Regulated professions like accountants and solicitors can allow people to work from home permanently after the pandemic is over if they plan ahead to mitigate the risks.
Having the desire to remote work and actually setting it up as a part of your working culture are two different things and may depend on your mindset! Because for regulated industries you may feel there is even more at stake.
Plan and you can work from home permanently
Are you a ‘glass half full’ or ‘glass half empty’ kind of person? Do you view your chips (to introduce some tech terminology!) as being down or up? While it is true that us humans can’t control many things (the arrival of the Covid-19 pandemic being a glaring example), our mindset can determine how we respond to adversity and whether we make a success of something or not.
There are many books from respected human development gurus explaining how you should take control of the things that you can – those things that will improve your life. That includes planning how you will take your business out of the pandemic, through recovery and beyond. Don’t just let it drift along.
Last week, Brian Solis, a global innovation evangelist, tweeted the quote “If we return to ‘normal’, we will have missed the lesson, and the opportunity.” His message is that while everybody has had to deal with challenges (some significantly more than others) in the past year, those that use the experience to make positive changes will likely fare better than those who don’t.
Have regulated professions got the remotest idea about remote working?
When applying that positive mindset to remote working, remember how far you have come in one year: for most the pandemic forced employers and employees to work from home. And, considering it was a rush, ask yourself how you have done. It wasn’t a disaster was it?
The rise of home working will last long beyond the pandemic because many will want to embrace the benefits. But you may be wondering how you can square allowing staff to work from home permanently with the realities of the job. Planning is everything.
Have you decided what your business will look like? Can you construct a different type of business?
You will probably feel that you still need the office – to store files, hold client meetings etc. Could there be more flexibility so that some days employees work in the office, the rest of the time at home?
Making decisions now will enable you to consider whether you need to revisit your tech setup. Why? Because if remote working is going to become a permanent feature of your business, the ‘temporary’ arrangement deployed in haste at the start of the pandemic will probably need an overhaul. And as the leader in your business, you’re the person to lead the way …
In regulated industries you know about the need for data protection and proper cyber security. You’ll also be only too aware that cyber attacks are common in the finance, insurance and legal sectors.
With employees remote working, you’ll need to consider if they’re going to use a blend of personal and company devices. If they are, you’ll want to protect a number of entry points against cyber crime.
Those home networks may not have suitable systems and infrastructure for long-term use. So it is time to ‘seize the day’ and act to create a tech roadmap for your business – have an ‘IT Strategy‘.
To address how to overcome the practical challenges and create a tech roadmap, why not have a chat with us? We already work with accountants and legal firms so have plenty of experience!
