Quick access to expert information to meet the challenge of working from home

The Corona crisis has caught many companies off guard. Partially, because their structures are not sufficiently geared to digital workflows. Now is the time when many need to make changes to adapt. One solution for this problem is the collaboration platform Microsoft Teams, which can currently be used free of charge for 6 months. Starting now, the COSMO CONSULT Group is offering the necessary know-how in a specially launched training initiative. It includes webinars, workshops and consulting services for all aspects of digital collaboration.

The corona crisis is forcing many companies that where running at full speed to slam into reverse. Employees are expected to move from cubicles to living rooms - often from one day to the next. The problem: many companies are not ready for this in terms of their technology. They lack the necessary infrastructure to communicate over distances and to work together in virtual teams.

In order to support companies in these difficult times, the COSMO CONSULT Group has put together a package of measures with which organizations can set up decentralized structures very quickly. "As a first step, we showed our customers how to stay in touch with their employees when they are working from home. Because some companies cannot provide enough laptops, solutions had to be found that also included private end devices where needed", says Klaus Aschauer, Chief Customer Officer (CCO) of the COSMO CONSULT Group. "Right now, around eighty percent of German companies have no remote workstations - and correspondingly little experience in this field." As a software and consulting company, COSMO CONSULT relies on modern cloud technologies such as the project and communication platform Microsoft Teams. The number of users of this tried and tested software tool has increased by 12 millions users to 44 million users within one week. Microsoft Teams runs on secure servers in the Microsoft cloud and is highly scalable. Because of the current COVID-19 situation, Microsoft is even providing the platform free of charge for 6 months.

For companies that have little or no experience with the collaboration tool, COSMO CONSULT has created a webinar series with content tailored to the current situation. For example, a webinar  will be held on 26 March to show participants how to set up and organize digital teams quickly and easily. The media library with all webinars on Microsoft teams and digital collaboration can be found directly on the company's homepage. In addition to this, the training platform COSMO COLLEGE provides a good introduction to the topic in a two-hour online workshop , which will take place on April 2nd and April 9th, for example. Users can find targeted exercises to build on what they have already learned.

Modern technology is an important prerequisite for collaborating online - but not the only one. After all, digital teams also need to be managed efficiently. COSMO CONSULT provides the tools necessary for this with the consulting package "Leading Remote Teams". In online training sessions and practice-oriented workshops, participants learn how to lead in a goal-oriented manner with innovative tools such as Microsoft Teams and Microsoft Planner. Agile methods and techniques such as objectives and key results (OKR) for professional goal management are also taught. These are principles that successful companies like Google have been using for a long time. Depending on what users need, they can choose between a basic and an in-depth professional package. The latter includes additional aspects such as strength-based team management or proven best practices. Additional webinars explain how change management methods help to inspire employees to use new digital opportunities, or how companies can use the digital maturity check to stake out an optimal starting point for digital transformation.

How well are you prepared for the Corona crisis? We would like to know how you and your company are doing. Just call us or send us an E-Mail. Our experts can help you to master the current challenges using modern technology.