MSPNetworks Blog

The reliance on remote workers has grown exponentially over the past couple of years, and presents businesses some stark challenges as well as some amazing opportunities. As a result, a lot of businesses have tried to find middle ground and started implementing a hybrid approach to their workforce. Let’s take a look at what hybrid work entails and how it can benefit your organization.

Let’s Start from the Beginning

Remote work was growing slowly for years, but as the COVID-19 pandemic hit, and government mandates were levied, a lot of businesses moved to remote work to try and sustain their operations. A lot of businesses did so reluctantly, with many more just choosing to shutter their business rather than take the risk. The organizations that did embrace the strategy still considered it a short-term solution to a major medical disaster. 

As the pandemic carried on, however, many businesses realized that it wasn’t going to be so simple for them to simply recall their workforce as many workers started looking for remote only work. For workers, it was everything that they thought they wanted, but they too were confronted with challenges. Sure, they eliminated the commute and the long hours at the office, but they then had to navigate the same expectations while working from the same place that they used to spend time unwinding from that same activity. 

As the threats of the pandemic wound down, a lot of companies wasted no time recalling their staff. This ended up backfiring for a lot of organizations as there were enough remote jobs available that paid competitive wages that lots of people quit their in-person jobs to continue to work remotely. This is now known as the Great Resignation. While some of this was just older workers taking early retirement, most of the people who quit did so to avoid going back to the grind.

A New Strategy

While many people quit due to employer demands, many people didn’t. They returned to the office, but were soon longing for the flexibility they had while working from home. This saw unprecedented losses of productivity and employers had to come up with another strategy to keep their workforce happy and effective. 

You see, business owners and employees both had ideas on how to make this work. For the business owners, they had invested in real estate, resources, and company culture to help their workers feel more at home in the office. A comfortable employee is a productive employee, after all; and employees immediately thought, “What’s more comfortable than being at home?”

This resulted in the hybrid compromise. Workers felt like they were much more productive working from home, but employers pointed out that their productivity isn’t as sustained as it is in the office. If somehow a business can leverage both strategies, they could get back on track. This is the hybrid approach. Effectively, employees are asked to come into the office a couple of days a week and work from home the others. Now it is quickly becoming standard operating procedure for businesses all over the world. 

The Hybrid Approach

If you are looking for a way to get the most out of your workers, going to a hybrid workplace is a great way to do it. It not only gives you (and your staff) the face time needed to promote a dedicated company culture, it also gives your staff the flexibility they need to not have to grind through every workday. 

Unfortunately, there are some considerations that have to be made to make this strategy work. Firstly, you have to understand that some of the biggest achievers you have in your business aren’t going to want to spend hours in your office in virtual meetings. This will just serve to push them away, so if you choose to implement this hybrid approach, consider these two factors:

Maintain Flexibility

You’ve spent a lot of time and effort on your company’s policy and procedure generation and a change to a hybrid workplace makes these obsolete. You need to pay attention to how your individual employees operate and manage them accordingly. After all, it is much easier to be more attentive to someone you trust’s needs than to find someone new. 

Make Sure People are Connected

One of the biggest problems with remote-only work is the tendency for people to get left behind. In order to make a hybrid system work you need to give your team the communications and collaboration tools they need to make your business a success. By making efforts to keep people connected, you can build relationships that will do nothing but benefit your business. 

The hybrid workplace also relies on technology and the experts at MSPNetworks can help. If you would like to learn more about how to get a hybrid workplace up and running, give us a call today at (516) 403-9001.

Today, there is a greater focus on mental health and wellbeing than ever before, especially in the shadow of the pandemic. Do you want to improve your employees’ relationships with their colleagues, family, and other important people in their lives? The key to doing so might be remote work, according to a new survey.

What the Research Says

A survey conducted by Deloitte’s Center for Technology, Media and Communications examined 2,005 United States consumers to gain some insight into people’s use of technology throughout the pandemic. You might be surprised by the results, or you might not be. Spoiler alert: it’s overwhelmingly in favor of remote or hybrid work operations.

The survey determined that among employed adult workers with remote work experience, three-quarters of them prefer remote or hybrid work compared to commuting to the office. About half of employed adults overall prefer remote or hybrid work compared to the traditional office environment. Note the significant difference in preference for those who have gotten a taste of remote or hybrid work during the pandemic, but even overall, there is a strong preference for remote or hybrid work.

Relationships Can Flourish from Remote Work

One of the big surprises from the survey focused on the benefits that employees experienced as a result of working remotely. The vast majority—eight-in-ten employees—found that their relationships improved or stayed the same as a result of working remotely. These types of relationships included personal, professional, familial, and even their relationships with themselves, citing better mental and physical wellbeing. About half of the respondents found a significant improvement in these areas of their lives.

It is worth noting, however, that employees did not see too significant an increase in their relationships with their bosses, supervisors, or colleagues, although they did not suffer a decrease either.

Implement Remote Technologies to Help Your Team

Many businesses were forced to transition to remote work policies following the pandemic, and while most employees have returned to their workplaces by now, there are still plenty who remain remote or under hybrid work arrangements. If your business wants to expand its capabilities by offering remote or hybrid arrangements on a more permanent basis, then we urge you to contact MSPNetworks.

