In these uncertain times, businesses have been forced to adapt to the “new normal” of doing things. In almost a year since the pandemic started, there is no foreseeable end to it, although the vaccine rollouts might hint at a foreseeable conclusion.
Workplace safety is thought to be something that concerns workers in an office; in truth, it extends beyond the brick-and-mortar office, with the number of employees going on remote work agreements. From a simple market to a mortgage company, these precautionary measures have forced owners to review office policies to make their employees adjust seamlessly.
In the evolution of work done at home, the main safety concerns have shifted. Take a look as these tips also focus on information safety and the well-being of your employees while staying safe at home.
Being Proactive and Adapting to Situations
It might be due to the pandemic or not, but the pace of change these days is at breakneck speed, and that’s how it is in the remote work sector. You and your team members should learn how to be flexible and proactive in adjusting.
If you want to react, think before doing so. Just reacting creates chaos and derails your plan. Take your time to create achievable goals for your team. This is important to give you something to work towards while doing remote work, and it also ensures you’re moving in the right direction, even if you’re faced with myriad challenges.
In case things aren’t going your way, you shouldn’t worry too much; this is a usual thing. If you’re creating plans, you should also include contingencies against whatever might happen that’s not within them.
Improving social structures for more remote work cooperation
The popularity of remote work might come at a price. The more team members find themselves working at home, the more they might find it difficult to fix inter-cooperation—or things that they used to do at home. A solution to this is to create cross-functional teams with defined objectives, clearer goals as to what teams want to accomplish.
Clearing up the schedule of when team members can check-in should also help your teams feel more connected. This is especially important for remote work, where workers might be trying to reach out, and others won’t know it. The right balance of communication, clear guidance on goals, and giving them enough room to work alone should be good for the team.
Meetings aren’t the only way you can get your message across. There are already apps which you can use to get in contact with your team members quicker. Slack and Microsoft Teams offer you a way to reach team members one on one faster, aside from helping you get your message across through different boards.
Creating remote work safety policies
Companies can enable a set of remote work safety policies for their teams to follow when working at home. It’s important for team members to receive clear instructions, so use language that doesn’t have too much jargon so everyone can understand completely. Remember to include regular rules you used to have at your office, like not using a public internet connection to do work or non-company equipment to complete your day.
Creating the culture of password and network safety
If you’re taking work from the office to your home, you should consider safety. Employers should make sure that their users are creating passwords within their set parameters for password strength and the length of time a password can be used.
Workers and team members, in turn, should be aware of where their passwords are written and saved. These shouldn’t be easily lost and should be kept in a secure place. This is to make sure that they aren’t easily stolen, misplaced, or otherwise hacked by a third party, especially when working outside of the team member’s home network.
Caring for physical safety
If you’re working in the home office, it’s easy to forget keeping yourself safe and forgetting security measures. You should remember to keep safety precautions, like fire alarms and a proper home office space. Make sure that your home computer is also kept in a safe place with locks and no access to invaders. If your team members are only borrowing office supplies, this is important.
Make sure you have a lot of things when you’re having team members work from the office. More than that, you should care for your workers’ welfare. Whether you’re planning to continue it after the pandemic or not, make sure that everyone is following proper protocol when working from home.
