The recent global shift to remote working practices, triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic, has highlighted the feasibility and practicality of flexible working arrangements in the business world.
And there is a wide range of benefits to consider. Since remote and hybrid workplaces became the norm, employees have saved on commute times and costs, enabling heightened productivity and promoting a greater work-life balance.
Employers have also benefited from the ability to source talent from a wider geographic range, which in some cases enabled a downsizing of the physical office space, followed by savings on energy consumption and other operational expenses.
While a gradual return to the office has begun in certain parts of the world, it has become clear that the way we view the workplace has changed irrevocably.
The hybrid workplace is here to stay
According to one study, 85% of workers expect a continuation of some form of a hybrid working system between the office and home. The expectation to be provided with flexible options within the workplace is also extremely high among job seekers, with 86% admitting that a flexible working policy would be key to accepting a new role.
And it’s not just employees who can appreciate the benefits of such a set-up.
From a health and safety perspective, flexibility at work has many advantages. A hybrid working model, for example, provides a logical means of reducing overcrowding to help manage social distancing in the office environment. This will have a natural knock-on effect on reducing absenteeism related to the ongoing spread of the virus.
While the pros of remote and hybrid working are clear, there is one key challenge to maintaining these models which businesses have faced since the re-opening of office spaces: how to make workplaces more agile for this blended way of working.
New ways of working with business broadband and hybrid working
Although hybrid working has reshaped the notion of “place” in the context of a traditional working environment, physical workspaces continue to play a crucial role in how teams operate.
The office is now a focal point for collaboration, carrying out specific tasks, the use of company facilities, and staying connected with teammates and the wider business.
With workforces now combining in-office and remote working schedules, “dialling in” to meetings remotely using video call technology has become commonplace. The use of collaborative tools such as Slack and Microsoft Teams has also made communicating in real-time much easier, regardless of location.
Beyond this, further technological trends are emerging that will help to reduce physical contact as businesses become more conscious of preventing the spread of COVID-19 and other seasonal viruses.
For example, more and more businesses may begin to avail of apps that facilitate ordering from an office canteen, booking desk space for allocated slots, and even enabling elevator access.
At the heart of all this activity is business broadband!
The role of business broadband in the hybrid workplace
Broadband that is purpose-built for business use is vitally important in an office environment that is now more heavily reliant on digital communication than ever before.
Not only do offices need a strong broadband connection for meeting rooms and each working station within the physical space, but they also need a reliable connection to service their remote workforce.
In fact, a recent survey found that a whopping 97% of business leaders believe that reliable broadband is vital to maintaining an effective remote working strategy. With so much activity centred around digital communication, it is no longer a luxury for businesses to operate with excellent broadband capabilities, it’s a necessity.
Despite this, a study on hybrid working found that less than half of IT leaders feel their organisation is well-equipped for long-term hybrid working. This highlights that while culture has changed around ways of working, many businesses have not prioritised the advancement of their digital infrastructure.
Making the hybrid workplace a success with business broadband
In order to maintain both client and employee satisfaction through the continued implementation of a hybrid working model, you must cater for the advanced connectivity demands of modern businesses. This is where the importance of a tailored, trustworthy business broadband package comes in.
After all, there is nothing worse than failing to connect or losing a connection during an important meeting. Not only is it frustrating for the user and potentially damaging to the business’s image, but it also causes a natural reduction in productivity levels. In this era of hybrid working, it is simply unacceptable to take shortcuts when it comes to the quality of your broadband and technical support.
One Contact’s Business Broadband service provides secure enterprise-grade connectivity at an affordable price, regardless of the size of your business, with speeds of up to 10GBPS and failover broadband options as well. Our experienced support team is highly skilled at resolving any issues quickly and efficiently, so your business will lose as little time as possible during technical troubleshooting.
We take our customer support a step further by proactively monitoring the performance of our business broadband connections, meaning that if a fault occurs, our team will be on hand to fix the issue before you even know there is a problem.
Get in touch today to discuss your individual business broadband needs and ensure success as a hybrid workplace.