We can help you implement all of the technology solutions your team needs to stay connected even while out of the office, including communication and collaboration tools, security solutions, and cloud-based storage or applications to ensure operations can continue as smoothly as possible. You might be surprised by how many employees can effectively do their jobs without being on-site.

To learn more, reach out to us at (516) 403-9001.

Remote work has been growing for years, but as it becomes more commonplace it becomes more difficult for business owners and managers to ascertain how engaged a remote employee is. This week, we thought we’d discuss a couple of ways that you can keep your remote employees engaged and productive. 

Engagement is More Than Production

The first thing you have to understand about remote employees is that most of them do better work faster from the comfort of their own homes than they do from an office. It’s just the fact that people take less time to do something productive when they don’t have to factor in all the other variables that come into play when they leave their house. 

Another thing that you have to understand is that a remote worker has much more to distract them from work than workers that work in an office. Which is why it may seem like they are a little less productive, even if they are meeting their key performance indicators (KPIs) and meeting their deadlines. 

This all translates to a very confusing situation. Let’s take a look at three tips that can help you keep your remote workers engaged.:

You Still Need Culture

Your company culture is more than the free coffee and donuts (or beer) you provide, it is the way that your business treats its employees. When building a team of remote workers this can be kind of pushed aside for more practical decision making, but it is still extremely important to keep your team as engaged as you want them to be. Shared goals and interests connect people and encourage better work and communication.

One tip that can help you keep building your company culture is to have some fun on your collaboration tool or instant messaging platform. If you set up a “just for fun” channel where your team can communicate, share stories, memes, jokes and more, you will see more engagement out of the team members that need that sort of thing while they work remotely. Another tip could be to set up optional meet-ups such as a happy hour or a virtual meeting at the end of the week so people can interact with team members they may not come into contact with in the execution of their work. The more “normal” you can make working from home, the more productive and comfortable your team will be. 

Get the Right Tools

Remote workers depend on the software you provide them, so it stands to reason that the most engaged remote workers will have access to software that makes this a priority. There are a wide range of different technologies available today that can create close working conditions for remote workers. Whether it's collaboration software, video conferencing, or simply just a well-tested instant messaging platform, your remote teams will be better off if they have access to tools that make collaboration easier and communication less of a chore. 

Provide Emotional Feedback and Support

One often overlooked part of working from home are the pressures that come from the home. Some people can handle them a lot better than others. Proper organization communication is the most effective way to keep remote employees engaged, while also helping managers have a substantial effect on their motivation and productivity. No matter where you work from, you want to know that the company you work for sees you as an individual and not just a number on the end of a VoIP channel.

You’ll want to maintain regular communication with your remote employees, provide timely and constructive feedback, give them goals to achieve and establish a level of trust that makes them want to be engaged and productive. 

Having remote employees may not always be easy, but the more it becomes commonplace, the more managers need to understand that it’s not the same as working from an office. If you would like to talk to one of our consultants about getting the technology your remote team needs to help build engagement and be as productive as they can, give MSPNetworks a call today at (516) 403-9001. 

Remote work is more common than ever before, but it wasn’t always this way. It’s still a relatively new method of operations, and while there are quite a few benefits for both employees and employers, there are other impacts related to remote work that can have far-reaching consequences.

We want to address some of the positive and negative impacts that this remote work trend has had on society.

Housing Costs and Availability May Balance Out

Big cities might have more opportunities for employment, but the cost of housing often makes it difficult for people to commit to employment opportunities in these areas. There is often a housing shortage in metropolitan areas, and as things stand now, the country is short almost 4 million homes (as of early 2021), with most of this shortage being located in places where these jobs are considered valuable.

Remote work, if the shift to full-time remote work is utilized, means that these jobs can be filled by people without requiring them to purchase or rent a home in these high-cost locations. Someone working remotely could work remotely for a company halfway across the country and live in a place where housing costs are significantly less expensive. Some experts believe that this trend would increase the cost of living in more rural or suburban areas while decreasing the costs associated with big city life.

However, if this is to become a reality, there needs to be a balance between the increased cost of more affordable housing and decreased cost of urban living. One example can be seen in the Tulsa Remote program, where Tulsa, Oklahoma residents are offered several perks—including a $10,000 grant—to all those remote workers who come to live in the city for at least one year. This type of investment means that Tulsa has been attracting new, high-earning residents, resulting in a return on their investment of $13.77 for each dollar spent on remote workers willing to relocate to the city.

The Climate Could Benefit

It’s reasonable to think that a decrease in urban living would lead to more vehicles on the road, as the decrease in public transportation access and walkable amenities would mean more people driving from one place to another. However, what if the opposite were true? What if having more people in these less-urban locations means that there would be greater incentive for these walkable amenities or greater demand for public transportation? The climate would surely benefit if this were the case.

Remote work has also led to a significant decrease in travel for many people, such as eliminating the morning commute, business travel, cross-country air travel, etc. All of these decreased emissions could do wonders for the environment.

Let’s Be Clear—We’re a Long Way from Ubiquitous Remote Work

We’ve discussed some of the obstacles, like changes in housing costs and zoning laws, but some places simply aren’t remote-friendly. Access to the Internet limits remote work capabilities for some people, especially when you consider that much of the country still doesn’t have access to broadband Internet.

