Using digital tools
to enhance communication
in the new normal
For work-style reform during the global COVID-19 pandemic
Telework has increased rapidly due to COVID-19 and is now drawing attention not just as a step to prevent the spread of COVID-19 but as a new style of work.
Meanwhile, telework presents problems and concerns associated with workers not going to the office.
Here are concrete solutions to address such concerns.
COVID-19's impact increases
around the world
This year, various nations have begun offering vaccines to the public, but some Western nations continue to enforce strict measures by closing borders and instituting lockdowns.
Even some nations in Southeast Asia are keeping workers from going to the office to stop the spread of COVID-19, instead promoting remote work and work from home. This indicates a worldwide trend to adapt to the virus.
Current state of telework
Anyone can telework with just a PC or smartphone and an Internet connection, but there are many issues that come up when the workplace is not the office. This requires us to adopt perspectives different from those of conventional organizational management.
Shown on the left is an example survey administered in Japan, but the communication issues as well as monitoring and responding to how employees work must be shared issues among nations, though there are likely differences in degree.
3 concrete issues
arising after introducing telework
Issue 1
Difficult to see progress
Without face-to-face communication, the team cannot coordinate work like before.
Issue 2
Security concerns
Telework means more instances of handling important internal information outside the office, raising the risk of information leakage.
Issue 3
Operations get held up
Some internal systems are only accessible at the office.
Difficult to see progress
When you work with local personnel using only the phone and email, gaps in understanding arise because of differences in values and sensitivity. This results in work not progressing as expected.
For example:
During the telework period, we called local personnel and asked them to do an inventory check by the end of the month. But the local personnel did not consider it to be an official instruction, did not do it, and an accountability issue resulted.
Our recommended solutions
Even if you have a conversation on the phone, it may not register and may be forgotten. Emailed instructions can also be ignored by excuses such as the personnel in question did not see the email or it was filtered into the spam folder. So, be sure to prepare an environment that enables you to visualize progress as if you were working together in the office, whereby you can check the progress in detail and share online meeting documents.
Online meetings
Use means of communication other than the phone and email to invigorate communication and to communicate clearly just like before.
Using a webcam and microphone will enable you to have a meeting with remote staff members face-to-face, and share your understandings by sharing documents on-screen.
Progress management tools
By visualizing operational tasks online and sharing them with project members, you can check the progress and status of operations.
In telework, more employees participate in BYOD (Bring Your Own Device), and more confidential internal information being handled outside the office means higher security risks. Local personnel tend to have less awareness or lack a common awareness of security.
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Security concerns
In telework, more employees participate in BYOD (Bring Your Own Device), and more confidential internal information being handled outside the office means higher security risks. Local personnel tend to have less awareness or lack a common awareness of security.
For example:
A local staff member browsed a website privately on a private PC, which got infected with a virus. Important information leaked, tainting our company's reputation.
Our recommended solutions
Security risks are an issue faced by all staff members. To avoid accidents such as information leaks, it is important to set and ensure awareness of security guidelines about taking and using documents outside the company. You also need to set clear company policies on centrally managing devices and VPN access, and apply these policies to all employees.
Asset management
By managing all devices in one place, you can collectively manage all PCs and smartphones that your personnel use as well as centrally enforce necessary measures, including antivirus measures.
With management software, you can manage in one place devices used by your employees, such as PCs and smartphones. Apply security patches and lock any devices that go missing.
Cloud security
To ensure secure access, avoid networks where communications could be intercepted or where the device could be infected with a virus, and employ a secure connection.
All applications will be on a managed cloud, ensuring secure connections by users regardless of their devices, locations, and networks.
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Operations get held up
When employees are prohibited from coming to work because of an official notice that bans commuting, operations that can only be processed at the office, such as procurement and ordering, get suspended.
For example:
Our inventory management and ordering system was accessible only from an internal network. Because of this, we could not place our regular orders during the lockdown, which inconvenienced our customers.
Our recommended solutions
Operations that occur regularly can be automated, though this depends on their content. You can use robots to automate such processes.
You can also prepare a connection to connect remotely from outside the office to connect to your office PC from home, enabling you to do your regular work without coming into the office.
Automation
You can automate operations that occur at regular intervals (e.g., monthly), creating a structure that does not depend on personnel to be present.
By automating routine operations, you can automate operations that occur at regular intervals (e.g., monthly), creating a structure that does not depend on personnel to be present.
Connecting to an internal PC
Connect to the office from outside via the Internet, making the PC inside the office accessible via external networks so that you can work without coming into the office.
All applications will be on a managed cloud, ensuring secure connections by users regardless of their devices, locations, and networks.
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