Working from home, is it good for your business?

Working from home. Or remote working, as it’s now called.

It’s the big thing in business, isn’t it? And some people love it.

They’re happier working where they want, and when they want. And that makes them more productive and less likely to leave.

But have you stopped to consider the downside to remote working? The negative elements for your business and your people?

While many employees are happy to work from home using video calls and collaborative software to stay connected, there’s a small percentage who find the whole experience isolating.

And when that happens, it can quickly lead to a drop in motivation and happiness. It can even change the culture within your business.

In turn, this can lead to performance issues which may be trickier to spot.

At the other extreme, some employees will become more susceptible to burnout as they struggle to draw a line between work and personal time. That change in environment can be so important for some.

And while you want your team to be happy and fulfilled in their roles, there are also some practical considerations you need to make for your business.

Practical Considerations

Such as the cost of remote working. Does everyone have the right tools for the job – laptops, phones, office equipment? Maybe even a desk and chair, or an internet upgrade?

Do you need to spend twice – giving them an at home setup and investing in hot desks in the office?

Most importantly, you must put in place full cyber security protection wherever someone is working.

Here’s how we can help you stay safe and potentially save money.

Would you like us to audit your current setup and suggest some options? This is what we do every day. Just get in touch.

Published with permission from Your Tech Updates.

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Some employees won’t stop using apps that could be a security risk

Has the applications and software you used changed since the pandemic? Some employees may even be using applications which could be a security concern.

That’s because we’ve all had to make big adjustments to the way we communicate and collaborate.

And to begin with, it may have been hit and miss. It’s possible in the first few weeks and months that your employees had to use whatever tools they had available to them.

Now that we’ve settled into permanent new ways of working, we could pick the software tools that best suit our businesses!

Unfortunately, your employees might not like your choice of which apps should be used within the company. And some of them may continue to use the ones they prefer, despite the security risk that comes with that.

A recent survey found a massive 92% of employees want more control over the software, collaboration tools, and applications they use. And 51% continue to use apps that have been banned by IT departments.

It’s putting business owners in a difficult position.

Blocking apps and software may lead to employees feeling untrusted. This can lead to frustration and lack of motivation. It can really have a negative impact on your business.

But ignoring the issue can be just as bad. Unvetted apps can be a big security risk, leaving your data open to theft and your systems vulnerable to malware.

So what’s the answer?

We’d always suggest having open conversations with your people. It’s a good idea to invite feedback on the software you want to use. After all, your people are the ones using it day-in, day-out.

Take their suggestions on alternatives if the consensus is you’re using the wrong solutions and commit to looking into their viability.

It’s also a very good idea to make sure your people fully understand the risks that come with using unapproved apps, and the impact that can have on a business.

Even in cases where your team are all sticking to approved tools, keeping them educated on the latest cyber security initiatives is a smart move.

Can we help you find the most suitable communication and productivity tools for your business? We’ve helped lots of business owners do this. Get in touch.

Published with permission from Your Tech Updates.

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Your business is losing hours to spam!

Your Business is losing hours to spam every year, probably 100’s of hours of wasted productivity.

Having to clear the spam from your inbox is a productivity killer.

A recent report found that each one of your employees could be losing up to 80 hours each year, thanks to filtering and deleting spam emails.

That’s a LOT of lost productivity.

How Much Time!

The report stated that between 45% and 95% of emails were spam. Every day somewhere between nearly half and all email are spam. More concerning is that this also includes malicious emails.

If one of your employees gets 30 external emails a day, they’d get around 30 spam emails each week. That would work out to around 5 hours each year wasted on sorting through and deleting them.

For an employee who gets up to 60 emails a day, it would be around 11 hours a year wasted.

And for someone who gets more than 100 emails each day, you’re looking at around 80 hours of lost productivity.

Now add that up for each one of your team and you could be looking at a big number.

Not only that, but since a proportion of these emails will be phishing attempts (that’s where the sender wants you to take an action that will secretly give them access to sensitive data), it’s also a big risk to your data security too.

What can be done

Of course, there are a few things you can do to cut down the time spent on dealing with spam emails. The first is to make use of the spam and junk email filters available from your email service.

You may also consider bringing in dedicated anti-spam and anti-phishing tools.

Finally, you can make your people aware of the risks of spam, how to spot spam emails, and the best way to deal with it to save time and minimise the risk of malware or a data breach.

If that kind of training is something you’d like some help with, get in touch.

Published with permission from Your Tech Updates.

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Three new Teams features to look forward to

3 new features in teams coming soon

Over the last couple of years and fuelled by the pandemic the use of Teams has exploded. It is now used by 270 million people every month. Whilst the growth in usage has slowed recently it is still the go to collaboration tool for a lot of organisations. And here are three new teams features to look forward to.

As you read this, you may be thinking how did we work before Teams!

It gives us all the ability to stay connected regardless of where we are working. And gives us those collaboration tools we need to work the way we work today.

Because it is part of Microsoft 35 packages, it is the logical solution to keep the team working on projects with no fuss.

Microsoft is constantly making improvements and adding features. Over the past few months, they have added new features like the virtual whiteboard, which you can use to throw around ideas during your video meetings. Also the ability to pin chat to the top.

There are 3 new features coming soon they are

  1. Coming later this month (hopefully) when you rename a Teams channel, it will automatically change the name of the SharePoint Folder.
  2. Chat with self feature. This feature will allow you to send yourself notes and messages, putting the I into team!
  3. Teams Calls will give you the same experience when using the Teams app and the web browser version.

That is the Three new Teams features to look forward to. If you need help to get the most out of Teams, contact us, if you just want to watch this on video visit our tech update page.

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Walkie Talkie coming to Teams

Microsoft Teams has a new feature – Walkie Talkie!

It has been available on Android Devices for a little while now. It is now coming to iOS devices, so it could be a very useful feature for your teams. We think this will become a powerful communication tool, and will be using when on site.

Let’s look at what it is before we explore how you’d use it.

If you were alive back in the 1980s, you’ll remember real walkie talkies. They were the coolest way to talk to your friends on the move – long before we had mobiles.

If you’re too young to remember the 80s, then go watch a few episodes of Stranger Things and you’ll get the idea.

With a walkie talkie you press a button to talk, and everyone who has a device on the same frequency as yours can hear you speak.

They can only reply when you let go of the button. And only one person can speak at a time.

What that gives you is ordered real time voice conversation between a group of people.

This new Teams feature works in exactly the same way.

There’s no need to call anyone. Like a real walkie talkie you just push a button on your phone to speak, and everyone in your team channel can hear you.

It works on both Android and iOS devices, so long as they’re connected to the internet. It even works if your phone is locked.

Walkie talkie was originally created with front-line workers in mind.

The idea is that when you are on a client site, you can quickly and securely communicate with the office. And those on site with you, withe less hassle.

We can see this being useful for remote workers too. Doesn’t matter whether your team are in the office or working from home – they can have a voice conversation in real time, instantly.

Just like the old days when everyone worked in the same space.

Can you see how that would help your business?

Before you can use walkie talkie in Teams, you’ll need to make sure it’s enabled. Your administrator will need to do this in the Teams admin centre – it’s really easy.

If you’d like us to help you set up walkie talkie for your business, just give us a call.

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