Powering productivity during periods of disruption
Keeping your workforce productive is a challenge at the best of times. In perhaps the most disruptive period since WWII, the conditions created by Covid-19 are forcing all of us to reimagine our work practices to make sure our people remain engaged.
Thankfully, there are some tactics and processes that can help organisations and managers to continue driving productivity from their team. By combining these processes with the right technology, we can ensure the wheels of our business keep turning as best they can – preparing our organisations to emerge from the disruption much stronger.
Take advantage of new tools
In 2020, there is no shortage of well-designed productivity tools such as Microsoft Teams, Slack and Discord, all of which have a range of features that provide different benefits for your business. While it’s a good idea to have these tools set up prior to any disruption taking place, you need to weight the risk of causing more disruption by implementing too many new tools at once.
What’s most important is that your people have a single source of truth for finding information and collaborating on projects in real time. Ensuring your centralised documents and data are secure will clearly also be a priority.
Maintain task visibility
Of course, it’s easier to ensure your employees are on task when you can physically see them at their desks. When employees are working remotely, we need to create contingencies that allows us to keep track of their tasks and output.
Tools such as Slack are excellent for keeping track of project progress in real time, but it may also pay to create a system for keeping track of each team member’s priorities. This could be a simple cloud document or spreadsheet that employees and managers update in real time and use as a reference for one-on-one meetings. Which brings us to the next tactic….
Don’t skip one-on-one meetings
We know from research by Soapbox that 94% of managers conduct one-on-one meetings, and of the 6% that don’t, the most commonly cited reason is a lack of time. During periods of disruption, it can be tempting to skip non-essential meetings, but checking in with individual team members is still vital for their engagement and ensuring they remain productive.
We know from Soapbox’s research, managers are using online video conferencing tools for a variety of purposes in one-on-one meetings, including to:
- 37% – keep individuals on track to achieve goals
- 26% – provide individuals with growth and development opportunities
- 22% – remove any blockers from progress
Facilitate secure mobility
One trend that has obviously been put into hyperdrive recently is the transition away from tethered desktop environments. While these traditional environments enabled IT teams to monitor the performance and security of technology, there is a clear spike in demand for secure devices and applications that allow your employees to get their work done from anywhere.
Even prior to the events brought about by Covid-19, research revealed that completing tasks on portable devices saved employees around an hour each day and increased their overall productivity by a third. For organisations currently looking for the fastest way to improve the productivity of a remote workforce, the rollout of reliable and secure devices is an absolutely essential component. At Southern Cross Computer Systems, we’ve partnered with HP to bring your workforce the industry-leading PCs from the HP EliteBook range, powered by 8th Gen Intel® Core™ i7 vPro Processor, that are designed to help them stay productive during periods of disruption. To discuss how we can help you to continue driving business continuity and productivity, get in touch with us today.
