Remote working isn’t just about tech: it’s about people too

COVID-19 has forced many companies to switch to remote working at a huge scale. But even with the right tech already in place to work from anywhere – we need to think beyond just how it’s delivered. So, where should we focus our energy once tech’s taken care of? And how can we best support our people through these testing times?Here’s what we’ve been up to at Byte…

Tech taken care of

We already use Office 365 to access email and collaboration tools across all our devices and the Azure cloud for our security and identity management. We have also supported our accounting customers for a number of years using the OneSpace secure remote solution. When the lockdown was announced, we simply applied these things to our wider business, leaving us free to tackle people aspects from day one.

Addressing physical workspaces

First on the list for any business should be employee safety and to make sure our people would actually stay away from the office, we had to make sure they could work comfortably at home. We helped them borrow the extra IT equipment from the office and shared guidance on adjusting their chairs and monitors to prevent back and neck strain.

Managing new developments

We put a COVID response team together to manage the developing situation. It included business leaders, HR and employee representatives to work out how to best support employees and their families. Weekly meetings are now taking place to talk through the latest developments and what can be done to help staff deal with them.

Focusing on human connection

Mental health is a huge concern as people adjust to minimal social contact and the breakdown of the workday structure. We’ve put things in place to help including ‘Wellbeing’ and ‘Productivity’ Teams channels to share tips, and ‘Mindfulness Mondays’ to give employees dedicated time for mental health.

Substituting informal catch-ups

One of the biggest losses we’ve seen from the lockdown has been our ‘kitchen chats’ – informal catch-ups which are actually pretty vital to the way we work. We’re now replicating these using Yammer as a designated informal platform, as well as making sure there are plenty of things still going on in the social calendar, such as Friday lunch n’ learn sessions or a Byte’s bake-off.

Keeping cool in a crisis

As lockdown continues, it’s important to keep looking at the big things as well as the small, making adjustments throughout our businesses to make sure we can keep jobs secure in the long-term. None of this is possible without the tech to make it happen. With that taken care of, we can truly put our people – and by extension our customers – first.To find out more about working remotely with Byte.