When your business is expanding rapidly, you’re suddenly faced with a number of problems you weren’t expecting. The biggest of these is wondering where you might put all of the extra staff you need to deal with this extra workload. The most obvious and popular solution is to opt for remote or hybrid working so you can hire from anywhere, and the physical resources you have are shared by those who come into the office just a couple of days a week.
This, too, comes with its own share of problems that you need to look at, and it’s essential not to cut corners here as all of these have repercussions for the productivity of your workforce, their morale, and the security of your business.
1. Equip your staff with what they need
While you won’t be paying to have them at your office, you still need to give all your remote or hybrid workers the tools they need to do the job. This will most typically be just a laptop, but in some cases, you might have to dig a bit deeper and find the funds so they can create their own office space at home.
Ideally, you want your employees to be as free from distractions as possible, and if they’re working from their kitchen table, then there will be distractions aplenty. Alternatively, they might try and work from the local coffee shop, in which case you might want to arm them with a VPN to help keep the connection secure.
2. Think regarding extra security protocols
This isn’t the only security concern that you’ll have, as any cybersecurity risks that may have been present before are increased once you have a distributed workforce. You probably know that you need firewalls and antivirus software, but might not know much beyond that. This is where you need to get a cybersecurity company involved to help fill in any gaps in your knowledge.
They can help you with other specialist matters, such as if you should opt for UDP or TCP, and how these protocols help with the speed of data transfer and can assist you in combatting certain types of cyberattacks.
3. Invest in communication software
Many employees might prefer working from home, but one of the few downsides to not being in the office is that they might miss out on the camaraderie and face-to-face creativity that office life provides. While you can’t replicate this exactly, you can provide everybody with communication software like Teams or Slack which can help generate conversation.
You need to be clear that communication on these platforms doesn’t just have to be regarding work, it can be regarding their weekends, and they can do things like post pictures of their pets or family the same as they might during a conversation at the office. This way, you’re providing a social outlet as well, which can help with the morale of remote workers who might feel isolated, especially if they live alone, and work would have been the only time that they interact with other people.