Transforming charities into modern workplaces
When Covid-19 restrictions do eventually lift, the workplace and our ways of working will have changed for good. A recent report highlighted that two thirds of all employees will be looking to return to a hybrid way of working, having become accustomed to the benefits of remote working over the last year. Therefore, charities will need to adapt and shift to meet these expectations.
What’s more, charities were required to collaborate, fundraise and deliver much-needed services all online during the pandemic. As we look beyond Covid-19, we can expect charities to continue utilising digital services both to fundraise and look after their users.
Seven in 10 charities will consider becoming more digitalised and will deliver more services online over the next 12 months. This will include, for instance, the use of websites and mobile applications to provide a smoother donation process, rather than high street fundraisers. Charities can also engage easily and effectivity with their communities through online resources, such as email, social media and the charity’s website.
With all this in mind, transforming a charity into a modern workplace will be key. Defined as an organisation which recognises digital collaboration and technology as the way of the future, a modern workplace is all about equipping charities with the tools they need to stay connected, productive and secure, at any time and in any location.
Microsoft 365
Where possible, if a charity employee has adopted a hybrid way of working, they need a remote working infrastructure in place which can easily support them in their role regardless of location. Whether they are in the office or working from home, they need to be able to pick up projects easily and access files without issue. Close collaboration with other team members is also important for keeping lines of communication open.
Microsoft 365 is a cost-effective cloud solution that guarantees smarter working. Employees can open, share and edit files securely from a shared server, which is easily accessible from an office desktop, tablet or mobile in any location.
Microsoft 365 is beneficial in that it allows an employee to work at the same productivity level as if they were in the office. The solution cuts down long processes, such as emailing documents, as these can be saved in a shared folder on the SharePoint server and accessed by different approved users. (A document management and storage system, SharePoint is a web-based collaborative platform that integrates with Microsoft Office.)
Unlike other software solutions, whereby only one person can save changes to a document at one time, two or more users can edit a document with Microsoft 365. This takes the hassle out of waiting for an employee to finish working in a document, speeding up time to resolution.
Microsoft Teams
Charities may also want to consider Microsoft Teams, if they haven’t already, in order to support hybrid ways of working. Whether an employee is in an office, working from home, or at another location, Teams enables employees to maintain face to face meetings virtually and communicate openly with other members of staff. The popularity of Teams grew considerably in 2020, with the number of users skyrocketing from 44m users in March to 115m users in October.
Microsoft Teams can also help charities communicate with external parties, including stakeholders and fundraisers. It can be enabled on any device just by downloading the app or software. Also, with instant chat available, it is easier and faster to respond to queries than email.
This is important as, especially within the past 12 months, people have become accustomed to using technology devices such as mobile phones, tablets and computers, to access information and speak to each other. People are aware they don’t need to spend time and money travelling to a particular location to speak to a charity representative or receive the support and information they require. Microsoft Teams helps charities meet these new online expectations for communication.
Microsoft Teams also allows employees to access business telephone numbers easily and schedule meeting or appointments, both internally and externally. Calendars can be integrated with other tools, such as Outlook, helping all parties to view and access appointments in a way that is most beneficial to them, taking away any admin hassle.
Cloud technology
Hybrid working can bring various challenges, such as communication and server accessibility or flexibility. This has seen many charities migrate to a cloud solution as a result.
If planned and executed successfully with the charity’s goals in mind, a cloud-based digital infrastructure is a cost-effective IT solution, whereby either some or all of an organisations’ applications and resources are hosted in a public, private, hybrid or multi cloud platform. This means employees can operate and function effectively, by accessing the charity’s server and internal documents from any location and across multiple device options for mobility.
A cloud solution is also an agile and valuable resource for charities, as it enables them to implement and deliver online services easily without incurring high costs. For example, if required, volunteers or service users can fill in forms and information, which is then hosted securely in the cloud. This removes the need for legacy paperwork which before has been time consuming for all parties involved. Through cloud, the data can be retrieved quickly at anytime and anywhere by the charity, helping to ease data processes.
With charities also facing shrinking budgets, stretched workforces and more demand than ever, a cloud solution can also rapidly respond to the changing requirements of any charity. Demand will continue to change and evolve even after the Covid-19 restrictions are lifted and a cloud solution will help any organisation stay ahead of the game, with fully scalable infrastructure. This will provide long term investment benefits for a charity.
Data is king
For most charities, data is key and can come in many forms. It can include stakeholder and donator details, or analytics which can inform strategies and help organisations run and plan for the future. However, with more charities looking to have a larger digital presence and implement a hybrid working culture, there is even greater risk.
Most charities recognise that they need to protect and back up their data, particularly in order to adhere to GDPR guidelines. This is a legal framework that sets guidelines for the collection and processing of personal information. A breach of data could significantly impact how a charity operates and the reputation of a charity could also be challenged, if external and internal parties face personal data loss.
While hosting information in the cloud can provide some level of security and assurance, significant steps need to be taken in order to ensure data is recovered should the worst happen.
Implementing an effective disaster recovery plan is crucial. If data is in some way compromised, a plan will help protect an IT infrastructure and assets by recovering data on the server, backing up information and avoiding downtime. Disaster recovery achieves this by replicating live data, allowing for failover (automatically transferring to a duplicate system when failure is detected) and faster recovery times. The plan should also detail the order of data being restored.
If there is a huge volume of data, it can take days or even weeks to restore, so by identifying business critical data, a charity can get back up and running while the rest of the data is restored. This means charities can remain operational and will ensure that all data, including that of stakeholders, donors and members, remains intact.
No charity is the same
When it comes to digitally transforming to a modern workplace, it is worth noting that no charity is the same. A charity’s technology requirements can depend on size of the organisation, its breadth and reach and how it delivers it services to the community. There is no one fits all technology solution so careful consideration needs to be taken when developing a digital transformation.
However, researching and identifying which IT solution will best suit your charity can be a minefield. Does your charity need to update legacy IT systems before introducing new tools? What is the budget associated with digital transformation and what solutions will provide the charity with the best return on investment? These are just some of the questions that have to be asked when developing a digital strategy.
Today particularly, charities may not have the resource, manpower and expertise to ask this level of questions when digitally transforming. This is where professional advice before proceeding with a digital transformation comes in. A managed IT provider, for instance, has high level experts on hand who can provide a tailored consultation and free expertise on the best IT solutions to suit objectives and strategies.
A managed IT provider can also help a charity develop scalable and optimised IT infrastructure to meet new demand. Technology will continue to evolve, even beyond Covid-19. By adapting to a modern workplace and putting the right IT solutions in place now, charities will have the freedom to focus their time and effort on what they do best – helping people and the communities in which they operate.
