Meeting the return to work challenge
Meeting the return to work challenge
The challenges of recent times are unprecedented and advice seems to be changing on almost a daily basis. The mindset of Ascentae and our partners, is to remain very agile and flexible in our thinking. We want to offer reassurance and support in the changes that are occurring.
We’re seeing a couple of key trends that are coming through
One is based around the challenges of getting people to return to the workplace, and how those workplaces can be set up physically. Issues such as maintaining social distancing, staggering arrival times, creating one way flows and processes for kitchen and bathroom use are all on the agenda.
But it’s one thing to tackle those physical concerns and quite another to address HOW your employees will be able to work productively and effectively in the changed circumstances we all find ourselves in.
This is the second challenge. How do teams of individuals who would normally physically gather together in office spaces and have everybody available, evolve into hybrid teams? How do they exist and function in productive ways in order to remain collaborative and communicative in what they’re trying to do? And how do they do it for a prolonged period of time?
The adoption of agile working practices has been growing over the last five years
The adoption of agile working practices has been an accelerating theme over the last five years. With the benefits of a greater focus on business value, improved user experience, and early and predictable delivery dates to name but a few, it’s no wonder that these approaches have extended outside of their origins in software development.
But here’s the problem. Common methodologies such as Scrum or Kanban demand frequent meetings. Typically we would see a meeting room commandeered for the process, with walls full of sticky notes. Basic as this may sound, it’s a proven tool for anyone involved in structured business processes.
The teams involved would normally be doing daily stand-ups, retrospectives, and sprint planning sessions. They would be physically arriving into a space to do a lot of those tasks as a team and be using an actual work space where they touch the same things, congregate together and do all those things no longer considered safe.
Most people are now accepting that this is a period that’s going to go on for months, possibly years. How can those functions continue to exist on a long term basis and keep that continuity with the processes that they’re used to using on a daily basis?
Ascentae has always championed the use of Nureva’s Span Workspace software and Wall hardware as a way of improving on this tried and tested process. The solution keeps what organisations love about the sticky-note process while adding the digital tools needed to drive today’s businesses.
It delivers tangible benefits to anyone working with processes such as Kanban or Scrum. And it banishes the limitations and frustrations of using a wall. And being cloud-based it supports remote participation on the user’s own devices.
Little did we know, though, just how ideal the solution would prove to be for supporting businesses continue with their work in the current climate.
