Hybrid working is more popular than ever. During the COVID-19 pandemic’s early days, people found it quite awkward but now it is a normal, accepted part of people’s lives. Many would argue that hybrid working is much better than standard office-based work. If you are new to the term, hybrid working refers to a mix of working from home and in an office. Typical arrangements involve two days at home and three in the office per week.
This post will explore how you, as a business owner, can use technology to optimize hybrid workplace management in your company.
organizing meetings
One of the hardest things for the owners of companies offering hybrid work to do is to organize and schedule meetings. You will be pleased to know that meeting room management systems exist online, which you can use to schedule and even hold meetings. If you are offering hybrid working in your company, then it’s senseless to ask employees to physically attend the office just for meetings on days when they are working from home. Instead, you should invest in software like the type just mentioned and offer exclusively online meetings. When you are holding online meetings, it is very important that you invest in good-quality hardware, too. Hardware will be explored in more detail in the next section. Additionally, you need to make sure the meeting room system you are using is high quality and easy to use.
quality hardware
You won’t be able to lead meetings if your hardware is not good. By hardware, this post is referring to headphone and microphone sets. If you do not have either of these things, then you won’t be able to communicate with your employees effectively. It does need to be noted that many laptops and computers have built-in microphones today. If yours has a built-in microphone, then check that it has clear sound quality before you begin using it to attend meetings. You will also need a quality camera, but that’s likely something that is built into your laptop too.
Chat Systems
In addition to meeting room management systems, you are also probably going to need a chat system. A chat system will make running your company a lot easier. A lot of businesses operate without them, relying exclusively on emails. A chat system will mean you are able to communicate with staff immediately, regardless of where you (or where they) are. All you have to do is send them a message and they’ll receive it straight away. Most chat systems also allow you to perform video and audio calls. Having a chat system will make scheduling meetings a lot easier.
Shared calendars
If you are going to be working remotely, you need to make sure that employees have access to a shared calendar. A shared calendar gives everybody the opportunity to stay on the same page. Shared calendars usually come with meeting management systems. If the management system you have purchased does not allow shared calendars, there are many other programs that do. You can even share calendars using email, provided you use Outlook or Gmail. If you have an internal email system, then you should still be able to share calendars but may need to talk to your IT support team to enable them.
work collaboration
Many years ago, working from home what not in option. The reason it was not an option was that people had literally no way of sharing files and folders with each other. Thanks to things like the cloud, however, businesses can now do this with ease. Collaborating with other businesses and employees has never been easier. If you are going to have employees working from home, make sure that they have access to cloud software. Giving them access to it will ensure that they are still able to do their work.
Motivating Staff
Studies show that people tend to work harder when they work from home. However, that’s not true for everybody. Some people become extremely lazy when they are working from their homes. If you have employees who do not think you are pulling their weight, punish them. Do not allow lazy employees to coast by, earning money and not doing their work. By punishing employees who are lazy you will motivate others who are not even more. Be sure to perform regular performance checks with your employees, speaking to them and finding out how their work is going.
Running a hybrid company can be hard. However, it’s not impossible. Hybrid working comes with hundreds of benefits, which is why it is one of the most popular working models there is. If you run a company then now’s the time for you to consider implementing it. You can use the technology here to make running it simpler for you.
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