6 Types of Remote Workers and How to Support Them

Blog / Remote Workforce / 6 Types of Remote Workers and How to Support Them

It’s always been true that a great team is what makes your company successful, but how a team operates and where it operates from has changed over the years.

Being able to accommodate both workers who are out of range and those who are always on the go will help improve your company’s productivity and quality of work.

How do you know you’re making the best use of technology to keep your employees and business as efficient as possible?

In this blog post, we’ll explore the six types of remote workers who impact your team, evaluate their technical needs, and assess how Office 365 Business Premium can enhance and simplify their remote work styles across all their devices, bringing new levels of productivity to your business.

Key remote workers challenges

Although there are many types of remote workers, recognizing their common issues is key to making your remote workforce successful and cultivating an efficient remote work culture.

Access 

Cloud storage makes it possible for any team member to access the information they need, no matter where they are.

Flexibility 

In today’s world, the ability to use a preferred device means greater productivity, especially for employees in transit.

Connectivity 

The ability to communicate with coworkers and receive seamless updates online significantly improves a remote team member’s workflow.

Built-in-security

Keep work secure by providing your remote team with the safest tools and setting best practices for file access and sharing.

Meet the six types of remote workers

The night owl

Most productive, after office hours, but still needs network access.

With hours of meetings and other distractions, the workplace is sometimes the last place where you can actually get work done. That’s why night owls crave long stretches of uninterrupted time in the evenings to do their best work.

  • Microsoft Teams helps night owls maintain crucial contact with coworkers during business hours and beyond since working out of sight can potentially put them out of mind.
  • SharePoint and OneDrive, seamlessly integrated across the whole Office 365 suite, give night owls all-hours access to the files and data necessary to get the job done.

 

The road warrior

Often out of range but stays in sync with mobile productivity tools.

For salespeople and marketers who are constantly on the road, there are often limited times and places to access the internet. When they do get back online, these road warriors need to be able to sync with their teams and company database with remote work software.

  • Microsoft Teams offers road warriors the flexibility to use any mobile device to get updates quickly in their spare seconds between meetings and conferences with their team in real life.
  • OneNote lets them review and add notes to files on the fly and share from their mobile devices.
  • OneDrive works even when road warriors are out of range. Productivity doesn’t have to stop when they’re offline- they can share files once they reconnect, keeping the team and work moving, just like them.

 

The jet setter

Relies on mobile access and security, online or offline, on any device.

Imagine you have a presentation in the morning, but you’re in an airport with weak Wi-Fi and a dead laptop battery. Welcome to the life of the jet setter. The best tools for the jet setters are those that enable accessibility and security as these workers hop from one city to the next.

  • SharePoint, along with the entire Office 365 suite, works across any device, so jet setters can use a tablet or phone to access the documents they need if their laptops are out of juice.
  • OneDrive enables them to work on files offline if the Wi-Fi is spotty. Changes will automatically sync once they’re back online.
  • Microsoft Teams lets them view notifications and conversation tags on mobile devices, and even join a meeting in high definition to view the presentation with animations the same way they would on a desktop.

 

The commuter

Always connected, whether on the way to work or working from home.

Commuters are usually partially remote, living just far enough from the office for the drive to be a challenge and opting to work from home a few days each week or month.

Whether at home, on a bus, or picking up the kids from soccer practice, commuters can use Office 365 to securely access files and communicate with everyone at the office as though they were in the same room.

  • Microsoft Teams enables commuters and their colleagues to touch base, message a quick question, or video call for a conference.
  • SharePoint ensures commuters have access to the latest company files.
  • OneDrive gives commuters the power to coauthor in real time with team members anywhere, anytime – across all devices.

 

The migrator

Borders aren’t barriers to instant communication and collaboration.

If your lead strategist who works on your biggest account lives in a different country, how do you overcome access and communication problems that can lead to unnecessary and unproductive downtime?

  • OneDrive and SharePoint enable migrators in different time zones – or even on other continents – to coordinate with company headquarters and get server access anytime, anywhere.
  • Microsoft Teams provides instant communication and collaboration to make migrators feel like they’re always part of a team.

 

The industry expert

Needs autonomy and flexibility while staying connected and supported.

Even remotely hired industry experts don’t want to be left to fend for themselves. So why let things like time zones get in the way their valuable expertise?

  • SharePoint enables your company to share only the files, data, and apps necessary for experts to do their jobs while keeping your sensitive data under wraps.
  • OneDrive enables experts to feel in control and connected – never micromanaged- allowing them to share and collaborate with team members on their own time.

Your essential IT ally for the enterprise hybrid workforce.

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