Applying Smart Working effectively in your company

By Marcelo Szabo, Product Manager Visual Communications - Emerging Technologies at Ricoh Latin America

New technologies have revolutionized the workplace. Not only are we witnessing the emergence of new professions, but we are transforming existing ones. Work has moved beyond the boundaries of the traditional office. Today, employees can work at home, on the move or in coworking spaces in the same way as they would in the office. Like other forms of smart working, teleworking, telecommuting or remote working not only allows more flexibility in terms of presence but also in terms of working hours. It is becoming easier and easier for professionals to coordinate work and personal life, or work and studies.

To achieve an efficient Smart working scheme, organizations must boost business collaboration. It is based on obtaining the maximum potential derived from the talent and interaction of people through the frequent use of technologies that enable communication and interactivity and a physical transformation of office spaces into value-added resource centers. Business collaboration focuses on people and requires a corporate culture that fosters teamwork to boost business productivity and improve the user experience, becoming a strategic factor for the growth of organizations.

Faced with this scenario, at Ricoh we highlight 4 factors to consider implementing efficient Smart Working schemes:

1) Analysis of human capital and current business information flow: Organizations should map their existing workforce structure. Then identify and prioritize the areas and business functions that are most likely to be affected by the revolution in work culture. The goal is to find the right balance between speed, cost, and quality when reshaping their people management strategy.

In addition, they must ensure that information is flowing using the right technology and that people are working together with this technology, empowering them to manage the data that goes from point A to point B. The goal is to have the right information, to the right people, where and when they need it. Information sharing can have a dramatic impact on tangible business results, including increased productivity, reduced costs, and increased revenue. To this end, it is necessary to identify actions required to make information an enabler in the transformation of flexible work policies.

2) Expand the use of collaboration spaces: Ensuring that employees can work efficiently, whether they are present in the office or separated by hundreds of miles, can be challenging for business leaders. To address this, Ricoh designed Huddle Rooms. These are intelligent spaces developed to make it quick and easy for people to join the meeting. These rooms typically can accommodate up to six people and feature Ricoh Unified Communication Services (UCS) technology. This system consists of a secure, low-cost device that enables intercommunication between multiple Huddle Rooms, as well as between computers and mobile devices. It also includes short-throw wall projectors (no need to install brackets or hanging devices) for uninterrupted and dynamic collaboration.

3) Focus on the employee experience when implementing technology: Data suggests that the implementation of enterprise collaboration solutions is linked to improved user experience through the integration of different tools, technologies, and devices, which leads to increased productivity. This is precisely the main benefit of a good culture of business collaboration for companies, whose priorities are now to achieve greater agility in the way they work and promote a more digital way of working. To improve the efficiency of meetings, companies are highlighting the need to increase the use of videoconferencing, shortening meetings that are too long and convening them only if necessary.

4) Training programs to maximize the available collaboration tools: In this sense, it is important to make available to the whole company training programs that help develop the employee's skills to work collaboratively and the use of the associated technology to share knowledge. In this way, skills and talents are complemented, and, therefore, weaknesses are reduced, and strengths are enhanced. It also encourages creativity and learning, improving performance and increasing both efficiency and productivity.

In conclusion, remember that motivating workspaces are not only those that integrate hammocks with massage, sofas, or consoles. Having tools and spaces for collaborative work and the achievement of objectives is the most rewarding thing. The important thing for teleworkers is to understand that, in this modality, it is essential to maintain contact to get their work done efficiently, and collaborative solutions will enhance that communication and boost the interaction of talent. Here, Ricoh offers solutions within the concept of enterprise "Workplace Collaboration" with unified management ranging from infrastructure to hardware and software integration, as well as space redesign and supporting people in adopting new digital habits.