This is an excerpt from our e-guide, BUSINESS ANYWHERE – The ultimate guide to flexible working, produced in partnership with Microsoft
To do business anywhere, infallible tech tools that are accessible anywhere are a bare essential.
Be it attending customer calls or keeping communication channels effective, it’s vital to choose the right flexible working technologies for your business.
Here are the nine flexible working technologies that make flexible working more efficient:
1. Get into the cloud
To be able to work flexibly, all your documents need to be accessible from one place, wherever you are. The days of carrying around all your data on a USB stick are over. How do you do that?
You need cloud storage so that you and your team can access documents from a phone, tablet or computer, literally anywhere.
Take Microsoft OneDrive for Business, for example. It allows multiple team members to work on a document at the same time with access available anywhere on any device. What’s more? It also comes with smart IT to protect your company data.
2. Keep in touch with customers and team members… from anywhere
Be it your customers or employees, having easy-to-access communication channels is important. With tools like Skype for Business, you can not only set up video calls but also have screen-sharing web conferences and chat sessions with colleagues and customers.
This helps you keep in touch with them when you need to most, regardless of whether you’re in the office or on the road. Bid goodbye to the nightmare that is arranging a meeting place and time that suits everybody.
3. A digital notebook
Whether it is your to-do list for the week or your five-year plan for your business, penning down notes in a notebook are essential.
Using Microsoft Office 365’s OneNote, you could store all your notes digitally and access them from PCs, Macs, tablets, smartphones and on the web.
You can also enhance communications by sharing notes with your colleagues, and even have them at the ready for years.
4. Never lose an idea, receipt or sticky notes
Imagine yourself sitting in Starbucks and scribbling down this amazing idea on the back of a napkin. Admit it – the chances of you losing that piece of paper are high.
This is where Office Lens comes in handy.
It works like a pocket scanner allowing you to take a photo of your ideas. Be it on a napkin, whiteboard or blackboard, you can easily store your notes digitally. Great for keeping business cards organised too!
5. A common drive for business
If you and your employees are working flexibly, you need to ensure all your documents are accessible to all your employees wherever they might be.
Using Microsoft Office 365’s OneDrive for Business you can allow multiple team members to work on a document simultaneously and remotely.
6. Prep for that perfect business pitch with your colleagues
One of the challenges of working out of the office is that you can’t walk up to a colleague to chat about that upcoming business pitch. We have a solution for this too – create impressive presentations using Microsoft Sway and co-author them together wherever you are.
It doesn’t stop there as you can simultaneously work together on all Office 365 applications and even jump into a Skype for Business video call for a quick face to face chat to decide the final details.
7. Collaborate with colleagues
You might be friends with your colleagues on Facebook but it isn’t exactly where you’ll feel comfortable giving feedback on that exciting new product. You’ve got Yammer for that.
Yammer is a private social network, used by over 200,000 companies worldwide, that helps employees collaborate across departments, locations, and business apps.
Again, like with all other tools on this list, Yammer can be accessed from anywhere in the world – all you need is an internet connection.
8. Payment
If you’re working remotely, having a payment device at the ready is important to be able to get paid immediately, wherever you are.
Check out Worldpay and PayPal –two advanced payment companies offering online services and handheld systems that let you take credit card payments.
9. Security
Finally, dear flexible worker, it is essential to safeguard your business against unforeseen circumstances like losing a device. Office 365 comes in handy to make this possible as it regularly backs-up data and minimises disruption by letting you access documents through multiple devices.
Having the freedom to work securely from virtually anywhere on any device can give your business a competitive edge. With Microsoft’s Enterprise Mobility Suite (EMS) you can have peace of mind that your devices and any sensitive information on them is protected. One easy to manage package which is affordable for any small business and works seamlessly with Office 365.
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