The development of the mainstream remote work has been a surprisingly good turn for businesses – especially small businesses. From being able to prioritise talent over location when hiring, to empowering employees to develop their own schedules to fit their productivity habits, remote working could be the best thing to happen to an organisation.
We discussed this with TechQuarters, a Microsoft Solutions Partner and IT company based in London, who have been remote since 2020, and seen many upshots to the practice. The business IT support London-based companies rely on TechQuarters for is reliant on their ability to work flexibly and productively; according to them, remote working has supported this a lot.
Remote Work Solutions from Microsoft
There are a number of things which businesses used to take for granted when working in the office, which now they need to put additional thought into, due to the obvious ‘obstacles’ posed by remote working. However, with the right tools, those obstacles won’t be there, and small businesses can get all the benefits. According to TechQuarters, some of the best solutions for remote working that are available are part of the Microsoft Cloud ecosystem. But what type of solutions do small businesses need to facilitate effective remote work?
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Collaboration Platforms
Collaboration is the key to success in any business, as it allows a group of individuals to pool their talents and experience. Collaborating in the office was fairly straightforward, but collaborating remotely is best achieved through the use of digital platforms. Microsoft collaboration platforms include:
- Teams – As a platform that unifies several key forms of remote business communication – chat, telephony, and videoconferencing – Teams enables workers to work together synchronously, schedule catch-ups, and engage in quick, spontaneous conversations.
- SharePoint – As a highly effective cloud-based ethernet platform, SharePoint is great for teams and work groups, because it provides an ideal space for sharing information and resources.
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Cloud Storage Platforms
When it comes to remote working, the cloud is an utterly essential form of technology. In particular, cloud storage has a great many applications for remote teams. Not only does it ensure that employees can easily (and securely) access their files and other company resources, but it makes file sharing a breeze for teams. Microsoft cloud storage solutions include:
- SharePoint – Geared towards shared cloud storage, SharePoint is ideal for teams, departments, and organisational storage needs.
- OneDrive for Business – every licensed M365 user is allocated 1TB of storage in OneDrive for Business. Providing personal cloud storage means remote workers always have access to their files, and it ensures company data is protected (because employees don’t have to store it on personal devices).
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Work Management Solutions
Managing workloads, allocating roles and responsibilities within projects, and tracking progress on tasks are all harder when working remotely, because teams cannot simply get together in the office to catch up. Luckily, there are several good work management solutions available from Microsoft:
- Project – Available on the web and for desktop, Microsoft Project is ideal for coordinating teams for projects remotely. It supports Kanban-style planning, Gannt timelines, and has many great tools and features for project management.
- Planner – A more lightweight solution for managing work, Microsoft Planner enables teams to create plans for work, including the creation and assignment of tasks, and a chart for tracking progress on tasks.
- To Do – Aimed more at individual management of workloads, Microsoft To Do allows individual users to create a list of tasks that they can sort according to priority, urgency and deadline. Users can create multiple lists to help them organise multiple workloads.
Conclusion
Here are 3 highly valuable Microsoft solutions that are available for remote businesses. According to TechQuarters, who are Microsoft 365 consultancy experts, all of these solutions are available in the Microsoft 365 Enterprise plans; and Microsoft Project is additionally available as a standalone plan that can be paired with the Microsoft 365 Business plans.
