• Understand the impact of remote work on enterprise technology, particularly the growing importance of mobile apps in supporting distributed teams and addressing common remote work challenges.
• Learn about key features and technical considerations for effective enterprise mobile apps, including seamless communication tools, robust security measures, cross-platform compatibility, and optimizations for remote usage scenarios.
• Gain insights into the importance of user-centric design for remote work apps, focusing on intuitive interfaces, customizable workflows, accessibility features, and performance optimization to drive adoption and enhance productivity.

The COVID-19 pandemic dramatically accelerated the existing trend towards remote work. Nearly overnight, companies across all industries were forced to adapt to having employees work from home. What many expected to be a temporary measure has led to a permanent shift in the way we work. Surveys show that 98% of employees express a preference for remote work opportunities, at least on a part-time basis. With many major companies like Twitter and Microsoft announcing permanent remote-friendly policies, it is clear that flexible, distributed workforces are here to stay.

As teams adjust to remote and hybrid arrangements, mobile technology plays an increasingly vital role in maintaining productivity, alignment, and engagement. More than simply enabling remote work, well-designed enterprise mobile apps provide the tools to enhance productivity—streamlining communication and collaboration while providing secure access to key business systems. Adoption of mobile apps has skyrocketed out of necessity, but also because a mobile-first experience aligns well with the needs of the newly flexible workforce.

However, developing mobile solutions for enterprise contexts comes with its own set of challenges. Relative to consumer apps, enterprise apps must meet more stringent security requirements, integrate with existing backend systems, provide offline functionality, and meet accessibility standards—all while delivering the same level of user experience. Creating an intuitive yet powerful mobile experience requires specialized expertise in the unique capabilities and limitations of mobile platforms.

Understanding the Needs of Remote Work Environments

As remote and hybrid work arrangements become more prevalent, it’s important to understand the core challenges faced by distributed teams in order to develop technological solutions tailored to their needs.

Common Pain Points in Remote Work

While working remotely certainly has its perks, it also introduces new difficulties – primarily surrounding communication, collaboration, and feelings of isolation. Key pain points reported by remote workers include lack of face-to-face interaction, communication barriers with distributed coworkers, lack of access to key company resources, distractions working from home, and collaborating across time zones.

In fact, a recent study found that the next most selected struggle for remote workers after communication was loneliness, with 23 percent of remote workers selecting it as their biggest remote work challenge. Feelings of isolation remain prevalent even in the age of digital connectivity.

How Mobile Apps Can Alleviate These Pain Points

Mobile technology, when strategically leveraged, can help alleviate many of the obstacles faced by distributed teams. Well-designed enterprise mobile apps can provide intuitive communication features like chat, audio/video conferencing, and knowledge-sharing forums to replicate face-to-face interactions. 

Seamless collaboration functionality like document co-editing, file sharing, task management, and calendar syncing can reduce barriers to working together effectively. Secure access to company resources through mobile apps also ensures remote team members have the tools and information they need at their fingertips.

The Importance of User-Centric Design

However, the full benefits will only be realized if solutions are thoughtfully customized around user needs. Therefore, user-centric design is key—not only considering functionality but crafting personalized, intuitive experiences that employees actually enjoy using. Prioritizing user experience encourages regular engagement, rather than only utility-driven adoption.

Considering the unique needs of remote work environments allows for targeted mobile solutions that facilitate productivity and connectivity for distributed teams. The capabilities are only half the equation—an excellent user experience is imperative for solution stickiness and user satisfaction over the long term.

Key Features of Effective Remote Work Enterprise Apps

Given the challenges faced by remote teams, it’s clear that not all enterprise apps are suited for supporting distributed workforces. The most impactful solutions exhibit key capabilities that directly address the obstacles of remote collaboration.

Seamless communication and collaboration tools

Enabling seamless communication and real-time collaboration is imperative. Features like multi-channel messaging, video/voice conferencing, file sharing, co-editing, task management, and calendar syncing create connectivity and align distributed teams.