Despite these obstacles, however, we are committed to helping your business make a shift to remote work, should you desire to make that change for your organization. To learn more, reach out to us at (516) 403-9001.

Workforces have been increasingly distributed and many businesses aim to continue that strategy for the foreseeable future. There are a fair share of challenges that distributed employees have themselves, but for the business, it can be tough getting them to do the things that need to be done to secure the business. Here are a few actions that need to be taken if you want to make that happen. 

What Changes When People Work Remotely?

One of the things that workers don’t understand is what exactly changes when they work from home is that it effectively distributes the operational network over a wide array of networks, making it difficult for security teams to provide the comprehensive services that they typically do. This requires the employee him/herself to do most of the diligent work to ensure that their endpoints don’t become problematic for their business. This gets more difficult as the number of new endpoints and those who are new to working remotely increase.

For many businesses, the procedures that dictate a work-from-home policy have been hashed out at some point over the past two years, but it is important to not be complacent when onboarding new workers or dealing with current staff that all have increasing numbers of endpoints in their home. Do you supply the devices that your employees are working on? Have you migrated your production to Software-as-a-Service applications?  Do you use any other cloud-hosted environments to make it easier for remote employees to access information? If not, do you have secure access for remote employees through a VPN or some other remote access service? 

Staying up to date and present on these issues will help you do more to protect your network and infrastructure from any threats that could be brought in by unwitting employees. 

The Threat of Personal Devices

For many organizations, the thought of purchasing endpoints for every employee now working from home is an impossible ask. Even if it is possible, is it a prudent way to spend capital? Some would argue yes since one of the biggest cybersecurity risks to your company is a personal device that isn’t secured against today’s various threats. This isn’t because your security platforms can’t secure your network, it is because the user may not have up-to-date antivirus software, or their applications aren’t updated properly, or they don’t use password practices that help ward against outside infiltration.

Since the threat of a data breach increases substantially when there are open vulnerabilities, it is prudent to expand your security protocols to ensure that all company-owned information is being saved to company-owned storage solutions; whether that be an onsite server or company-owned cloud platforms. The less company data is found on employees personal devices, the better the chances of protecting it. 

Collaboration Challenges

It was so when everyone was working side-by-side, but employees depend on collaboration apps even more today to get projects out the door and keep lines of communication open. Unfortunately, these tools were never designed with security in mind—they are designed with cooperative productivity in mind—so it opens up new problems for people working in these apps if their data isn’t secure in transit; and when it arrives on your employees’ computers. 

One solid tip is to ensure that the people that are collaborating on a project or service are the only ones inside a specific group. Since anyone can initiate conversations, it is important that only the people that need to be in on the conversation, data flow, and administration of any project be in the chat. Otherwise, exposing potentially sensitive information to insecure parties is possible. This happens more than you think, especially in enterprise and medium-sized business settings where people are added and removed to mailing lists and collaboration lists all the time. 

Finally, you will need to train your people. In the collaboration age, where doing more with less is a business model, you need to ensure that you invest resources in getting the people that work for you the information they need to keep your business’ IT and data secure. They don't necessarily need to be experts in computer maintenance to do this either. Just teach them the basics—how to spot phishing and other potentially harmful messages and report them to the IT administrator; how to put together a secure password; why your business has the password and security policies it does; what resources are managed by your IT team; and what they need to do to ensure that they aren’t a weak link in your business’ cybersecurity efforts. 

A lot of people like the experience of working from home, and for the business (with today’s technology) it can be of great benefit, but in order for it to be a good experience, strategies have to be altered to ensure that you aren’t constantly battling your team and scammers alike. If you would like some advice about how to navigate a remote team, the technology needed to ensure you’re ready and any other IT or workflow related questions, give MSPNetworks a call today at (516) 403-9001. 

The COVID-19 pandemic is still in full swing, and while many companies buckled under the pressure put on them to maintain operations, others have managed to adapt through the use of remote technology solutions. Businesses have put into place policies surrounding this remote technology, many of which are both helpful and harmful.

Let’s take a look at some of these policies, as well as what you can do to make the most out of your remote technology.

Team Management Tools > Heavy Management Practices

Look, we understand that you want to make sure that your staff is as productive as possible throughout the workday, and there is something to be said for operational efficiency, but nobody likes working with someone else breathing down their neck. If your employees feel like they are constantly being monitored, they may start to feel stressed or, even worse, violated. If employees are not happy with the way that your organization utilizes remote monitoring tools, they might decide to try their luck elsewhere—and when there are more remote jobs now than ever before, trust us when we say that they won’t have a problem finding work that is more accommodating to their preferred management style.

Instead of monitoring everything that your employees are doing, you can use a project management platform to help keep each other accountable for the tasks that must be completed. You can see at a glance who is doing what, and when they are not meeting expectations, you can have a conversation about what the problem is and what can be done to resolve it.

Remote Work Communication Tools Are Still Great for In-House Work

Those remote communication tools you implemented for when your employees are out of the office, like your unified communications platform, are still incredible for when your employees return to the office. Just because it is designed for teams to collaborate in real time without being physically present does not mean that they are not just as effective, or even perfectly fine alternatives, for when they are.

