4 COMMON TECH MISTAKES YOUR BUSINESS COULD BE MAKING
As we all know, the COVID pandemic drastically changed our day-to-day lives. Things like catching up with friends and family, venturing outside the house without a mask, and our daily commute into the office momentarily became a thing of the past. Although we’ve now said goodbye to most of them, it looks like the option of remote work is here to stay!
It is estimated that in Australia, 58% of employees now work remotely at least one day a week, with the hybrid workplace becoming the new norm for many businesses.
This transformation has forced companies to rethink the way they work and the tools and policies they use. Many businesses have now switched to a cloud-based digital workspace to enable a hybrid team.
Whilst the transition to a digital workplace has brought newfound benefits when it comes to employee morale and work-life balance, it has also uncovered several technological challenges and risks, such as:
- Vulnerable networks and endpoints
- Communication problems
- Difficulty tracking productivity and accountability
- Increased risk of data breaches
While we all know that overcoming the challenges and reaping the benefits takes time and effort, we’re here to help you speed things up (and avoid making costly mistakes in the process).
We’ve pulled together a list of the most common mistakes that businesses make when building a digital workplace so you know exactly what NOT to do.
MISTAKE 1: POOR CLOUD FILE ORGANISATION
A hybrid workforce means your team needs to be able to access files from anywhere, which is why most businesses have moved to the cloud.
These cloud storage environments are a great way to keep everything in one easily accessible place, but if they’re poorly organised, you may actually be making your employees’ lives harder if they can never find the files that they need!
The easiest way to reap the benefits of cloud storage for your business is to make files easier to locate. You can do this by:
- Keeping file structure flat (2-3 folders deep)
- Creating a consistent naming structure
- Not creating files for fewer than 10 documents
- Archiving and deleting old folders frequently to reduce clutter
MISTAKE 2: ASSUMING THAT WORKING REMOTELY ALWAYS MEANS WORKING FROM HOME
The flexibility of the hybrid workplace means that employees are only sometimes working from home, connected to their home WI-FI. They may work from airports, cafes, hotels, or family members’ places.
Suppose you don’t account for the different places that your employees could be working and therefore don’t correctly protect company data used by these employees. In that case, you’re putting your business at risk of a data breach!
If a cybercriminal is connected to the same public network that your employee is using, they can use software that accesses all data transmissions from others on that network.
One of the best ways to prevent this is to use a business VPN for all remote work situations. VPNs are relatively inexpensive and easy to use! The employee simply has to enable the app on their device, and their data will be rerouted through secure encrypted servers.
MISTAKE 3: NOT ADDRESSING UNAUTHORISED CLOUD APP USE
Unauthorised cloud app use was already a problem before the pandemic but has escalated significantly as people started working from home, often on their personal devices.
When employees use any unauthorised apps in their workflow, it can have a number of risks for the business, including:
· Data leakage from non-secured apps
· Date privacy compliance violations
· Redundancies in-app use that increase costs
· Unprotected company data due to a lack of visibility
· The employee leaves, and no one can access the data in the unauthorised app
MISTAKE 4: NOT RESEARCHING WHICH COMMUNICATION TOOLS TO USE
Communicating with remote employees efficiently is a vital aspect of running a successful digital workplace, so if employees struggle to participate in virtual meetings because of technical issues, it’s probably safe to say things aren’t going so smoothly.
Unfortunately, these tech issues are a common problem for many businesses because they tend to jump on-board with whatever communication tool is the most popular at the time without considering what would work best for their team.
Effective cloud-based video calls, audio calls, and chats depend on the right technology. So make sure you don’t just rush to use any communication tool. Take your time to do the research and test them out. Get help optimizing settings to improve your virtual meetings. Additionally, ensure your remote team has tools to foster smooth communications. This includes headsets, VoIP desk sets, webcams, etc.
BOOST THE PRODUCTIVITY OF YOUR DIGITAL WORKPLACE
Looking for ways to make sure you avoid making any of these mistakes when setting up your digital workplace? Or maybe you’re worried you’ve already made one or two of them? The team at ALL IT would be more than happy to help you out.
We provide a comprehensive range of services depending on what you need to get your hybrid workplace up and running, including I.T Support, Cloud Solutions, Telephony, Data & Internet, & Cyber Security!
Let’s chat about how we can help you boost the productivity of your digital workplace! Fill in your details below and we will be in touch within 48 hours to discuss how our team of specialists can help your business!
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