It’s been quite a ride, but we’re finally becoming ready to get back to the office. And while it’s great to see co-workers in person again, we’ve grown accustomed to working from home. Many people are choosing to divide their work time between home and the office. Is your company ready for this new hybrid form of work? We asked Wouter van Hiele, Manager IT Operations & Security Officer at Trust, how IT departments can make sure they are well prepared and employees have everything they need to get back to the office.
When COVID-19 first hit Europe at the end of February 2020, Trust was able to move quickly, getting all employees up and running from their homes. Remote work was already made possible by IT, but it wasn’t often done before the pandemic. Coincidentally, Wouter van Hiele and his IT team had planned a Microsoft Teams launch in the second week of March 2020, moving away from Skype for Business.
Working remotely
“Due to COVID-19, everybody was forced to use our remote working capabilities that were already in place. We’re definitely talking about the most successful IT launch in our company’s history”, says Wouter van Hiele, grinning. “And it all worked well from day one.”
Approximately 90% of Trust employees were already working on laptops, making it a smooth transition for most. Of course, the new normal also led to new questions for the IT team – mostly connection problems caused by poor Wi-Fi reception or lack of network cables. Additionally, all kinds of requests came in for keyboards, mice, earphones, and headsets for new home workspace setups.
“The laptops already had built-in webcams, but when you are the value-for-money brand for digital lifestyle accessories, you make sure your employees have the best equipment they can get. All employees were given a one-time payment of €350, and compensation of €7,50 per day to set up their home workspaces. With Trust products in all categories, employees could pick and choose anything they needed for their home offices and personalise it to their liking in their favourite colours and preferred price range.”
Data and IT tools
“We immediately noticed an increase in productivity and a significant change to office hours, with a spread of working hours from early morning to late in the evening. Of course, this also meant a change in work-life balance. We gladly used Microsoft’s analytics tools to support our employees by giving them data and insights into how their workdays were divided between calls, emails, and focus time. We also provided our colleagues with training, showing them how to successfully share documents, work collaboratively, and store files online.
Double-equipped for home and office
Now that companies are slowly returning to the office for a day or two a week, employees’ needs are again changing, as hybrid work brings with it new challenges. Those employees who didn’t need to use a headset at home now require one for the office, as many meetings are still taking place online. Some use a wireless keyboard and mouse set that’s great for working from home, while a wired variant is better suited for the office.
And what about ports to connect monitors and other USB devices? Laptops come with fewer and fewer connections, so dongles are a must-have accessory. There are many solutions available, from 10-in-1 to 4-in-1 hubs.
“At Trust, every new employee now receives a welcome box on their first day, which contains the most recent wireless desk set (mouse, keyboard, headset, and webcam) from our assortment for the home office. At the office, we provide every desk with a wired desk set. Depending on the type of workspace (flex desk or permanent desk), it’s also equipped with a USB-C docking station, one or two monitors, and a webcam.”
Video conferencing at its best
“All our meeting rooms have been equipped with IRIS, our video conferencing solution”, says Wouter van Hiele. “IRIS is the perfect solution for hybrid work, as it turns any small meeting room into a fully fledged video conference room. IRIS provides an optimal connection between the people in the conference room and all remote participants. It offers both staff and clients the freedom to work together optimally while maintaining a safe distance. Besides great sound, it contains an HD sensor offering a high-definition, full-body display of every person in the room without them having to sit shoulder-to-shoulder, thus enabling everyone to keep 1.5m distance.”
For IT teams, hybrid work and cloud work does mean additional security challenges. People are not always aware of security risks while outside the office. They should keep in mind to always lock their screen when away from their laptop, even when working from home.
“Connecting their own personal devices to the network is technically enabled but requires good security processes within a company. It is our job to make sure every connection to our network is secure.”
Hybrid work is here to stay
Wouter van Hiele is convinced that the traditional workplace will not return.
“Hybrid work will be the way forward. If you’re well prepared as an IT department and provide your staff with the right home and office equipment, it really does have great advantages. It not only saves time, but also costs, with online meetings reducing the need for (international) travel. And less travel, in turn, is more sustainable, as it has less impact on our environment”, he concludes.