Barco : How to make sure BYOD works for your business

Stay in control

Of all the hotly-discussed workplace trends in the last few years, 'bring your own device' (BYOD) is one that seems to have stuck around for longer than most. Plenty of businesses have already experimented with the idea of employees working from their own personal laptops, tablets and smartphones, but there have been some challenges in getting it to work as efficiently as it should.

However, most businesses have now reached an evolutionary stage where the potential of BYOD can be fully realised. There are IT platforms capable of supporting external network devices, and meeting room technology such as ClickShare means that almost any device can be used to seamlessly share screens with others.

Here are some tips to make sure your own business transition to BYOD goes as smoothly as possible.

Have a clear, defined BYOD policy

You can't expect the BYOD approach to go smoothly if you're going to simply let your employees get on with it. Instead, you need to make sure both the business and its employees are 100% clear on the rules behind the approach, and this should all be laid out in the form of a written BYOD policy.

This policy should include important information such as security protocols, billing information and a clear list of all the acceptable devices that employees can use. Which brings us nicely to our second tip…

Allow a wide range of devices

When it comes to choosing what devices should be allowed under the BYOD approach, it's wise to make sure as many as possible are acceptable. The more choice you allow, the happier your staff will be - the last thing they want is to find out that the laptop they've just paid for isn't allowed in the office.

Having to optimise office and meeting room technology for lots of different devices might seem like a headache at first, but there are some simple solutions to make life easier. ClickShare is great because it's compatible with any device - laptops can connect via USB, while tablets and smartphones can connect via the ClickShare app - while more use of proximity detection technologies like NFC (near field communication) and Bluetooth in the future will make sharing content and connecting to external displays a breeze.

Consider how it can increase collaboration

For many businesses, the intrinsic motivation behind adopting BYOD is to cut the costs of device procurement and maintenance, but its benefits extend far beyond that. BYOD is also a really effective way of increasing collaboration and creativity among employees in the office, with employees working on devices that they're competent using and feel comfortable working with. Plus, with the devices accessible outside of the office, it means workers can collaborate and connect with each other from anywhere and at any time, which can be essential when it comes to working on urgent projects or presentations.