3 tips for remote working from HPE Aruba

The need for remote working in recent times has impacted businesses in myriad ways and has forced us to rethink the way we work. If there is anything we have learnt from this, it would be that flexible working is now more important than ever – allowing staff to work from whenever, wherever they want. Mobility is and will be a key part of workplace experience strategy and now could be a good time to re-evaluate your strategy and offerings.

We caught up with Jon Howell, Smart Workspaces EMEA Lead at HPE Aruba to hear about his recent observations across the enterprise workplace industry, vision on future of work, and what adds value for both employees and employers to enhance workplace experience. Check out our interview below:

3 ways to facilitate remote working for your staff

There is currently an accelerated interest in aggregated employee solutions, here are some of my observations for better remote working:

1. More resources need to be in the hands of remote staff: An app based intranet for corporate news, campus shutdown info, virtual conference call management (organise virtual meetings and sharing invitations from their device) and general diary management to assist with remote working.
2. Virtual access and connectivity is key to remote working: Leading cloud-managed Wi-Fi providers such as Aruba are well positioned to help remote workers with Remote Access Points and Virtual Gateways. This means an organisation can send out an access to point to a remote worker and connect it directly to the corporate network. Simply put the home worker is now working on the campus network as if they were actually there!
3. Rethink about the value of office/campus apps: Organizations now have the time with workers and app developers at home to focus on scoping and preparing campus applications for when people return to work.

There’s certainly been a shift in mindset towards flexibility and mobility, and employees will now demand more in these areas, so what does this mean for the future of workplace experience when employees repatriate the offices globally, how can these needs challenges be addressed? Here’s a few of my thoughts on that below.

Enabling workplace mobility and better workplace experience

With increasing real estate costs, more and more enterprises are now ditching assigned desks and moving to hot desks to maximize the use of spaces. Workspaces are transforming and employees are opting to move freely from desk to meeting rooms to huddle spaces, finding appropriate quiet spaces away from their desks to concentrate on tasks.

Maximizing space utilization

But with all these new spaces and resources, how can they be managed and tracked accurately? By aggregating multiple sources of data such as WiFi, sensors, meeting room systems together with data (usage, dwell time, hyperlocal data) (such as that provided by Kadence’s desk scheduling software), workplace managers can then find out how spaces are being used with a holistic view.

Adding value to employee experience

When employees are away from their desks, they spend most of their time in meeting rooms. Meeting rooms are the perfect example of times in the working day when a top-up of power is in high demand. Being free from messy cables and not having to worry about bringing a cable add to a better experience for employees and help them remain productive.

Enhancing meeting room technology

The workplace has gone mobile and access to power is a deal-breaker for those looking to stay connected 24/7 – employees demand the same, intuitive and fully connected experience throughout all aspects of work and leisure time. With more collaborative workspaces, smart meeting rooms and smarter buildings require companies to rethink technology – one that should empower the mobile-first generation.

The future of work is going to be defined by better, smarter experiences and no doubt technology is going to play a much bigger role – and now is probably a good time to re-evaluate how workplace experience can be enhanced for when they leave home comforts behind and head back to the office.