Today, businesses are embracing digital technology to enable productivity anywhere, any time. Yet ensuring accountability is a stumbling block to widespread acceptance of remote work.

Recently, COVID-19 has forced many businesses to transition quickly to working from home. Even bosses concerned about lack of control over absent employees had to make the change. Former opponents to remote work may have discovered the benefits of this approach. Employees certainly may have enjoyed the opportunity and want to keep doing it.

The good news is that technology and products are even better today for managing remote teams.

 

Top Tools for Remote Work Accountability

Overall, employers need to trust their people. This is true whether they’re working on-site or from home. Still, for some supervisors, trust is easier with remote monitoring abilities.

Joint calendars are a common starting point. Microsoft 365, Google’s G Suite, and other tools allow staff to share calendars. People can still schedule personal appointments and keep those private, but the joint professional calendar lets everyone on a team stay in the know. Managers can go online to track sales meetings, client presentations, or team sessions.

Project management software is another way to see what co-workers are doing. Teamwork, Basecamp, and Trello offer a central location to see a project come together. Employees can access secure software from any location to share files and interact. Individuals can set deadlines and create tasks to improve accountability and responsibility sharing.

Business-based internal messaging software also keeps everyone on the same page. These communication tools typically provide one-on-one messaging and group chat. It’s easy to send a quick note asking someone for a status update, or just check in. Some tools also allow individual and team audio calls as well as video conferencing. Top contenders are Slack, WhatsApp, Microsoft Teams, or the Facebook and Google Hangout work chat apps.

Go big enabling collaboration among employees with cloud-based office software. Microsoft 365 and G Suite enable many users to go online and work on the same things at the same time. This solution also lets managers easily view shared documents and verify progress. It’s even possible to invite clients or other external partners in to view folders. For security reasons, you may want to limit their access to “view only.”

 

Securing Remote Work

Security is another point of friction for businesses allowing remote work, but the technology is keeping pace there also. Even so, you’ll want to educate employees about cybersecurity best practices. Requiring antivirus and malware upgrades, limiting external sharing and enabling multifactor access will help make remote work viable, reliable, safe, and secure.

Need help installing or implementing remote work tools? A managed service provider can help. Or, our IT experts can put in place the administrative controls you need to help secure work from home. Let us provide the IT help you need. Contact us today on 1300 600 550.!

 

Online meetings are the new norm for many, but that doesn’t mean people magically know how to enjoy a trouble-free online conference experience. These tips can power more successful meetings.

Many businesses today are working from home with a reliance on Skype, Microsoft Teams, Google Hangouts, Zoom, or GoToMeeting. But even with these platforms offering voice or video capabilities, there can be tech problems. These tips can minimize the trouble and enhance business collaboration.

 

Go Wired

Connecting to Wi-Fi offers flexibility and mobility. Yet when it comes to an online meeting, prefer a wired connection. Enjoy a more reliable meeting connection by plugging your laptop or desktop into the internet router using a network cable.

If you need to use a mobile device and can’t connect via cable, reduce Wi-Fi obstacles. Call in from as a close to the wireless access point as you can. Wi-Fi signals are a form of radio wave, which means they can be hindered by:

• large metal objects near the router;
• thick walls;
• other electronics;
• Wi-Fi congestion from your neighbors’ access points.

So, that important meeting is not the one you join from a cement-bricked basement, not when your Wi-Fi router is in an upstairs bedroom and your neighbors are all relying on Wi-Fi signals, too.

 

Prioritize Your Meeting

When you have a scheduled meeting, announce it to the rest of the household. Ask kids not to get on Xbox or stream movies at the same time as you connect to your meeting. See if you can’t persuade your partner, who is also working from home, not to download large files or new software at the same time as your meeting.

Program your devices to back up at times that won’t compete with your work hours. In the office, your IT team scheduled updates or security patches outside of business hours. Now that you’re doing it all at home, be smart about when you do upgrades. Depending on your home internet speed, trying to do too many things at once can cause trouble for everyone.

 

Test Connections Before the Meeting

You may feel that all you’re doing is meeting online right now. Why would you need to test audio and video each time? Well, every time you unplug a device such as a microphone or headset the settings will return to the default. That means the next time you connect you aren’t set up the way you want to be. You were expecting to listen in using your USB headphones, but the last time you unplugged them your computer switched back to the next available audio input (e.g. your monitor or built-in laptop speakers).

