The world of work is constantly changing — sometimes in gradual shifts, sometimes in ground-shaking upheavals. The COVID-19 pandemic and its ongoing repercussions represented the latter, and leaders are still catching up to the new expectations and standards of their workplaces. Adapting to workplace trends doesn’t have to be scary; in fact, failing to adapt is much riskier. Read on to learn more about the trends affecting IT teams and how your organization can keep up.

Dispersed Workforce

The office isn’t necessarily a thing of the past, but it’s no longer considered the be-all-end-all hub of productivity. Employees have proven that they can be just as productive (if not more) from home, and many companies have taken advantage of this workplace trend by pivoting to hybrid and distributed models.

Still, unity and communication in a dispersed workforce present a unique challenge. Leaders must answer this specific communication challenge: how do we allow for maximum collaboration and creativity while demonstrating a high level of trust for our remote workers?

It’s essential to offer comprehensive cloud communications technology, with functionality for meetings, chat, video, and phone. From there, companies must also incentivize and reward a culture of collaboration and ensure that all communication via company-wide channels is clear, concise, and strategic.

Flexible Work Hours

It’s always 9 to 5 somewhere, right? Many businesses are accounting for time zone differences on their teams and allowing people to work when it’s best for them. The resulting flexible hours workplace trend empowers employees to achieve better work-life balance.

The most important step a company can take to succeed in this new, flexible model is to measure employee performance on clearly communicated outcomes. When employees understand how their success is quantified, they can be on the same page with their companies as to what’s expected of them.

Additionally, features like Presence on UCx with Webex help people know when their colleagues are online, facilitating synchronous and asynchronous collaboration.

Communication: A Wealth of Options

Advancements in technology have opened up a world of possibilities in communication — but more isn’t always better. Just because your company can use dozens of apps that enable communication and collaboration doesn’t mean it should.

Manage app overload proactively by carefully evaluating what your team actually needs and aiming for a simple, centralized, and integrated stack of software that meets all these needs. Using too many solutions (or too disparate a combination) only creates more work and confusion. Technology should make our jobs easier — something you won’t achieve by just chasing the shiniest new software trend. Don’t believe us? Check out this video on how consolidating apps can improve employee productivity.

https://tpxcommunications.wistia.com/medias/bt29tixsjf?embedType=async&videoFoam=true&videoWidth=640

Employee Satisfaction

Employee happiness and satisfaction is a multi-faceted pursuit. Factors like culture, recognition, and support play a foundational role; believe it or not, so does your technology infrastructure. Technology has the power to make life at work easier, but it can also do the opposite if not implemented effectively.

Workplace trends can be difficult to keep up with, which is why we have an ebook featuring everything you need to know to set up your IT for success in remote work. Contact a TPx representative if you would like more information on how we can help improve your remote and hybrid work environment.