By : Vikas Bhonsle, CEO, Crayon Software Experts India
So what does it take to make a modern workplace? A Modern Workplace is a term used to define organizations that recognize digital collaboration, technology and tools as the way of the future. It is a new age evolution of work culture that breaks the restrictive idea that work, and employees must be restricted to a particular geography and that the security of a company’s data and resources is strictly premise centric.
Modern workplace instead aims to decentralize security and workplace collaboration, helping enterprises to expand their bases. Today, businesses are spread across the globe, and this requires the adoption of modern workplace practices. The modern workplace focuses on remote working thus enabling companies to make the most of cloud solutions and making it easy for employees to work from anywhere, using any connected device, and at any time. Employee collaboration in real-time from any location is one of the biggest highlights of the modern workplace.
Thus, transforming into a modern workplace requires the organization to have a flexible environment that supports continued collaboration and communication. A modern workplace enables an organization to leverage technology developments and culture changes to achieve its goals.
Characteristics of a modern workplace:
1. A Mobile Workforce: A mobile workforce is one of the most critical elements of a modern workplace. Cloud-based data drives and collaborative tools enable the workers to stay in touch and access their work files, remotely. With the arrival of the new normal, the need to have a seamless remote working strategy for organizations has found utmost priority. In the recent Microsoft India’s country-specific findings of its first annual Work Trend Index shows that nearly three-fourths (74%) of Indian employees are keen on flexible remote work options, which reveals insights, challenges, expectations and motivations that will shape the future of work in India.
2. Employees Collaborate and Work as a Team: With a host of online project management and ERP tools, the modern workplace enables the employees to be more collaborative. Files and data are easily shared with the help of these tools, and this in return accelerates work, saves time and the progress is measurable.
3. Cloud-centric: Modern workplaces are cloud-centric. Hence, from storing data to computation, it is all done over the cloud. Cloud technology eliminates the need for company servers and users can access data from anywhere.
4. Technology adaptation: The modern workplace creates an ecosystem, where enterprises are more tech-savvy than their traditional counterparts and stays ahead with trending technologies. This helps the team to adapt to changing IT developments and progress faster than the traditional ones.
5. Have in Place Advanced Security Measures: Due to its acute dependence on cloud technology or digitization, cybersecurity is a foremost priority for a modern workplace. Remote access from any device can breed vulnerability for a network if it does not regulate its access control. The contemporary workplace recognizes these challenges and has mechanisms to protect the infrastructure. It has advanced protection features that protect your data and system.
Organizations must ensure that the workforce embraces the modern way of working. This can be achieved by supporting the workforce in adapting to new technologies and training them to use the same. Also, to retain the employees, enterprises must create a healthy atmosphere where employees can think freely on ideas and most importantly, express the same. Furthermore, as we see more people adapting to remote working, team collaboration and regular exchange of information and ideas are crucial in a modern workplace.
