Request Access to Applications

by Paul | Mar 31, 2020 | Process Templates

Request Access to Applications

Many companies run this process informally, often using email. This approach can work with 10 employees in the same office. But what about when you have 100 employees? What if they start working remotely? As soon as your business progresses past being able to swivel your chair to talk to the admin of the application, you need to develop a proper request process.

1. Select the Required Applications Initiator

It’s common for remote employees to suddenly find that they no longer have access to something they regularly used in the office. Luckily, in the age of cloud-based applications, accessing software from anywhere is easier than ever. The first step of this process is for the employee to highlight what they need access too. Bonus tip: this step also works really well when onboarding a new employee, you’d just have it as a step for their manager.

2. Set Up XYZ Accounts Various

When companies run this process informally using email, things get missed. By having a full list of services in a single place, life is made far more simple for the employee and the IT team supporting them.

The great thing about using workflow software to process these requests is that it directs the request down the right channel instantly. No more “Hey Sam, do you know who the admin for Slack is?”.

3. Login and Go! Initiator

The final step of this simple process is for the employee to check that your logins all work. Have them mark off that they’re all logged in and ready to go.

This is an excerpt from Flowingly’s latest process guide, Essential Processes for Remote Work.

Proven processes to help you manage a remote workforce.

Discover the building blocks for constructing a strong remote culture.

Download Now

Get your business Flowing

See how it works

Request to Work Remotely

by Sean | Mar 31, 2020 | Process Templates

Request to Work Remotely

Before staff start working remotely, most organizations will need to approve it. This process has two main benefits.

Firstly, the organization can ensure that managerial approval is in place, and secondly, they get a full record of all remote staff for HR and health & safety purposes. This is a simple approval process, that can be modified to suit many other applications.

1. Submit Details of Request Initiator

The trigger for starting this process is an employee request to work remotely. This step is a good opportunity to capture all the relevant details about the request, from the dates requested to their job title (you may have a list of titles which are approved for remote work).

It’s important at this step to capture the reason for the request, along with an outline of the working location, including the address, details about the environment and whether the staff member requires any equipment that they don’t already have.

2. Manager Approval Initiator Manager

This is a simple approval but provides an opportunity for longer requests to be approved by the employee’s manager before they get submitted for approval to higher levels (e.g. the CEO).

If the manager feels anything is missing from the application, it’s good to have an option to just send back to the previous step and let the employee know what is missing.

3. CEO Approval CEO

Depending on the size and structure of your company, you will have different rules around approvals. Many companies will allow an employee’s direct manager to make the call on shorter requests for remote work, while longer requests need to go through higher level of approval (as seen here).

1. Start “Set Up Your Remote Workspace” Process Initiator

Once the request has been approved, it’s important to make sure the employee has a quality remote workspace setup that meets company regulations for health & safety. For this reason, the last step of the approval process should link directly to the “Set up your remote workspace” process.

This is an excerpt from Flowingly’s latest process guide, Essential Processes for Remote Work.

Proven processes to help you manage a remote workforce.

Discover the building blocks for constructing a strong remote culture.

Download Now

Get your business Flowing

See how it works

Set Up Your Remote Workspace

by Sean | Mar 30, 2020 | Process Templates

Set Up Your Remote Workspace

Whether your employees are in the office or working remotely, it’s important that their workspace inspires quality work and is safe to work for an extended period.

1. Set Up Your Workstation Initiator

First off, your remote employee needs a workstation that meets your company’s health & safety guidelines. The first step for an employee initiating the process should be the setup of their workstation in compliance with recommended ergonomics.

This is a good opportunity to insert instructions or a video outlining the correct setup, along with inspiration on how to optimize their workspace.

2. Read & Sign the “Remote Work Agreement”. Initiator

It is important to have a Remote Work Agreement for your organization. This is an opportunity to outline the expectations of both the employee and the employer. It’s also a good idea to cover off escalation procedures, communication requirements, and other essentials.

If you’re using a workflow application such as Flowingly, the employee can download the agreement and sign it from here.

3. Conduct PC / Laptop check Initiator

With remote workers, it’s more important than ever to make sure that they have quality equipment and adequate security measures in place. At a basic level, your IT team will want to check that the device they are using is sufficient to run the required applications.

IT may also need to make sure that sufficient security software is installed and that 2-factor authentication is being used. Finally, they will need to ensure that you have easy access to your systems and files, be that through VPN or other means.

4. Check VPN Connection Works Initiator

The last thing your employee will need to do is make sure that the connection that was set up is working seamlessly.

This is an excerpt from Flowingly’s latest process guide, Essential Processes for Remote Work.

Proven processes to help you manage a remote workforce.

Discover the building blocks for constructing a strong remote culture.

Download Now

Get your business Flowing

See how it works

The Remote Work Software Blueprint

by Sean | Mar 19, 2020 | Process Improvement

The Remote Work Software Blueprint

There are thousands of software platforms available to help you work from home, but which are really worth your time?

We’ve compiled a list of our 9 favorite platforms for remote work, the ones we really couldn’t work without.

1. Zoom – Video Conferencing
Zoom helps your team hold video meetings easily. It’s perfect for internal and external meetings since participants simply click a link to join the call.

2. Calendly – Scheduling
Change your meeting availability on the go and allow attendees to reschedule with ease with Calendly. Bonus tip: it has a great Zoom integration.

3. Trello – Task Management
Trello is an easy way to manage your tasks and projects. With various plugins, you can customize your boards to suit the way you work.

4. Naverisk – Remote IT
Naverisk helps IT teams deliver consistent service from anywhere in the world. It’s an impressive all-in-one IT services automation platform that keeps your systems running smoothly and accessible from the cloud.

Flowingly helps us deploy custom process systems in under a day.

5. Flowingly – Process Management
Make all of your processes and workflows accessible remotely. Run any process you want from home, from onboarding and training a new staff member, to processing a new sale. Added bonus: Flowingly gives you full visibility of where all your processes are sitting, and who they are sitting with.

6. Intercom – Customer Engagement
Engage with customers and leads in real-time from anywhere using Intercom. Bonus tip: it can be set up to route conversations down the right channels, whether that is a help article or direct contact with sales or support.

7. Canva – Graphic Collaboration
Collaborate on and share graphic designs in real-time with Canva. The perfect tool for de-centralizing your graphic creation, while still maintaining your brand style.

8. Slack – Internal Communication
Slack is perfect for remote teams as it enables 1:1, team and topic-based communication. Bonus tip for pros: you can integrate other platforms to alert your team upon certain events e.g. when a new customer is registered in Salesforce, Slack will automatically let your team know.

9. Cognism – Contact Data
Sales teams need contact data remotely? Lookup any business or prospect using Cognism, and even add them to a cold email sequence.

Have a suggestion? We’d love to hear about the software you just can’t work without.

Get your business Flowing

See how it works