Robust security measures

Enterprise apps must prioritize security to protect company data. Capabilities like user access controls, multi-factor authentication, data encryption, and remote wipe provide data protection and peace of mind.

Cross-platform compatibility

By supporting access across devices (smartphones, tablets) and operating systems (iOS, Android), enterprise apps grant flexibility for employees to work from their device of choice.

Offline functionality

For remote workers with unreliable internet connections, offline modes allow productivity to continue uninterrupted. Local data caching enables usage during downtime.

Integration with existing enterprise systems

Tying into legacy backends like CRMs, ERPs, and databases provides a unified systems view and consistency with existing workflows. APIs permit integration with relative ease.

Prioritizing these key areas allows enterprise apps to surmount the obstacles faced by distributed teams. Combined with a stellar user experience, these capabilities can create seamless mobile environments that remote teams will embrace.

Technical Considerations

While providing the right functionality is critical, excellent enterprise apps must also have robust technical architecture and infrastructure. There are several key technical considerations when optimizing mobile solutions for remote work.

Choosing the right development framework

The mobile development framework impacts cross-platform support, speed of iteration, and app performance. React Native and Flutter are popular choices that compile to native code.

Ensuring data synchronization across devices

Remote usage on multiple devices requires syncing local data seamlessly to backend systems. Automated sync with conflict resolution helps prevent data loss or divergence.

Implementing end-to-end encryption

To protect sensitive corporate data, encryption must secure transmitted and stored app data. TLS and AES encryption provide multilayer defense for remote access.

Optimizing for low-bandwidth environments

Spotty connectivity is a reality for remote teams. Data caching, compression, and graceful degradation of features optimize for constrained networks.

Battery life considerations for mobile devices

Minimizing battery drain leads to better user experience. Techniques like throttling background refreshes, suspending non-critical tasks, and dark mode conserve device battery life.

Architecting for scale, security, and performance creates reliable infrastructure for remote work apps. Combined with usability testing on target devices, this foundation enables smooth experiences despite the technical constraints of mobility.

By tackling these technical considerations upfront, enterprises can develop mobile apps that handle seamless usage at scale across the distributed workforce.

User Experience Design for Remote Workers

Creating an excellent user experience is equally important as functional capabilities for driving the adoption of remote work apps. User-centric design tailored for distributed teams should focus on several key areas:

Intuitive interfaces for reduced training needs

Well-designed UIs with progressive disclosure of advanced features allows users to get started quickly. Consistent navigation and taxonomies between apps improves cross-training.

Customizable workflows to suit different roles

Personalized workflows, notifications, access controls, and home screens better serve the unique needs of each employee profile.

Accessibility features for diverse user needs

Responsible design choices allow those with disabilities to contribute equally. Options like screen reader support, captions, and color contrast accommodate diverse needs.

Performance optimization for seamless operation

Choppy interfaces ruin user experience. Techniques like lazy loading, caching, background processing, and UI virtualization enable smooth navigation.

Prioritizing these areas of UX design serves the ultimate goal of keeping employees engaged, connected, and productive no matter where they work from. User experience shortcomings lead to apps falling into disuse—making it imperative to get these elements right.

By leveraging UX research and usability studies with remote workers, organizations can develop mobile solutions as delightful as they are functional. This balance is key to long term productivity and satisfaction across distributed teams.

Benefits of developing enterprise apps for remote work

Beyond addressing remote work challenges, prioritizing enterprise mobile apps unlocks a variety of benefits for organizations embracing distributed teams.

Increased productivity and efficiency

By providing intuitive access to communication, collaboration, and business-critical systems from anywhere, employees can achieve more and move faster.

Enhanced employee engagement and satisfaction

Supporting flexible work styles through mobile technology leads to more empowered, motivated, and loyal remote teams.

Improved communication and collaboration

Enterprise mobile apps break down barriers of distance and time zones, bringing remote colleagues together.

Better data security and compliance

Mobile apps encourage use of sanctioned systems with security measures rather than risky shadow IT workarounds.

