I have recently heard a few founders proudly announcing they have 'innovated'.  What they really were saying was that they had introduced Zoom and/or a CRM system that they had not had before the pandemic. This is worrying as they believe this will get them through the next decade.

It might, just enough, but most likely it will not.

Innovation is constant.

For the business to be agile, modern, and most importantly scalable, we need to review constantly and adjust respectively. 

The Coronavirus Pandemic was a great yet painful lesson for all those that had no processes and systems in place. It has inadvertently become the key driving force in pushing more companies to dabble in remote work sooner than they were anticipating. And technology was the enabler but the fact companies have now introduced Zooms, Teams or HubSpot does not make them future proof.

Covid, like a cold shower, has also exposed less tech-savvy industries such as insurance or construction to name a few. Many still operate on paper, excel spreadsheets or old legacy systems and until their processes are translated into tech, they will keep lagging behind.

Of course, every organisation will have different needs and many will need bespoke or industry-specific solutions but today I would like to focus on some of the existing tools available as they can be implemented and integrated easily, help you run your business smoothly.

For everyone working remotely, smooth collaboration is key. There are plenty of collaboration tools out there, but very few applications are perfect when it comes to securely communicate with colleagues and storing data. One of the key players driving a positive change is blockchain and its smart contracts. 

Most systems still operate in a centralized fashion and this means players have to rely on a third party - the central system. Placing the trust on another party to execute business is risky though. 

Smart contracts are executed on top of the Blockchain using platforms like Ethereum, by decentralizing the process, offer a way to remove trust issues and decrease costs.

What does it mean for the business and your remote teams? 

Aside from the increased level of trust, smart contracts give more autonomy, safety and accuracy. 

If you are keen to improve collaboration within your team and stakeholders, the below tools are worth checking out.

• Payments and Money transfers - OFX, for those of you operating globally and not keen on high bank rates OFX will let you keep more of your money.
  

• BitWage - Payment Facilitation Tool for invoicing, payroll and benefits

• Miro Board - a collaborative whiteboard that could now substitute or complement your wall covered in sticky notes. 

• Motive - helps to keep the team members motivated even if they are away from the office. This cryptocurrency tool works in tandem with the productivity app Kanbanote. 

• Employee engagement –Empuls brings the digital workplace to life through rewards. It is worth checking the Xoxoday website if you are looking for ways to incentivise your workplace.

• Asana, Trello, Monday, Zoho are all great for managing workflows, helping the team stay focused on projects, goals and hit their milestones.

• If you need a tool to securely store, notarize, validate your documents, try DiguSign - blockchain-based eSignatures.

Would you like to know more? Contact our team to arrange a call.

acc@opensolutions-london,co.uk

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