Great Disruption, Great Resignation, Great Reshuffle…social commentators have been kept busy trying to make sense of emerging changes in attitudes to work and life.
Remote Working
COVID-19 was the catalyst for Remote Working to make the leap from niche to mainstream.
Orchid's Sage add-ons are helping many businesses make the transition.
When nominations roll in for "Buzz Term of the Decade", "Remote Working" has to be on the short list.
The ability to work from home had been regarded by many as a perk for the elite, the lucky minority who had been granted the privilege of working flexibly. COVID-19 changed everything. Workers everywhere were forced, virtually overnight, to work from home if it was humanly possible.
Just as suddenly, IT staff around the globe were tasked with making it possible. Even as the pandemic subsided, business owners and managers were forced to accept that there would be no turning back.
Orchid Products supporting Remote Working
All of Orchid's Sage add-ons are designed to increase productivity, but the following can prove especially useful when it comes to providing better support for remote workers.
EFT Processing
Removes the need for paper cheques, physical signatures and trips to the post office.
Generate electronic funds transfer (EFT) files ready for uploading to your banking software. Available for both Sage 300 and Sage Intacct.
Smarter Remote Working Video
Nathalie demonstrates a number of scenarios showing how Orchid Systems made the transition to remote working in response to COVID-19, and shares ideas about how other businesses could work smarter remotely using Orchid's Sage 300 add-ons.
Automatic refresh & distribution of reports and BI cubes to your remote teams
Some Home Truths about Home Working
Working from home has suddenly taken on a whole new meaning, so let's get some perspective.
We're not talking about shooting off a couple of emails before bed. We're not talking about the occasional Sunday afternoon at the kitchen table preparing for a Monday meeting back in the office.
The most powerful software available will be of little use unless you have the basics sorted:
We're talking about home replacing, and becoming, the office. How do we make that work?
Technology is clearly a key enabler for productive remote working, but for many the biggest barriers will be cultural.
For remote workers...making a mental separation from a sometimes-chaotic home life is tough. Workers are finding that they don’t have the skills to be successful in an extended remote environment, from networking to creating routines that drive productivity.
McKinsey & Company
Home Office Setup...and Mindset
The need for fast, reliable and secure connectivity is a given. An ergonomic chair and a good desktop setup, preferably in a separate room, are not far behind.
Just as important is a mindset that allows you to switch off from domestic matters and put yourself into work mode once you step into that space.
Time-based to Task-based thinking
In some cases, practical considerations make remote working impossible. In others, a reluctance to support it can flow from a lack of trust. (How can I tell that you are putting in the hours if I can't see you?)
A challenge for some workers will be self-motivation, especially for those who have been used to working with one eye on the clock. Similarly, the struggle for some managers will be to start measuring the value of their staff not by hours spent on the job, but by the quality of their work.
There’s ample research showing that virtual teams can be completely equal to co-located ones in terms of trust and collaboration. It just requires discipline.
Tsedal Neeley, Harvard Business School