Cost savings on office space and travel expenses

With robust collaboration tech, maintaining productivity is possible without expensive real estate or travel.

Embracing enterprise mobility solutions for the remote workforce future-proofs business agility while providing tools to improve EX and the bottom line.

Prioritizing mobile maturity unlocks benefits spanning employee experience, security, productivity, and infrastructure cost savings. As the data shows, when implemented effectively enterprise mobile apps provide a clear competitive advantage.

The shift to remote work is a paradigm shift still in its early phases. As distributed teams become standard, mobile apps provide the key to keeping teams connected, informed and productive. Organizations that leverage enterprise mobile apps to truly support flexible work, rather than simply enable it, will become talent magnets and industry leaders. By starting now, mobile developers can strategically partner with enterprises to drive positive outcomes from this workplace revolution.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) on Remote Work Apps

Why are mobile apps becoming increasingly important for remote work?

Mobile apps are crucial for remote work as they provide seamless communication, collaboration, and access to key business systems from anywhere. They help address common remote work challenges like lack of face-to-face interaction, communication barriers, and limited access to company resources. Well-designed mobile apps enhance productivity and keep distributed teams connected and engaged.

What are the key features of effective enterprise mobile apps for remote work?

Effective enterprise mobile apps for remote work should include seamless communication and collaboration tools (e.g., messaging, video conferencing, file sharing), robust security measures (e.g., access controls, data encryption), cross-platform compatibility, offline functionality, and integration with existing enterprise systems. These features directly address the obstacles faced by remote teams and facilitate productivity.

What technical considerations are important when developing mobile apps for remote work?

Key technical considerations include choosing the right development framework (e.g., React Native, Flutter), ensuring data synchronization across devices, implementing end-to-end encryption, optimizing for low-bandwidth environments, and addressing battery life considerations for mobile devices. These factors contribute to creating reliable, secure, and performant mobile apps for remote teams.

How can user-centric design enhance the adoption and effectiveness of remote work apps?

User-centric design focuses on creating intuitive interfaces, customizable workflows, accessibility features, and optimized performance. By tailoring the user experience to the needs of remote workers, user-centric design reduces training requirements, accommodates diverse user needs, and ensures seamless operation. This approach drives higher adoption, engagement, and productivity among remote teams.

What are the benefits of developing enterprise mobile apps for remote work?

Developing enterprise mobile apps for remote work leads to increased productivity and efficiency, enhanced employee engagement and satisfaction, improved communication and collaboration, better data security and compliance, and cost savings on office space and travel expenses. Organizations that prioritize mobile solutions for their remote workforce gain a competitive advantage in terms of business agility, talent attraction, and overall performance.

In early 2020 when the COVID-19 virus moved from a novel respiratory virus to a full-blown pandemic, our world got turned upside down. From major city lockdowns in New York City to San Francisco, our society took sweeping action to help slow the spread of the virus. And as we enter a new phase of grappling with this novel virus – armed with new mRNA vaccine technology – it’s useful to take a look at some of the disruptive technologies that have been born out of the pandemic that shows no sign of waning. 

#1: Video Conferencing 

This one should come as no surprise. As we all know video conferencing platforms like Microsoft Teams, Cisco WebEx, and Zoom have made it possible for many businesses to continue their day-to-day practices without skipping a beat. And by some striking research presented in some recent Gallup polls, nearly 60 percent of employees working in the United States are either now working fully remote, or working partially remote. That’s a huge number!

By our assessment, it doesn’t look like these platforms are going anywhere. In fact, the data now is showing that both employees and employers are embracing this remote model. Based on some recent research presented by PWC, an astounding 83% of employers now say the shift to remote work has been successful for their company and there’s resounding feedback that employees love the flexibility in remote work. 

