What Is The Modern Workplace?

What is the Modern Workplace? It’s More Than Great Furniture

When someone asks you what the “modern workplace” looks like, you might think it is a business that has a more modern vibe. It’s a downtown company that is in an industrial-style building that has modern furniture, with cool background music on at all times.

However, the modern workplace is more than just a kitchen area stocked with gourmet coffee and endless snacks. Instead, the contemporary workplace has some of the best available technologies for business. It allows team members to work from anywhere and from any device. It syncs services and abilities seamlessly to encourage productivity and collaboration.

Employees today are asking businesses to be more flexible in how their team can get work done. Management wants to encourage collaboration and communication that will increase efficiency, no matter where their team is located. Addressing both of these issues creates a modern workplace that works for everyone.

Features of a Modern Workplace

The modern workplace is about technology. Using tools like Office 365 and G-Suite to communicate and work together is one of the most tell-tale signs of a modern workplace. Consider a few other features of today’s modern workplace.

Mobile Workforce

Allowing employees to work from virtually anywhere, from any device is one of the most important features of a modern workplace. Your team can use smartphones, PCs, Macs, and even old-school phone systems to communicate and collaborate on projects and ideas.

In 2015, 3.9 million U.S. employees were working remotely. From 2005 to 2017, there was a 159% increase in the number of employees working remotely. Now, in 2020, remote work is becoming even more prevalent. The size of the remote workforce continues to grow—there are roughly 4.7 million workers who work from home at least half of the week today.

There is also an increased expectation that certain types of employers will allow for remote work. As employers continue to modernize their workplace, the number of people who will want to work remotely is only expected to increase.

Effective Collaboration

A collaborative workplace has many benefits for businesses. It will help employees by:

• Increasing creative thinking
• Encouraging flexibility
• Allowing them to learn from one another effectively
• Permit each employee to highlight their own skills and opinions
• Increase employee productivity
• Develop better co-worker relationship and respect

Collaboration is great for employee morale. When workers cooperate as a team, they often simply create better products and develop innovation that positively affects the bottom line. When workers have a strong sense of community with their team, they are also less likely to leave a job, which can decrease turnover, too.

Using Office 365 features like Teams and the ability to work on documents collaboratively helps increase this type of interaction, making teams more productive and effective. Users can not only see one another through Teams, but they can also collaborate via chat and directly on shared documents, too.

Smart Data Retention, Collection, and Access

A modern workplace not only lets their employees work wherever they want, but they also ensure that their team has access to the data that they need, when they need it. Having your data in the cloud or set up in a cloud-based system allows your team to get to client files, internal communications, and a lot more, whenever they need that information.

Microsoft Azure, for example, provides cloud storage for the modern business. Employees can not only access data, but they can also deploy a Windows Virtual Desktop and apps that they regularly use from anywhere.

Superior Security and Data Protection

When companies move their business into the cloud, and many of their workers function remotely, data breaches are always going to be a serious concern. However, a good, modern workplace will consider these potential problems before they become a crisis. Enhanced security features are an absolute must for any company, but they are especially important for companies that are in the process of modernizing.

Choosing the right technology tools will help you keep your data safe. Whatever system you use to work remotely, for example, should also give you the means to control who accesses your information, when that access occurs, and what information can be reached.

Making a Move Toward a More Modern Workplace

The modern workplace focuses on flexibility—from schedules to working environments, to collaboration. If you want to make moves toward a more modern workplace, you should invest the time and effort into discovering what kind of technology tools will best serve your team. Your technology should never limit or inhibit your team. Instead, it should focus on empowering the people in your company.

Choosing the right tools starts with having a conversation with your current team members. What do they need to work outside the office? How do they currently interact with their co-workers? What is the best way to ensure that type of communication and functionality continues moving forward? You may think you know what your team needs, but you may also be surprised to learn about the different aspects that you do not see regularly—so having this conversation is important.

Once you know what your team wants, take action. A managed IT services company will help you identify the best tools for your goals. They will also help you test out apps and services so you can find the right fit. They can also help you set up the new technology and assist with any hiccups in the transition process.

A managed IT services company like Boston HelpDesk will also assist every step of the way to ensure that your data is secure. We can recognize problems that you may not have realized even exist.

Get Help Creating Your Modern Workplace from Boston HelpDesk

We are excited that you are thinking about making the jump to a modern workplace, and we would love to help you get ready and deploy the technology your team needs. Get more information about how we can help you transition into a more modern workplace by contacting us.