It’s not uncommon for staff to have issues with getting into work. It’s not uncommon for staff to have issues with getting into work.  Just a couple of inches of snow brings the country to a standstill, not to mention flooding and storm damage which blocks roads and disrupts travel even more. It’s not just a winter problem either – in a heatwave, warped railway tracks and melted road surfaces can result in travel chaos. And then there’s all those days the bus didn’t turn up, the train was cancelled, the car wouldn’t start, or the kids were ill, leaving your workers at home rather than in the office. Illness is another big problem – if staff come into work when they are feeling rough, they won’t perform as well as usual, and there’s the risk they could spread germs to colleagues too. When there are so many reasons that staff struggle to get to work, it’s easy to think that this could cause major issues in company productivity. When there are so many reasons that staff struggle to get to work, it’s easy to think that this could cause major issues in company productivity. But this isn’t a problem when you have a system in place to enable a successful remote workforce. 

Almost everyone has superfast internet these days, so there’s no reason why staff can’t work from home, but many people struggle with the disconnect from the workplace, leading to misunderstandings, demotivation and poor performance. The secret to a successful remote workforce is communication. It’s vital that workers can communicate with colleagues, teams and managers as easily as they do in the workplace. Good communication between remote workers means teams can still collaborate, queries are dealt with quickly and staff feel connected and more motivated, regardless of where they are located.  There are plenty of communication tools available, but often staff resort to using one platform for chat, another for collaboration on documents, a third for video sharing and so on. This way of working is cumbersome and ineffective, degrades the quality of communication and can leave staff feeling frustrated. 

One way to overcome the issues associated with remote working is to use a platform such as Watch and Learn to bring staff together, wherever they may be. This multi-channel, multi-format communication tool provides your staff with the tools to converse across video, audio and text, so they can share knowledge, work on projects together or just catch up for a chat. The asynchronous video, voice, text and screencast messaging allows for continuous, real-time conversations that support the workflow and enable employees to work together remotely as successfully as if they were in the same room. Group channels mean teams can collaborate and exchange information relevant only to them rather than the whole workforce, and the private chat feature ensures one to one training, individual feedback and discussions can take place more discreetly. Watch and Learn brings together so many tools staff will rarely need to open any other communication platform, leading to happier, more motivated people and improved productivity and performance – even when staff can’t make it into the office.