So, where do we go from here? Well, as video conferencing platforms look to provide more and more value in our everyday lives, we’re sure to see these platforms take on an entirely new form. Take, for instance, the recent Tokyo Olympics. With Tokyo in lockdown to slow the spread of the COVID-19 Delta variant, Microsoft Teams stepped in to help. While Olympian’s families were required to watch their children compete from afar, Microsoft stepped in to support remote communication between Olympians and their families via teleconferencing. It’s technologies like Microsoft Teams and other teleconferencing platforms that will continue to make life more enjoyable as we continue to uncover our new normal grappling with the novel COVID-19 virus. 

#1: Telehealth 

Telehealth comes in at number two on our list. Over the past year and a half, we’ve seen an incredible uptick in the use of telehealth services. Platforms like Doctor on Demand, a platform that pairs patients with doctors to facilitate remote consultations, or SonderMind, a remote therapist pairing platform to facilitate remote therapy are fundamentally transforming the way individuals receive care. And to support this, researchers found an astounding 154% increase in telehealth visits during the last week of March 2020.

So, what does this mean for patients and healthcare? Well, surprisingly both providers and patients are finding remote-based care to be a major success. Today, one of the major bottlenecks for healthcare providers is in-person appointments. We’ve all experienced it. Every time we need to go to the doctor’s office, it seems to be overflowing with patients, and doctors have an incredibly hard time giving proper time and energy to their patients.

Now, telehealth platforms can ease the load. Consider a routine visit or a low-priority health concern. Now, rather than waiting for an in-person visit, these types of visits can be taken care of remotely. What’s the net result? Now patients get better faster care for low-priority health concerns and doctors’ offices are now freed up to attend to more serious ailments and health concerns. 

#3: Remote Learning 

Remote Learning is a space we feel is ripe for disruption. With challenges around re-opening in-person learning, and college tuition becoming an increasingly concerning financial debacle, we believe remote learning is about to shift. Today, students have a wealth of educational resources at their fingertips. From certifications to online boot camps, students are able to skill up without the formal process of a state college. Further, we’re finding that businesses are starting to hire based on skills and accolades, over the formal degree.

Our two cents, with the age of remote work, video conferencing platforms on a tear, we believe educational platforms will fundamentally change how students receive education today and into the near future.

If you’re looking to develop your next mHelath app or artificial intelligence app, consider reaching out to the trusted team at Dogtown Media today.

COVID-19 has forever changed how we approach work. When the pandemic began, Dogtown Media said goodbye to its Los Angeles-based development headquarters for the past decade. We left this office, moved the entire team to remote work, and don’t have any intention of going back. The future of work has changed, and we’ve changed with it. Here are the trends that I believe we can expect to see soon.

Remote Work Will Provide More Opportunities for Job Candidates

Moving to San Francisco used to be a prerequisite for working in the high-tech industry. Today, this is no longer the case. The COVID-19 pandemic has forced companies to figure out how to build cohesive remote work teams fast. And with this new change comes new opportunities.

Organizations will hire more remote workers than ever before now that they know how to get things done outside of an office environment. This is great news for many employees — it means they have better access to more job opportunities. But it also yields some other pertinent benefits worth mentioning.

Knowledge workers can now move to places they want to live, not somewhere they have to work. We can already see this occurring: A recent survey of tech professionals discovered that an average of 30% of respondents had left major metropolises such as Seattle and Los Angeles for greener pastures during the COVID-19 pandemic. Don’t think this trend will continue? Another survey found that 81% of tech workers are either considering or making plans to move to more affordable cities.

The financial incentives certainly play a role in this exodus. Remote workers earn $4,000 more per year than their in-office counterparts, and 30% save $5,000 more per year due to less commuting and eating at home. Moving to smaller, cheaper towns allows these employees to stretch their dollar even further. But if we put money aside, the advantages are still substantial. By choosing where they live, remote workers attain better control over their personal lives. Whether you want to get outdoors more or start raising a family, this is certainly an appealing factor.

Office Models Will Adapt to the Future of Work

On the other side of the equation, remote work also offers a significant financial benefit for organizations that embrace it: Companies can save $11,000 annually for each employee who works remotely half of the time. With that said, it’s no wonder that a Gartner survey of 127 business leaders found that 82% of respondents plan to maintain a hybrid or remote work dynamic after the COVID-19 pandemic ends.

