Reopening Your Organization: Key Steps to Take

key steps to take before reopening your organization

While many states have at least partially opened, it remains to be seen if they will continue a steady pace forward to an eventual full reopening. Or conversely, if they will decide to pull back for a time. In other words, the process of recovering from a world-wide pandemic seems to be a process of two steps forward, and one step backward. Thankfully, many organizations have employed creative and innovative methods to keep their doors open as much as possible. All while protecting both employees and the clients they serve.

For those who may have gotten off to a shaky start, we will provide some helpful tips on how to make reopening your organization as smooth as possible.

Employee Safety First

While customers may come and go as they like, employees are obligated to remain in the workspaces their employer provides. Of course, organizations must follow government guidelines. These define how many people are allowed within a building at the same time. Employers may need to expand the distance between employee workstations, whether they spend most of their time sitting or standing. It’s also a good idea to keep up with the latest information regarding PPE (personal protection equipment). Allowing you to determine whether employees have the correct instructions on how to wear their various forms of protection. 

Stay Flexible When Reopening Your Organization

Many companies allowed their employees to work remotely right from the beginning of the pandemic. However, some have found they need at least some of their employees to work within their physical buildings. Still, some employees may have pre-existing health conditions that put them at a higher risk. Additionally, they could have a family member who is in a high-risk group.

In a normal world, it may be advantageous to have these people back in the office. However, if they do get sick, it will add an extra burden to their physical and mental health. Also, at best, they’ll still be required to quarantine for a two-week period. Now is the time to remain flexible. You must also realize it might not be possible to have the entire company operating as effectively as it could. 

Reassure the Public 

Let customers, vendors, and other company staff members with which your organization regularly comes in contact know that you are making every effort to honor their health and safety as well. This may include sending out a corporate email outlining all the steps your organization is performing. Thus, ensuring their interaction with your employees will remain a safe, positive experience.

If an organization has a physical building that customers or vendors will enter, let them know what you are doing to ensure their safety as well as your expectations of them, by posting a sign on the door which they can read prior to entering. Some organizations may want to include some details about their safety practices in their corporate phone greeting. Others may want to inform the public by way of an advertisement shown on TV or through a radio commercial.

Reevaluate Corporate Technology Security

Many organizations have employees working in entirely different settings than they did before the pandemic. This could mean the new settings open them up to additional security risks as they use technology devices and software apps in a way they never did before. For employees in a remote work environment, organizations need to consider who in the environment may potentially have access to confidential information and/or computer equipment, including logins used for various apps. 

All the different ways in which employees now use corporate computer equipment and software applications must be reevaluated to ensure that a company’s technology system as a whole, remains safe and secure.

If you would like to know more about how to successfully navigate reopening your organization after the pandemic, please contact us.

Documenting An Information Security Policy During the Pandemic

documenting an information security policy during the pandemic

The work environment that many organizations have today looks entirely different from the working environment they had pre-pandemic. Thousands of organizations now have their employees scattered throughout large geographical regions in environments that are not under the employer’s direct control. While the option to work remotely has saved many a company from going bankrupt, it also vastly changed both the physical and technological environment in which staff members work. While outwardly many organizations seem to be working from home fairly successfully, it is possible that their official information security policy looks exactly as it did before the pandemic, if they even had one at all. That is why documenting an information security policy during the pandemic is so important.

Starting Anew

Whether an organization had a previous ISP (information security policy) or whether they now realize they should draft one, the steps they must take to create one will likely be fairly similar since the working environment has changed for so many companies. The first step in drafting an ISP is to consider the scope of one’s business. Some organizations may interact with many vendors and/or suppliers, or they may only have a few. Other organizations have large customer or employee bases, or some combination thereof. Whatever the scope, companies must consider all the different components that could be affected by their new information security policy.

The next step is to set objectives in order to establish the overall direction of the policy, including factors such as legal, regulatory, business, and contractual security requirements. As those in charge of creating the policy gather information about the company’s operations, they must consider the structure of their risk assessment as it relates to the area they are evaluating, as well as use appropriate criteria in order to properly evaluate security risks.  

Drafting the Policy

While each organization’s ISP will be unique, there are a few standard points that most businesses will likely put in their specific policy. These items include enforcing a password policy where users must meet certain requirements such as password length, the type of characters required, and how often the password must be changed.

