While remote and hybrid work have been part of modern business since the start of telecommunications, remote work went from an option to a necessity in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. In the years since, remote work technology has continued to advance, and while many employees have returned to the office, plenty still embrace remote and hybrid work.
It’s safe to say that remote work isn’t ending any time soon. Instead, business leaders need to prepare for the future of remote work and embrace strategies and technology to make working from anywhere easy.
With that in mind, let’s explore the future of remote and hybrid work, including the growing reliance on digital tools, evolving employee expectations, and the increasing importance of flexibility and security.
Remote & Hybrid Workforce Productivity: Key Challenges for IT Leaders
While remote and hybrid work continue to grow in usage and efficiency, organizations still must make an effort to implement remote work strategies and policies. This can be a challenge for those unprepared or unable to invest in supporting remote employees.
Decision makers looking to implement remote and hybrid work should keep some key challenges in mind:
Lack of clear policies: First and foremost, organizations need good remote work policies in place. These should set expectations for all employees, including the tools used to help with remote work, security policies, project management software, and so on. This will help ensure everyone is aware of what they need to do and what resources are available.
Communication barriers: Communication is the most important part of efficient remote work; without a good way to communicate with coworkers and managers, employees will be left struggling and alone. Ensure you utilize team communication platforms so employees can stay connected, whether they need to create a team chat, hop on a video call, or message a coworker with questions.
Security: Cybersecurity is essential for all businesses, and remote work presents a new set of risks. Organizations must invest in solutions with robust security features, including end-to-end encryption, zero trust security, multi-factor authentication, and more, to ensure their devices, accounts, and networks are protected at all times.
Burnout: While the ability to work from anywhere is great for efficiency, it can also lead to employees feeling like they’re always on-call, which can increase burnout. This, combined with the feelings of isolation and disconnectedness that can come from working alone, can hurt employees’ mental well-being. Organizations need to set boundaries, encourage good work-life balance, and provide mental health resources to ensure employees aren’t burning out.
Collaboration struggles: Employees frequently need to collaborate on projects, which can be difficult when working remotely. Good collaboration tools are necessary to let employees access the same projects, share files and information, and communicate in real-time to work together efficiently.
8 Ways IT Leaders Can Prepare for the Evolving Remote Landscape in 2026
With the constant changes in the remote landscape and technologies enabling remote and hybrid work, it can be a challenge for IT leaders and departments to keep up. However, by focusing on data-driven decision-making, clear policies, strong cybersecurity, and the adoption of new tools, organizations can future-proof their remote and hybrid work models.
Some key steps for keeping up with the evolution of remote work include:
1. Leverage Workforce Analytics for Smarter Decisions
Workforce analytics tools can analyze data around work patterns, workflows, employee performance, productivity, and more, empowering leaders to make informed decisions. This helps organizations optimize schedules and workloads, ensure employees are engaged and receive the support they need, improve training, and allocate resources efficiently, so employees can work efficiently whether they prefer the comforts of home or the office environment.
2. Create Clear Policies for Hybrid and Remote Work
Creating clear policies is one of the most important steps for ensuring efficient remote and hybrid work. This sets expectations for employees and managers so they understand their communication protocols, work hours, performance goals, and how flexible the schedule is, so everyone is on the same page. Of course, regularly reviewing and updating policies also helps ensure they’re effective, and enables companies to create policies that suit their employees best.
3. Enhance Cybersecurity and Safeguard Data
Cybersecurity is one of the biggest concerns for companies and their IT teams when employees start working remotely. It’s vital to use cybersecurity tools and protocols to protect employees, devices, and data, such as multi-factor authentication and firewalls. Employee training is also important, so they know how to prevent phishing attacks and the security best practices to follow.
Regular patch updates can also help ensure security, as patches can repair vulnerabilities and provide other security updates. If you need to manage multiple remote endpoints, using a solution like Splashtop AEM can help keep devices updated and secure with automated patching.
