After the COVID-19 pandemic, the way we live and work has changed. Today’s employees want to work from remote locations and devices and still connect easily with their teammates. Building a modern workplace refers to acknowledging these changes and adapting organizational models, processes, and structures to adhere to the ever-evolving modern world.
Every process in a business is fostered with technology, from filing expenses to selling to customers; thus, workplace modernization is largely tech-related. Digitally transforming or modernizing your business is a case of problem-solving. Every process within an organization is assessed and improved to adapt to the modern era. Continuous evaluation and improvement with the implementation of relevant technology allow organizations to grow, outperform their competitors, and achieve goals.
To fulfill the requirements of an advanced workplace, organizations need hardware and software that facilitate collaboration, communication, security, productivity, and employee satisfaction. Microsoft Modern Workplace, known as the new-generation Office 365, is fundamental to the modern workplace. This article will discuss how organizations can build a modern workplace with Microsoft 365.
What is a Modern Workplace?
The modern workplace refers to an operational setup designed professionally to meet the physical and technological requirements of your business and employees. It drives company-wide business transformation using the latest Microsoft technology to streamline business operations and empower workers to do their best.
The modern workplace evolves rapidly with brand new business models, distributed teams, and complex security issues. However, the right digital tool like Microsoft 365 connects and supports employees and encourages engagement, collaboration, and productivity by eliminating the following issues.
Poor Communication: Businesses exchange information across disparate channels, leading to a lack of visibility and control.
Constrained to specific devices: The legacy system can not be accessed through mobiles because they are incompatible and present security risks.
Overfilled office space: Flexible, remote working options are limited. The overcrowding results include frayed nerves, distracted workers, and low morale.
No self-service for basic IT requirements: IT teams and users spend time on unimportant support issues, such as password resets.
Dated service offering: Your technology is not keeping pace or scalable with your customers’ requirements.
However, the Microsoft Modern Workplace or Microsoft 365 provides you with what you need to improve collaboration, communication, productivity, and employee engagement.
Micrsoft 365_ An Ideal Toolkit for Modern Workplace
Microsoft 365 is an ideal toolkit for the modern workplace with the following features and benefits.
- Most services and applications are cloud-based. It means they can be accessed from anywhere, anytime, using any device securely.
- Senior leaders and business owners can control how devices and applications are used by restricting access and applying additional security measures to maximize your data security.
- Prevention measures for data leakage can be implemented across all employees’ inboxes. It helps to identify and block data received from malicious links.
- Applications can be used to streamline processes in every business aspect. For example, for attending video calls, booking meetings, sharing videos, and contacting colleagues through instant messages.
- Features can be implemented, enabling employees to sign into cloud-based applications to boost business productivity.
These benefits help you build a modern workplace where the experience of customers and employees will be improved significantly.
How Microsoft Office 365 Creates a Modern Workplace?
Microsoft 365 is an ideal toolkit for creating a modern workplace. It includes a diverse range of services and applications that go far beyond the basic Office applications. The Microsoft Modern Workplace operates using the suite of Microsoft 365 productivity applications and technologies harnessing the power of the cloud.
It includes
- Microsoft 365 Office Applications
- Microsoft Business Voice
- Microsoft Teams to automate power BI
- SharePoint for Document Management
- Azure for Data Storage
Microsoft 365 empowers employees to work the way they want. It provides
Unified Endpoint Management: Help your users embrace Microsoft 365 to enhance workforce productivity.
Security: It delivers solutions to help the user protect critical data, manage access with full control, and protects against threats.
Microsoft Teams: It transforms the way people work and helps businesses transform workforces to adapt and thrive.
Microsoft 365 includes Office 365, Enterprise Mobility + Security, Windows 10 Enterprise, and a variety of collaboration and productivity tools designed to support modern methods of working, keep your business secure, and help facilitate digital transformation.
Microsoft Power Automate within Microsoft 365 allows you to implement Digital and Robotic Process Automation across your business. Automating operations can boost productivity and give employees more time to focus on innovation rather than administrative tasks. Moreover, you can automate time-consuming operations using the built-in AI features and integrate with over 100 applications, such as Google Analytics, MailChimp, Twitter, Microsoft Dynamics 365, etc.
