When you own a company with multiple branches in different locations, maintaining communication and efficiency is imperative to success. You may even have offices in different countries and time zones than your headquarters so it is especially important that you have quick and clear communications no matter where your employees happen to be. Here are some of the easiest ways you can improve and maintain efficient communication between you and your employees.
A Standard Mode of Communication
Have a company-standard mode of communication that must be used for all company-related matters. This could include internal emails or a chat service like Skype or WhatsApp. Installing an SD WAN, or a software-defined wide area network allows everyone in the company to work off of the same network.
This means that all data handled by the company does not have to leave the safety of the company’s network. If you have an employee in Los Angeles discussing sensitive data with an employee in Berlin, that data cannot get lost in the Internet.
Cloud-Based Solutions
Another great way to ensure that your company’s data is kept safe while you are working is through the use of cloud technologies. These are a brilliant innovation in the technological world as they allow data of all sorts to be traded and stored in an encrypted, virtual location. This means that valuable space and resources within the company do not need to be taken up with a server bank.
Cloud systems are also extremely useful as they allow employees access no matter where they are in the world. You could be on a business trip to another country and still able to access your work emails and all the vital information you need.
Have a Back-Up Plan
Server failures and downtime are inevitable no matter how much you try to plan for success. Downtime can lead to serious money issues if products and services are not delivered on time. Therefore, it is extremely important that you have a downtime clause written into any contracts you undertake; allowing you some precious extra hours in the event of tech failure.
Make sure that all employees have tasks that they can do in the meantime to promote efficiency and productivity. Be prepared to bring on off-site tech team to get everything up and running again. You will also need to ensure that lines of communication can’t fail between different branches simply because there has been a tech failure. Ensuring that there is a contingency plan and a back up at every stage is extremely important.
The lines of communication between the various branches of your business are some of the most important connections you will have. You need to ensure that you are properly caring for them at all times. Make sure that you have plenty of infrastructure between them and be prepared for the inevitable downtime. The best employees are the ones who will be able to keep working despite these disturbances.