4. Use AI and Automation to Streamline Workflows
AI and automation are valuable tools for assisting employees and improving productivity. AI-powered technology can help with resource management and prioritization, while automation tools can manage repetitive manual tasks, so employees can focus on more pressing work. While this does require training to ensure employees understand the tools and how to properly utilize them, it can lead to improved efficiency and greater employee flexibility.
5. Equip Managers to Lead Remote Teams Successfully
Good managers can make all the difference for a team, so if you train and equip your managers to succeed, they’ll be able to lead remote teams to success. This includes communication strategies, collaboration tools, performance management, and similar tools, so they can communicate with their teams, build a strong team environment, and give employees feedback and guidance.
6. Reimagine the Employee Experience for Hybrid Models
In hybrid work environments, you’ll have a mix of employees who are working in-office, remotely, or in some combination thereof. You’ll need to foster an employee experience that works for all of the above. This includes flexible work policies, employee well-being programs, and team-building activities that suit both in-person and remote employees.
It also helps to take a digital-first approach, so employees can access the tools and software they need regardless of where they’re working or what devices they use (especially in BYOD work environments).
7. Continuously Refine and Evolve Remote Work Strategies
If you want to keep up with changes and developments in remote work, staying flexible and adapting to changes is a must. It’s important to review and refine your remote work strategies, including listening to employee feedback, to ensure employees have what they need to work efficiently. This level of responsiveness helps organizations quickly adapt to employee needs and new technology, so they can keep their remote work strategies and policies up to date.
8. Foster Culture Through Intentional Virtual Connection
Perhaps the biggest challenge of remote work is building a work culture that’s welcoming to in-office, remote, and hybrid workers. However, doing so is important to ensure that all employees, regardless of where they work, feel connected, valued, and able to work at their best. This includes inclusive team-building activities, company policies that empower all employees to work at their best, and resources to ensure a proper work-life balance and good mental health.
How IT Leaders Can Build High-Performing Remote Teams with Advanced Software Tools
With all that said, what can IT leaders do to build successful remote teams? The best way to start is by selecting the right tools, including remote access and support, remote collaboration, and communication.
Investing in remote access software empowers employees to access their work devices (including desktop computers and Internet of Things devices) from anywhere, on the devices they prefer. This helps support Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) policies while still providing easy access to projects, software, and specialized tools employees need for their work.
Similarly, remote support software enables IT teams to support employees from any device, anywhere, by remotely accessing the device that needs troubleshooting and support. This supports remote employees and remote IT teams, as it ensures employees can receive support wherever they go, and IT agents can work from anywhere without needing to travel.
With the right technology, you can improve teamwork, streamline workflows, enhance productivity, and strengthen your teams. However, this does require proper training and building an environment of communication and collaboration. Once employees have access to software that helps them work from anywhere and training to utilize it to its fullest, remote work becomes as efficient as in-office work.
How Splashtop Powers the Future of Secure Remote Work
When you want to invest in technology that seamlessly enables efficient and secure remote work, Splashtop has everything you need. Splashtop supports modern remote and hybrid work models by providing remote access across devices and operating systems, thus empowering remote workers and IT teams wherever they may be.
With Splashtop Remote Access, employees can use any device to access their work computers from anywhere with an internet connection. This provides secure access to their files, projects, tools, and more, as well as allowing remote workers to collaborate on projects. With features like remote printing, USB redirection, and file transfer, employees can work efficiently no matter where they are.
Splashtop Remote Support, similarly, enables IT agents to access remote endpoints from anywhere for troubleshooting, support, and maintenance. This empowers IT teams to work from anywhere and on any device while still providing top-tier support, as they can view and control the connected device as if it were right in front of them.
All the while, Splashtop’s security ensures that computers, networks, and data remain secure. Splashtop includes advanced security features, including multi-factor authentication, end-to-end encryption, remote connection notifications, and more, so each device is fully protected.
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