Remote and hybrid models of working have become increasingly popular with both employers and employees in recent years. For millions of workers, their first experience of working remotely occurred after the Covid-19 pandemic spread around the world in early 2020. At short notice, many businesses needed to put systems in place to allow remote working to be achieved so they could adhere to the movement restrictions that were affecting all citizens. Typically, this involved moving key applications to the cloud so that they could be accessed remotely by staff with an internet connection.
Today in 2023, many staff members prefer to work remotely as it gives them a greater degree of freedom in how they approach their working day and can improve work–life balances. However, remote working practices need to be successfully managed to ensure that productivity and efficiency remain high.
In this article, some key tips on how to cultivate effective remote working practices will be described.
Ensure cloud-based applications function effectively
Remote and hybrid models of working rely on staff having access to multiple applications that can be accessed from a home office. As companies move more of their software platforms to the cloud to achieve this, there is a greater need for the effective management of multiple applications online. Put simply, modern businesses need to invest in a high-performing API management platform to deploy, monitor, and manage their online business applications.
API management platforms can simplify the process of controlling multiple applications. They allow real-time analysis of the performance of individual applications to take place, and IT staff can quickly troubleshoot parts of the online platform to locate and upgrade online services that are not performing effectively. In addition, most high-performing API management platforms add layers of security to the online architecture to ensure that unauthorized access does not occur.
Ensure remote meetings are effective and worthwhile
A remote or hybrid workforce will still be required to collaborate with other staff and teams. This is vitally important to ensure that projects and tasks can be completed effectively and the risk of developing silo working practices is minimized. One way to improve collaboration and teamwork is by holding regular remote meetings with the key staff members on specific projects or holding a weekly team meeting to discuss objectives.
A video conferencing platform should be used to facilitate this and will ideally have features such as virtual whiteboards and live chat functionality to encourage group participation in the meeting. However, a key point to consider is that working schedules should not be filled with multiple online meetings each week.
Meetings that serve no purpose can demoralize staff and hamper productivity. In short, online meetings should be relevant, have actionable outcomes, and be of short duration so that the focus of remote working can be to complete tasks and projects.
Hold team-building days
As a brief final point, it is important to consider that a remote workforce still needs to have occasional group time together in a shared physical space. Remote collaboration can be highly effective, but staff still benefit from dedicated team-building days where they can meet face-to-face and bond as a group. Ideally, such team-building days should be held every quarter and should include a mix of fun activities, icebreakers, and tasks that encourage collaboration and effective communication.