Does your IT infrastructure support remote work? (Checklist)

The coronavirus outbreak taught us several important lessons. The one we will be talking about today is quite simple, yet previously very underrated. It is the need to equip your team with proper IT infrastructure and technologies.  

Remote team management is one of the biggest challenges that company executives and managers are facing today. One of the reasons this issue is hitting hard is the lack of IT infrastructure and technologies. While we are all using technologies in our daily working lives, still, many of them are either outdated or not enough for the work we do. They are not enough, especially for remote work. It has a serious effect on your team, its productivity, efficiency, and in the end, it affects your company’s results.  

If you are not satisfied with the results or work efficiency and wonder how can you manage a remote team better, you might want to check if your IT infrastructure supports remote work. Below you can check the most important IT solutions and technologies that will give you a head start in remote team management.  

Remote connection

To manage your remote team better, first, you need to support them with the remote connection. It is essential to create a good and efficient working environment for your team members. You need to maintain the remote connection to your network infrastructure. With it, you will be able to have a digital workspace for your company. It will allow your team members to have access to the workspace from home or any other location.  

Network Security

Internet today is like the wild west. Companies of every size need a certain level of security to protect themselves from online attacks. For some companies, security is more important than for the others. However, you need to secure your network, confidentiality and data at some level. Especially when your team is working outside the office. While you might not see the direct link between managing remote work and security, it is essential for your business.  

Communication tools

To support remote work, you need to provide communication tools. It does not matter which tool you will choose, as it often depends on the size of the company and the communication style. The important part is to have a tool that every team member is comfortable using. By having one tool for communication for the whole company, you eliminate confusion and provide a solution that makes the working process easier for everyone.  

Collaboration tools

Collaboration tools are no less important than communication tools. Managing remote team includes ensuring the successful collaboration of various departments on certain projects. To ensure it, you need to have tools for collaboration. In other words, you need to have a platform where you can create space for collaboration for projects. There are multiple readily made platforms available for it. You simply need to choose the one you find most suitable for your team and buy the package or membership.  

File sharing tools and backup solutions

Another important aspect of working remotely is sharing important information, confidential documents and files. To manage the remote working process better you need to provide such solutions for your team members. Usually, the file-sharing tools come alongside with the other remote tool packages. Hence, when you are buying a communication tool, you can have everything all together, making your daily work easier and more comfortable.  In any way, you need to have a solution that allows you to send and receive files confidently. Your IT infrastructure should also include backup solutions, in case if you lose your important information.  

To sum it up:

Today, having proper IT infrastructure is the key to successful remote work and managing a remote team. Based on the size of your company, you might need to have more complex IT infrastructure and sophisticated tools. But the ones mentioned above, are the essentials you need to provide to your team, to ensure its efficiency.