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Like every aspect of our lives, Covid-19 has affected our work life over the last year and a half. Businesses large and small had to find new ways to adapt their working structures to accommodate new guidelines.
But it’s hard to overlook that much of this change in working situations wouldn’t have been possible without the advancements in tech. Software like Zoom and Microsoft Teams have grown in stature, while popular work apps like Slack and Google Drive have become more essential than ever. With this in mind, here are a few ways that tech has changed the way we work.
When the pandemic hit, employers faced a challenge. How would they keep all their various teams and divisions connected while they remained distanced? After all, one of the most important aspects of a successful company is communication. So, team members needed to be able to get in touch with each other to maintain their performance standards. But thanks to various communications software, this was more than achievable. Messaging apps like WhatsApp and Slack enabled teams to pass information between each other both individually and in group chats.
It’s also hard to overlook the impact that video conferencing apps have had throughout the pandemic. The best and most well-known example of this was the rise of Zoom. Before Covid, the app was a niche service that had been around since 2011. It was mostly used for meetings with distant and overseas clients and staff, averaging around 10 million users a day in December 2019. But once the pandemic hit, those numbers rose to 200 million a day by the end of March 2020. As the pandemic continued, the app only grew in popularity alongside other video conferencing tech like Microsoft Teams and Google Meet. These apps helped keep businesses afloat by connecting teams from the comfort of their home.
Throughout lockdown, rules and restrictions changed all the time. Some days you could do certain things, other days you couldn’t. Upon return to the office, things were the same: at certain points you could go back, at others you had to return to working from home. This would also apply to individual employees and their situations. Sometimes they would have to work from home due to outside circumstances, such as having to isolate or take care of their children with schools closing.
But thanks to the increased use of tech, employers were able to adapt to these regular changes and interruptions. With the use of admin and scheduling tools like Asana and Trello, managers and team leaders were able to update their employees’ tasks and responsibilities, keeping the team’s workflow in order and ensuring business continued as usual.
Before covid, the idea of a typical work environment was pretty much set in stone: you came into the office/worksite, did your work, then went home. Of course, there would be the odd time you could work from home, but these were usually down to special circumstances. Now, thanks to the advancements in tech making home-working a viable option, that old structure isn’t seen as definite anymore. With the use of systems like VPNs (Virtual Private Network), it’s now easier than ever for companies to share documents and files.
Some companies and their teams prefer to stay in the office, enjoying the collaborative atmosphere. Other businesses have chosen to stick to the work-from-home format. With all of the simple and affordable software available, keeping your staff at home has made the need for an office space less necessary for some companies. The adaptability that these services provide has allowed businesses to develop a mix of office/work from home to provide flexibility for their staff.
Now that more restrictions are lifted and we move further towards a “new normal”, it’s become apparent now, more than ever that tech holds an essential place in any work environment. From communications and admin, to file sharing and security, tech has become a vital component in ensuring any company can improve its performance and find new ways to grow and develop. And with the increasing desire to find the right balance between work and home life, these advancements in tech will continue to shape the way we work for years to come.
