Building a Culture of Remote Work in COVID-19 Era

It’s certainly been an unexpected turnaround for many businesses to shift to operating from home. The ones that weren’t prepared for this shift had to distribute laptops, monitors, and devices to ensure employees had the necessary tools and hardware to perform daily tasks.

For the majority of organizations globally, this is a temporary situation. However, for some, this shift is here to stay. According to Gartner’s CFO Survey, 74% of CFOs and finance leaders intend to move at least 5% of employees who previously had on-site roles to permanently remote positions. “This data is an example of the lasting impact the current coronavirus crisis will have on the way companies do business,” said Alexander Bant, practice vice president, research for the Gartner Finance Practice.

This is just the beginning. We may even see an increase in these numbers. No one really knows when restrictions will be lifted, but it seems like work from home is here to stay for a while.

Collaboration is Key

Many organizations were caught off guard by remote work and are trying to implement process changes and upgrade systems to accommodate a remote workforce. To achieve long-term success, companies are re-evaluating their company culture, embracing better communication and collaboration across the board.
Thanks to the evolution of cloud technology, many organizations have already had great tools in place, like Microsoft Office 365. The major change is the urgency and increased need to use these tools. On the other hand, some companies that did not start digitally transforming their businesses are urgently turning into cloud-based solutions.

Integrate the Right Tools and Processes into the Culture

Having the right tools and technologies is a great start, but it may be more important to make sure they are used regularly across the organization. It’s important to outline proper processes and communicate them clearly with the employees. Just like in any transformation, leadership and management play a crucial role in getting the buy-in and setting clear expectations.

Employees should know what they need to use, how to use it, and why they need to use it, as well as how to get help when needed.

Ensuring Business Continuity Successfully

Although we are in uncertain times, the best all companies can do is to implement necessary changes into the organizations’ processes and culture. Especially for companies who are “new” in remotely working, it’s crucial for the management to provide additional support to their employees.
For all organizations across geographies, keeping employees engaged with their work plays a key role in ensuring business continuity. With a collaborative and open company culture and the right tools and technologies in place, organizations can be prepared to weather tough situations.

If you are looking to move to cloud-based solutions, VLink can help.

Our engineering mindset and access to a global talent pool enable us to swiftly create affordable and tailored solutions. Our core technology partners include AWS, IBM and Microsoft.