As more and more workers have gone remote full-time, mandated by law to do so in some areas, there has been an increasing demand for remote work resources. Technology companies have responded to the demand with a variety of innovations and improvements upon previous designs.
Prior to the COVID situation, there were already file-sharing platforms, videoconferencing programs, time tracking tools, and project management systems. Certain software licenses were used to allow team collaboration in real-time across multiple devices.
A company called the Aberdeen Group has been leading much of the technological charge. There’s a good reason for that, too: They’ve been specializing in remote work platforms for more than five years. The group designers have discussed how their programs help remote workers organize their day and stay motivated even without the office environment surrounding them.
Programs from the Aberdeen Group have bridged the gap between home and office productivity levels. Many managers used to complain that remote work led to lower overall productivity, which proved that working from home allowed for laziness, but the Aberdeen Group developers decided to dig deeper.
It turned out that the problem was in the lack of structure that most remote work programs at that point had. When people logged on, they were shown a basically blank virtual space. They had to spend a dedicated chunk of their morning laying out their daily tasks and deciding how to schedule their day.
To answer this, the company created a much more advanced interface that allows for complex organization and task management. The most significant advantage is that their managers can set up employee accounts in advance. Then, when an employee logs on for the day, their account already displays the tasks and projects they need to do.
This helps to optimize an employee’s efficiency, and it also ensures that the manager and the employee are on the same page regarding deadlines. The program has led to increased employee engagement, increased motivation, and a sense of structure in the virtual workplace.
The Aberdeen Group’s designs have additional features as well. With advanced analytics, a person’s workload might be scheduled and prioritized without actually needing their manager’s manual input. There are also technological features like electronic signing and secure messaging for documentation purposes.