4 Ways Tech is Changing Our Office Habits
Modern life has been entirely influenced by the emergence of new technologies, meaning that our daily routines look very different today even when compared with what was considered normal a couple of decades ago.This is no more apparent than in the workplace, where office habits have been reshaped by hardware and software in a number of ways. Here is a look at the biggest shifts occurring at the moment, and what they mean for businesses.
Attendance & attention issues are being eliminated
For all the good that it has done, technology has also added a wealth of distractions to the office environment which can sap productivity and promote procrastination in its place.Thankfully the implementation of employee time tracking software is helping businesses to not only measure attendance levels and look out for unauthorized absences but also measure how long employees are working for and assess just how productive they have been during their time in the office.Any company that is finding performance levels are suffering because of too much web surfing, video streaming and social media use by employees can fall back on tech to take the reins and bring things back on course.
Collaboration is streamlined
From instant messaging on Slack and virtual meetings via Zoom, to shared file editing on Google Docs and media project management through Adobe Creative Cloud, there are seemingly endless ways for employees to work together in the office, without needing to rely on the limitations of in-house systems.The steady growth of cloud computing has made such high-end solutions more accessible and cost-effective, so even small firms stand to benefit. So rather than saving data locally or even transferring it via USB stick, entire information ecosystems can be offloaded to remotely hosted infrastructures, which also run the software used to manipulate it too.This approach to collaboration even frees up the possibility for flexible working, allowing people to stay at home and still remain productive rather than having to visit the office at all.
Freelancing is easier
Just as technology is allowing businesses and their full-time workforces to be more agile and adaptive, so too it has allowed for those who want to work for themselves to do so without being tied down to a single employer, or even a single geographic location.The so-called ‘digital nomad’ trend has lasted long enough to outlive the claims that it was just a fad, and now freelancers are able to eschew the office lifestyle altogether and take their careers with them wherever they choose to go.
Security awareness is essential
In the modern, tech-swamped office space, any individual employee is a potential point of vulnerability that could be exploited by malicious third parties to cause a breach, steal sensitive data, and generally cause havoc.Because of this, businesses are having to train workers to have more of an awareness and understanding of security issues, so that in turn, they do not develop the kinds of bad habits that could compromise the entire organization’s reputation.The impact of technology on office habits is not without its problems, but in general, the advantages have been proven to outweigh the downsides.