What is remote working?
In this article I will share my thoughts on remote working. As a business grows it will start to employ more people. Consequently, when it employs more people they will want to collaborate. That collaboration usually requires connected computing resources. If people work together in the same location this is easy. But, if people work remote from one another this is more difficult. To overcome this challenge you need to be able to work remotely.
Collaboration
Collaboration is the way we achieve more as a team. This can involve sharing documents or simply conversations. Whether these interactions involve two people or groups of people the value is in making them efficient and effective. When people meet in an office they can get together face to face, share the same material and make notes together. When those people can’t be together in the same physical space technology can bridge the gap.
Remote Working
The key to collaboration when remote working is the ability to share resources. That can mean the sharing of files that need to be worked on or the sharing of conversations. When it comes to sharing documents and files this is simplified when they are stored in the cloud. Using cloud storage for documents can make them accessible from any location and often using any device. There are range of cloud solutions that enable this kind of collaborative working. This can involve sharing documents and in a common location or online collaboration. Online collaboration is when two or more people can see and edit the same document at the same time. Both Microsoft (with Microsoft 365) and Google (with Google Workspace) offer comprehensive tools to enable this kind of work.
Communication Between Co-Workers
Another key component of remote working is the ability to communicate effectively. When people work in the same location meetings and face to face communication is much simpler. However, technology can help when co-workers are remote from one another. Instant messaging and chat applications are good methods for short informal communication. The key collaboration tools also have video calling and video conferencing capabilities to enable remote meetings. Email is still a fundamental pillar of any organisations communication strategy, but it is supported with many other tools.
As more and more organisations are having to work remotely the tools available are constantly improving. Using a combination of tools you can overcome most of the challenges that arise from working apart from each other.
Further Reading
Remote Working Advice.
This article only scratches the surface of what can be achieved and so get in touch with Smart IT 4U for more remote working advice.
