Learn how to make your business remote or hybrid with the help of this guide.
In 2023, 16 percent of companies are fully remote (Forbes). On top of this, thousands of other businesses are hybrid, which is a combination of in-office and remote. Because this has proven to be such a successful strategy, the remote work trend continues to grow in strength — and you might want your business to become a part of it.
Turning your business remote isn’t as difficult as you might imagine. In fact, it’s actually a piece of cake. This is because all of the digital tools you and your employees will need are readily available at low-cost, so you won’t even have to worry about breaking the bank as you make the transition.
To get started with your transition from an in-office business to a remote business, check out the following free tips and advice.
Use a Federated Identity Provider
Your current employees use a lot of applications, right? From different email accounts to Microsoft 365, the list of company accounts and passwords they have is probably endless. When working from home, having to individually remember and log into these accounts every day is going to drive your employees crazy — which you obviously don’t want.
The solution is simple: use a federated identity provider. This way, your employees will be able to quickly log into all of your different websites and applications without having to remember passwords. Instead, employees will use the same login credentials for each application, which will make life a lot easier for them.
In the past, you’ve probably used your Gmail account to sign into third-party websites so that you don’t have to manually create an account for the third-party websites. Essentially, this is how federated identity works — all of your company accounts are linked back to one source. Therefore, if you’re going to have a large remote workforce, it’s a no-brainer to use federated identity.
Provide Employees with the Tools They Need
Going remote means you’ll be ditching your company office. The downside of this is that employees will no longer have access to the in-office tools they need, such as WIFI and laptops, which is why you’ll need to make sure they’re equipped for remote work.
- Screen-sharing software
- Apps such as Microsoft Teams, Google Drive, and OneDrive
- Headsets
If some of your employees don’t have access to reliable WIFI at their homes, then you’ll need to help them get set up with a reliable internet provider.
Buy Remote Employee Monitoring Software
Next, buy remote employee monitoring software.
Through employee monitoring software, you’ll be able to monitor the activity of your employees while they work from home. As a result, you won’t have to worry about them slacking off or underperforming due to the fact you can’t monitor them in the office anymore.
For example, if an employee has been away from their computer for over an hour, the monitoring software will flag this and let you know that they’ve gone inactive.
Hold Regular Virtual Meetings
Through video calling apps like Microsoft Teams, you can regularly stay in touch with your employees from different locations. During these digital meetings, you’ll then be able to discuss goals, performance levels, achievements, and everything else in between.
