The ongoing coronavirus pandemic has highlighted the need and importance for innovation.
In just a matter of days, companies had to find quick solutions to continue operations, access critical information, and ensure employee safety and wellness all while working remotely.
Across industries, teams have begun to migrate back to work. While greater numbers of businesses continue to support remote work, facilities are reopening, and capacities are growing in an attempt to survive between the chaos.
Accelerating Digital Transformation and Enhancing “Age of Agility”
There is intense pressure to reduce staff, maintain operating expenses, and at utmost importance keep employees safe as we continue to be productive.
Businesses no longer have years to roll out a new system or digitize workflows, it all must happen now in days. Hence, “age of agility” refers to data and technology needing to be more accessible, processes more automated and workflows more integrated than ever before.
Traditional approaches to building tools cannot keep up. The pace of the traditional waterfall, agile hand–coded application or the proliferation of SaaS point solutions cannot keep up with the pace of change.
The reality is people around the globe from operation professionals, to IT developers, to functional leaders are under incredible pressure to adapt and evolve at a pace their technology resources were never intended to support.
New Emerging Workflows
Low code platforms like Quickbase provide a modern way to build and improve business applications so organizations can match the pace of the digital market.
Quickbase has created 3 low code application templates to help solve the challenges around – Employee Wellness Management, Workplace Sanitation Management and Personal Protective Equipment Management to help manage the pandemic response. The goal for all three applications is to help make the back to office transition smoother, safer and more efficient.
Employee Wellness Management
This application assists in monitoring the health and wellness of employees in order to keep essential operations on track.
This idea was initiated when NCR approached Quickbase as they were in the process of reopening their office facilities to support the back to office transition. They have over hundreds of different locations and wanted to comply with government health regulations as well as incorporate as many safety protocols as they could. We worked hand in hand and designed an application in 2 weeks.
This application requires any individual entering a facility to fill out a health questionnaire as a request to enter. The questionnaire includes basic health questions such as – how are you feeling today? Have you been experiencing any symptoms of sickness, and if so, which ones? – and more. However, since this is a low-code application, everything is customizable, and statements and features can be added, removed, and edited as needed.
It is essential to track relevant and timely health information, so temperatures and symptoms must be tracked. Once the user has filled out the questionnaire and clicked submit, they will get a notice in a matter of seconds informing them whether they have passed or failed the requirements to enter the workplace.
Workplace Sanitation Management
This pandemic has created a new normal, where we must sanitize our hands and surroundings much more frequently.
Businesses need to have strict facility protocols, as outlined by the Center of Disease Control, and this application helps manage sanitization of facilities and offices to maintain a clean and safe work environment.
Prior to this pandemic, on average bathrooms would be cleaned every few hours and conference rooms once a day, but now we need to clean such frequently used spaces every hour. It’s not realistic to assume the cleaning staff will be present the entire workday. This is where the user can check the application to know how many spaces have completed compliance checks every day and are safe to use. Every time a space has been sanitized; the application will be updated with a time stamp.
In addition, the application includes guidelines such as the types of disinfectants to use, frequency of sanitation, how to clean different surfaces, and more.
This allows managers to keep track and inform employees how many individuals may enter a particular workspace given the sanitization check. In addition, with the incorporation of Quickbase Pipelines, users are able to share compliance information across different systems. Quickbase Pipelines enables users to quickly connect data, integrate their systems, and orchestrate automated workflows using simple business logic, all within one unified platform. By sharing compliance check status updates across systems, greater number of employees have access to such information.
Personal Protective Equipment Management
The pandemic has caused people to stock up on supplies for months ahead. How many times have you looked for essential supplies, such as masks and hand sanitizer, and it was out of stock?
This application template enables businesses to keep track of their inventory and distribution of PPE in order to keep their businesses running smoothly. It is a centralized application to track inventory where users can submit orders for supplies such as gloves, masks, wipes, etc., which can be approved through the application. This also allows PPE managers to know when to replenish supplies.
In Conclusion
It is not as much about getting back to work as it is about what does the future of work look like.
By leveraging these low code templates, users can enhance safety protocols catered specifically to their business regulations much more quickly and efficiently.
All three low code application templatesare completely customizable and provide a strong fundamental foundation for businesses to get startedas they prepare for an improved and healthier future of work. By enabling users to build and adapt processes, organizations can respond to the current and future crises.
