For typical IT departments, the thought of helping flex workers in their day-to-day communication and tasks may be enough to bring on nightmares.
It’s hard enough responding to the requests of coworkers in the same building as you during roughly the same hours. Coming up with effective ways to help people who work varied schedules, or from a home office hundreds of miles away, makes that challenge downright daunting.
To survive the situation, IT departments should focus on a little flexibility of their own.
How IT Departments Can Thrive and Survive in the Flexible Workforce:
1. Be Flexible
A recent article from ZDNet emphasizes that modern chief information officers need to “help their organizations change direction at a moment’s notice,” noting the impact of that necessity on business models.
Much of the advice offered in the article also applies to IT’s role with a flexible workforce.
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For example, it suggests that IT leaders should think about how they can create a foundation for change, realizing that they must be ready to work outside a comfortable framework. That’s certainly the case when handling the needs of a flex or remote employee.
The ZDNet article also recommends that IT leaders build velocity into their approach to solving problems. And even as they move quickly, leaders need to be ready to transform when necessary.
Tonino Ciuffini, head of information assets at Warwickshire County Council, says success is about “working with the right people to get the best possible outcomes. Yes, have your principles, but be flexible enough to change when the time is right.”
In fact, managers need to help people understand that change is a constant, the article says. As more people take advantage of flexible work options, that could be especially important.
2. Tap into IT Tools
Coming down from high-level strategy and moving to a more nuts-and-bolts level, an article from The PNC Financial Services Group says plenty of IT tools are available to help companies manage both internal and external workers.
“These technologies are generally cloud-based solutions that can be used with full-time, part-time, contract, and temporary workers from multiple locations,” the PNC article says. “They track time and attendance, handle scheduling, record expenses, manage payroll and taxes, bill time by client and project, and perform analytics to help optimize workforce productivity.
Team collaboration can be handled easily with apps and software for sharing files, emails, and calendars. Video and telephone conferencing technology is widely accepted.”
A BMC SlideShare presentation notes that such technology is the key to building a successful flexible workforce.
Flexible workers need the right devices, communication technology, and remote access to key data and systems, the presentation says. It’s also important that companies offer some self-service IT options to flex employees. However, a Forrester study showed that half of remote workers can’t access their business data.
“All these technologies—some of them quite complex—will need to be supported around the clock,” the presentation says. “This job falls to IT. Businesses will need to build the right IT infrastructure for a flexible workforce. Don’t assume the organization’s current IT support technology can do it.”
To meet that need, BMC recommends a system that includes social technology that allows workers to interact with IT and request help; “context-aware services” that let employees “add assets to location-aware maps with a few clicks”; and crowd-sourced knowledge sharing to help workers find answers to their questions with little effort.
Regardless of the specific plan an IT team uses, it’s clear that managing technology for a flexible workforce will require the ability to move quickly, be prepared for change, and have a good grasp of the various tools that are available and necessary for flex employees. Starting with those basics should set a solid foundation for any company’s IT strategy.
What IT challenges have your company seen as a result of a growing flexible workforce? How have you responded? What other tips would you offer IT departments trying to help flex workers? Please share your ideas in the comments section.
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