While the same survey elucidated that 47% of business leaders plan to let employees work from home permanently, it also found that another 43% of respondents plan to implement a flexible hybrid work dynamic going forward. For example, some organizations will ask their team members to come into the office two or three days a week instead of five. This will transform how companies structure their headquarters and satellite offices.

Many enterprises are already restructuring how they’re organized. For instance, outdoor retailer REI recently sold its newly-constructed headquarters building to Facebook to pursue a more distributed work model. Known as a hub-and-spoke office model, this paradigm allows companies to shed office space and slim down headquarters while maintaining optimal productivity.

In a hub-and-spoke office model, a smaller headquarters (the hub) and satellite offices (the spokes) serve as locations for employees to congregate, communicate, and collaborate. Instead of long commutes, team members can meet at the hub or spoke that’s most convenient for them. This lean approach eschews large underutilized offices in favor of lean spaces that can accommodate employees who come in two or three times a week and work the rest remotely.

Every Work-Related Industry Hit by COVID-19 Will Reinvent Itself

COVID-19 has proven that change is the only constant in our lives. Although, for many industries related to work, adapting is easier said than done. Co-working and commercial real estate were hit particularly hard during this pandemic. Fortunately, both will bounce back — but it won’t happen without preparing for the future of work.

As companies move towards more flexible hybrid work dynamics and hub-and-spoke paradigms, office-on-demand models will make more sense for many organizations instead of overpaying for underutilized real estate. WeWork and other co-working spaces will be the biggest beneficiaries of this trend. They can provide these businesses with turnkey solutions and an intimate office footprint where team members can work together. In such scenarios, “hot desks” that employees coming in and out can use for the week will replace dedicated workspaces.

Commercial real estate will likely hurt for some time due to all of these pandemic-induced work changes. But it will eventually reinvent itself. This industry will pivot more to mixed-use buildings; a proportion of space will be reserved for industrial or work-related endeavors while the rest is used for residential property. With that said, I’m sure the day will come when a remote work employee has to attend a meeting at one of their company’s “spoke” offices, and it happens to be located a few floors down from their loft!

The Future of Work Is Closer Than It Feels

Several promising COVID-19 vaccines are being expedited to roll out to healthcare workers and the general population. Dr. Anthony Fauci, the Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, has even alluded to the possibility that we may all return to a normal semblance of life by this summer. But although COVID-19 may soon be in humanity’s rearview, its effect on how companies get things done will be everlasting.

COVID-19 has accelerated the future of work to an unprecedented pace. This means that we fortunately won’t have to wait long to see the fruition of these predictions. Are you ready?

Want to leverage emerging technologies like 5G, AI, and IoT in your organization? Get in touch with my team for a Free Consultation.

Original Article Featured in Forbes.

We live in a time of uncertainty. It has been a year since the global Covid-19 pandemic started, but there doesn’t seem to be an end in sight. Has your business adapted to this “new normal” yet?

Before the pandemic, Dogtown Media, my mobile app development firm, had a mixture of in-person and remote team members. Today, my entire team is fully remote. But this didn’t happen without some trial and tribulation. Here are the most important takeaways my team has learned about making remote work actually work, which will hopefully enrich your organization and make it more adaptable than ever before.

1. Practice being proactive and adaptable.

Things change fast these days. To adapt to this frenetic pace, you and your team members should adopt a proactive, flexible mindset. With several companies suddenly turning to remote work, many employees have been forced to contend with suboptimal workspaces and unexpected parenting responsibilities. The only way to move forward effectively is to set your expectations properly and account for the different potential scenarios that could occur.

Reacting without a plan usually leads to chaos. So plan ahead for various possibilities. Regularly take some time to map out goals and define outcomes with your team. This gives both you and your team a “north star” to guide you. Doing so greatly increases your chances of staying operational and progressing in the right direction, even if things don’t go exactly your way.