Imagine being able to hold a meeting without the need to corral your entire workforce into the conference room, or the ability to swiftly get in touch with someone through the use of an instant message. There is considerable value in a communications platform like Slack, Zoom, or Microsoft Teams, even for in-house workforces. These are particularly valuable if you plan to continue remote operations post-pandemic in at least some capacity, a la a hybrid model.

Zero-Trust Policies Create More Comprehensive Security

The remote office made it abundantly clear that security should become an absolute priority, and with so many devices accessing company data at any given time, it becomes critical that employers know who is accessing data and why. This is where the zero-trust policy comes into play.

A zero-trust security policy means that each individual device accessing data must be verified and confirmed with the organization before being allowed to access that data. You can see how this is helpful not just for remote operations, but for in-house as well. It never hurts to have an abundance of caution, especially in today’s age of ransomware and other dangerous threats.

MSPNetworks can help your business with any aspect of its remote or hybrid workplace setup, from technology procurement to monitoring and maintenance of that technology. To learn more about how we can help your organization not just survive during these difficult times, but thrive, reach out to us at (516) 403-9001.

We’re coming up on two years since the COVID-19 pandemic changed many workplaces’ operational strategies from in-person work to remote work. In that time, many businesses who hadn’t initially considered remote working to be a viable option have now made it a core part of their onboarding process. This means there are plenty of workers who are now beginning remote work who haven’t really experienced it before. Today, we thought we’d go through a couple of strategies that will help remote employees be as productive as possible as they work from home. 

Peace and Quiet

One thing is for sure, it is extremely hard to focus on anything when there is constant noise. One of the first things a new remote worker should consider is where they are going to work. The people that have previously worked remote jobs probably have a dedicated desk situated in a remote corner away from the hustle and bustle of the house but it isn’t always easy to set yourself away from it, especially if your space is limited. Regardless of what goes on in the common areas of your home during the workday, setting your workspace up as far away from noise and distractions as possible will inarguably help your productivity. 

Clutter-Free

Another issue for people that work from home is that their desk is often “the desk” for all of the people in the house. The more people that use it, the more clutter you may see. This could just be paper and notebooks and other work-related items, or it could be old plates and silverware and beverage cans. We all have that person in our office who is able to do work with a desk that is constantly spilling over onto the floor. Most of us wonder how he/she gets anything done. The less clutter your desk has, the more at ease you will be and the more productive you can be. 

Nature Is Surprisingly Effective

Being in the same space all the time can get pretty claustrophobic and can produce some unhealthy habits. One way to improve your outlook as you work from home is to set your desk up near some natural light. If you have a window in a remote corner of your house, it is the perfect place to get work done. Another tip is to add some vegetation to your workspace. A simple plant or a bouquet of fresh flowers can make a lot of difference to someone that spends a lot of time in their workspace. Working from home is often more difficult on a person’s mental health, so being comfortable in your surroundings is important.

Breaks Take On a New Meaning

Anyone that works from home will run into periods of time when there is just so much to do at work--and at home--that it can be distracting and overwhelming. This is when having a hierarchy of priority is important. It’s also important to take periodic breaks so that you can deal with your growing to-do list. When you work from home, you are constantly multitasking, but if you can truly learn to focus on one thing at a time, your productivity is sure to increase. Taking meaningful breaks, where you step away from work for 10-15 minutes can make a big difference and can keep your to-do lists from growing out of control. 

Speaking Of To-Do Lists

One of the biggest challenges about working remotely is handling everything at work and at home. We recommend setting up a daily task list and sticking to it. Start with the most time-intensive things first and work your way toward the things that can be pushed to tomorrow if need be. Meeting your own expectations may be the hardest part of effectively managing your day-to-day responsibilities, but managing priority tasks can keep you from feeling the pressure that comes from having an endless list of things to do.

Need help establishing the technology for your remote workforce? Give MSPNetworks a call at (516) 403-9001 today.

Have your opinions of remote work changed at all over the past year and a half, or do you still want your employees to return to the office in full force? Many major companies, despite initially advocating for remote work, are sending mixed signals on the topic, including Microsoft. What can we learn from the experiences of these companies?

Microsoft conducted a study over the past year with some fairly interesting results in terms of remote work. Microsoft transitioned to fully remote operations in 2020, and their results show that there were several problems related to the decision. These issues included a decrease in meaningful communication, less socializing between coworkers, and less collaboration as a whole.

These conclusions are a problem, but not exactly unexpected. There is a huge difference between working in-house in an office environment and remote work from a home office or otherwise. Microsoft found that remote work in such a capacity could be harmful to productivity and innovation, and the use of email and instant messaging rather than face-to-face communication made for a difficult time collaborating.

Therefore, while it might be necessary now, the benefits of remote work may stop after a certain point, and an entirely remote workforce could solve problems while creating even more of them.

When you take into account that companies like Microsoft have been pushing remote work solutions like Microsoft Teams so heavily, these kinds of revelations make it hard to know what opinion you should have on remote work. How can you know who to trust?

