4 Ways To Grow A Positive Company Culture With Your Remote Team
The right technology tools and strategies can make a big difference
Posted on 04-22-2020, Read Time: Min
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For years, companies have seen the rise of the remote workers. Until recently, this trend has mostly been considered in terms of workplace culture and generational preferences. For instance, millennials and Generation Z prioritize the ability to work from home far greater than their baby boomer peers. However, employers’ recent responses to the coronavirus show that remote work is now as much a business-continuity factor as it is a cultural factor. Any knowledge worker — regardless of age, work-life preference or company position — must be able to do his or her job from home successfully.
In recent weeks, HR leaders have heeded the call to help their companies rapidly shift groups of knowledge workers to remote work.
Now, as companies adapt to this new dispersed environment, HR has a unique opportunity to define the ways in which businesses can leverage technology to ensure cultural continuity. Seizing this opportunity starts with understanding the four essential pillars of remote work— meetings, collaboration tools, application access and phone calling.
In recent weeks, HR leaders have heeded the call to help their companies rapidly shift groups of knowledge workers to remote work.
Now, as companies adapt to this new dispersed environment, HR has a unique opportunity to define the ways in which businesses can leverage technology to ensure cultural continuity. Seizing this opportunity starts with understanding the four essential pillars of remote work— meetings, collaboration tools, application access and phone calling.
Meetings
Meetings can’t come to a halt during a global crisis. In fact, they will spike.
I learned this at the start of my career, one month after 9/11, when I was working for a large conferencing provider. September 12, 2001, marked the largest call volume in history at that time as organizations tried to untangle the impact of the crisis to their business. Since then, I’ve seen conferencing soar following outbreaks of SARS and MERS as well as the Great Recession.
The coronavirus is no different. Amid the outbreak, Cisco, makers of Webex, reported a spike in meeting minutes amounting to 14 billion in March. More than 26 million people hosted Webex meetings last month, and the platform had 10 million new users. Similarly, video-conferencing competitor Zoom has added more active users so far this year than it did in all of 2019.
Not only will suddenly remote employees need to be in a lot of meetings, but they’ll need to be connected on a personal level. Video is one of the best ways to do this when personal contact is restricted.
I learned this at the start of my career, one month after 9/11, when I was working for a large conferencing provider. September 12, 2001, marked the largest call volume in history at that time as organizations tried to untangle the impact of the crisis to their business. Since then, I’ve seen conferencing soar following outbreaks of SARS and MERS as well as the Great Recession.
The coronavirus is no different. Amid the outbreak, Cisco, makers of Webex, reported a spike in meeting minutes amounting to 14 billion in March. More than 26 million people hosted Webex meetings last month, and the platform had 10 million new users. Similarly, video-conferencing competitor Zoom has added more active users so far this year than it did in all of 2019.
Not only will suddenly remote employees need to be in a lot of meetings, but they’ll need to be connected on a personal level. Video is one of the best ways to do this when personal contact is restricted.
Tips for getting started
- Encourage use of existing video conferencing investments.
- Discourage your departments from purchasing video conferencing solutions on corporate credit cards.
- Take advantage of enterprise-scale vendors like Webex and Zoom that are lifting restrictions on free versions of their products, and in the case of Webex, offering free 90-day licenses.
- Invest in employee training. Your company can buy meeting licenses, but if remote workers don’t know how to access features, they can easily become frustrated and disengaged from your video conferencing platform, and ultimately, their work.
Team Collaboration Tools
Knowledge workers, as their name implies, rely on sharing knowledge to get their jobs done. When these employees shift to working from home full time, the inability to turn to a colleague for advice or to bounce ideas back and forth can be isolating.
It’s essential to give employees a team collaboration platform for seamless knowledge sharing and collaboration. As HR leaders, you likely recognize the shift from the individual worker to the “team of teams” model has increased the need for connected groups to constantly communicate and share content in real time.
Front runners in the collaboration space for large companies are Microsoft Teams, Slack and Cisco Webex Teams. Like Cisco, Microsoft is trying to make it easier for those impacted by the coronavirus to use Teams. The company is offering a free six-month trial of a premium tier of the platform and expanding the capabilities of its free version.
Managers, not just individual contributors, are also being asked to stay home. The persistent nature of these platforms not only helps teammates share ideas, but they also make it easy for managers to keep tabs on what their teams are working on and jump in to help when needed.
It’s essential to give employees a team collaboration platform for seamless knowledge sharing and collaboration. As HR leaders, you likely recognize the shift from the individual worker to the “team of teams” model has increased the need for connected groups to constantly communicate and share content in real time.