Speaking of things not going your team’s way, that’s okay — it happens. Adopting a proactive, flexible mindset doesn’t only mean to make plans; it also means making plans with the assumption that they could change. If you practice this and stay adaptable, you’ll be better positioned to navigate and pivot in the months ahead. So while others are waiting for the “right time,” your team will be transforming obstacles into opportunities.

2. Revamp social structures to catalyze remote work collaboration.

Remote work tends to amplify a lack of clarity. This can make it difficult for team members to navigate their tasks at hand. Fortunately, an easy way to fix this is to revise your current social structures in place. For instance, many organizations employ large, siloed teams to get things done. But with remote work, I’ve found that smaller, cross-functional teams with defined objectives work better.

Another structure you should reassess for remote work optimization is how you hold meetings. In this era of remote work, a lack of check-ins could mean that many of your workers are wrestling with more ambiguity than you know. Establish a clear cadence of scheduled daily and weekly meetings with your team. Strive to strike the right balance of communication to give your team guidance on goals and allow them to consult with you about any questions or concerns.

Meetings shouldn’t be the only communication structure in place: Quicker collaboration is sometimes required. You must have other communication avenues open. With a plethora of options available, such as Slack, Microsoft Teams and email, your team will feel freer to conduct simpler, less formal conversations about time-sensitive matters.

Lastly, it’s vital that you build in social interaction opportunities. Remote work conversations shouldn’t only revolve around work. Always take some time to catch up with your team members. Don’t be afraid to bring some levity to the table. This goes a long way toward establishing trust, transparency and camaraderie. Whether you’re doing in-person or remote work, all three of these factors are key ingredients to catalyzing meaningful collaboration.

3. Empower your team with the tools they need to succeed.

To properly equip your team members in the era of remote work, you must pay special attention to how they leverage technology in their workflows. You should mentally walk in their shoes to understand each tool they use to achieve business outcomes. Doing this allows you to assess each component’s efficacy. The main goal here is to identify and address any gaps in access and adoption. This helps keep your employees engaged, which in turn fuels the right results for your business.

Whether it’s a communication platform like Slack or a workflow tool such as Jira Basecamp, examine each piece of your team’s “productivity puzzle.” No matter how basic each element seems, don’t underestimate the friction or advantage it brings to your team. If you identify any weak links in your tech stack, either train your team to improve productivity or try another option.

Remember, your tech stack should empower employees at every level to work efficiently from anywhere in this “new normal,” but don’t forget to keep data security and privacy top of mind. Doing so now may seem like more work, but it only serves to protect your business in the long run.

4. Put your team’s health and safety first.

Remote work isn’t always easy. It’s critical that you prioritize your team’s health and safety during these tough times that we’re all living in right now. Nothing, including projects or deadlines, takes precedence over this.

When the pandemic started, we decided to go completely remote right away. We honestly didn’t know how this would impact our company, but that didn’t matter. What did matter was that all of my team was safe and that they didn’t have to risk their lives just to come to an office.

During emergencies, all great leaders practice empathy. Let your team know that their mental and physical health will always matter more than work. Give them the support they need to maintain both aspects. If you put your team’s well-being first, the right results will follow.

Want to leverage emerging technologies like 5G, AI, and IoT in your organization? Get in touch with my team for a Free Consultation.

Original Article Featured in Forbes.

Our society has been disrupted by the novel coronavirus. Around the world, airline flights have been grounded, communities have slowed to a crawl and countless lives have been affected. In the U.S. alone, we’ve harbored more than 2 million COVID-19 cases. It’s no wonder numerous companies (such as Twitter and Square) are encouraging or asking employees to work from home. Despite how scary times like these can be, business must go on.

Working remotely offers a promising avenue to keep teams functional and businesses in business while infectious diseases are dealt with. The mobile app development firm I co-founded consists of a team distributed across different time zones and continents. Remote work allows our team to stay resilient and adaptive to ever-changing circumstances. Here’s how you can start moving toward a productive distributed team that can roll with the punches of any unexpected event that comes your way.

