Introduction

Here’s a hot topic for IT leaders: enabling your employees to work from home. But not just any old home. You need to create a hybrid working environment that includes everything from physical office space to cloud-based systems, collaboration tools, and communication channels.

This way you can provide not only the tools but a robust end-user experience.

Focus on digital transformation.

Digital transformation is a major trend in IT, and it’s important to understand the benefits and challenges of digital transformation. You should have a plan for implementing digital transformation within your organization. There are many benefits to digital transformation, including increased productivity and efficiency. It also helps your business stay competitive in today’s world.

Make sure your cloud network is secure and reliable.

You can’t expect your employees to work remotely if you don’t have a reliable cloud network. Wherever they are in the world, employees who use virtual desktops must be able to access their files and applications. If they can’t do that, you will lose productivity and money.

• Make sure all users have access to all required software and applications
• Decide which devices (laptops, tablets), operating systems (Windows 10 vs iOS), and browsers (IE 11 vs Chrome) are a best fit for your organization
• Utilize Unified Endpoint Management to keep devices secure and in compliance.

Optimize for collaboration and transparency.

Ensure that employees have access to the tools they need to work together and communicate.

“Provide team members with the means to collaborate, share ideas, and communicate clearly,” says Brian Farrar, president of Career Progression Solutions. “This is especially important in a hybrid environment where team members may be working remotely from each other.”

That means equipping employees with an easy way to share files, documents, and information; developing a process for how these items are distributed so that everyone is on the same page; ensuring that everyone has access to the correct information; creating an environment where employees can ask questions without fear of embarrassment or judgment; and establishing clear lines of communication between IT leaders and their teams so that everyone knows when changes need to be made.

Roll out easy-to-use communication tools.

The next step is to roll out easy-to-use communication tools. These can include messaging apps like Slack, video conferencing apps like Zoom, and file-sharing apps such as Box or Dropbox. Additionally, cloud storage services like Microsoft OneDrive and Google Drive are great for storing files in the cloud.

Collaboration tools such as Atlassian, Jira, and Trello come with a variety of features that allow teams to organize their work from anywhere in the world.

The bottom line: IT leaders need to make sure that everyone has access to these tools so they can work effectively from home, at client offices, or on their own schedule.

Prioritize employee well-being, mental health, and work-life balance.

We all know that work-life balance is important. But what if you could get a boost in performance and productivity by promoting well-being and mental health among your team? By prioritizing these elements of employees’ lives, you can improve their job satisfaction, engagement, and retention—all of which will have a positive effect on the bottom line.

Work-life balance is more than just having time to play with your kids or attend an evening concert; it also includes taking care of yourself physically and mentally so that you’re at the top of your game when it’s time to get down to business. For this reason alone, it’s essential for IT leaders to foster an environment where their employees feel supported enough to take breaks from work when they need them—whether that means using lunchtime (or even half days) for other commitments or calling out sick for appointments with doctors or therapists. It’ll be worth it when those same employees come back refreshed after taking care of themselves!

Employees will be happier and more productive working from home if you let them control their experience.

There are many benefits to allowing employees to work remotely. Employees will be happier and more productive, which leads to better work. They’ll also be more engaged, loyal and innovative.

• Productivity: Employers can expect a boost in performance when they allow their employees the flexibility of working from home or another location. A study by Standford of 16,000 workers over 9 months found that working from home increase productivity by 13%. This increase in performance was due to more calls per minute attributed to a quieter, less stressful working environment. In this same study workers also reported improved work satisfaction, and attrition rates were cut by 50%.
• Engagement: When you let your team members choose how they want to work on projects, you’re giving them autonomy and control over their environment—and that makes them feel valued and respected by management. They’ll feel appreciated for the contribution they make each day at work and motivated by their role in making the organization successful as a whole rather than just themselves personally successful within it (which is what happens when employees only have one option available). This positive experience translates into increased engagement with both internal teams as well as external stakeholders such as clients/customers/partners etcetera – because everyone wants someone who cares!