Make Your Digital Workplace A Reality With Microsoft 365
The vision of a digital workplace includes investment in infrastructure and physical components. Here is how Microsoft Modern Workplace makes a more compelling, start-to-finish workday for employees.
Efficient Collaboration
Companies that communicate and collaborate better perform better. Businesses that equip their employees with efficient and effective collaboration tools can generate more revenue.
The results of effective collaboration include
- Aligned goals
- Assess and control information efficiently
- Better insights and connected data
- Clear responsibilities
- Better managerial visibility and control
- Better business opportunities
- Utilize people potential efficiently
Microsoft Teams is an ideal collaboration tool for project management. It is a hub to bring people together, inside and outside your organization. Users can access everything they need in a structured way and provide better insights into business operations.
Manage To-Do Lists with OneNote
Capturing the actions from endless meetings and manipulating the resulting to-do lists. Microsoft has a tool called OneNote to manage this. It’s a digital canvas for annotating documents and making notes with a natural feel of pen and paper. Moreover, you can capture all the information on whiteboards. Enjoy the way of having your notes and meeting records in one place, combined with a robust search facility.
Better and Efficient Meetings
Poorly managed, ineffective meetings are bad for businesses. Lack of advanced planning is the main cause of meeting failures. It’s rare to find anyone who has not experienced the following.
- Meetings meandering on with no clear purpose
- A lack of clarity_ timelines and responsibilities are not captured, and actions are not taken properly.
- Underprepared colleagues who missed reading requirements ahead of the meeting.
With Microsoft Teams, you can start collaboration when the meeting is scheduled. Attendees can share documents and connect with each other. Rich video and audio capabilities enhance the user experience. Microsoft teams’ enhanced task and project management capabilities ensure that everyone stays on track.
Workflow Improvements
Microsoft provides an optimized employee experience available through a variety of interfaces. It includes company-wide mobile and desktop applications and AI/bots that make applications predictive. Moreover, it provides a variety of smart building capabilities that give employees flexibility and complement the way they perform their regular operations.
A Shared Workplace For Everyone
Office 365 Groups provide workspaces based on SharePoint Online that bring email, notes, calendar, files directory functions, and tasks at a central location. It allows group members to collaborate on different projects and to share their ideas. They leverage a shared interface without requiring to switch back and forth between various screens and programs.
It can be integrated with the MS Outlook client or can also be used as a browser-based service. Office 365 Group supports communication and collaboration with external users. Business partners can be invited into the groups and have collaborative access.
What are the Reasons to Adopt a Modern Workplace?
Here are some common reasons why organizations should adopt the Microsoft Modern Workplace over a conventional setup.
- Stand-alone platforms_ Implemented business management platforms have limited automation and integration with each other. It makes the risk of high error and increased workload.
- Disparate communication channels_ Employees collaborate and communicate using different channels that gives limited visibility and lack of control.
- Technology_ The conventional systems leverage technology that has scalable limitations and does not efficiently meet your employees’ needs.
- Security_ There is limited or no cybersecurity management in place. It can put your business at risk of a data breach.
- Team/Data Silos_ Teams work in silos with restricted visibility to other business parts. Data is stored in different locations, and access is limited due to the setup.
Security Level Provided By Microsoft Modern WorkPlace
Microsoft Modern Workplace recognized that a remarkable increase in cloud adoption, digitization, mobile data usage, and personal devices bring new security risks. Security is always high on the priority list for Microsoft Office 365. The advanced cybersecurity tools are designed to help organizations establish secure environments using an integrated set of security technologies, including
- Office 365 Advanced Threat Protection
- Windows Defender Advanced Threat Protection
- Office 365 Threat Intelligence
- Azure Advanced Threat Protection
- Azure Security Center
Microsoft’s security technologies share threat signals with each other to identify a potential data breach.
Final Words
With Microsoft 365, you can invest in the digital workplace to put employees at the center of their experience and ensure that those experiences add value to your business. Employees and users will have consistent, simple, and reliable technologies, collaboration devices, and meeting spaces that allow them to be highly productive and perform operations with professionalism and ease.
The digital workplace experience can serve as a model of workplace productivity and optimize employee performance. It’s a fundamental operational change for your employees and an opportunity for you. With the Microsoft Modern Workplace solution, businesses can improve customer satisfaction create seamless communication and collaboration across different locations while maintaining the integrity and security of systems and data.