Ultimately, we believe that there can be some value in looking at what other companies have to say about remote work, but it ultimately depends on the way that you implement work for your business and the policies you put into place. Remember that you are not a large enterprise with thousands of employees; you are a small business with different needs from Microsoft, Google, or any of the other proponents of remote work. Depending on your specific needs, remote work might be able to address specific shortcomings that you have. The option for a hybrid workplace also exists, where employees spend part of their time in-office and part of their time working remotely.

Are you changing your approach to remote work moving forward? Do you want to maintain remote operations or are you hoping for a quick return to the office? How about a mixture of both approaches that let you get the best of both worlds? No matter the choice, we are confident that MSPNetworks can help you achieve your goals. To learn more, reach out to us at (516) 403-9001.

With countless threats out there waiting for IT professionals to slip up, it’s no small wonder that many of these professionals are opting into what is called a zero-trust policy for their security standards. But what is a zero-trust policy, and why is it so effective at curbing potentially dangerous situations for your business? Let’s investigate this in today’s blog article.

What Does Zero-Trust Actually Mean?

The official definition, according to the United Kingdom’s National Cyber Security Centre, is “the idea of removing inherent trust from the network. Just because a device is within the internal "trusted" side of a firewall or VPN, it should not be trusted by default.” Essentially, what this means is that even devices that are on the correct side of your network, i.e. those that have already connected to it, cannot be trusted to be inherently secure.

Ultimately, all devices connected to your network are subject to security scrutiny.

How Effective is It, Really?

That said, zero-trust security policies are not for all businesses, so you will have to put in some legwork to make sure that your company’s network fits the bill here. It is important, according to the NCSC, that organizations think of this less as a guideline and more like an approach to network design, meaning that this should not be considered a steadfast rule. Naturally, all businesses will have different needs, and some companies just might not be able to make a zero-trust policy work.

This is particularly notable for companies that have large computing infrastructures, as the number of devices involved and the sheer cost of moving in this direction could eat holes in your business’ budget for months or even years, right up until the policy is fully implemented and beyond. Businesses might have to acquire new hardware and services, train technicians, and frequently update all of this technology to keep up with security standards. Furthermore, companies that utilize a BYOD policy, or Bring Your Own Device policy, have an even harder time with a zero-trust policy.

Despite these difficulties, it doesn't hurt to consider a zero-trust policy for your business. Here are five reasons why it might be a good idea, according to the NCSC:

• Greater control over data means delegation to the appropriate users.
• Stronger authentication and authorization
• Better user experience (consider single sign-on as an example)
• Every action or device is subject to some form of policy, meaning every attempt at accessing data is verified.
• Detailed access logs

Start Securing Your Systems Today

There is a lot to be done to protect your business from the plethora of threats out there, and we guarantee that working with a cybersecurity professional like MSPNetworks will give you the best shot at protecting your business as possible. To learn more, reach out to us at (516) 403-9001.

The COVID-19 pandemic brought with it no small amount of uncertainty, including amongst business owners who were looking at a very up-in-the-air future. With so many lacking the technology needed to support remote operations—never mind the fact that remote work was a new concept for so many—the learning curve was a considerable hurdle. However, with vaccines being administered and restrictions lifted, it now becomes critical to find a balance.

How Work Needs to Shift

Despite many business owners resisting remote work on principle, it quickly became the only viable option for some organizations to remain open. Most of these businesses and their owners will want to return to the way things were before—but this may not be practical for some time, if ever. A study has revealed that more than 70 percent of employees who needed to suddenly shift to remote operations are hoping to see some of this flexibility carry over—even though half of these employees are also waiting to return to the office with anticipation.

While this may seem strangely counterintuitive, that much is to be expected.

The ongoing global health crisis turned most of the world on its head, including many impressions about remote work. While the escape of sorts from the office may have initially been a welcome change, the reality of the home environment and its additional responsibilities soon set in. While these employees don’t necessarily want to rush back into the office completely, remote work hasn’t agreed with them as well as may have been expected.

This experience has not been consistent for everyone, either.

Many business leaders are having a far easier time than their subordinates are, simply because of the disconnect that often occurs in remote work setups. In an office, it is much easier to pick up on the trend when someone is having a hard time. When a team is working remotely, these kinds of issues become more difficult to detect.

So, to compare…

Decision makers are earning more, enjoying their time more, and are more flexible in their work as they operate remotely, while the people they’ve hired are often overworked, unappreciated, and simultaneously abandoned while being told that a “familial work atmosphere” is important.

Poorly Managed Remote Operations Also Breed Stagnation

Your employees aren’t the only ones who will have a tough time with poorly-planned remote operations—your entire business could potentially see some drawbacks. Operating out of a centralized, shared location just makes it more convenient for team members to collaborate, which increases the quality of their communications and decision making.

Meanwhile, a year’s worth of remote conferencing has many people sick of it, just doing as much work as they need to so it can be considered “done.” In other words, without the face-to-face interaction of the office, many employees might become complacent.

In turn, the business could become complacent as well.

Making the Hybrid Office Work

Let’s look to the (hopefully) near future, when the restrictions that many businesses are subject to can be relaxed somewhat. Naturally, businesses are going to want their team members to come back at optimum productivity, operating from the place of business once again. Some people look forward to this, others, not quite so much.

