Here are our top three strategies to embrace as we look beyond the now and towards 2021

1. Focus on people, as well as process and technology
2. Build flexibility and cultural change into your strategy
3. Think big about collaboration post lockdown

Along with these three top tips, there’s one final point to remember. Make sure you take your own lockdown learnings forward, reflect on them and consider where to focus to continue your growth and build a dynamic workforce.

Navigating change is never easy, but with the right strategies for success, there are no barriers too high. Empower your people to work dynamically and achieve more than you thought was possible.

See Smartsheet Report: European business leaders on what’s next for digital transformation

The post Our Top 3 Strategies to embrace as we look towards the future of work in 2021 appeared first on SmarterBusinessProcesses.

The Popularity of Remote Working

According to the ONS, more than three quarters (78%) of those who worked from home in some capacity said that it gave them an improved work life balance. 

As well as the stress of commuting, employees also cite annoying and disruptive co-workers, unnecessary meetings and other distractions as reasons why the office environment is unproductive. 

A recent study by RingCentral also found that hybrid remains the preference for the majority, as one in five (20%) workers dread working from an office, and fewer than one in 10 (8%) want to be in an office every day.

Flexibility is so important to employees that more than half (58%) would change jobs or industries for hybrid or remote work.

But Remote Working Can Bring Challenges

At Smarter Business Processes, remote working is in our DNA. Our team of consultants work across multiple countries, developing and rolling out our Smarter Apps for clients around the globe. We identify some of the major remote working challenges faced by our customer, and outline our solutions below.

Collaboration

Even for the introverted, home working can be a lonely experience. Teams miss being able to bounce ideas off each other in a shared workspace. Many report feelings of isolation and difficulty communicating with colleagues, all of which takes its toll on our mental health and emotional well being. 

Our Smarter Apps work with cloud based storage and software which means they sync and update in real time. This makes sharing information and collaborating online effortless and extremely practical. 

Many of our Smarter Apps also allow you to select how much information each specific user sees, based on the permission granted by the system admin.

Lack of Support and Training

It’s no fun being stuck at home with a raft of incomprehensible software solutions and no one to turn to for support. 

According to Tech Republic.com, just over a fifth (21%) of respondents to an O2’s survey felt they’d missed out on coaching during the pandemic, while 33% said they’d missed out on development and training.

Many employees felt that training and infrastructure became overlooked during the scramble to implement home working during the pandemic. 

We can’t make Smarter apps that can turn back time (we’re working on it!) but we can offer you the expertise of a team who has been operating remotely for over a decade. Our Smartsheet training packages have been described as “excellent”, “incredibly beneficial” and “fun” . We can offer you 1 to 1 or group sessions, remotely, or on site, and tailor it to whichever aspect of Smartsheet you are looking to cover. 

Time Management

Advances in technology and communication got us through the pandemic, but one of the biggest challenges with hybrid working is the blurring of boundaries between work and home. Employees want time saving efficiencies that give them the freedom to switch off at the end of the work day. 

Our smarter apps, such as the Dropdown List Manager and the Formula Loader tool are designed to automate repetitive, laborious tasks. They save you time, ensuring accuracy and are among the best apps to gain knowledge about Smartsheets. Everything is kept uniform, cutting down on human error, and allowing you to switch off your PC and walk away at the end of the day.  

We can also work with clients on smarter apps and solutions that can help you and the team manage your time more efficiently. For example, we can help you design and create a Smartsheet webform to track and monitor productivity.

In Summary

The long term impact of hybrid work on productivity and wellbeing still remains to be seen. The development of home working, accelerated by the pandemic is now growing at an unprecedented pace. We listen to our clients and continue to develop the tools and solutions to keep your business on track, wherever you are working.  We have created a series of best free apps for knowledge on Smart sheets and the various features.

Further Reading

Watch our Smarter Apps demo below, or find more information here.

You can also view our webforms webinar over on our YouTube channel.

The post Love Remote Working with Smarter Apps appeared first on SmarterBusinessProcesses.

Let’s turn what is at least a huge inconvenience into an opportunity? By using a good remote conferencing tool like Zoom, we avoid the need to travel and meet in person, which in itself saves hours, travel money and reduces risk. By implementing Smartsheet for collaborative work management you get the work done faster, improving collaboration and visibility across timezones, so it matters not if your workers are doing late hours or live in another continent, the work continues and the potential productivity opportunity is huge, (typically 20 to 40% saved). 

Never has there been a better time to try out these tools. Zoom and Smartsheet offer free trials, our team can help you to ramp up fast with their use if need be? We hope this suggestion has helped? Good luck to all at this difficult time.  Request your free Smartsheet 28 day trial OR Contact us for further information – we’d love to hear from you!

For more about remote working See Forbes conversation with Smartsheet CEO Mark Mader 

The post A Deep Dive into Remote Work for our Future of Work appeared first on SmarterBusinessProcesses.

TechCrunch recently released the 10 most important trends changing the face of enterprise computing, everything from faster application performance to virtualization to enhanced security.

We dug a little deeper into four of these trends and looked at what they specifically mean for the future of technology in the workplace.

Four Important Trends to Consider When Looking for New Technology

1. Cloud computing is taking over.
   Nearly one-third of all workloads use the cloud today, according to Morgan Stanley. Cloud computing is so powerful because it removes all physical barriers – employees can access information anywhere and on any device. It also allows organizations to easily expand resources and adopt new tools and applications without buying more hardware.

What it means: Yes, telecommuting is on the rise, but today’s cloud software promises to enable entire companies to work remotely, regardless of time zones or geographic locations. Precise Biometrics, creators of smart card readers and fingerprint sensors designed to protect data, has 20 international workers and uses Smartsheet as its main tool. “It’s become our virtual office. It’s the heart of our team,” said Meredith Esham, director of marketing.

2. More purchasing power across organizations.
   Traditionally, CIOs and IT staff held purchasing power for new technology and tools. Now, it’s moving to heads of sales, marketing, finance and other departments. In fact, one-third of technology purchasing power has moved to executives outside of IT, according to a Bain & Company survey.

What it means: There is no “standard buyer” anymore; it could be someone from any department. As a result, IT solutions need to be customizable across the board. Also, with different technology buyers in the same organization, employees will likely be using multiple applications. Tools that are compatible with other apps will be the clear winner.

3. New ways to get work done with mobile.
   Salesforce.com’s CEO, Marc Benioff, has said he runs his whole business from his phone. This keeps getting easier and easier to do. Mobile applications are providing efficient, automated ways to work faster and smarter.

What it means: Information never sleeps. With our smartphones and tablets, employees could be working on projects at any time, day or night, so technology will need to keep up. Businesses will need solutions that allow simultaneous editing, automated progress reports, and real-time notifications when things change in a project.

4. Intuitive, easy-to-use interfaces are king.
   Better-designed applications with friendly interfaces are pushing out the harder-to-use, traditional models. Businesses don’t want to waste days training employees on how to use a new program; instead, they are actively seeking organic adoption.

What it means: User experience will be a huge factor in selecting an IT solution. Smartsheet’s universal, spreadsheet layout is a powerful draw for our customers.

Technology to Help Work Smarter, Not Harder

Businesses need technology that can help employees work smarter, not harder. They should be looking for cloud-based, user-friendly tools that can keep up with our 24/7 plugged-in world in a customizable way. Employees don’t have time to be held back by technology, they need to hit the ground running.

Smarter Business Processes offer Smartsheet Consultancy to help you and your organisation get your work done! We’re here to help with your Design and Development of effective Smartsheet Solutions.  Found out more here or Contact us

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