How To Design a Hybrid Workplace

Remote work has been gaining traction for years, but it wasn’t until recently that it really took off.  A large swath of organizations are now choosing to fully embrace the work from home model. As a result, remote work has shifted from being just a trend to the new norm in the business world. Whether your company has decided to go full remote or adopt a hybrid solution, you need to create a work environment that supports your remote employees.

How To Design a Hybrid Workplace in Minneapolis

It’s important to remember that your staff requires resources and support to do their jobs effectively. That’s why it’s necessary to have a workspace that gives them everything they need to succeed. While your in-person team can benefit from what’s provided in your physical office, the same can’t be said for your virtual workforce. So how do you design a hybrid workplace that caters to both in-person and remote employees?

There are plenty of steps you can follow to develop a functional hybrid workforce strategy. For example, you could hire a remote IT managed services in Minneapolis provider, like Blue Net, to craft a hybrid work policy that benefits all involved. Here are a few other suggestions you can use to design a hybrid workplace:

Provide 24/7 IT Support for Remote Workers

The first step on how to design a hybrid workplace should focus on 24/7 remote IT support. At some point in time, someone is going to run into a technical issue. It’s not a matter of if, but when. Unlike your in-person team, they can’t walk over to your IT department to ask for help.

In addition, some of your staff may work earlier or later hours than others, which can complicate the situation. For example, if someone is working outside of normal business hours for whatever reason, and they have an issue, they may have to wait until the next day to get the help.  

These problems can be eliminated with 24/7 remote support from a managed services provider. Blue Net offers around the clock help desk support for clients in the Minneapolis area. With this service, a support specialist can work with your employee to identify the problem and resolve it without having to wait.

Find Out Hybrid Work Preferences

There are a variety of ways to do a hybrid model. Some people prefer to work from home two days a week. Others may want the option to do three or four days a week. In the end, however, what most employees care about the most is being able to retain flexibility in choosing where and when they work.

To design a hybrid workplace that’s ideal for your team, you should take the time to understand how they want to work and try to come up with a compromise that works for you and them. You’ll also want to think about setting up a communication and collaboration solution. Microsoft Teams is a great tool for this purpose and it works seamlessly with your Microsoft 365 infrastructure.

Implement Robust Cybersecurity Solutions

Security is one of the main reasons companies have hesitated when considering allowing employees to work from home. As employees spread out, so does your data and intellectual property. There’s a fear that home networks and devices may not be as secure as they need to be. It can also be difficult to set up proper user controls to ensure remote devices are regularly patched and updated.

A provider like Blue Net can help with this situation. Not only can we help with providing patches and updates, but also offer services that can identify security gaps. With robust cybersecurity services, you can have peace of mind your remote employees are secure.

Use Multi-Factor Authentication

Along with using cybersecurity services, you should encourage your staff to start using multi-factor authentication. Also known as MFA, this is a way to protect your logins by creating an additional layer of defense against unauthorized access attempts by requiring two or more forms of credentials. It’s a solution that can greatly reduce the odds of a data breach.

Multi-factor authentication works by first asking for login information. Once that information is entered, the user is asked to submit another identifier. This may be something like a text message with a specific code or a virtual key sent to your inbox. Unless the cybercriminal has access to this additional credential, they won’t be able to access the account.

Move To the Cloud

If you haven’t already, you should move your infrastructure to the cloud. Even if your company isn’t heavily focused on technology, there are plenty of benefits that come with working in the cloud. For example, Google Docs is a cloud application that allows your workers to collaborate on projects in real time. 

The cloud simply refers to services that are hosted on servers and are accessible through the internet. Cloud solutions are necessary for remote workers, as they allow your team to access what they need from their preferred device, wherever they’re located. Minneapolis businesses can call on Blue Net to help with cloud migration.

Provide Technology

Your staff can be just as productive at home as they are in the office, if they have the right technology. Make sure they have laptops, tablets, smartphones, and any other device they need to be more efficient. Additionally, don’t forget to have your IT department push out updates for those devices.

Design a Hybrid Workplace in Minneapolis With Blue Net

At Blue Net, it’s our goal to minimize downtime and increase employee productivity through the help of technology. If you want to create the ideal hybrid workplace, we can help. We offer comprehensive managed IT services to fully support your entire team. 

Contact us today to learn more.