As a result, many businesses will likely adopt a more hybrid approach to work, allowing greater access to remote work. Sounds pretty good, but it isn’t that simple.

There are a lot of questions that you’ll have to answer to do this. For instance, how many days will each team member be required to come into the office? One study polled executives to reveal that 68 percent of them would like to see their teams in-house at least three days out of each workweek. Workers conversely placed the maximum requirement at three days per week, with each employee’s responsibilities factoring into their requirement.

Globally, there is also a vast difference in how urgent in-office operations seem to different countries. In the U.S., 22 percent of executives see a return to the office as a priority. Similar companies in Canada, Germany, Japan, and China disagree, with fewer than five percent agreeing.

Unfortunately, the only thing that’s certain about this kind of hybrid work model is how uncertain we are about any of it. How will it impact the many metrics that a business is concerned about—from its culture to its productivity to its employee retention? What is the best option?

Frankly, there isn’t any single correct answer, simply because each business has its own unique situation.

MSPNetworks is here to help you balance out your business’ situation with IT tools and solutions so that your team members can perform the way you need them to. Give us a call at (516) 403-9001 to find out what we can do for you.

If you’re trying to productively work from home, what you use and how you use it are equally important considerations. To assist you, we felt it would be helpful to share a few best practices for each variable, so that you might be able to boost your remote productivity.

Technology Tips

Make sure you have the technology you’ll need. To work from home as effectively as you could in the office, you’ll need to have the tools that allow you to do so—and the same goes for everyone on your team. While it may not be critical that everyone’s remote setup is identical to their in-office one, their capabilities should be somewhat consistent. Your team shouldn’t have to rely exclusively on a cell phone, for instance.

Provide software and data access with cloud solutions. Having the right tools is good, but it doesn’t help if your team doesn’t have access to the work they are supposed to be doing with these tools. Using the cloud to host data and solutions can make these resources accessible to your remote workforce.

Make sure your team uses a VPN. If your team needs to instead connect to your in-house infrastructure while working remotely, instruct them to always use a virtual private network. While it isn’t a solution for all your security needs, it will help sensitive data from being intercepted or compromised as it traverses the Internet between your office and your team members.

Productivity Tips

Stick to your typical work schedule. While working longer hours is much easier when working remotely, thanks to the 100 percent decrease in travel time, do your best to discourage your team from doing so. Otherwise, they could subject themselves to faster burnout, especially if it becomes a regular habit.

Designate “office” space. It should come as no surprise that the home has much more tempting distractions than the office would, with minimal supervision to ensure that the team is being diligent. Your team’s best bet is to minimize the distractions that are around them by establishing a set place to work while working remotely. This helps boost productivity and focus alike.

Keep in touch with your team. When working in the office, clearly communicating with those that work with you is a much simpler prospect than when working remotely. To compensate for this discrepancy, you should strongly encourage your team to overcommunicate with their coworkers. Make sure you lead by example as you do so as well, to make it clear what level of communication is expected.

What has your experience with remote work been like? Share your thoughts in the comments, as well as any tips we may have missed, and be sure to subscribe to our blog!

While it seems that some business will best be conducted remotely for some time yet, it is still very important to start planning for a return to in-house operations now. This will help them to hit the ground running when the floodgates open back up. For this week’s tip, we’re going over how to return to the office after working remotely, while also reviewing some best practices for adjusting to remote work (just in case).

In-House to Remote

In order to effectively adopt remote operations (voluntarily or in response to some disaster), you need to be sure that your team is prepared to do so. To help ease the transition, there are a few preparations that are wise to see to beforehand.

1. Change as little as possible - In order to make the shift to remote operations minimally jarring, try to keep as much of your typical workday routine the same as it would ever be. Working for the same time as you would normally, establishing a set place for doing work in your home, and even dressing as though you’re going to the office are all excellent ways to normalize the unusual environment and preserve productivity.
2. Give them the tools they need - In order to collaborate in an effective way, your team members need the tools to do so. While email is generally thought of first when it comes to company communications, there are other options that should be implemented in tandem with it. These other options, like video conferencing and instant messaging, can serve your team’s needs better in certain situations.
3. Keep in contact - Unfortunately, collaboration will not be as easy as it was when your team members could turn to the people next to them and ask a question. Therefore, you not only need to provide them with the solutions to communicate with one another, you need to actively encourage them to do so until it is standard practice for everyone. This will benefit both your operations and company morale.

Remote to In-House

One the all-clear has been given to return to the workplace, your team will need to be ready to transition back to their workplace norms. Of course, this may be easier said than done, so you should assist them in doing so just as you did when they shifted to remote operations. We have a few suggestions to make this easier as well.

1. Continue their remote work habits - As your team was working from home, there is a good chance that they discovered the way that they work best as an individual. Don’t make them switch back just because they are in the office, and instead allow them to work the way that they found to be most effective (if it doesn’t interfere with others’ workflows).
2. Be responsibly social - One of the biggest drawbacks to working remotely is that there is effectively no social aspect to it any longer. Once your team returns to the office, cut them a little bit of slack if they’re talkative (again, if the work isn’t impacted negatively). In fact, consider starting some new, socially motivated company events for the purpose of team building. One caveat: don’t do this last part before the current health crisis is confirmed to have been resolved.
3. Encourage a comfortable work environment - The hard truth of the matter is that not everyone is going to get dressed up for work every day that they are working remotely, so it may not be best to insist upon a dress code once they return. Of course, you should draw the line somewhere before mud masks and that comfortable pair of old, ragged sweatpants that everyone has someplace, but blankets and small plants can make the workplace seem more inviting.

