COVID-19: Building a First Class Remote Work Environment – Part 6/6

2 min read

Updated: Dec 13, 2021

In Part Five of this six-part series we learned about some of the best tools and processes to ensure you and your systems are operating in a secure and safe manner in your new Remote Work Environment (RWE).

In this Part Six installment, I will discuss the winners & losers in the RWE, provide my opinions on the way forward, and update you some important developments with regards to Zoom Video.

First. Zoom Video: Just yesterday, the FBI warned that Zoom Video calls are getting hacked and hijacked. It’s being called, “Zoombombing.” These accounts have been also reported on by most mainstream media organizations. This is a developing story.

Winners & Losers:

• One of the surprising secondary effects of the RWE is that individuals with children in the home from school are having a very difficult time being productive in the home work space. Many of clients have remote work tracking and accountability software tools which measure at-home productivity via the company laptop and they are reporting a significant decrease in productivity for those with families in household. On the other hand, those singletons or those with nannie/maids or empty-nesters are enjoying unprecedented productivity. This is something that I had not considered in the past. But I guess it makes sense.
• IT Support: Those firms with some level of remote IT support are doing well too. It seems that about 10% of the staff/teammates require 90% of the support. So the ones without support are quickly falling behind the others. This is not good.
• Microsoft Teams: Microsoft Teams is exploding. Those with Teams seem to be doing very well and not missing a beat. Slack is also a leader on the messaging/collaboration front.
• Daily meetings: Those firms that have daily check-ins are doing very well too and seem to be hitting their stride. This is important to provide team focus, help any stragglers, and instill a sense of comradery in the troops.

Critical Success Factors: Several CSFs emerged in my research and client briefings:

• Have up to date computer equipment and accessories.
• Issue staff laptops with all your standard collaboration and productivity software platforms pre-loaded and ready to implement.
• Have a Company Policy Guide governing RWE. It should provide strict guidelines and procedures for staff to operate in a RWE. For example, NO REMOTE WORK SHALL BE DONE AT PUBLIC WIFI locations.
• Good security: Make sure your staff is backing up their data and is protected against malicious cyber-attacks.

That is all I have for now. I hope you have learned as much as I have and I look forward to answering any more of your questions. Just call, text or email. I am on Zoom, Teams, and Slack all the time!