Now that everything is done online it has meant remote working is easy. Many companies encourage responsible workers to work from home on x number of days a month as this releases space at the office.
Introducing hot-desking ensures there is room for everyone when they are in. Some companies use these systems to their advantage and lease smaller premises reducing their outgoings.
Accessing Work Documents
Permissions to access Cloud storage are set by the business. So personnel can access their documents or the systems they need to use from wherever they are. Working from home or any where else for that matter is not a problem. All you need is a good Wi-Fi connection.
Tablet Access
Although laptops have served us well, the introduction of tablets has further enabled remote working. Commuters travelling on public transport can start their day before they get to the office. In fact it’s a common sight.
Your sales team off to client meetings can work on their way or whilst waiting to see clients. At the very least they can keep up with their emails. Of course this goes for management too!
Mobile working also offers the opportunities to write quotes or reports whilst on-site if that is deemed best policy. It means they can have a portfolio of products or services readily available to show and print if the client requires hard copies.
Everything is at their fingertips hopefully making them more confident, more efficient and able to close the deal successfully.
Tablets are great for taking notes in meetings too. There is no excuse for anything to be forgotten or missed.
Smart Phones and iPhones
With the many Apps available and email availability on Smart and iPhones, contact is rarely impossible. In fact we are all slaves to our mobile devices now it’s not just the youngsters.
It seems we cannot go anywhere without the extension of a phone at our fingertips. Whilst travelling, even walking in the street and in meetings. Driving too even though this is illegal unless you have a Bluetooth device. But we still see it however this is a whole other issue.
Of course many circumstance such as meeting for instance, etiquette would suggest that turning your devices off or at least onto silent is the polite way to use them. This isn’t always the case either.
Even on Holiday
Holidays are designed to give us some rest, relaxation, even recuperation from the busy, connected lifestyles we lead. So you won’t be surprised to learn that many business people often have to quarantine their mobile devices when they take a holiday. There are good reasons for this:
- They never get any peace as there will always be someone emailing or messaging them
- Their families cannot bear their lack of ‘presence’ on their time away from work
- The world won’t stop if they aren’t there
Last Note
One thing we need to be sure of for remote working to work is that our systems are well looked after and access is readily available. Wherever your work base – London, Paris, New York or even Cheltenham – make sure your IT solutions are well taken care of.
By Rob Rudd
Rob Rudd is always a bit skeptical about using daft words to describe simble concepts. He was a particularly slow adopter of the word “cloud”. He enjoys writing and lives on the south coast of England.