What are some of the biggest business challenges you are facing in 2020? At Arrow, we listen to what business owners have to say every day, and what we hear is the concern around how to maintain and manage a dispersed workforce. Is this a new work paradigm that’s here to stay, and if so how does the business community adapt and evolve to manage remote teams, and more specifically maintain high levels of productivity and staff performance.

Read on for Arrow’s rundown of the best ways to ensure your business is agile, resilient, and running at peak productivity and performance, even when times are challenging and uncertain.

Connection = Productivity

According to a report by The McKinsey Global Institute, worker productivity improves by 20%-25% in organisations where employees are connected.

One of the challenges for business right now is employees feeling isolated and disconnected. Organisations need to foster a culture of connectedness, where employees have access to the tools they need that allow that sense of engagement with their colleagues.

Combating Confusion and Complexity

How to keep it simple

Communications technology can bring connectedness to your workforce, with no shortage of solutions available, including project management tools, CMS, CRM, and unified comms platforms. While it’s tempting to want to adopt the latest and most hyped solutions, throwing together a random assembly of communication apps and technologies that don’t integrate can create confusion and add layers of unnecessary complexity. There’s also the real risk of staff feeling overwhelmed and stressed by the myriad of disparate tools they need to do their job every day, with productivity suffering as a result.

Operating from a unified communications platform is the recipe for success when it comes to connectedness. Allowing staff to focus on communicating rather than on the technology, will bring about real gains to productivity.

If your business communication stack is causing frustration and getting in the way of real productivity then it’s time to embrace a single all-in-one unified platform for voice, video, chat, and contact centre. Restore convenience, simplicity, and flexibility to your business comms by bringing everything together, allowing easy access to all the information you need, no matter where you are. Talk to Arrow today about our UCaaS solutions for business.

Managing Your IT Security

How are you managing your business cybersecurity with lockdowns and an increasingly distributed workforce? Here’s some sobering data for you – In April, Google saw 18 million malicious pandemic-themed emails over the course of a week, in addition to more than 240 million COVID-related daily spam messages.

Cybercriminals are using this time to their advantage, targeting vulnerabilities in home PCs and the apps used on them, such as video conferencing apps, to gain remote access. It’s time to take security seriously and know what threats to look out for.

Some simple recommendations to defend your employees and business from phishing emails:

  • Don’t click links from unknown or untrustworthy sources
  • Inspect URLs in emails by hovering your mouse pointer over it
  • Check for grammar and spelling errors which can indicate that it comes from a less than reputable source

Some simple and effective ways to protect your video conferencing setup include:

  • Ensuring you add a password/passcode to all of your meetings
  • Avoid sharing your meeting information on any social media platforms
  • Make sure your meeting app is running on the latest version

It’s now more important than ever to have the right IT security setups in place to protect you, your business, and remote workers.

Arrow’s managed security platform can help secure your business through proactive threat identification, investigation, and response. Talk to us about your concerns, we’re here to help.

Set Yourself up With the Right Technology

In a work from anywhere world, it pays to invest in technology and devices that make work simpler, more productive, and even a bit more fun! There is nothing worse than slow, clunky outdated tech, who needs that frustration and stress – we certainly don’t!

Here’s just a few products and solutions that will contribute to your ideal work from anywhere setup:

  • Microsoft Teams: So much functionality that facilitates team collaboration, and is a central hub for your team communications.
  • Jabra EVOLVE 80 headset: We are loving the stylish look, comfort, and noise-canceling abilities – essential for meetings without distractions!
  • Microsoft Surface Laptop: this one has an absolute ton of features that are perfect for business, and they look slick too!
  • Microsoft Arc Mouse: this special edition mouse utilises Bluetooth and can be used literally anywhere – even on rough wood or carpet! A true work from anywhere tool.
  • The Samsung Galaxy S20 has a ton of storage for your files, upgraded security processor, and a load of other features to drool over!
  • Not forgetting all you Mac lovers out there, the new 27-inch iMac has been released featuring faster Intel processors and double the memory capacity – very nice indeed!

Need advice or assistance with remote working tools for your business? Arrow are procurement specialists and can source what your business needs to keep you and your staff motivated and productive.