Besides fundamentally shifting everyday life, COVID-19 transformed the way businesses structure their organization to drive collaboration across teams. Before the pandemic, many companies had work from home policies in place that allowed employees some percentage of remote work. While working from home became a perk for most companies, very few companies had implemented a solely remote workforce. Flash forward to the start of the pandemic, and businesses were forced to be completely remote with exceptions for essential workers.
Platforms such as Zoom and Google Hangouts exploded in popularity to hold virtual meetings, happy hours, and to create a socially distant human connection. While these tools are great for connecting for scheduled meetings, it isn’t feasible to have entire teams on Zoom for eight straight hours to collaborate effectively. With many businesses rethinking the future of what everyday operations will look like, they also need to consider how they will maintain a truly collaborative workforce.
To foster remote connectivity, leaders need to invest in a digital workplace platform that allows for collaboration within individual teams and with the broader organization. More often than not, tasks and ideas are missed because they become lost in emails and phone conversations. In a rapidly changing market, there is no room for missed opportunities or delays at any point in a go-to-market strategy. Outside of a forum to just chat, team leaders need to be able to assign direct accountability and track where operations need to improve.
While many employees are still in the process of adjusting to working from home, it’s up to their leaders to be the champions for any new platforms. Resistance to change is human nature, but when managers guide their team through a phased implementation they’re able to mitigate significant pushback. If leaders can show their team how these new platforms provide value and an optimized supply chain.
