Just like the rest of the world, Truebyte was thrust into the world of remote working with the rapid rise of Covid-19 pandemic.
Restrictions have relaxed and tightened on several occasions since those early days, and companies are still being told to work from home if possible. Now the dust has settled a little, businesses have adapted to the new normal, and we are no different.
We’ve enjoyed the positives, like the team enjoying more flexibility with family and leisure, but are also very aware of the negatives, including a greater risk of isolation and disrupted flows of information.
Nearly two years into pandemic-forced, hybrid working, it’s not about being reactive, but building a long term strategy that acknowledges things aren’t going back to normal anytime soon.
Here are five lessons we’ve learnt that can help inform us, and you, moving forward.
Review hardware and software with remote in mind
Where possible we have equipped our team with laptops to smooth the regular switch between home and office environments, providing additional screens in each location. With USB docks, setup when switching is minimal. Our VPN and sync folder capability has enabled easy access to centralised data when out of our office locations.
Remote Monitoring and Management tools have allowed our IT team to keep track of user devices, flagging the need to update or problems with performance wherever they are. We are also regularly undertaking DSE assessments to ensure that our team members are working with display equipment at home safely.
Don’t adopt a one size fits all policy
It’s been important for us to look on a case-by-case basis at the suitability of hybrid working for teams and individuals. For our service desk team there has been particular benefit to working in the office environment as one unit, so we have maintained this with remote working kept to a minimum.
Also, for certain individuals, homeworking has not been a viable option due to family life and space restrictions. In these instances, fulltime office working has continued.
We have tried not to force people’s working location just for the sake of everyone operating in the same way.
Modifying processes and practices to increase communication
To ensure teams communicate effectively and all individuals are kept in the loop wherever they are working, our teams have introduced daily stand-ups and end of day “washups”, bringing everyone together.
With Truebyte’s three office locations, staff have commented the introduction of these meetings have actually improved whole team contact from when we were previously just working out of office environments.
Consider reallocating your premises budget
We are monitoring usage and are considering a reduction of floor space in one of our locations where the office occupancy has been lowered because of hybrid and remote working. There is likely to be some budgetary advantages from a rental perspective because of this, which we can channel into training and development of the team.
Flexible hot desks have been introduced in other locations to ensure that hybrid working can be catered for seamlessly.
Explore new technologies
We have developed our own VDI (Virtual desktop infrastructure) which we are calling ‘Truebyte Desktop’. This is powered from our own platform, and we will provide it as a service. It is a new way of working with all your data served from a central location. We are currently offering proof of concepts for clients that would benefit from this system.
Truebyte Desktop will improve flexibility (set up of new users or offices), accessibility from any location and security with people working at home, using their own personal internet connection. This infrastructure improvement will enable us to operate in a hybrid manner in the most effective way possible.
