We've never been more dependent on workplace technology than we are right now. About 70% of employees were already working from home at least once a week. But the global shutdown due to COVID-19 has accelerated any plans organizations had for supporting their remote workers. As companies rush to provide hardware, software, and emotional support, a digital workplace is a lifesaver.

Here are a few digital workplace tips to get your intranet or digital hub up for the challenge.

Make your digital workplace the go-to for your team

If your organization is like many others, you've got information spread throughout several systems of record (ServiceNow, Workday, Kronos, and more). You're communicating with your workforce through email, employees are logging in to multiple applications throughout the work day to do their jobs, and none of your tools talk to each other.

Building a digital workplace with integrations for all of your Microsoft 365 applications, plus third-party tools, in a single pane of glass makes it the go-to spot for everyone. Your employees open one site and see everything from their to do lists, plus all of those corporate communications you're sending. Creating a one-stop-shop takes the guess work out of the equation, and they'll never miss a crucial message. Everyone knows where to go and when, and the best part? No more mass emails. 

Empower your workforce to make it their own

Personalization is key to employee engagement and satisfaction. From pushing relevant content to user segments, providing role- and location-specific news feeds, and integrating with most-used applications, the more individualized you can make your digital workplaces, the better.

To complement the information you push out to your team, allowing each individual employee to subscribe to the content that they're interested in ensures that they see everything they need to and want to see. A digital workplace with subscription capability, you're empowering your team to decide what they think is relevant, and granting them access to it.

Provide search capability

Productivity loss caused by your staff's inability to find the information they need is one that you can control and fix. With a digital workplace built on an employee experience platform (EXP) with search capability, your problems are solved.

If your applications are integrated into your EXP, an enterprise search tool can search all of the information in all of the systems. Your employees get a single, fully-comprehensive list of search results so they can find what they need in the blink of an eye.

Invest in collaboration tools

One of the most-complained-about pitfalls of remote work is isolation. It's easier than you'd think to go days without speaking to another human, especially if you live alone.

I personally have found that I've been relying more on Slack and Microsoft Teams more than ever before. Using chat tools, I can stay in touch with my teammates, ask work-related questions, share funny stories, and generally maintain my sanity. Our team also uses Microsoft Teams video conferencing for regular meetings and the occasional virtual happy hour.

It's been a light in what otherwise could be a dark time for all of us.

Allow for employee mobility

Whether your team works remotely so they have the freedom to travel during work hours, because they are required to due to COVID-19, or just for personal preference, mobility is a nonstarter for your digital workplace. Whether you use responsive site design so that your intranet or digital hub resolves properly on mobile devices, or you build an app using native mobility, making sure your team can get to their digital workplace from anywhere is non-negotiable. This is one feature you don't want to skimp on.