Phasing in hybrid working – and what this means for your business IT
It’s looking more and more like the return to work will happen in stages –
We’re needing to adjust our business culture, way of working, and putting excellent tech in place as we move through the four key stages of dealing with coronavirus:
- Phase 1: Infection
- Phase 2: Social Distancing
- Phase 3: Management
- Phase 4: Eradication
We’re fully into Phase 2, and need to look ahead and plan for Phase 3 – always reviewing and refining our approach. It is likely that it will involve a continuous back-and-forth between employees at the office, and employees at home, depending on virus control.
So it’s prudent to prepare for “hybrid work” — with some employees at home and some at work in continuously changing proportions. We must be able to flex our businesses between the two states seamlessly and easily.
Hybrid work will put new stresses on technology infrastructure — and the ability to maintain at-work and work-from-home tech at robust levels is paramount. This will be a new business requirement in Phase 3.
How our workforce feels will matter too
A recent survey also showed that more than 40% of working adults are afraid to go back to working in the office – and that ideally there should be enough flexibility and sensitivity to match employee emotion.
It is also during this phase that will be a test for companies – this is where we will distinguish ourselves with customers, employees, suppliers, and investors.
“In this crisis, our goal is to be the company that our employees are proud to work for, and our customers are happy to have on their side.”
The power of resilience
Business resilience in the face of this unprecedented crisis will be a huge advantage. It will help companies to recover faster, navigate hybrid work seamlessly, and keep delivering the best quality products and services to customers.
We are entering the New Normal – and a flexible balance between how to bring your workforce safely back to the office, continued remote working is dependent on reliable and effective technology.