Remote working: being prepared and managing the tools

Carried out as a matter of urgency following containment, the massive introduction of remote working has led to a profound paradigm shift within organisations. Nevertheless, and as a result of adaptation, what appeared to be a constraint in the past has now been identified as a source of possibilities much wider than the initial postulate led us to believe. 

And if the great majority of economic players agree on the observation, the means allowing the deployment of remote working are still too poorly understood: identification of needs, implementation of new tools, training of employees… Overview of the stakes!

Identifying and managing tools for remote working 

Putting in place the right technological tools therefore means enabling employees to benefit from an environment that is almost similar to the face-to-face environment: identifying the right tools thus becomes the first major step towards switching to remote working. Then comes the question of management. Here again, several solutions will enable professionals to ensure the continuity of their services.  Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)

Identifying needs

As a first step, therefore, it is necessary to understand the needs, in other words, to identify the sticking points that cause a gap between remote and face-to-face work, in order to correct them. 

• Organisational tools: Here, the aim is to create an environment favourable to work. While some figures confirm that distance learning can increase productivity (see below), it is at the same time essential to provide employees with organisational tools capable of defining processes. Toggl, or Station, for example, will here enable in-depth organisation. 

• Collaboration tools: teamwork is obviously a major factor of success. And mechanically, remote working is not suitable for this type of need. To counter this, it is therefore necessary to put in place the tools for collaboration. While Slack is the leader of, other solutions such as Trello will enable real-time follow-up of the various tasks. 

• Sharing tools: Having access to all documents from absolutely anywhere is the hallmark of remote working. In order to gain in security and efficiency, many tools are thus made available. In addition to the famous Dropbox, additional solutions such as WeTransfer or Google Drive will also allow access to all files, all in a totally secure manner.

Hardware Security Update: If remote working involves the use of a computer, a VPN is essential to secure some of the valuable information that employees will be handling.

Managing the tools

The second step to a successful transition is training. Because if a company’s employees are supposed to master all the business processes, the implementation of new tools will irremediably create misunderstanding… It is therefore necessary to train its employees! Problem: remote working leads to distancing, and with it, the impossibility of face-to-face training.

It is therefore essential to use the tools made available to companies to make these distance learning courses a success: Webinars, tutorials, series, blogs, videoconferencing, PDF, videos, etc. To this end, several renowned training organisations such as Optédif offer their assistance to companies in order to respond precisely to this learning need.

Remote working: a response to the needs of today and tomorrow

And if the Covid-19 crisis and the lockdown have accelerated the process, remote working has been providing the answers to the questions of the modern world for a long time: how to reduce the carbon footprint of companies? What are the solutions to save on costs? And today, how to adapt to social distancing? Presenting enormous advantages for professionals, whether in terms of CSR, their cash flow, their payroll, etc., it is therefore not surprising to observe a global consensus around this new positioning. 

To illustrate the point, here are some data to support the observation.

At the environmental level: 

• 7 out of 10 French people use the car to get to their place of work (Source Insee)
• Road traffic is the largest emitter of greenhouse gases in France.
• According to the ECA, 3.9 million American workers telework at least 1 day/week. This saves 3.2 billion litres of petrol per year. 
• etc. 

At economic level:

• Productivity increase of 5 to 30% (study commissioned by the Directorate General for Enterprise)
• Economy of scale on office space and running costs
• Reduced turnover ($4,000 savings for a new hire according to Deloitte)
• etc.

Through these different examples, it is clear that the game is well worth the candle.

Laval Virtuals extra

Virtual reality, an ally of remote working for companies

With the health context and the need to work from home, immersive technologies have stood out. Compared to videoconferencing solutions such as Zoom and Skype, virtual reality offers more functionalities. Above all, during a time when social relations are reduced to a minimum, VR offers a more natural space for interaction and exchange and with a stronger sense of presence. Moreover, in certain sectors such as architecture and the automotive industry, virtual reality can offer more possibilities: 3D visualisation, review of projects with several people, etc.

A first list with examples of online and virtual reality work platforms had been drawn up. It presented tools for remote meetings, such as MeetingRoom and Glue Collaboration. Compared to a videoconferencing solution, these VR platforms make it possible to create a meeting space, with the possibility of seeing others in the form of avatars, to meet around a virtual table, and to be able to make annotations on a board. On the 3D visualisation side, we presented The Wild and InsiteVR specially designed for architecture. These platforms allow you to visualise projects in 3D in a virtual environment with several people, where everyone can make live modifications.

All of these immersive solutions can accelerate certain stages of collaboration. With several people in an environment, with visual functionalities, it saves time for decision making. Immersive technologies have become allies for companies.