Work-from-anywhere isn’t going anywhere. During the initial rush to remote work, tech debt was highlighted and the business lost faith in IT. IT now needs to:
- Rebuild trust with the CXO.
- Identify gaps created from the COVID-19 rush to remote work.
- Identify how IT can better support remote workers.
IT went through an initial crunch to enable remote work. It’s time to be proactive and learn from our mistakes.
Our Advice
Critical Insight
- It’s not about embracing the new normal; it’s about resiliency and long-term success. Your strategy needs to not only provide short-term operational value but also make the organization more resilient for the unknown risks of tomorrow.
- The nature of work has fundamentally changed. IT departments must ensure service continuity, not for how the company worked in 2019, but for how the company is working now and will be working tomorrow.
- Ensure short-term survival. Don’t focus on becoming an innovator until you are no longer stuck in firefighting.
- Aim for near-term innovation. Once you’re a trusted operator, become a business partner by helping the business better adapt business processes and operations to work-from-anywhere.
Impact and Result
Follow these steps to build a work-from-anywhere strategy that resonates with the business:
- Identify a vision that aligns with business goals.
- Design the work-from-anywhere value proposition for critical business roles.
- Benchmark your current maturity.
- Build a roadmap for bridging the gap.
Benefit employees’ remote working experience while ensuring that IT heads in a strategic direction.
Create a Work-From-Anywhere Strategy Research & Tools
Start here – read the Executive Brief
Read our concise Executive Brief to find out why you should create a work-from-anywhere strategy, review Info-Tech’s methodology, and understand the four ways we can support you in completing this project.Besides the small introduction, subscribers and consulting clients within this management domain have access to:
- Create a Work-From-Anywhere Strategy – Phases 1-3
- Work-From-Anywhere Capability Assessment
1. Define a target state
Identify a vision that aligns with business goals, not for how the company worked in 2019, but for how the company is working now and will be working tomorrow.
- Work-From-Anywhere Strategy Template
- Work-From-Anywhere Value Proposition Template
2. Analyze current fitness
Don’t focus on becoming an innovator until you are no longer stuck in firefighting mode.
3. Build a roadmap for improving enterprise apps
Use these blueprints to improve your enterprise app capabilities for work-from-anywhere.
- Microsoft Teams Cookbook – Sections 1-2
- Rationalize Your Collaboration Tools – Phases 1-3
- Adapt Your Customer Experience Strategy to Successfully Weather COVID-19 Storyboard
- The Rapid Application Selection Framework Deck
4. Build a roadmap for improving strategy, people & leadership
Use these blueprints to improve IT’s strategy, people & leadership capabilities for work-from-anywhere.
- Define Your Digital Business Strategy – Phases 1-4
- Training Deck: Equip Managers to Effectively Manage Virtual Teams
- Sustain Work-From-Home in the New Normal Storyboard
- Develop a Targeted Flexible Work Program for IT – Phases 1-3
- Maintain Employee Engagement During the COVID-19 Pandemic Storyboard
- Adapt Your Onboarding Process to a Virtual Environment Storyboard
- Manage Poor Performance While Working From Home Storyboard
- The Essential COVID-19 Childcare Policy for Every Organization, Yesterday Storyboard
5. Build a roadmap for improving infrastructure & operations
Use these blueprints to improve infrastructure & operations capabilities for work-from-anywhere.
- Stabilize Infrastructure & Operations During Work-From-Anywhere – Phases 1-3
- Responsibly Resume IT Operations in the Office – Phases 1-5
- Execute an Emergency Remote Work Plan Storyboard
- Build a Digital Workspace Strategy – Phases 1-3
6. Build a roadmap for improving IT security & compliance capabilities
Use these blueprints to improve IT security & compliance capabilities for work-from-anywhere.
- Cybersecurity Priorities in Times of Pandemic Storyboard
- Reinforce End-User Security Awareness During Your COVID-19 Response Storyboard
Infographic
Workshop: Create a Work-From-Anywhere Strategy
Workshops offer an easy way to accelerate your project. If you are unable to do the project yourself, and a Guided Implementation isn't enough, we offer low-cost delivery of our project workshops. We take you through every phase of your project and ensure that you have a roadmap in place to complete your project successfully.
1 Define a Target State
The Purpose
Define the direction of your work-from-anywhere strategy and roadmap.
Key Benefits Achieved
Base your decisions on senior leadership and user needs.
Activities
1.1 Identify drivers, benefits, and challenges.
1.2 Perform a goals cascade to align benefits to business needs.
1.3 Define a vision and success metrics.
1.4 Define the value IT brings to work-from-anywhere.
Outputs
Desired benefits for work-from-anywhere
Vision statement
Mission statement
Success metrics
Value propositions for in-scope user groups
2 Review In-Scope Capabilities
The Purpose
Focus on value. Ensure that major applications and IT capabilities will relieve employees’ pains and provide them with gains.
Key Benefits Achieved
Learn from past mistakes and successes.
Increase adoption of resulting initiatives.
Activities
2.1 Review work-from-anywhere framework and identify capability gaps.
2.2 Review diagnostic results to identify satisfaction gaps.
2.3 Record improvement opportunities for each capability.
2.4 Identify deliverables and opportunities to provide value for each.
2.5 Identify constraints faced by each capability.
Outputs
SWOT assessment of work-from-anywhere capabilities
Projects and initiatives to improve capabilities
Deliverables and opportunities to provide value for each capability
Constraints with each capability
3 Build the Roadmap
The Purpose
Build a short-term plan that allows you to iterate on your existing strengths and provide early value to your users.
Key Benefits Achieved
Provide early value to address operational pain points.
Build a plan to provide near-term innovation and business value.
Activities
3.1 Organize initiatives into phases.
3.2 Identify tasks for short-term initiatives.
3.3 Estimate effort with Scrum Poker.
3.4 Build a timeline and tie phases to desired business benefits.
Outputs
Prioritized list of initiatives and phases
Profiles for short-term initiatives