Unfortunately, no in-house to remote and back to in-house transition will go off without any hiccups at all, but accommodating your team to the best of your ability should make it better for everyone. As far as your technology is concerned in these shifts, you can leave that to MSPNetworks. Reach out to us today to learn how we can help with your business collaboration and remote work capabilities by calling (516) 403-9001.

The Internet has never been more valuable than it is today. Over the past couple of months tens of millions of students have been introduced to telelearning, millions of businesses have promoted telework, people are meeting with their friends online, and consuming content from their living rooms (or their home offices) at rates never before seen. So what about security? Today we’ll take a look at how all this use is changing the Internet. 

Some Internet Stats

Prior to the pandemic, studies showed that only 5.2 percent of Americans worked from home in 2017. That’s roughly eight million people, or one out of every 20.  According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, only 29 percent of Americans can do their job from home. All other 71 percent have to physically be in a place to do their work. 

At present, telework has been made available as businesses look to maintain their revenue streams. In fact, it seems that COVID-19 has done something that almost a decade of advocacy has done: made business owners realize the benefits of telework. The question becomes, now that we know that telework is possible (or even preferred), how will this change the Internet?

How is the Internet Holding Up?

The Internet is now hosting roughly a third of workers who are doing their jobs from their homes, most students who spend half of their day online, and millions upon millions of online shoppers who are more apt to use online resources than go out and put themselves in physical risk. That’s not even mentioning the normal use of streaming services and typical online-based services. So the answer is that the Internet is holding up extremely well. 

Most Internet service providers have loosened or eliminated the normal data caps, supposedly saving people billions of dollars, but it is quite curious that these companies claim that the caps were in place to ensure the service works well. We’re led to believe that they are helping people by eliminating data caps, but it looks like the Internet would function fine without them. It will be interesting to see how people react when they are put back in place. 

It’s not perfect for everyone: Rural users with limited access to broadband still struggle to get the bandwidth they need. Larger cities, where infrastructure hasn’t been updated in some time,  are seeing more downtime. Still, tens of thousands of businesses are able to continue operations, giving people hope.

Cybersecurity is Still Crucial

Businesses that have been able to make it through the stay-at-home orders using remote technology are fortunate, but many of them have been targeted by hackers. By allowing remote work, you open your business to a whole list of new threats. Making sure your systems are up-to-date, and that your people understand how they are the first wave of defense, can take you very far in this environment. 

This whole era could change the office forever. Imagine it, productive and happy workers, fewer expenses, sweatpants. Or, we’ll forget this has ever happened and go back to working like we used to. Regardless of how it is going, your business needs to have the comprehensive network security tools in place including:

• Around-the-clock monitoring
• Firewalls and intrusion detection
• Anti-malware
• Security training
• Encrypted messaging and file sharing
• Help desk

And more.

If you would like to talk to one of our IT professionals about network security, telework, or any other technology-based solution used to make business possible during these tough times, call us today at (516) 403-9001.

Skipping the commute, wearing comfortable pants, and foregoing everyday office distractions has become the new norm during the COVID-19 pandemic, but it’s very likely that the businesses that do well with a remote workforce might continue to keep operating that way even after we’re all able to see each other again.

Work Can Get Done From Home? Who Would Have Guessed?

Before the pandemic, if you were to ask a hundred small business owners what their biggest turn off was when it comes to allowing their staff to work from home, most would tell you that they didn’t have the confidence that their employees would treat their jobs as seriously. Less work would get done. At home, there are pets, television, video games, children, and a number of other distractions that would seemingly fight for the attention of your employees.

At the office, the business owner and managers can march around and make sure everybody is working hard, right?

It reminds me of a Dilbert strip. The exchange goes something like this:

Dilbert: I’d like to work from home so I can be more productive.
Boss: I can’t manage you as easily when you’re out of the office.
Dilbert: That’s why I’d be more productive.
Boss: But you’d be missing out on all of this.

Granted, every manager has their own management style, and every business has their own needs when it comes to keeping things productive, and there are always going to be employees that buck the trends. Still, a lot of employees around the world right now are suddenly discovering the fact that they are able to be as productive, if not more productive, when working from home.

Much of the office workforce is getting very used to wearing those comfy pants, and it’s going to be strange (and a little disappointing) having to go back to the old ways of doing things. 

Some Businesses Figured This Out Years Ago

Telecommuting isn’t anything new, but experts were pretty sure it was going to take a bit longer to catch on. Many organizations have been offering different flavors of remote employment for a while now. Some might have certain departments or employees working from home all the time, or they might offer flexibility to have people work from home a few days every week.

Either way, these organizations are using it as both a perk for prospective employees, and as a way to cut down on costs. It’s not cheap to keep and maintain a working area for employees. Keeping the lights on, the A.C. running, and maintaining a cubicle and workstation adds up.

