The COVID-19 pandemic forced many organizations to re-evaluate what used to be standard operations, with many adopting hybrid or fully remote work models.
With the increasing number of vaccines available and as government restrictions are easing across the nation, your organization might be considering returning to work. In this article, we'll discuss some of the best tech tips to ensure a smooth returning process.
1. Review Office Building Safety/Security Protocols
It's worth remembering that a return to your office facilities does not mean that the pandemic is over. Your primary concern should be the safety of your most important assets—your employees. With that in mind, you might need to revisit and update your office safety protocols.
To start, you should check government/health guidelines in your area and adopt safety measures put in place to protect your employees. Now, what can you do to further improve the safety of your workers?
- You can install an automated thermal temperature scanner at the entrance of your office building to assess the current temperatures of anyone getting in without any contact.
- You can also install no-touch badge scanners and automatic doors to upgrade your security and further enhance the safety of your workers.
- To reduce the spread of the virus, you can also work with your IT department or a third-party software company to set up a tracking system.
2. Keep Using Collaboration Tools
The benefits of collaboration tools were already glaring for early adopters prior to the pandemic. The outbreak has only accelerated this trend, with more businesses convinced to use them to run their operations remotely.
But, now that you are planning to return to on-site work, you might be thinking about ditching all your software toolkits and revert to more traditional practices.
In today's workplace, technology plays a vital role for productivity, efficiency, and communication with tools such as Slack, Monday, and Microsoft Teams. All these tools can improve productivity, save time, and optimize project management.
What's more, your reboarding plan will hinge on safety guidelines set by the government, with social distancing and limited office capacities becoming standard practices. This means that you might need to adopt a hybrid work model: having some of your employees return to the office and the remaining working remotely.
So, these collaboration tools will still help you to enhance productivity and facilitate communication within your organization. You can also rely on the continuous influx of new technologies as an opportunity to empower your in-office and remote teams.
3. Beware of Rising Cyberattacks
For you to ensure a smooth transition back to the office, there is an important question you need to ask: Is your cybersecurity ready for this transition?
As if the COVID-19 pandemic was not enough cause for concern, we also have to deal with increasing incidences of cyberattacks, with remote workers being more vulnerable to viruses and scams.
Most people had to use their personal computers to access the network through an unsecured Wi-Fi connection, or they had to take their office laptops home. Chances are those computers were also used by other family members or friends to shop online, download movies, or dial into a Zoom meeting.
This means that you should probably assume that work passwords were likely compromised and your corporate network exposed. You can do several things to stay safe against malware and scams for a successful return to the office.
- You can start by running a cybersecurity audit, change all your passwords, and use a password manager.
- Likewise, you should also have your IT department run a thorough scan of your company network to identify unknown devices.
- Lastly, cybersecurity needs to be part of your company's culture. Your workers are the first line of defense against cyberattacks, and so you should train them on cybersecurity best practices, like learning how to spot phishing scams.
4. Consider Cloud Computing
Cloud computing is another trend that was accelerated by the pandemic. Many employers saw it as a great solution to improve accessibility and boost the productivity of their remote teams.
Besides its collaboration opportunities, there are still several reasons why you should have cloud computing at the forefront of your mind even though you are planning your return to the physical office.
Firstly, it is an excellent backup plan to store data in the unfortunate event of hardware failures. Secondly, storing data in the cloud offers more protection against cyberattacks as you will be able to count on a team of cybersecurity experts who continuously stay up to date with the ever-changing threat environment.
5. Provide Mental Health Resources
We know that the pandemic itself has been a significant source of stress on the workforce. But we also need to recognize the adverse effects of pandemic-related changes in work and life patterns on mental health.
In the initial phase of lockdowns, many individuals were anxious about the prospects of working from home and how that will impact their work-life balance. Fast-forward to some months later, and the same can be said about returning to on-site work. Significant changes always bring about a degree of uncertainty that can sometimes lead to anxiety and stress.
In addition, many employees find it challenging to tell their colleagues about poor mental health, which makes it unlikely that they will seek help, and thus leading to lower productivity. But, what can you do to help?
There are several software tools for mental fitness that you can provide to your staff to smoothen the transition back to the office, such as Calm, Insight Timer, or Headspace. These tools can also help to increase engagement within your team and create a more positive working environment.
Return to the Office With Confidence
There's no denying that the future of work will be different from what we have known in the past. But, whatever direction it might take, we can confidently predict that technology will play a key role. That said, these tech tips can help you to develop a solid reboarding strategy.