Real Estate Investor September 2020 September/October 2020 | Page 20

TECH

Doing things differently

New digital offices

Companies around the globe have had to adopt remote working in a short period of time . Some have thrived and won ’ t go back to the office model . The likes of Twitter , Quora , and Slack all indicating that they ’ ll either be fully remote or remote-first for the foreseeable future . Others , however , have struggled with the transition and are hankering to get their teams back into the office . The ideal solution is probably somewhere in between these two extremes with employees able to work remotely when it is suitable and returning to the office as needed .

I t ’ s important to first weigh out the real benefits of a fullystaffed workplace . This helps decide what functions need to return onsite and which ones can continue being remote . Bearing in mind that due to comfort zones and habits , staff may feel the function needs to be onsite when in fact it may be more cost-effective or more efficient to do remotely .

For instance , if your teams collaborated really well and were far more creative in the office , office space is worth the investment . Similarly , employees may feel more comfortable approaching management face-to-face than over email or video call . There is also the issue of mental health .
Remote work is not suitable to everyone , and some people may need human interaction to enable them to cope with being stuck at home . It may not be a daily interaction , it may just be a staff social event once a month , each circumstance or function should be assessed on a case-by-case basis to make the best decision for the future of the business .
To get back on track , organisations will be forced to spend a lot of time and effort on ensuring compliance and safety , instead of on their core business strengths .
As a means to help businesses get back to their feet in the new age , Zoho created a comprehensive application to help businesses transition into the new ways of working . Zoho BackToWork enables organizations to return to the workplace safely and securely .
Before going back to work
In the midst of understanding , and trying to get farmiliar with , the new ways of working , thanks to Covid19 , it is important that businesses start doing this with systems in place that will ensure the safety of employees , customers , and other stakeholders in the office .
There are four important aspects to successfully going back to the office : 1 . ‌Ensuring employee safety 2 . Publishing compliance guidelines 3 . Effectively communicating 4 . Managing assets and facilities
Zoho ’ s BackToWork app focuses on workforce readiness :
• Admin control center module – Welcome your staff back to a safer office space . This dashboard empowers toplevel management to assess the preparedness of facilities better , and view individual employee health statuses .
• Wellness module – Provide industry-approved surveys . This dashboard lets you circulate and collect self-assessment and contact-tracing forms , and oversee organization-wide health information .
• Safe entry module – Determine which employees are ready to work from the office . With this module , perform employee self-assessments , segregate high-risk groups , and evaluate entry requests from employees and visitors .
• Employee self-service module – On this dashboard , you can manage asset requests , ranging from office supplies to sanitizer to office space maintenance .
• Communications module – Correspond with staff over the phone and the web , and share guidelines , best practices , frameworks , and announcements in a coordinated manner .
• Volunteer module – Give back to the community . This module allows organizations to recruit employees , and organize and execute volunteer drives .
14 SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2020 SA Real Estate Investor Magazine