homeworking set ups can start to show, leading to lower productivity and frustration with ineffective tools which cannot facilitate collaboration and communication throughout a business.

Now more than ever it’s vital to ensure you have the right IT and communications infrastructure in place to work productively and avoid unnecessary costs. Here are a few tips on how you can instantly improve your homeworking communications:

·        Switch to Wi-Fi assist – Ensure users are utilising home Wi-Fi connections rather than their mobile data.

·        Consider alternative bandwidth – Working from home while children are doing schoolwork online or streaming their favourite shows can hamper productivity. A dedicated dongle means you can access fast speeds to keep you productive with no compromises.

·        Data use & volumes – Data use may be the alternative for users that have a slow broadband connection, however data volumes in these cases may need to be increased or consider utilising a Mi-Fi dongle with unlimited 4G data. For those that don’t have home internet, ensure their data packages reflect an increase in data use to avoid unnecessary expense.

·        Set up data alerts/barring - Data barring is a useful tool to ascertain which users have used all their data and physically have to authorise this to be unbarred.

·        Avoid diverting office numbers to mobiles – This may seem like a quick fix, but as the weeks go on this becomes harder to manage and can be costly. The inability to transfer calls to other members of staff can result in a poor customer experience. There are many low cost or free alternatives available which are effective and professional.

·        Facilitate team collaboration – Homeworking can at times be isolating. Utilise a collaboration tool that facilities video calling to ensure your team can still meet with colleagues, partners, suppliers, customers. 

It’s very likely that working life after lockdown will have shifted dramatically. Homeworking will be the new normal for many, with it being more readily acceptable as an option for businesses that were reluctant to consider it previously. 

Technology and user acceptance are both major factors in how much homeworking will be adopted. There will be a large divide between those businesses that saw homeworking as successful due to complementary technology and staff buy-in versus those businesses that struggled because the right technology and support was not available and user resistance.

If you want to know more about the various homeworking options that are available, and which would work best for you, please feel free to drop me an email - [email protected]