Supporting Your Remote Workforce by Improving Access to Information and Ideas

“The value of an idea lies in the using of it.” — Thomas Edison

Previously, many ideas were used and shared in classic “water cooler” situations – bumping into colleagues in the hall, sharing a coffee or even washing hands side-by-side in the washroom.

These days, the only one of those activities that still sounds like a good idea is the hand-washing … and never side-by-side!

With many team members working from home, how do you make sure everybody has access to the information and ideas they need to deliver top-quality work?

And, while we’re talking about safety, how do you keep business information safe and secure when it’s being shared by a dispersed workforce?

The answer lies in the cloud.

Teams need easy access to information to do their best work

People do their best work when they’re empowered by information and ideas. For example, your marketing team will create better campaigns when they know what worked in the past. Your risk management team can better prepare for threats when they understand past risks.

Unfortunately, while 79 percent of business leaders believe digital access to knowledge is important to performance, only 18 percent report that knowledge is shared well. For remote teams, the need to access everything from home can amplify this problem.

Around 44 per cent of business leaders say that disparate information systems across the organization make it hard to connect and collaborate. And 86 percent of employees don’t have a clear idea of what their colleagues are working on. This combined lack of access and strained collaboration spells trouble for newly remote-based teams.

More data can lead to more security concerns

To work around access issues, some employees may resort to using their own devices or methods of file-sharing to keep up with their work. Unfortunately, this puts your company’s data at high risk for exposure. This is why it’s vital to implement safe tools for both accessing and sharing critical business information.

Chrome Enterprise combines the strengths of Chrome OS, browser and Chrome devices to form a secure, digital ecosystem making access easy while allowing remote capabilities to provision, configure and manage your team’s devices and resolve any tech issues quickly and simply. Add in Chrome’s automatic updates and your system will always be up to speed.

Turn information and ideas into value with cloud solutions

Centrally managed, cloud-based tools can quickly solve the issue of access and security. For example, you might implement cloud-based file storage and smart search features that can pull information from storage instantly. No VPN required.

Data is simply compiled information — that is until it’s turned into value. Transforming information and ideas into useful insights via the cloud and AI-powered solutions will help your employees make better decisions to support their work.

Cloud-based tools offer many potential benefits for your organization, with just a few including:

• Avoiding the need to search through hundreds of files to find last month’s meeting notes.
• Allowing team members to collaborate securely and efficiently in real time.
• Removing barriers that can prevent diverse employees from sharing feedback and ideas.

Learn how to best support your remote workforce during this time

Your team is doing their best to fulfill their responsibilities while navigating all the changes and challenges they continue to face in their personal and professional lives. You can support them by adopting cloud-based tools and processes to improve access to information and so much more.

To learn more about how to best support your remote workforce, reach out to the cloud experts at Pythian.

You may also want to read our posts on enhancing your remote team’s productivity by embracing flexibility and working faster.