Workers across Australia and New Zealand continue to embrace the flexibility afforded by hybrid working environments. In Australia, 95 per cent of people reportedly want the option to work remotely at least once per week, and 60 per cent of organisations now offer hybrid working arrangements. (1) Across New Zealand, six in 10 working New Zealanders have flexibility in their roles to work from home, and 54 per cent of those that can work remotely want to do so more often. (2)
While more flexible work environments give employees greater freedom to accommodate competing priorities in their work/life balance, it also creates new issues for the businesses they work for. In particular, it can create challenges for organisations that rely on collaborative efforts across their operations to service customers, according to M-Files.
Chris Smith, senior manager, partner sales, APAC, M-Files, said, “Disparate working environments have uncovered gaps in processes for many businesses that rely on good collaboration within their teams. Outside of the office environment, there’s been an emergence in shadow IT with employees downloading additional tools to support their ways of working or adopting new processes that don’t meet best practice. This creates inefficiencies in content sharing, as disjointed tools can make finding the right information difficult.”
Beyond inefficient document sharing, organisations are also at risk of experiencing dangers with data that relates to security and compliance. Shadow IT, via unauthorised and uncontrolled applications, creates significant risk for businesses looking to protect against vulnerabilities that can be exploited. Additionally, it creates a lack of audit trails and potentially exposes sensitive content to unauthorised persons.
Chris Smith said, “Lost documents and version control issues are major issues for organisations for myriad reasons. Beyond creating operational challenges and risks, it can also lead to a poor customer experience if team members are unable to securely share information with the right people. Content collaboration is becoming increasingly important across a variety of industries, and it’s essential that businesses can prepare their teams to collaborate effectively whether they’re in the office or at home.”
To mitigate the risks of content collaboration issues, there are digital solutions that organisations can use to help overcome obstacles, streamline their document sharing, and, ultimately, create a more shared environment for employees regardless of where they’re working. Creating a secure, real-time digital collaborative workspace is one of the most effective ways to achieve this.
Chris Smith said, “To combat the effects of disparate work environments, businesses need to bring their teams together virtually. One of the most effective ways to achieve this is to create a real-time digital workspace that centres around a single source of truth to facilitate access with easy to use, customised collaboration tools. Using a single, secure portal for collaboration also lets organisations simplify seamless sharing with internal and external stakeholders while maintaining control of authorised access. This helps to remediate any potential security risks.”
The latest digital document management solutions empower teams to securely collaborate regardless of location. This ensures businesses can maintain proper control over their content and confidential information without compromising on security. By leveraging a single source of truth for document management, organisations can eliminate the risk of team members using disparate systems outside of its technology stack and best practices.
Chris Smith said, “Good document management is essential for business success, especially when poor practices can lead to security and compliance risks. It’s essential that organisations invest in modern document management solutions to achieve greater control over their document management, without sacrificing collaboration or compromising on security.”
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