Last Updated: June 16, 2020.
Many meaningful changes have been required within the world of business in order to guard against the spread and impact of the coronavirus. As a business owner, you’ll need to ensure that operations can continue wherever possible without risking the safety of your staff members.
In this article, you’ll find a few tips on how to prepare your business for life after lockdown. These approaches will help to keep your employees protected and prevent any further peaks, whether the danger comes from this virus or any future disease.
Remote Working
One major adjustment has come in the form of a shift from office-based duties to remote working. This enables the improved safety of each member of staff, as they will not be required to commute to work using public transport.
Working remotely will prevent them from being exposed to other travellers carrying the virus. It will also remove the risk of spread between colleagues working in close proximity. Instead, staff members can perform their duties from the safety of their own home.
Meetings can be held via video conferencing apps and documents can be updated using the Cloud. In order to achieve the best possible results when implementing remote working, remote monitoring (RMM) solution should be employed.
This IT management tool enables in-house or the external MSP IT team to monitor and troubleshoot company network and devices, as well as perform fully remote operations.
Phone Systems
If your employees are required to take calls while working remotely, they should not be expected to do so using their own phone plans. Implementing a business mobile plan can enable calls to individual desk phones in the office to be diverted to the device each employee has at home.
All devices in the group will be managed and billed under one account, making the approach more affordable and easier to oversee. Specialist mobile plans can also ensure that each device using your business’s network is properly secure and will not be likely to cause cybersecurity breaches.
Social Distancing
Of course, certain essential roles can only be performed on-site. If there
are employees within your business who cannot work remotely, you need to make
sure they are fully protected. This may mean providing elements of personal
protection equipment (PPE) including face masks, gloves and gowns.
You should also ensure that workers observe proper social distancing, meaning they should keep two meters apart at all times. Moving desks or seating positions or, better yet, arranging for individuals to work in different rooms will keep them even safer. You might also consider staggering working hours to ensure that fewer individuals are working at any one time.
Supervision
As a business owner or manager, you will still need to be present and responsible. Finding a good balance can be difficult – you need your employees to feel as though they are being trusted to work productively and conscientiously, but you still need to keep tabs on what is going on.
Organizing weekly team meetings via a video conferencing app, as well as one-on-one calls where possible, can improve communication and a sense of community between your employees. It can also give them the opportunity to ask for help or offer ideas.
Remember to be patient and understanding with all staff members. Some may be taking care of young children or assisting elderly relatives during this difficult time, so their performance may be altered through no fault of their own.