Other key points will likely include the requirements for handling data from third-parties, employees, and customers, along with establishing guidelines that outline what employees can and can’t do, with regard to actions such as internet usage and accessing controls. Some organizations may want to take their internet security policy one step further by ensuring their new policy adheres to certification programs that pertain to their particular type of industry, or technological certifications.   

Who, Where, What, Why 

A finalized internet security policy may not be that lengthy. In fact, a company’s ISP may not be longer than a page or two, however, it will answer some essentials questions such as who issued the policy — meaning it is under their authority. Other questions the policy will answer include where the policy applies such as specific departments and/or locations, what the overall goal of the policy is, as well as company-specific security issues it addresses.

Lastly, it will also answer the question as to why a new policy was needed. In most cases, this will be a statement discussing how the ISP will help ensure that a business continues to protect their sensitive data while operating under a new working environment. In addition, the new ISP is intended to safeguard the continuity of the organization, while maximizing their ROI.

Summary

The world-wide pandemic forced many businesses to make drastic changes in the way they conduct their business practices, including how they secure their corporate data, along with their hardware and software resources. Although creating an ISP for their new way of operations may represent a challenge during this time of uncertainty and upheaval, informing employees how to safely navigate through their new circumstances is essential for a successful future beyond the pandemic. If you would like more on how to create a corporate ISP for your new working environment, please contact us.

6 Tips for Supporting Your Remote Workforce During the Pandemic

6 tips for supporting your remote workforce during the pandemic

During this pandemic, businesses have been forced to quickly adapt to changing realities. One of the major changes we have seen in society is the shift towards telecommuting. Teams are working remotely to avoid having to go into the office. It can be difficult to acclimate to this new reality, so you need to provide your employees with the necessary support they need for your team to be successful. Today, we will be going through six tips for supporting your remote workforce during the pandemic. 

Focus on Team Building 

Just because your team is working remotely, that doesn’t mean that you can forget about team building. Working on improving communication and rapport between team members will lead to better collaboration and improved performance. According to Buffer’s 2019 State of Remote Work Report, one of the top challenges remote workers face is loneliness. 

Although team members can’t get together physically, you still want them to be able to chit-chat with each other and create meaningful relationships. Consider setting up an after-hour video chat “work party” or create a group “coffee room” chat. It is important for each team member to have a feeling of belonging to the team. 

Up Your Communication

A top challenge for remote teams is communicating effectively. In the office, team members can drop a note on their manager’s desk or walk a few steps to a colleague to ask for advice. Managers can regularly check in with team members when they bump into them in the office.

When managing a remote team, it is important to make a concerted effort to increase communication. Check in with your workers every day to ask if they need anything, and tell them not to hesitate to contact you if they have any sort of question. 

Set Up Effective Channels

Every remote team should be utilizing video chat. One-on-one chats allow you to check in with individual team members and stay on top of their progress, while group chats can take the place of daily briefings and meetings. However, not everything has to take place over a video chat. Assign different channels for different tasks — for example, team members can use email or a group chat board instead of video chat for more mundane tasks and questions. 

Create a Schedule and Set Goals

Creating a schedule can help teams stay focused and productive. This doesn’t have to be a full-blown schedule planned for the entire day; it can be a simple 15-minute briefing at the same time every morning or a 15-minute progress check at the end of the day. Establishing a ritual is important, and so is setting goals to help your workers stay focused. 

Be Flexible and Understanding

Another major challenge of working at home is facing distractions. Some team members may have children running around — kids aren’t going to school either. Offer understanding and flexibility. In addition, not every team member will need the same level of communication. For example, some team members may have a lot of questions and doubts and will benefit from an open communication channel; others may not need to ask as many questions and may flourish better when left to concentrate on the task at hand.

While it is important to stay on top of things and check in with your employees regularly, you may have to stay on top of some employees more.

Invest In Quality Cloud Solutions

If you haven’t yet done so, now is the time to invest in high-quality business cloud computing solutions. This will help avoid hiccups and ensure that your business runs smoothly day-to-day.

Contact us for more information on how we can set up versatile and reliable cloud solutions for your workforce so your team members can work from wherever they are, on any device.