“Work smarter, not harder.” It’s easier said than done.
In recent months, it’s been incredibly difficult for teams to perform at their best. The COVID-19 pandemic was and remains to be, a huge challenge. This global event has led to transforming workforces, new demands, and endless new concerns to address.
In the weeks and months to come, we face a new challenge: the return to work. We all need to figure out how to make the shift back to the office. In the meantime, there’s the struggling economy to worry about, the threat of a recession, and the changing directives on how life and business should be conducted safely.
The government has committed extra money to supporting ailing businesses and freelancers. Unfortunately, this could also mean another crippling round of austerity is on the way. What can public service providers do to steel themselves in light of these challenging circumstances?
The big wins will be around truly making remote work beneficial to the way public sector workforces communicate and collaborate internally, and how they communicate and deliver services externally. Of course, surviving and even thriving in the immediate future means investing in the technology to do more with less – to consolidate technology and vendors into modern, unified platforms; to take advantage of automation and free up workforce resources; to prepare the organisation to meet new expectations and continue operation under unforeseen circumstances in the future.
Surviving in the age of the “new normal”
Public services groups will now face more pressure than ever. Local councils and other teams will need to maintain high levels of performance. Yet, at the same time, these groups will have massive budget cuts and reduced resources. The good news is that the cloud environment will help public sectors to work smarter, not harder in the years ahead.
When facing the challenges to come, groups will need a flexible environment that can adapt to their needs. Nothing in the tech landscape today is more agile than the cloud. With cloud technology, teams can take all of their communication services and align them under a single vendor. This saves money, reduces stress, and simplifies the tech stack. Procurement and budgetary challenges can instantly take a back seat.
The cloud doesn’t just provide value as a money-saving option. With the right vendor, today’s teams can also improve workforce productivity. The cloud allows us to build communication environments most suitable for our teams. This means that businesses will have the flexibility to scale up and down as needed. What’s more, it’s also possible to add integrations to your services.
An open cloud environment means that teams can unlock new functionality in seconds, without compromising on single-pane UX. Whether you’re adding new seats to meet changes in demands, or working to improve output, agility is available with the cloud.
The power to continue growing
More than half of all employees will be working at home by the end of this year. The cloud gives the public sector the power to adapt to that shift. However, the cloud isn’t just a way to survive current challenges. This flexible environment will also ensure that companies can grow in the years to come. With the flexibility to scale and add new features at your own pace, there’s no limit to growth.
Today’s businesses can stay agile in their response to community and team demands. There’ll be no need for additional set-up support because cloud services come at the click of a button. Plus, because all of your tools are connected in the same space, they provide a single point of truth for data. This means that detailed analytics are available. Using the right reports, team leaders can see exactly where they need to improve and adapt.
As we move into the new normal, the cloud will be at the heart of public sector survival and growth.
Originally published Sep 01, 2020, updated Jan 17, 2023
