When the lockdown was announced on Monday 23rd March to help stop the spread of COVID-19, businesses were instructed to work from home wherever possible. As a result employers had to quickly enable their staff to work remotely, to ensure their business could continue running. Now over 18 weeks later, there is light at the end of the tunnel with the announcement that employees can return to work from 1st August, however after four months of the ‘New Normal’ it seems many are far less keen to go back at all.

The ‘New Normal’

Over the last few years we’ve already seen a growing trend in businesses offering remote/flexible working as part of their business model or as an employee benefit. Working 9-5 in an office is increasingly seen as old-fashioned, with some believing it can be an unproductive use of time. Now thanks to lockdown, even businesses that didn’t want to allow remote working, were forced to, in order to keep their business afloat. As a result, people have had the taste of a slower paced life, later starts, no long, busy commutes, even the option of working in your pajamas (though we don’t recommend it!). For many, (including those who couldn’t wait to return to work at the beginning of lockdown) office life has lost its appeal and we expect many employees will be now negotiating with bosses on a more long term remote working practice. After allowing people to work from home for more than four months it’s going to be difficult to reverse this, but you can ensure that your staff’s home setup facilitates productive working.

Your remote working strategy

We’ve discussed in previous posts, whilst in lockdown, the free (and somewhat short term) technology that can help make working from home effective. But now may be the time to rethink your entire remote working strategy on a more permanent basis. Bristol IT have been supporting clients with their additional IT requirements throughout the entire period of lockdown and in doing so have built on our knowledge in the most effective technologies for all manner of business needs. So if you are looking to put in place an IT strategy that includes remote working then get in touch with us today. We can assist you in adopting the most appropriate technologies to ensure your team can work from home as effectively, efficiently and securely as in the office.