The virtual workforce is possible today much more easily with Google Apps. Telecommuting had barriers in the past, however, your employees are able to be connected to your business processes and collaborate quickly and efficiently with an internet connection and cloud computing with Google Apps, the backbone of cloud-based business today.
With one in five (and increasing) employees having worked at a job for less than a year, we are in a highly mobile economy. So, it begs the question, what is your business? Is it necessarily the people? To some degree it is. Talent is important to drive results.
However, a system which is continuous and drives your offense predictably is what allows you to grow your business and delight your customers.
Telecommuting Was Hard Before
Not long ago, telecommuting was hard because there were IT hassles and tradition. IT hassles happened because we had servers and desktops which had to be set up. VPN connections which tunneled into your operations with specific software like Microsoft Outlook had to be configured, controlled and connected.
Tradition also clouds things. You work the way you do and cannot conceive of a better way because it’s always the way you worked. This was good for an old economy mindset. Things were made to conform and follow process.
The new economy is changing so fast that it’s difficult to keep up. Would you carry the cell phone you had 5 years ago? What about the laptop you had? It may work, but it falls short today. In addition, you would look a bit silly. Speed is increasing and the ecosystem we are all a part of forces us to step up our game.
Remote Work In The Cloud
Today, talent is wherever you find it. An internet connection is all that is required. Your knowledge and processes should reside within your Google Apps system. Turn a person on wherever they are in the world and give them secure access and you are now doing business together under your brand and organization.
You can be chatting with a distributed and remote workforce whether they are in front of a browser or on their mobile phone. Your organization’s virtual access and knowledge creates speed from access to a collective knowledge base from all your team members when you need it.
Remarkable productivity and growth opportunities happen when your team is remote as well. There is less disruption and more focus on getting things done. Furthermore, content can continue to grow within your Google Sites knowledge bases and Google Docs.
When people leave your team, their knowledge and contribution remains for future remote employees to access.
This model for doing business has dramatic cost savings to your infrastructure. It also increases the value of your business if your systems are set up for success and collaboration. Your systems and knowledge housed in the cloud make it easy to work with new people anywhere they are at.
What’s holding you back from achieving this potential with your team?
