Running a business remotely might be a growing trend, but that does not make it an easier job. The task at hand involves connecting even better than if you were in person with customers and employers, as well as clients. Trying to make this work and be profitable is not impossible, and some companies do it very well. Here are three ways to challenge your remote business to find improvements and be more productive.
Looking for growth opportunities can be crucial.
Look for opportunities.
Every business has its blindspots. So, for your business, looking for growth opportunities can be crucial. It changes the mentality and culture of a place to start thinking proactively rather than reactively, which helps when issues arise. Ask yourself the following questions: ‘Where are holes in the pattern of your business? What can’t employees or customers do that you would like them to be able to? What is limiting?’
Lakeside Software, a software and digital experience management company, recently released a report on the state of remote work titled “Digital Workplace Productivity Report 2022.” The report highlights major areas of concern for remote workplaces, including employee frustration, reduced output, and losses in productivity. For example, more can often be done for a business in the area of technology as employee frustrations may stem from older or lagging equipment, load and response time, etc.
“Not only are many employees feeling hindered by their workplace technology, but IT teams are also frustrated by a lack of visibility into how and when issues occur,” says David Keil, chief executive officer of Lakeside Software, about the findings in the report. “The loss of [54 minutes] per week per employee to IT downtime represents a major productivity issue for enterprise organizations.”
Another key finding from the report is that 40 percent of workplace tech problems fall by the wayside and do not get reported to the proper channels. This is a huge gap in failing IT infrastructure and employee communication that leads to major losses in productivity.
Find where your company can move faster.
Maybe your company is running completely smoothly, but if it could run just slightly faster, you’d make more revenue. Finding these areas in your business that not only could be handled more efficiently, but faster, help remote work feel less daunting to employees who might get stuck in the weeds of a project and struggle to see the big picture.
For instance, if you’re in the business of real estate, banking, or finance, you know how important it is for both you and your clients to access money or transfer funds quickly.
Over the last couple of years, fintech company Dwolla has assisted companies with real-time payments (RTP). Real estate was one of the industries that utilized RTP offerings during this time. Instead of waiting for up to five days for large transfers such as escrow and earnest money, the process for homebuyers was completed in about 60 seconds via a secure digital transaction.
Finding spaces like this where days condense into seconds has the potential to save your business weeks of time, which is only more revenue in your company’s pocket down the road.
Combine resources when possible.
Merging your HR and IT departments likely isn’t going to be a beneficial use of you and your company’s time. But when we think about joining forces and resources in a business, we think about what the most resilient and quick fix will be in the face of potential issues.
Hybrid and remote workplaces can be vulnerable to many security issues if companies are not careful. When things break or problems arise, many businesses have their IT and cybersecurity departments combined for fast problem solving. If issues happen at a company, either big or small, knowing your team is on it and trusting their combined forces to fix the issue is the most efficient path forward.