Look at your office space. Add up the rent/lease costs, utilities, and the snack budget. It’s a big chunk of money. Imagine reducing that down to almost nothing - moving your IT to the cloud, finding a shared space for meetings and interviews (if needed), and ditching the expensive office space might look pretty attractive once you discover you don’t really need it.

Whether You Go Back or Stay Remote, We Can Help

MSPNetworks has worked with a lot of businesses during this pandemic to help get them set up to allow their workforce to be productive from home. We can help your business implement new technologies to make it easier for your staff to collaborate and work from home (or anywhere) for the long term.

Whether you need immediate help or you are looking to plan out strategies to keep things running smoothly for the long run, give us a call at (516) 403-9001 to discuss all the options.

Many businesses are currently finding the best course of action for them to take right now for the good of their employees is to adopt remote work policies. However, this puts a lot of responsibility on the employees to conduct themselves appropriately and spend the time they should be working diligently.

Let’s compare two hypothetical employees throughout their day to show how your team should--and most certainly should not--go about working remotely.

Morning

Amy wakes as her alarm clock rings at the same time it would any other workday. She gets up and goes about her morning routine, which now includes a little bit longer time taking care of her dog. When the time comes to log in, she is showered and ready to start the day with a healthy breakfast energizing her.

Meanwhile, over at his apartment, Jeff hits the snooze button a few times before finally jolting up to look at the clock. Seeing that work is about to start, he shuffles into the kitchen in his pajama pants and t-shirt to pour himself a cup of coffee before settling in to work.

Start of Day

At the scheduled time, Amy’s workstation is booted up and she has successfully signed into the solutions she needs to start the workday. Seated in a small corner of her apartment that she has set aside for the purposes of remote work; she gets down to accomplishing everything on her schedule. She starts by reviewing that schedule one more time and making note of who she will be working with on her various activities throughout the day. Using the company’s messaging app, she checks in with her department to briefly go over what each of them are responsible for.

Jeff is still in his pajamas, sprawled out on his couch with his laptop. He has all his important work to do that day opened on his display, but before he does any of it, he checks his social media and gets wrapped up watching a video that someone posted on his profile. Figuring he can start work whenever and just keep going until he’s done, Jeff gets back up and heads back into the kitchen for something real to eat. Once he’s done, he starts cleaning up after himself and without realizing it, finds himself idly tidying up his whole place.

Lunchtime

As lunchtime rolls around, Amy stands up from her nook and stretches. Her few morning breaks primarily consisted of taking care of her dog’s bathroom needs, so she’s ready for a break after a morning full of accomplishment. She prepares herself a healthy lunch, entertains her fuzzy companion, and is ready to resume the day once her lunchtime is over.

Meanwhile, Jeff finally got down to business in the late morning and has done some good work in the time he’s been at his desk. Going into his fridge to find himself something to have for lunch himself, he sees the leftover takeout he had delivered the night before. He turns on a series he’s been watching as he works his way through the rest of his kung pao. When he finishes his meal, he puts his dishes in the sink and slumps back into the couch. Yawning, he opens his laptop back up while starting the next episode.

End of Day

Amy, having accomplished all she needed to, closes her laptop and steps away from her desk. Taking a few moments to go over what she got done and mentally review her performance, she calls her parents to check in on them, and gets out the hobby she’s taken up since keeping to her home: knitting (or learning how to, at least). A couple dropped stitches later, and the time comes for Amy to put down her needles, make herself dinner, and feed her dog.

Jeff continues working to the end of his day as well, accomplishing a sizable chunk of his scheduled tasks. However, since he got a late start, he finds himself working much later into the day than he would have otherwise… and, since the rest of the team has since signed off for the day, Jeff has important questions that nobody is available to answer. He finally calls it quits much later, drained.

Nighttime

When the time for bed comes, Amy puts down the book she’s been working her way through and gets herself ready to turn in. One last bathroom trip for the dog later, and she’s climbing into bed, relaxed and ready for rest. She’s careful to have gone to bed early enough to get a good night’s sleep before morning.

Late at night, Jeff pulls off his headset and turns off the latest game he’s downloaded to head to bed himself. Flopping under the covers, Jeff tosses and turns for a while, head full of the bright lights and sounds of the game, stomach still a little unsettled from the sweetness of the leftover chicken. It takes him a little while to fall asleep.

Looking back over how each of our example employees spent their day at home, it should be apparent who has a grasp over the accepted best practices of remote work. One should treat working from home just like working in the office, with the same schedule to keep and the same level of responsibility for accomplishing their given tasks on time. There are assorted behaviors that can make this a lot easier to do:

• Keep regular bedtime hours to ensure you are well rested each day.
• Nourish yourself with healthy meals and regular self-care.
• Segment your life by distinguishing your workspace from your living space as much as you can.
• Stick to your usual work hours to keep yourself on task.
• Minimize distractions, like TV or even chores.
• Take up a hobby to cleanly split work hours from personal time.
• Don’t overwork yourself.
• Stay in communication with your team.

Remember, the same temptations can influence everyone, so make sure to practice what you preach as you share these strategies with your team.

For assistance in facilitating the technical side of remote work, reach out to MSPNetworks today at (516) 403-9001.