By checking the connection first, you also make sure you have the most up-to-date platform software. You don’t want to be late to a call because your device has decided it needs to re-install Skype right at that moment.

 

Use the Right Equipment

Headsets and external microphones limit the ambient noise. You’ll hear better. Plus, it will make your contributions easier to hear, too.

Muting your microphone when you’re not talking also helps – it reduces the noise pollution. Problems can arise when your mic picks up other people talking through your speakers. This precaution also saves you from apologizing when your dog barks ferociously at the FedEx delivery person.

 

Pick the Best Setting

Plan the best place to take that online meeting. The closer you are to your wireless access point, the better your connection.

Plus, you want to avoid high-traffic areas, as you’re more likely to be distracted. A child or furry colleague could make an unplanned appearance.

Select an area with a simple background, too. Sitting in front of a window may seem like a good idea, but it makes your face darker and more difficult to see on video. Ideally, you want to be in a well-lit room with a plain wall as your background.

 

Take Full Advantage of Online Meeting Features

You may have done conference calls in the past. Everyone called in, spoke when necessary and that was that. But much of the top business collaboration software offers added features:

• Call recording provides a record that can be checked later.
• Call transcripts give you an efficient way to capture all that happened in a meeting.
• Some platforms let you add virtual backgrounds to video calls.
• You might also enable an interactive shared whiteboard, presentation slides, or co-browsing.

 

Online meetings are efficient and cost-effective. With the current health crisis forcing many of us to adapt to connecting virtually, implementing these ideas can help.

Need help setting up your online meeting platform or deciding on the solution that’s right for you?
We can help. Contact us today on 1300 600 550.

Migrating to the cloud is no longer a “maybe” solution for many businesses. With many countries mandating staying home, remote working requires a fresh look.

The good news? There are great solutions available, and you’ll see benefits not just today but also when you’re back in the office in the future. We recommend Google’s G Suite to enable business collaboration and communication while working remotely.

Advantages of a G Suite Solution

G Suite offers enhanced productivity, flexibility and transparency, all without sacrificing security.

Productivity

G Suite provides access to Docs, Spreadsheets, Forms, Websites, App Scripting and more. Using G Suite, internal and external users can collaborate and see changes made.

This simultaneous, real-time collaboration saves on emailing documents back and forth. Avoid the inefficiency of someone having to correlate different versions of a document.

Further, G Suite provides a single dashboard. Users can access the creation tools, as well as email, calendars and Google Hangouts. People don’t have to keep several different applications open. It’s all available in a single, integrated solution.

Flexibility

G Suite is available on any device, iOS or Android. All your remote workers need is a working internet connection. With this cloud-based solution, you can let them log in to G Suite and get everything done in one place.

Everyone can:

• share access to the business Google Drive;
• use Google Cloud Search to find the needed files;
• synchronize work calendars on Google;
• easily hop on video calls or chat in Google Hangouts.

And they can do that from wherever they are, whenever they want.

Transparency

With G Suite, all the business data lives in one place. Users can share files but still control access. Your IT admins can decide what access to allow remote or guest users, and they can secure that access from within the G Suite Admin Console.

With G Suite audit logs, IT admins can review actions taken by users. The logs provide information about what resources were used, by whom and when. This can help with cyber-security, plus it provides peace of mind that people are complying with procedures remotely.

G Suite offers reporting for international information security controls, accounting, financial services, health privacy, government and payment card industry standards.

At the same time, although you are using G Suite’s services, your data doesn’t belong to Google. All personal information and intellectual property remains your own, even that meme you made about the “joys” of home schooling.

 Getting Set Up on G Suite

Google offers many of these solutions separately for free (or ad supported). Still, G Suite is worth the investment: you pay per user for a more comprehensive solution which adds:

• professional domain name – instead of [email protected] she could send from [email protected];
• unlimited cloud storage and archiving;
• administrative control to manage all user accounts in a single dashboard;
• better management of mobile devices;
• the ability to set up two-factor authentication for greater security.

