Remote working has become a core part of many business practices over the past two years as a result of the Covid pandemic, but it can be difficult to maintain efficiency when you are organising a team from afar.
Instead, you need to create a simple, implementable workflow that can be used to manage your remote team, ensure that targets are being met, allow your team to collaborate with minimal friction, and ensure that cybersecurity isn’t compromised, leaving your infrastructure vulnerable to third-party applications.
Of course, every business structure is unique, and what works for one company may not work for another. However, there are still principles that can be adapted and implemented to suit your specific requirements.
You could, for example, install a CASB (Cloud Access Security Broker) to ensure both your team and company data are protected when accessing cloud applications. You should also consider holding regular meetings with your remote team to check that everyone has what they need to complete their targets on time.
This is how to improve the efficiency of your business’ remote workflows:
Implement a CASB
One of the steepest challenges of remote working is how you maintain full visibility and control over your IT infrastructure, despite devices being connected to different networks and using devices which may not be fully secure.
Trying to achieve this manually is impossible. It would require a huge IT support team, drain resources and offer no guarantees that potential security risks are pinpointed and dealt with. This is deeply inefficient and will prevent your remote teams from working at any meaningful pace.
Instead, you should consider integrating automated software which gives you full visibility of user activity on the network, safeguards your data from malicious cyber threats and provides a safety barrier between your on-site and cloud applications.
This is why you should install a Cloud Access Security Broker, which allows you to manage the access points to third-party cloud applications, allowing IT administrators, to monitor malicious behaviour, and protect data through encryption.
To find out more about Cloud Access Security Brokers, click here.
Hold regular catch-up meetings to keep communication channels open
Another key way to improve the efficiency of your business’ remote workflows is to schedule regular meetings with your team to ensure everyone is hitting their targets and staying on the right track.
A common fear for employers who manage remote teams is that ultimate levels of productivity are hard to manage, and that hybrid worker will never work as hard as on-site employees.
This has proven not to be the case for most companies, but only if the remote teams are given workable targets and have regular online meetings with team leaders.
Regular meetings also allow everyone to share ideas, stop anyone from going off-track with their work, and keep everyone focussed on the task at hand.
Use a collaboration platform
If you are looking to boost the efficiency of your remote workflows, then you need to encourage online collaboration within your team.
It can be incredibly time-consuming (not to mention confusing) when you must communicate purely through emails. Documents get lost and forgotten, many team members lack visibility and no one knows how well a project is progressing.
Instead, by using collaboration platforms – such as Trello or Slack – you can easily keep track of projects, share documents and ensure everyone is working towards the same goal.
