The coronavirus pandemic has turned the world upside down. The media are full of alarming reports from hospitals and they also present psychological and sociological analyses of this unusual phenomenon. A vast majority of companies in which employees aren’t required to stay in the office have decided to allow their workers to work from home. This sudden trend is and will definitely be one of the most fascinating points in discussions on how to carry out business activities in a time of crisis.

Balma STEPPS shelving unit

The economic effectiveness of this particular working model will be assessed when the dust settles. Although, we need to be aware of the fact that the results could be distorted by the sudden market slump as this situation will have an impact on all industries worldwide.

But as of today we can try to answer one question – have we been technically ready to start working from home on such a large scale?

Well, in theory we have. Why in theory? Because in the past we had numerous information and internet tools at our disposal. However, we didn’t use them and, even if we did, we used only a small percentage of their capabilities. The time has come now to catch up on that.

So far, cloud solutions have been the most popular ones. They enabled sharing files, adding comments and even collaborative editing in real time. The solutions offered by Google (often selected by small-sized companies) and Microsoft cloud system, i.e. Office 365, enjoyed great popularity.

Another stage includes messengers for ongoing exchange of ideas, comments and tips – usually thematically ordered and structured like the older internet forums. Recently, we have observed a sharp jump in popularity of Slack, but of course the big players have remained vigilant. Microsoft, while still upgrading its cloud solutions, is keenly promoting Microsoft Team services, whereas Google is introducing new options to its Suite business package.

Desk from the MIXT collection

Yet, there is no substitute for a face-to-face conversation, which is a real-time confrontation of knowledge and arguments, with no need to type in words or sentences.

How about a conference call then? Sure, it’s a great solution. Mobile networks operate smoothly, there’s an option for other participants to join in and, furthermore, modern accessories (for example, comfortable wireless headphones with a microphone) guarantee the comfort of use.

The same goes for a video conference. The continuous expanding of telecommunications networks and a constant increase in their capacity can demonstrate excellent results. The tools for video conferencing, from classic Skype to Google’s Hangout and Meet, to the Microsoft systems already mentioned and a big number of advanced and sophisticated company solutions have proved to be successful not only in the office, but also at home.

The infrastructure allowing workers to work from home needs to be obviously supported with applications which will enable to remotely manage employees’ computers (company IT guys may intervene in case of problems with computers) and which will also enable securing data confidentiality and the current monitoring of the work of team members.

Desk and shelves from the MIXT collection

Up to now, electronic signatures have not been commonly used. They were, of course, used by managers working for large organisations , but they were seldom used by owners of small-sized companies or by employees working for small firms. The time under the worldwide quarantine may make us start considering this very solution.

We can also hope that as we have incorporated modern technology solutions into everyday life, we have also learnt to adopt healthy routines and positive habits in our office work. That should include a good organisation of the workplace and keeping in mind the need to change the body position while working; from sitting into a standing one and vice versa. The design as well as the quality of contemporary office furniture, for instance Balma STEPPS and Balma Plus, will meet the requirements of both business and individual users. That’s why, that furniture will perfectly suit the interior of a study or even a very small place to work in your house. So, you can start your home office any minute now.

Balma STEPPS shelving unit with desk module

With this brief overview of the tools to work from home you can see some grounds for optimism. These tools will definitely allow us to survive this unfavourable time. And we shouldn’t worry about any technical problems. The temporary separation of office workers doesn’t need to result in an organisational paralysis. Let’s look at that as an interesting challenge instead.