After weeks of remote work, businesses are gradually opening up across the United States. While the guidelines for what this looks like are largely dependent on your geographic location, the general trend is toward at least a percentage of workers heading back to the office.
What does this mean for you? Whether you’re still considering if your employees are going back to the office or you’re at the point of simply deciding when, your main challenge will be to bridge the gap between employees who are working from home and those who are back on-site. There are a few things you need to keep in mind to successfully execute this transition.
Your remote and in-office employees need to communicate seamlessly.
Cloud communications tools like UCaaS will continue to prove their usefulness as your employees at home collaborate with those in the office. Remote workers still need the ability to make and receive business calls through whatever device they’ve been using at home, while your employees in the office might go back to using their desk phones. To keep communication seamless, all of these various devices will need to be integrated within the same voice solution. Likewise, virtual meetings are here to stay, and feature-rich web and video conferencing solutions will be necessary to ensure effective collaboration among your employees, wherever they’re located.
Security is a chief concern
It’s important to minimize the number of security vulnerabilities that get introduced as you bridge the gap between remote workers and those who are back in the office. Security awareness training should be revisited so that employees – remote or otherwise – are all aware of their individual roles in keeping the company’s data and network safe. If employees working from home were utilizing a virtual private network (VPN), that practice should continue, even if workers transitioning to the office are now connecting directly to the company network. And in-office workers still need to be wary of phishing scams and other common cyber attacks – getting back to the office doesn’t mean becoming complacent about security.
Bridging the gap between remote work and getting back to the office is, for most businesses, uncharted territory. Keeping your employees securely connected is a priority. If you’re not sure how to proceed with the technologies that facilitate the working arrangement that’s best for your company, a managed IT provider or other third party can help.
SinglePoint Global serves the needs of businesses worldwide with a diversified suite of IT services, including the unified communications and security technologies you need as some or all of your workers get back to the office. If you’re looking for support while you bridge the gap, our experts are here to help. Contact SinglePoint today.
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