07 Apr 2020 – Day 1 of the “Circuit Breaker” Lockdown in Singapore. All non-essential businesses are required to telecommute and all dining places have to revert to take-outs. We live in unusual times and we need to be able to adapt to the changes.
For businesses, this means the need to quickly transition to enable employees to work remotely and to consider alternate ways to conduct business meetings. Do you have the correct business technology? Here are several tips that can help you prepare.
Put Secure VPN Connections in Place
If workers are logging into your business applications and network from a variety of different home networks, you want to ensure those connections are secure. Put a business VPN in place to encrypt those connections for security, and have employees test it in advance from home.
Plan for Intense Use of Video Conferencing
Video conferencing is the next best thing to meeting in person. It can allow you to continue to conduct business with clients as well as keep your employees connected should telecommuting be necessary. Use a reliable conferencing platform and ensure your team has headsets/cams and any other needed video conference tools.
Check Cloud Application Connections
If your team is working on cloud software from the office already, then moving them to working offsite can be fairly fluid. (If not, you need to migrate to the cloud now.) Are those cloud connections ready for remote logins? Check security settings to ensure employees won’t have trouble logging in from a different location and ensure your team has suitable devices at home that can handle the memory/performance needs of your
business apps.
Put a Remote Communications Plan in Place
It’s vital to have a standard communications plan in place when employees are working remotely. This can include use of tools like Microsoft Teams and Slack for team communications and using “away” messages and project-based chat channels to keep everyone on the same page. Team collaboration tools also help reduce the isolated feeling that employees can get when working remotely.
Consider a Daily Morning Huddle
As you and your team work off-site, it is vital to keep up with physical interactions. Consider conducting a morning daily huddle where everyone’s webcam must be turned on for the meeting. Keep it short – 15 minutes or so – but its a vital opportunity to meet everyone in the team in the morning, setup the day’s agenda, iron out some nagging issues and also the time of the day for the team leader or business owner to set the tone for the day. Working remotely doesn’t necessarily mean being out of touch. Technology can bring each one of us closer. (PS – You might want to ask us how we run our Daily Morning Huddles and the fun that we have!)
Check Your Remote IT Support Options
It unavoidable that you are bound to meet with technology issues even as you work from home. As always, we are here to assist. Get in touch with us on the phone, via email, via a video call or through our service portal, if you are an existing customer. We are on hand to assist you and to ensure that your technology operates at its optimal.
Stay safe, Stay Healthy and Stay Productive!
MANAGED IT ASIA, we are an IT Support, IT Solutioning and Managed IT Service Provider specializing in serving Small Businesses across Asia. Call us at +65 6748 8776 and let us manage your Small Business IT today!