Remote office communication tools are an indication of a company’s digital maturity

With the imposed necessity of working at home during the coronavirus pandemic, many employers and their employees were required to adapt to a new working environment. In principle, remote working sounds ideal. No commute, increased saving and flexibility as well as more time with our families. This has resulted in employees reporting 80% less work-related stress and 77% of remote employees say they are more productive when working from home.

However, this is not reflective of all. With the lack of a centralised office, a worrying 19% have been left feeling socially and professionally isolated due to employers struggling to facilitate team communication and employee well-being.  Consequently, the novelty of working from home is beginning to wear thin with many. Poor internet connectivity, lack of structure, unsuitable home office space and increased feeling of disconnect are pushing employees back to a brick and mortar environment – at least part-time.

Looking at this from an organisational level, where the adjustment to remote working was not so straightforward for all businesses as nearly 50% of companies globally did not allow remote work before COVID-19. Organisational change is difficult and where technology is involved, even more so. Those entering lockdown equipped with cutting edge communication technology tools took the transition to remote office in their stride. Yet, a vast majority of businesses were thrust into a new environment with inadequate tools or for some, none at all. They faced the much stiffer challenge of a combined new technology in addition to a migration of work practices. Having to scramble a technological response is seldom adequate or satisfactory to the business or its’ employees.

It is useful to consider remote office communication tools as a barometer of digital maturity, and where possible, apply lessons learned to build resilience into your technology eco-system with support from specialist technology partners. At the start of 2020, industries could never have imagined the wide-reaching and debilitating impact the virus would have over the following months. As the pandemic continues to teach us, the rules of the game are irreversibly adapting to our “new normal”.