Front runners in the collaboration space for large companies are Microsoft Teams, Slack and Cisco Webex Teams. Like Cisco, Microsoft is trying to make it easier for those impacted by the coronavirus to use Teams. The company is offering a free six-month trial of a premium tier of the platform and expanding the capabilities of its free version.
Managers, not just individual contributors, are also being asked to stay home. The persistent nature of these platforms not only helps teammates share ideas, but they also make it easy for managers to keep tabs on what their teams are working on and jump in to help when needed.
Tips for getting started
- Leverage your company’s buying agreements for the most cost-effective collaboration platforms.
- Work with your IT organization to understand your company’s security positions to avoid risk or data loss.
- Discourage small teams from using free versions of software through personal accounts.
- Educate employees on how to use new tools and tap into existing expertise. Chances are groups of employees have already embraced these tools. Allow them to coach peers who are just getting started.
- Reduce the number of tools to limit confusion.
- Understand how these tools act both in and outside of your organization. Some tools may not be as good as others when interacting with those outside of your business.
Access to Corporate Applications
IT organizations spend considerable time and money ensuring that corporate application performance doesn’t suffer when planning for disaster recovery. But how much does that matter when, in our current situation, remote workers are unable to access these apps?
Application and desktop virtualization solutions commonly used by IT organizations, like VMware Workspace One, can take the strain out of remote device management and compliance by providing high-performance user experiences without the need for full-device VPN connections. As IT leaders consider application management, HR has an opportunity to consider the ease and efficiency of the employee experience.
Giving staff the ability to manage devices without the need to log in every time can save tremendous time and cost, provided security risks are recognized and managed.
Application and desktop virtualization solutions commonly used by IT organizations, like VMware Workspace One, can take the strain out of remote device management and compliance by providing high-performance user experiences without the need for full-device VPN connections. As IT leaders consider application management, HR has an opportunity to consider the ease and efficiency of the employee experience.
Giving staff the ability to manage devices without the need to log in every time can save tremendous time and cost, provided security risks are recognized and managed.
Tips for getting started
- Consider the type of employees who might need an improved remote-access experience. When might it make sense to virtualize any additional applications or access to desktops?
- Be prepared to help employees find solutions should network congestion create delays.
- Educate your employees on how to access applications.
Calling
When we talk about enabling the remote worker outside of the context of a crisis situation, calling isn’t usually top of mind. But in the case of maintaining business continuity and cultural cohesion, calling becomes essential to maintaining employee relationships.
The coronavirus is forcing all types of remote workers to stay at home, including positions in finance, HR and call centers that rely heavily on office phone systems. If large enterprises can’t provide remote employees access to their phone systems, they risk losing market share, hitting numbers and distancing customers.
Luckily, vendors like Cisco and Microsoft offer various solutions for cloud calling that give remote users the same benefits of their office lines.
The coronavirus is forcing all types of remote workers to stay at home, including positions in finance, HR and call centers that rely heavily on office phone systems. If large enterprises can’t provide remote employees access to their phone systems, they risk losing market share, hitting numbers and distancing customers.
Luckily, vendors like Cisco and Microsoft offer various solutions for cloud calling that give remote users the same benefits of their office lines.
Tips for getting started
- Teach your employees how to navigate call forwarding.
- Help your employees obtain mobile remote access.
- Provide tools such as headsets and web cams for improved voice and video.
Ensuring Remote Business and Cultural Continuity
By delivering remote workers powerful calling, a rich meeting experience, team collaboration, the ability to easily work from any device, employers can not only keep workers safe during the coronavirus – they help them stay connected and engaged in the workplace.
Technology gives us the ability to bring nearly all the benefits of office life outside of the office. However, developing sudden solutions for a remote work experience is challenging. The good news is that with the right tools and resources, the right approach can further a company’s overall vision for collaboration and improve the lives of knowledge workers beyond when a crisis ends.
Technology gives us the ability to bring nearly all the benefits of office life outside of the office. However, developing sudden solutions for a remote work experience is challenging. The good news is that with the right tools and resources, the right approach can further a company’s overall vision for collaboration and improve the lives of knowledge workers beyond when a crisis ends.
Author Bio
| Joe Berger is Senior Director, Digital Workspace Practice, for World Wide Technology (WWT), a technology solution provider delivering digital strategy, innovative technology and supply chain solutions to large public and private organizations around the globe. Visit www.wwt.com Connect Joe Berger Follow @wwt_inc |
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