Six Steps to A Vibrant Remote Workforce [Part 2]

When employees were first sent to work from home, organizations scrambled to provide work-from-home software, devices, and infrastructure. As we transition to a new normal, it’s now important to reevaluate the initial infrastructure laid to support remote workers against a lasting, best-practice architecture. In the last entry, I shared the first three pillars for a thriving remote workforce. Let’s now explore the final three pillars.

Operating a remote workforce is no longer just a remote possibility. A work-from-home war is being quietly waged across many organizations throughout the country, as workers who were forced to quickly establish home office environments now wish to remain in their home rather than return to commuting to an office. This tipping point has deep and wide ramifications for organizations attempting to return to pre-COVID-19 productivity levels. 

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to compel people to work from home, countless companies are now holding daily meetings using web, audio, and video conferencing services from a variety of well-known providers. Though not the sole focus of our attention here, one that has received a significant amount of press is Zoom.

Gone are the days when the IT department was relegated to the bottom floor of an office to perform tasks that few in the organization understood. IT professionals today are the innovators, troubleshooters, cybersecurity watchdogs, data masters, and business process experts of the organization. The role of IT has become more critical and complex even as budgets have become compressed.

In recent years, consumers have increased their engagement with video. HubSpot found that the average user watches 1.5 hours of video content a day, with 15% of users watches more than 3 hours of video daily. Even more staggering, Cisco predicts that by 2021, video will account for 82% of total consumer Internet traffic. The bottom line is that your customers, prospects, and employees are spending a great deal of time interacting with video. This presents you with an opportunity to meet them where they’re already at and delight them with a multitude of video experiences.

Video has the potential to become a prominent tool for your business. Below are four ways you can use video to bolster your business – and they may not be what you’d expect.

The new year is quickly approaching, so there is no better time than now to determine your top business priorities for 2019. Need some help determining what these priorities should be? When a previous year’s Computerworld Tech Forecast survey asked IT executives about their upcoming priorities, the respondents’ top priorities included “improving employee productivity/efficiency” (47%), “improving customer satisfaction/experience” (46%), and “containing costs” (44%). These are all important priorities that will greatly impact the success your business finds in the coming year. However, a difficult question emerges: What steps can your business take to fulfill all of these top priorities?