A cloud solution helps your remote workers work smarter and faster. G Suite is a secure, simple-to-use cloud platform. Our tech experts can help you effectively migrate to G Suite or another cloud-based solution.
Contact us today at 1300 600 550.

 

Working from home is a big change in an already tumultuous time. Yet there’s a bright side. The quarantine could be your opportunity to reinvent how you work — for the better. Migrating to Microsoft Office 365 has benefits now. Plus, when you’re back to business as usual.

Office 365 is the cloud-based version of Microsoft Office. With a subscription, you get both the desktop and online versions of apps you already know. This includes Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, SharePoint, Teams, Yammer and more.

Office 365 enables collaboration in many ways, on desktops, tablets and smartphones. For example:

• Outlook — primarily associated with email, but also lets you share notes and files;
• Teams — a hub for instant messaging, video conferencing and calls;
• SharePoint — an internal content management platform. SharePoint lets you customize team sites where you automate workflows and share resources;
• Yammer — a social network connecting all the users in your organization;
• OneDrive — allows users to share and co-author documents securely.

Working in Microsoft Word, Excel, Powerpoint and other Office Apps you can collaborate simultaneously. There’s no need to email back and forth. In fact, you can even see different people creating and editing together in real time.

Remote Work with Teams 

Microsoft teams at its core is a chat program.  But it does so much more. On all your devices, both iOS and Android, Teams allows “channels”. You can have company-wide or small task group channels. Or use a separate channel to instant messaging to a single person.

You can also invite clients or customers into channels to join the discussion. Additionally, you can set up security features that filter what they can access. You don’t want them to know the ingredients to your secret sauce!

Within Teams channels users can share documents, spreadsheets and presentations. Teams also integrates with other software. The options include Zendesk customer support, Asana project management, or Zoom video conferencing.

Using Teams in Office 365 creates a streamlined platform for remote work.

Remote Work with OneDrive 

Working on premises, your users always had access to the business file server. OneDrive is the cloud equivalent. Yet, since it’s online, it’s always accessible. Microsoft’s hosts the file storage to let you access and share work files from all your devices.

Employees can even work offline. Any changes or edits to files automatically upload when you next connect.

Share OneDrive folders or files with external partners as well. Again, you can secure access with limits on who can see what and specifying what actions they can take. You can even set up automatic revoke access after a set time limit.

Let us help you go online and get back to business as usual, even working remotely. Call us today on 1300 600 550.

Working from home is not for everyone – we’ve all heard that said before – but many of us worldwide are now being forced to work from home. It can be challenging, especially when you have to adapt in the midst of all the other uncertainties COVID-19 has brought. These strategies can help you stay focused when working remotely.

Reserve your office space
Set up a temporary home office. Pick a space, if you can, that is away from distractions and has a door that you can close. Try to organize this space so that you feel more as if you’re going into the office. Clear those personal bills and photo albums waiting for assembly from your desk.

Creating a distinct space can help with the mental association that you are going to work. You’ll also find it easier to focus if you dress as you would for work. Shower, and put on makeup if you normally do. Getting out of your pajamas and putting on your “game face” puts you more in work mode.

Stick with your routines
Keeping a similar schedule can help, too. If you go to the office at a certain time every day, that’s when you should show up at your home workstation. If you took breaks at consistent times when on-site, do the same at home. This helps tell your brain it’s business as usual, even when you’re working in the laundry room on a folding card table!
You may not be able to go out and grab a coffee or eat lunch out with colleagues, but you can still go have a cup of coffee in the kitchen or order lunch from a local business that’s delivering – help them to stay in business too!

If you used to write emails first thing, do that still. If your team had a weekly conference call Wednesdays at 11, try to keep that, too. You can use voice or video conferencing to stay in touch while remaining at a safe distance.

Avoid distractions
This is going to mean different things for people. Working from home with children is tough, especially as you’re now supposed to be supervising their online learning. Giving them a dedicated space for schoolwork can help to keep them motivated and away from you. You might tell younger children to expect your attention at breaks (e.g. “I’ll play three rounds of Candyland when the big hand reaches 12 and the little hand reaches 3”).

The news and social media are other traps for those working from home. No one is watching over your shoulder, and it’s easy to think, “I’ll just check …” That’s how you lose 30 minutes of productivity watching pandas wrestle on a zoo-cam.

