How to Improve Productivity through Innovation in Remote Workplaces

This is Julie Clements. I am the Chief Solutions Manager here at MOS. Today, I am going to talk about remote workplaces and how to improve productivity through innovation.

00:10 An Introduction to Remote Workplaces

One of the greatest challenges that businesses face is maintaining efficiency and productivity. That’s why services such as business process outsourcing are available to ensure your employees don’t have to suffer from an overburdened work schedule. But now, another challenge has presented itself in terms of a global pandemic of a level that is unprecedented in recent times. And that challenge is integrating and coordinating the work of staff working from various geographic locations. It’s the challenge of remote workplaces.

00:37 How Innovative Ideas Flourish in a Remote Environment

A remote working environment gives you plenty of opportunity for innovation. While there were already remote workplaces for some years, they were implemented mostly as a result of the innovative urge of certain organizations. While video conferencing and conference calls have been common, totally remote workplaces have always been considered out-of-the-ordinary for most businesses. That was until COVID-19 came along. The work-from-home arrangement has necessitated remote working, and that has caused many innovative ideas to flourish.

01:07 Benefits Facilitated By Remote Workplaces

A report of UK’s employees by Raconteur revealed that 55% actually reported higher productivity levels. Not many employees wanted to get back to working full time in the office. The most evident advantage of working from home is the fact that it saves time spent on transit from the office. From the employee perspective, it aids in flexibility whereby they are able to attend to home needs while also giving their best to the organization. So with that, it builds up employee satisfaction.

01:34 Challenges Faced by Remote workplaces?

And then how to compensate for the lack of face-to-face communication? So, from the organization’s perspective, isn’t there a major disadvantage for employees working as a team? Another questions is wouldn’t the lack of face-to-face communication prevent many ideas from being discussed?

01:49 How to Overcome These Challenges?

So, however, a new report by the Universities of Cologne, they suggest that employees who work from home can be quite innovative in communicating with others. Efficient video conferencing can help team members discuss with each other. While, as per conventional research, the lack of face-to-face communication has disrupted “creative performance”, the COVID-19 lockdown has proved to be a very unique scenario.

02:11 New Innovations Facilitate Collaboration

So new innovations for collaboration, the uncertainty and increasing duration of the pandemic situation has made businesses adopt new technologies, and employees now can carry out collaborative tasks with team members, all working from their respective homes and therefore, in separate remote locations. These technologies, primarily video conferencing, have helped reduce any potential let-down in creative performance.

Different companies have tried different concepts. Wavemaker, which is a media agency, they are encouraging individuals globally to call people they’d usually meet each week in office. This is to encourage spontaneous communication, which is essential for collaborating with a team through video conferencing. The idea is to just make random calls, not as part of any formal agenda. It’s to see if these calls could give rise to some great ideas.

03:01 A Successful Example of Bringing Innovations in the Remote Workplace

Some experiments have succeeded. Claromentis is a digital workplace that is reported to have succeeded in bringing about innovations even with the staff working remotely. Back before the coronavirus pandemic struck, the team of around 40 members worked at home or office depending on their preferences. Even if the employees work from home, the company has managed to carry over their company culture to the remote workplace as well. This includes making use of project management tools, good communication, and also learning online. Every staff member contributes to keeping on innovating. They are also encouraged to come up with their own solutions for improving the company’s products.

What’s advantageous is their arrangement is bringing together diverse individuals and putting all their creative energies to work. This diversity increases the number of innovative solutions coming from them. The team could include people from all over the world, since geographical boundaries are no longer a hurdle. A diverse workforce equates to fresher and out-of-the-box ideas. The remote workplace helps develop other qualities in employees too, such as self-organization and independence. These can eventually improve innovation and productivity.

So, helping your business transition to a high-performing remote working era are advanced document conversion services provided by experienced companies. With their speed, efficiency and security, these high-tech services can prevent data loss and ensure that the data formats are more palatable to your organization.

If you like to learn more, please go to our website at www.managedoutsource.com. Thank you.