My Transition to Remote Working with Resolution IT

I’m Tove, the Marketing Executive at Resolution IT. Earlier this year, I moved to Wales with my partner, and I’ve been working remotely ever since.

I’ve been working remotely from the UK for two months now and things have gone surprisingly smoothly. So far, I’ve not missed any meetings, I can still play an active role in the Social and Community Committee, I know everything that’s going on at the Res HQ and I’m still able to collaborate on documents alongside my teammates – even though I’m 253 miles from the office. Not bad, huh?

Microsoft 365 has made this whole thing possible. The vast network of communicative and collaborative tools has meant I’m able to continue my role without any major changes to how I do things.

Microsoft Teams is an absolute saviour for remote working – the chat function is great for keeping in touch with people and sending through quick requests, our channels are always up to date with team news and company updates so I’m always aware of what’s going on, and of course the video chat function means I get to see everyone’s lovely faces. It also means people can easily send me photos of everything that’s going on so I can keep on top of our social media.

I definitely had concerns about feeling a little isolated and missing my teammates, but I actually speak to people just as much now as I did when I was in the office. Everyone makes a real effort to call me on Teams so we can speak face-to-face, even if it’s just a quick question, and that makes all the difference.

OneNote is a great tool too – when we have our weekly team meetings (where I’m beamed onto the kitchen screen via teams), the interactive ability of OneNote means we can collaboratively update the meeting notes as we’re speaking to each other. It also helps me follow along the agenda if the connection gets a bit wobbly (Welsh Wi-Fi isn’t always the strongest!).

And where would I be without OneDrive? It means my co-workers and I can collaborate on documents in real time, leave each other comments, share feedback and send documents with ease. There’s no need to email documents back and forth as files are automatically saved and uploaded to the cloud as you work.

I also get notified whenever my colleagues leave notes or comments on shared documents, so I can quickly go in and make the change as and when the request comes in.

Because a lot of the work I do is design-based, it’s vital that I’m able to collaborate on projects in real time. I need to get feedback there and then so that I can make changes and keep on top of requests. A great tool to help this is Whiteboard. My teammates and I can scribble over a design with notes and adjustments whilst we’re speaking to each other via Teams. As someone who works quite visually, this is really useful.

I’ve also got to mention Tonia here – if it wasn’t for her brilliant Microsoft productivity training, I wouldn’t be so well-equipped to use all of these tools to their full potential each day. I’d never really used Microsoft before working at Res (I was an Apple girl, don’t tell my boss!) so getting training from Tonia for OneDrive, SharePoint, Teams and Excel has been an absolute life saver. There are so many functions that I use daily that I never even knew were possible. Consider me a fully-fledged Microsoft convert.

A few years ago, a move like this may not have been possible, let alone as seamless as this. I feel lucky to have been able to continue my role despite leaving Guernsey and honestly, thank goodness for Microsoft 365 for making my life so much easier.

The advancements in cloud technology mean businesses can scale their offerings so much more. The ability to make hires overseas mean it’s easier to bring in the right talent for the right roles. It also means that if people are moving away from wherever the office is based, they’re able to continue working for the company, which saves time, resource and money trying to find replacements. And how great is it for people like me that don’t have to worry about losing a job they love just because they’re relocating. This technology has really revolutionised the way organisations can run.

There’s no better company to have done this transition with. If you’re looking to move into the cloud space, would like to help an employee switch to remote work or fancy hiring someone from overseas, get in touch with the Resolution IT team. Trust me, they know what they’re doing.