Still struggling? You could consider setting up one operating system account for work and another for personal use creating different browser profiles. And if you’re still getting distracted, you could install a browser plug-in that forces you to stay on track.

Keep deadlines
Setting deadlines can help you stay motivated. The longer you have to get something done, the slower you’ll work – it’s inevitable. So, maintain some pressure by setting tight, but realistic targets.

Share your deadlines with other colleagues using an online task management tool. This can help with accountability.

Be patient
This is a stressful time and you’re being asked to deal with many changes. So, you need to be patient. Working in sprints could help your motivation and attention span. You might set a timer and focus completely on work until the bell chimes. One theory is that the most productive people take a 17-minute break every 52 minutes, but you’ll want to see what works for you.

Another approach is to say you’ll do 30 minutes of good work on that thing you’re avoiding. Worst case: you get only 30 minutes of it done. At least you’re further ahead. But you might find it only takes 30 minutes to complete or that you’re so close to finishing that you keep going and get the job done.

Have the right tech
Make sure you have the right tools to do your job. Working from home is challenging enough, so make it easier with reliable internet and Wi-Fi connections and access to the required files.

Need help with working from home? We can’t actually be there to cheer you on and keep you motivated, but our tech experts can get you set up with the most efficient home office solutions.

Contact us today at  1300 600 550.

 

Small business owners are pleased with getting the whole thing done with few people. Every team member wears many hats. They are part of a family, dedicated to the firm’s success. But that doesn’t make them qualified to manage IT. Really, you’re never too small to outsource your technology needs.

A small business may only have a few computers for its few employees so having an in-house person dedicated to IT support would be overkill. But just because the technology is working fine today doesn’t mean your IT is performing at its best. That’s why it can be beneficial to outsource IT.

Having someone who knows technology working for your team can pay huge dividends. Outsourcing will add value by:

• helping you avoid bad tech purchases or buying software you don’t need;
• identifying where you can be more efficient with tools you already have, which can save money;
• providing knowledgeable support and IT help;
• learning business needs and making recommendations about the best IT for your goals;
• protecting your business technology and ensuring computers are up to date with security patches.

Small Business Breaches

Cyber-criminals don’t care about business size. In fact, according to Accenture 43% of cyber-attacks were aimed at small-medium businesses (SMB) and only 14% of the SMBs were prepared for defending their networks and sensitive data.

In fact, a small business can be a particularly appealing target. Hackers will exploit a small business as part of a campaign to attack a larger business. They know the SMB is less likely to have the same level of security as the bigger target in their sights.

Accenture’s 2019 study found that more than half of all small businesses had suffered a breach in the last year. These attacks can be crippling. According to insurance carrier Hiscox, the average cyber-attack costs a business $200,000. That figure can be a killer blow for a small business. Some 60% of SMBs hacked go out of business within six months of the attack. Even if they can survive the financial hit, damage to brand reputation and customer goodwill is devastating.

Advantages of Outsourcing

You may not have a clear picture of your cyber-security status right now, but by working with a managed services provider like Element IT, you will get one. We will conduct an informal audit of your current technology and learn your short- and long-term goals.

Your small business, for instance, may not have a data protection procedure. You might be thinking you don’t have a lot to backup and store. But the quantity may not be the primary concern. Can you recover if your business loses an email chain it was keeping for legal or compliance reasons? What would happen if the computer holding your accounting database died? Element IT can identify where tech changes can better ensure business continuity.

When you outsource, we will complete an inventory all your tech assets so we can learn everything about your infrastructure and your business’s technology capabilities. Your current team may recognize the importance of securing the business’s intellectual property, but are they also protecting customer data and employee records? Your business needs to be intentional about confidentiality, availability, and safety. Element IT can help.

The cost of outsourcing is often a stumbling block for the budget-conscious SMB. Managed IT services can often lower costs for clients by streamlining processes, managing vendor relationships and ensuring that the business technology is best suited to current needs. And you’ll pay a fixed regular fee for a technology team member who will help you avoid big, costly tech surprises.

No business is too small to outsource IT. Having access to a full-time IT professional via a managed service provider can improve your operations, enhance productivity, and lower cyber-security risk.

Find out more about what we can do for you! Call us on  1300 600 550.