Are you spending enough time on upgrading your company’s digital assets and resources? Prioritizing digital transformation is no longer just an option—it’s vital if you want your brand to stay competitive. From efficiency to customer experience, digital technology affects it all!Furthermore, a major motivator for change should be to improve your company’s ability to manage remote workers. This—having a remote team—is no longer a phenomenon, but rather the norm. And if you can’t offer this privilege you’re very likely to miss out on employing some of the best talent in the market.Remote work has proven to benefit companies and workers, so it’s worth setting yourself up for success. But of course, you need the right infrastructure to efficiently manage, as well as support this unique kind of workforce. Remote working does come with challenges and it’s through your digital transformation that you’ll empower all involved to manage the new setup better.The Major Digital Transformation Initiatives that Impacted Remote Workforce ManagementThe reason so many companies can share success stories about remote working is the existence of impressive, innovative technology. There have been areas of tech that has seen major developments and when you harness the power of these resources, a remote workforce becomes much easier to manage efficiently.Here are four areas of transformation that are especially helpful when working with your remote team.CommunicationOver the past few years many services, products and software have become available that are beneficial to business communication in general. Consider how easy it now is to talk to someone on the other side of the globe, all thanks to video conferencing tools such as Skype or Zoom.Companies that are successful in remote workforce management realize that face-to-face meetings aren’t always necessary. They embrace the fact that these tools aren’t only back-up options but can be the standard method of communication for team members with each other, with clients and with suppliers.What’s more, efficient communication resources actually make communication better than before. Simply consider:

• Messaging platforms that save all shared documents, making it easy to review and refer to information.

• mail threads helping to capture history of discussed topics.

• Collaboration platforms with storage in the cloud enable workers to access messages and information from anywhere, at any time.

• With efficient communication tools that employees can access from anywhere, clients can get feedback at any time, even if an employee isn’t near the office.

• Many modern communication tools have tools helpful for collaboration, such as a virtual white board to share ideas with others.

• Modern microphones and webcams are of high enough quality to share clear footage and audio.

The technology exists and the benefits are there for the taking!Workforce OptimizationSome employers may be hesitant to embrace remote working for employees because they expect many obstacles in terms of managing the team and maintaining productivity. Once again, tech innovations have already supplied the market with solutions that benefit all parties.No worker enjoys being micro-managed, but of course employers need methods of monitoring hours worked and tracking progress. A simple tool to start with is trying out time and attendance systems as a way for remote workers to stay accountable.To streamline workflows, you can implement tools relevant to your needs, such as project management software. These can help track everything from a project’s planning phases to budgets very effectively and you can pick the type of reports and tools you want to use. Developers make these tools as user friendly as possible, enabling you to access updates or get a general overview at a few clicks of a button. You may wonder why you haven’t started using this with your on-site teams already.SecurityOf course, security is a major reason why some companies aren’t too excited about having remote workers. With data traveling off the premises, companies tend to feel exposed and at higher risk of getting hacked. After all, cyber crime is only getting worse.You may be surprised to know that the tech innovations that are the safest are ideal for remote work. For example, many experts that using cloud storage is much safer than using servers on site, or with a service provider. And when on the cloud, your team can access data from anywhere as long as you give them access.

Cybersecurity Graphic; image courtesy of
typographyimages via Pixabay, www.pixabay.com

Furthermore, you need tools like a VPN (virtual private network) to ensure your team’s actions stay private whenever they’re busy online. Strict rules are necessary, such as:

• Not allowing workers to ever connect their personal devices to the network

• Requiring all workers to complete a course on phishing schemes, so they aren’t easy victims for cyber criminals

• Have a strong password policy by requiring workers to use special characters whenever picking passwords

• Using multi-factor authentication for all systems

• Regular data backups to make data recovery processes possible and easy

You do need some policies and tools in place, but security concerns shouldn’t deter you from benefiting from remote setups.Resource OptimizationThanks to technology offering so many solutions that enable effective remote working, most companies can have fewer people in the office, more people at home and still have a productive workflow. The added benefit is that you’re opening the door to many other benefits—for both your brand, workers and the environment:

• With fewer people on site you need less office space, saving you money on rent and real estate. This also helps cover the costs you will invest in setting up workers at home with the necessary resources.

• Going digital is more environmentally friendly, since you’re bound to use fewer resources in the form of paper, power and even cleaning materials.

• Since your workers aren’t on site they can be anywhere in the world, giving them more flexibility and career satisfaction. In addition, you’re free to employ talent from around the globe and pick the best workers that will benefit your brand.

ConclusionMany people promote remote working and it’s worth considering, but without digital transformation it will be difficult to optimize your engagement with the workforce that’s not on site. So, what technology does your company need to invest in first to make this work for you?