An intranet is a private computer network held within an enterprise to securely share company information, collaboration tools, operational systems, and other computing resources. It’s also used to make communication easier among employees in an organization.
A remote enterprise signifies working from anywhere else that’s outside the workplace. This could be from home, a co-working space, a library, a shop, or a park. It’s good to note that remote working depends on who you are, the work you do, and the organization you work for. In other words, remote working means different things, and it keeps changing.
For instance, it means mobile working for those people whose assignment is out in the field and have to log in either while in a train or a hotel room. Some companies don’t have premises they operate from but depend on technology to keep in touch with the workers and allow the employees to communicate.
Companies and organizations all over have had to adapt to remote working primarily due to the global pandemic and mainly because of the social distancing rules. However, working this way was steadily growing before the pandemic, resulting from the need for flexible work arrangements, advancement in technology, and saving costs, among other factors.
Generally, a good intranet will help to keep both the employers and employees informed and updated. It’ll also encourage collaboration among workers. Read this article to determine how best an intranet can empower your remote enterprise. You can check out various intranets and compare with Google to see the most suitable for your organization.
Advantages Of Working Remotely
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It’s Easy To Achieve A Work-Life Balance
Since employees working from remote environments don’t have to travel to their workplaces, they can spend some of that time with their families and friends and catch up with themselves. They also save travel costs.
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Productivity Is Increased
Various studies that have been done show that over 50% of remote workers are more efficient because they can control their time. In other words, they can come up with work routines that enable them to be more productive.
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Life Is Improved
Because remote employees have the luxury of working from home or any other place apart from the workplace, life is much easier for them because they don’t have any interferences of noises at the office. They are also flexible and less stressed because they don’t have to spend long hours in the offices. They are also healthier because of non-exposure to sick colleagues in the office
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Employees Can Improve Themselves
Remote working enables employees to plan their time to engage in other self-improvement activities like enrolling in a course to improve their skills.
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It Allows More Freedom
It’s possible to do several things as a remote employee. You can be present for family events any day of the week, you can travel to places to relax, and you also have the time to exercise your hobbies comfortably. The activities mentioned are all possible because you can easily make time for them. You may not need to obtain leave from work or request time off.
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Organizations Save Money
Remote working means that offices have fewer people. Thus, they can operate from smaller premises that are cheaper to maintain in terms of rent payments and other utilities. Some organizations don’t operate from any offices at all. Instead, they have invested in enabling the employees and employers technologically to work remotely.
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Remote Working Allows Business Continuity And Competitiveness
Businesses continue to run, both with the employees in the offices and those working remotely. It’s possible to attract and keep talented people, essential for business competitiveness, by enhancing personal recognition between employers and employees.
How An Intranet Can Empower Remote Enterprise
Some of the ways to empower your employees to be connected and productive in their remote working environments are:
1. Making Collaboration And Engagement Easier
Collaboration is key to all employees working remotely. It, therefore, requires proper tools in place. It should be made possible and easy for employees to locate and engage each other. An intranet that has features like People Finder and Directory enables employees to find each other based on their location, skills, and expertise in the business.
2. Easy Alignment And Communication
Employees get to engage with a lot of information, so much so that it may be a task to have them focused and on the same page. Managers must invest in corporate intranet software to clarify essential projects and activities, point employees to critical company updates, and emphasize company values.
3. Increasing Productivity
As a manager, you should invest in an intranet specific to your organization’s needs. Ensure that it’s one that your employees can access all the tools they need to be efficient in their work. You’re assured of increased productivity when you have employees who can be efficient through a supportive intranet.
4. Good Management Of Time
An intranet will enable employees to manage time efficiently because information and tools are aggregated and centralized. This way, they can handle better tasks that are likely to take quite a long time.
5. Increase Employee Motivation
Employees feel motivated when they’re recognized as relevant in the organization. You can achieve that by having an intranet in place. Ensure to have one that allows for seamless and fast access to managers, relevant information, as well as the policies of the organization.
6. Ability To Stay On Track
An intranet enables remote employees to get the required information to keep in touch with the individual and team assignments. Using the intranet, it’s also possible for employees to stay on track with their jobs by accessing departmental and team-oriented content with specific information.
7. Take Care Of The Employees’ Mental Health
When managers ignore the mental health of the people who work for them, employees gradually become unstable. Use intranet software with various tools to help you develop events, meetings, and other interactive sessions for the employees. The interactive sessions will serve as debriefing opportunities for them which will help them loosen up from any work-related stress. This is a form of empowerment to the employees and motivates them to work even better, resulting in increased productivity.
8. As Much As Is Possible, Remove Any Barriers
Remote employees are expected to meet the organization’s goals and objectives. You can do this by ensuring that all technological barriers have been removed. You’ll achieve that by acquiring reliable intranet software to make operations much more accessible. This will allow employees not to go over very long processes and take so much time in getting information regarding their assignments. Barriers make employees less efficient and productive.
9. Always Make The Employees Feel As Part And Parcel Of The Organization
It’s possible for remote employees to feel isolated because they’re away from their colleagues and supervisors. If there’re no immediate actions to deal with the isolation, employees gradually become less motivated and engaged. Have in place an intranet that has social and cultural features to keep employees involved. Valo’s ideas, for example, are one of the collaborative tools that allow two-way communication. Colleagues can put up ideas, and the rest can see and improve on them.
10. Provide Mobile Apps
Enable your employees to access important organization information by setting up an intranet with tools that include mobile-optimized web access. You may provide them with mobile apps such as Android and IOS. This will allow the employees to get work done faster using any device and wherever they are.
Managers have to ensure that both existing and new employees align with the organization’s vision and mission. Use the intranet to share such vital details, including the organization’s policies. Communicate any adjustments as well, don’t work based on assumptions because it will harm productivity. Employees may genuinely not be aware of some details; thus, it’s important to share information as often as possible.
12. Create Opportunities For In-Person Meet-Ups
A good intranet has social features that allow for virtual meetings. These help employees a great deal to keep in touch with their colleagues. Once in a while, the managers need to put up events, including physical meetings, especially for training and induction, where employees meet each other and their employers in person. This helps employees to adopt the organization’s culture.
Conclusion
Given the myriad benefits that remote working has, having a good intranet in place makes it even better. Considering that it’s a network exclusive for a particular enterprise, it’s possible to explore the different tools it has to empower employees to be better at their tasks and be more efficient, resulting in increased productivity.
