With hybrid working fast becoming the new buzz word in the business world, it’s looking likely that most companies will be adopting a more flexible approach to how their team’s work. Business telecoms provider, Enreach, has found that many of their customers are giving their teams the freedom to work from wherever they prefer, resulting in a constant split of some team members in the office and some at home. But, alongside the many benefits of hybrid working runs the risk of home workers being left behind, in more ways than one.
Is home broadband enough?
In March 2020, it was acceptable to pack home workers off with a laptop and notebook and expect them to be able to work efficiently and productively from home, relying on their basic home broadband connection to keep them as part of the team. But, almost 18 months on, relying on home broadband isn’t proving to be a futureproof solution.
While home broadband allows for access to basic files and emails to be sent and received, it’s not enough for full time home working. Why? Put simply, even the top home broadband packages don’t come close to business grade broadband in terms of speed, support or safety.
After all, having a business network and a home network as one of the same just simply isn’t secure. Home broadband options don’t offer the security that home workers need when accessing things such as customer data and important files. Plus, there’s no such thing as tech support on the next desk when you’re working from home.
Home broadband offerings have come a long way and, as a result, have become much quicker. While top of the range home broadband packages do offer fast download speeds, the upload speeds simply don’t compare. Fast, reliable speeds are vital!
Then, support. With home workers crucial members of the team, having them offline for any length of time isn’t an option. With home broadband options not offering SLAs, fix times are much slower than with business grade broadband.
Do home workers really have everything they need?
While a laptop and notebook may be enough for a day working from home here and there, for full time remote workers their needs are greater. With video conferencing going nowhere, video conferencing video phones and platforms are crucial.
Laptops need to be a higher spec for home workers, with tech support not immediately available, the technology home workers have needs to be of the top quality.
Enreach are seeing an increase in business mobiles for home workers. After all, one of the benefits of home working is not being stuck to a desk. Instead, home workers are able to wait in for parcels, take lunchtime walks and be free to pick their children up from school and business mobiles mean than this is even simpler as they’re not stuck to a desk.
Are they being kept in the dark?
While everyone was home working, keeping in touch was simple. Businesses scheduled regular video calls and used instant messaging platforms to keep everyone in the loop. But, now that not everyone is home working, it runs the risk of home workers being kept in the dark. After all, it’s easy to have an impromptu meeting with your colleagues, forgetting about those team members at home.
Keeping teams connected is crucial as we move into the next stage of working.
It’s essential that video conferencing isn’t forgotten about as we return to the office, as such, many businesses are setting up meeting rooms that allow for video conferences to include a mix of on-premise workers and home workers. That way, the whole same has the same experience and will feel part of the conversation.
Communications provider Enreach is leading the way with a mix of home workers and on-site workers thanks to scheduled casual check-ins. Thus, ensuring that home workers aren’t left out of those all-important casual catch ups in the office kitchen.
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