The 3 major challenges of teleworking and their solutions
Challenge no. 1: managing collaboration between colleagues
For companies of all sizes, and for all professionals, organization and coordination around common projects are being put to the test during this pandemic period.
Teamwork has been completely reconfigured, notably through the accelerated digitization of work tools and processes, not to mention face-to-face human relations, which are themselves greatly impacted.
Ensuring good collaboration between telecommuting colleagues is a real challenge in this new professional environment! A small work team relies on just a few people, and direct communication between them is vital to the smooth running of the business. Despite the physical distance, the work team needs to stay together.
Today, there are many solutions for creating a new virtual "open space": common project management platforms that are easy to use (not every employee becomes a geek in a few months of confinement). At vcita, we recognized these new collaborative management needs in small organizations long before the COVID-19 bomb exploded.
So, a few years ago, we created a common dashboard on our business management platform, which everyone in the company can update automatically. This overview includes all added customer information (CRM, customer files), and is visible in real time to the whole team: ideal for everyone to be in sync and participate in the company's common dynamic! It lists the day's, week's or month's customer appointments, so that staff know exactly what's on the agenda.
Adopting the right tools to ensure synergy is also essential for delivering quality work to customers and avoiding errors due to information discrepancies between colleagues.
Attending joint online training courses with colleagues via webinars can also provide a wealth of "tips" for employees and company managers, and bond the team through professional moments spent together, as would have been the case in the office.
Finally, physical distance doesn't have to mean isolation: you and your team deserve at least one convivial moment a month, even for a short time, without ever mentioning work. There are many ways to create this moment of sharing and conviviality.
Challenge no. 2: ensuring access to information and tools
Having an effective collaborative solution is not the only prerequisite for continuing to work in the best possible conditions in this new professional context. After all, we naturally use a great deal of software in the course of our working day. It' s not easy to bring together all the information from these different tools, without running the risk of dispersing or losing data. Fortunately, a magic word now makes it possible to considerably reduce this risk: integration!
For example, are you working together on a new project? Not easy when you're physically far from your colleagues. That's where the concept of integration comes in: it's all about bringing together, in a simple maneuver, other work tools used on a daily basis in the company into your common management platform. There are a number of reasons for doing this, but the main one is to bring together the data collected on different work tools, and avoid forgetting to synchronize them. Today, we know how important good data management is for the growth of small businesses... Integration means you can stay connected and informed of the actions coming from your various software applications that are necessary for your business. And, as a result, boost cooperation between colleagues!
The vcita platform can connect over 3,000 applications! Among the most popular: Gmail, Google Calendar, Mail Chimp, Active Campaign, Squarespace, Zoho CRM, Shopify, Microsoft Outlook, Zoom, Survey Monkey, Dropbox, Paypal, Monday.com, Wix Automations, Formstack.
Challenge no. 3: manage work time at home
One of the key challenges of this period of health crisis is to find a new professional balance while working from home. Not always easy when there is no physical transition between home and the workplace. The transition between these two "worlds" can then be difficult to make.
In recent months, the press has reported numerous cases of employees and managers unable to cut short their working day, or to organize their days rationally. It's all about maintaining a balance and not getting overwhelmed by the tasks at hand. The solution? Automate certain management tasks to save time and lighten your mental load!
Many time-consuming management tasks can now be automated. This saves a considerable amount of time during the working day. Here are just a few examples of activities that can be automated from a single management platform, and which will make you forget about your Excel spreadsheet:
- online appointments booked directly by customers on a dedicated customer portal,
- invoicing,
- and automatic reminders before customer appointments (to reduce no-shows).
With this time saved, you can devote yourself to your core business, and choose to do with this new free time what you please: take more customer appointments, develop your skills, or take time for yourself.
To meet the new challenges of telecommuting, leave technology to its own devices and make it easy for yourself!
Sponsored article. Expert contributors are authors independent of the Appvizer editorial team. Their comments and positions are their own. This article has been translated from English into French.
Article translated from French