Working remotely is now standard practice at offices around the globe.
While technology has enabled some businesses to continue operating despite social distancing, a kaleidoscope of new devices and software has created havoc in many teams. New challenges require new solutions, but the speed of growth makes tracking everything painful.
Keeping tabs on employee actions without micromanaging is a tough job at the best of times. As a remote team, you lack person-to-person contact and the task of a manager gets even harder.
So how do you keep everything running smoothly? And how do you optimize your way of doing things?
While GitHub’s remote work guide gives you actionable advice on people and personality management, keeping tabs on your back end systems is uniquely difficult. Evolving technologies insist you keep learning new systems, coding languages and hardware maintenance best practices.
Here are 3 lessons that we’ve learned while switching to a remote-only environment.
1. More tech isn’t always the right answer
If your current way of doing things isn’t working, it makes sense to change. That could mean:
- Purchasing new devices
- Changing existing software
- Changing internal systems
- Adopting new software
With major changes in the overall work environment on the horizon (this article was written even before COVID-19), trying to “wait out” the problems that remote work creates will cause short and long-term losses. Working from home is clearly here to stay.
But there’s an inherent risk to changing the way your business operates.
The rapid rise of high-profile hacks of Zoom and Twitter proved that adopting new software too quickly can have catastrophic (and embarrassing) effects.
Before you jump to add more software or upgrade your hardware, do an audit of existing systems. See if there’s not a way to optimize what’s there.
Sometimes just tweaking a workflow or using a plugin can be a quick and simple solution.
2. Protect your team’s devices from the outside world
People use a lot of different devices. From Apple to Huawei to Samsung, to obscure Chinese knockoffs - it makes setting up a secure hardware network tricky.
If possible, bring your company onto a uniform tech brand. For example, at Jamf we use Apple for its security and streamlined pairing options. All employee devices are Apple and installed with our software. It makes connecting and managing everything from cellphones to laptops simple.
The beauty of Apple products is the reliability and dependable nature of hardware and software. iOS is incredibly efficient at maintaining shared networks and devices, and the hardware lasts longer than Microsoft or Android devices.
3. Empower your managers instead of hiring more IT staff
Almost every company in the early 2000s undervalued their IT department.
Now we know just how valuable good IT is. And how dangerous it can be if your systems fail due to bad or lazy management.
That’s why tools like Jamf’s mobile device management (MDM) system exist. It removes the need for businesses to trust dedicated IT departments or technology experts to set up secure networks and remote device management systems.
You can control how your device management system is structured without needing technical training. All the code is transformed into a dashboard that is readable at a glance.
Encryption tools, restrictions, and management tools help you manage a team remotely and customize your security set up.
By empowering your managers with easy to use tools, you improve overall flexibility in your business. When you minimize the need for constant communication for minor tasks, everyone gets a lot more efficient at what they need to be doing.
4. Aim for integration without adding a dozen different apps to every single device
The Jamf network is well integrated into the existing security and software features of Apple. Like most Apple products, it’s designed to be sleek, intuitive, and easy to use. There’s just one install per device.
Whenever you install or onboard new software for your team, try to keep things simple. Make sure you don’t add extra layers of complexity. Always aim to improve or automate your current process.
Become a power user
Jamf’s remote management system simplifies the process of setting up company WiFi, user enrolments to company devices, and app distribution across various Apple devices. With tools like passcode requirements, disk encryption services, and two-step verification, it makes Apple ecosystem is as untouchable as it is efficient.
If you’d like to try Jamf for your yourself, your first three devices are free, after which you pay a nominal fee of $2 a device per month.