1. Plan For The Unexpected, And Adapt To New Conditions

If you fail to plan, you’re planning to fail. Obviously, hoping that the virus stops spreading doesn’t count as planning. But neither does handing your workers laptops and telling them to work from home. Start planning your remote work strategy by evaluating and analyzing exactly how things will be done. Think about your daily tasks and those of your employees.

It’s important that you also account for different scenarios. To increase your chances of remaining operational, plan for as many employees as possible to work remotely. Categorize which duties necessitate a physical presence in the office, and then challenge these assumptions — experiment to see if there are methods that would allow employees to do these remotely as well.

2. Establish Communication Protocols

To truly optimize your remote work strategy execution, you should be able to keep your team members in the loop and abreast of new circumstances. Take some time to set up communication protocols that allow for seamless collaboration.

Consolidate all contact information so that everyone can be easily reached. Agree on primary communication channels. Slack and email work wonders for my team. Discuss how customer-facing employees are expected to interact with clients and leads.

Last but certainly not least, it’s vital that you establish how and when your team can meet and coordinate. Meetings often take up a big bulk of many employees’ days. Luckily, the rise of teleconference software means meetings no longer have to be in person. Zoom is our go-to platform. And it seems that many others are turning to remote conferencing; Zoom has reportedly already added more users in 2020 than in all of 2019.

3. Streamline Your Software Stack

To simplify remote work for your team members, give them the right tools to succeed. For this step, focus on auditing your available software. Then close any identified gaps in access and adoption.

Assess the comfort level and effectiveness of the applications your team uses every day. This includes communication software such as Slack, as well as workflow tools like Jira and Basecamp. Each piece of your “productivity puzzle” should aid in coordinating deadlines, holding team members accountable and keeping work transparent.

If there is room for improvement, provide training and practice to get your team up to speed. Alternatively, consider other applications to replace the weak links in your software stack. This may seem like more work, but it’s better to take care of this now.

Remember, your software stack should give your staff the ability to work efficiently from anywhere, even on their personal devices if need be. That last part is especially crucial. Clarify which “bring your own” devices are acceptable. Keep data security top of mind, and encrypt all information and interactions via a virtual private network (VPN). This can help ensure your business assets are adequately protected when employees access them remotely.

4. Cultivate A Remote Work Company Culture

When going remote, some team members may feel a sense of isolation. Company culture can go a long way toward combating this issue by reinforcing cohesion.

If your company is new to remote work, it can take a while for employees to adjust. Create a supportive environment that nurtures progress toward this goal. Give your workers extra time to learn the skills and tools they need to succeed. Help them by periodically sending out educational content and opportunities regarding remote work.

In meetings, make sure everyone’s voice is being heard. Open inclusion and participation are two prime avenues to accomplish this. Each team member should regularly have the opportunity to discuss their opinion, whether it’s about the pace of a project or personal dilemmas stifling productivity.

Lastly, don’t forget to be human. We all desire connection. Unfortunately, one of the biggest downsides to remote work is the disconnect it often causes. Bring levity and lightheartedness to your meetings. Everything shouldn’t be serious all the time. If you have new team members, gamify some meetings, and introduce icebreakers so that they feel comfortable building relationships. These endeavors may seem silly, but they can be key to establishing trust and catalyzing meaningful collaboration.

Embrace Remote Work — It Could Strengthen Your Business

Situations like the novel coronavirus can be scary for everyone. And they can be detrimental for businesses. Preparing your company for remote work can let you eschew many of the issues that could arise from future disruptive events.

Plan ahead now to stay resilient in ever-changing circumstances. Even if the current situation doesn’t change, at least you will be organized, flexible and ready to rise to any future occasion that threatens your business’s operational continuity.

While Flexjobs found that it makes up less than 5% of full-time jobs in the U.S., I believe remote work is the future of work. This figure will likely grow with time as more businesses embrace the benefits of working remotely. And if you want your company to be a part of this future, it’s important that you adapt with the times.

Want to leverage emerging technologies like 5G, AI, and IoT in your organization? Get in touch with my team for a Free Consultation.