Due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, how we live and work has had to change rapidly. The rise of remote working has become apparent, with 16% of companies across the world making the switch to full-time operations and communications being made without a central office.
Depending on the industry and software tools already integrated within a business’s process, a digital HQ can be the perfect way to maintain connections with employees, manage productivity and provide a place for secure cross-collaboration. It’s an exciting time for companies to start exploring accessible tools that engage new ways of working, often putting social channels, information hubs, and more on a simple, single platform.
With many businesses starting to embrace the concept of a hybrid workplace, a digital HQ is a destination that effectively combines the best of both worlds. The goal is a communicative channel that easily passes information in real-time through news alerts, live chats, and content management tools within a single source, which can extend to employees, systems, external partners, and even clients.
One of the main benefits of a digital HQ is its ability for deeper workplace customization and flexible connections between colleagues, thanks to the addition of Zoom and its Huddle View feature, for example. These HQs pour all the relevant information you’d need into an easy-to-use digital workspace, outlining a clear ‘source of truth’ from the top and allowing asynchronous collaboration that won’t get lost in a sea of emails. Communication is open and direct, cutting out the waffle with almost instant chat capabilities, meaning your team can stay connected during this historic shift in office communications.
Many platforms allow in-built toggles from external applications, such as Zoom and Google Calendar, allowing workers to customize and collate all their digital infrastructure in one place.
There are two main ways to create your own digital headquarters. The first is to build your own intranet, which will enable you to share company news and insights from your sales team, for example, in one central location. Depending on the intended purpose of your intranet platform, you could also integrate a number of useful plug-ins, which will allow you to share engaging content in channels – even prompting informal office discussions like a virtual water cooler chat, which can be helpful in boosting team wellbeing.
If you’re looking to switch to a new digital workspace entirely then maybe it’s a good idea to get IT support for your business. There are a number of intuitive platforms that can cater to cross-functional teams and will let you share and edit content remotely. Slack is one of the first apps that comes to mind, alongside Microsoft Teams and Google Chat. Most of these digital channels come stacked with alert capabilities and are able to keep up with a seemingly endless stream of essential resources, making them great hubs for an office working online.
More and more choices are cropping up on the market, giving businesses the opportunity to switch to a hybrid workplace or even go fully remote, without having to worry about losing productivity or the quality of communication within internal or external teams.
