Setting Up a Home Workspace for Remote Work
Coronavirus has hit hard and forced many small businesses to close down. Those small businesses that can operate from a remote location have started to let their employees work from home.
With people forced to isolate themselves in their homes, small businesses have started giving their employees home assignments. Meetings are conducted online, reports are generated, and targets are achieved all while staying at home. This does come at a cost, as employees are not available on-site, and there is no supervision at all. This isn’t the only worry that you, the employers, have to face.
The majority of employees are going to work for the first time from their homes. They don’t have a dedicated home office, nor do they have the financial means to build a separate home workspace for themselves as this pandemic can end anytime. In situations like these, you can help employees work efficiently and safely by informing them about helpful technologies and setting up a home workspace. This will make working from home more productive and secure.
Setting up your environment
A potentially higher number of distractions can occur when you are working from home. Many employees live with other family members, children, spouses, parents, which can cause disturbances. First, your employee needs to establish a separate workspace where only they can work. This will keep other people out and them focused on your business. Also, a private workspace can create a feeling as if they are working in an office, which increases productivity. Any room can be excellent, provided it has good Wi-Fi coverage and is isolated. Also make sure they have adequate lighting in their rooms.
Obviously, your employees will need a chair and a desk. There’s no need for them to buy an expensive office chair, they can use any chair they have at their home and use a cushion or a pillow behind their back for support. Just as any chair can do, any table from their home can be used. It may be a dining table, side table, accent table, or even an iron stand. Any piece of furniture will do the job provided it has space for your computer and paperwork. However, better equipment makes for better productivity, so it might be worth investing in quality desks and chairs for your employees.
“First, your employee needs to establish a separate workspace where only they can work.”
Security Risks
Working from home does come with freedom but also has security drawbacks. All your data is stored on your local machine, which is prone to external attacks. Hackers can hack your employee’s Wi-Fi and gain access to your company’s confidential data. As always, email phishing scams are a convenient means of attack and employees can be more susceptible to fall for them because they are more relaxed at home. Any piece of information stored on your local machine is prone to be attacked. To tackle this, employees need to be informed of precautions and proper anti-virus software should be installed and monitored by professionals.
Use centralized company storage
All sensitive data needs to be protected in centralized storage locations. Employees must be taught to use centralized data stores to backup any company’s confidential data. This way, there are far fewer chances of data being hacked.
Keeping home workspace separate
Employees must be instructed to strictly sperate their workspace, so not even family members can meddle with their work. Important files and documents must not be left lying around; there are chances that someone may misplace them or children may interfere. Ensuring privacy must be of utmost importance for employees. They should never allow any family member to use their work laptop.
Use a reputable antivirus
Using an antivirus is always a good practice. All employees need to install a reputable antivirus on their local systems to protect them from external attacks, viruses, worms, and trojans. There are numerous free antivirus’ available on the market but if you want to know the best for your business, consult Tech Masters.
Using long passwords
According to Intel Security, longer passwords are better than complicated passwords. Make sure your employees can create a complex password but instruct them to create a lengthy password as it is difficult to break.
Use multifactor authentication
Multi-factor authentication ensures that a real person is accessing a device. With this enabled, even if a password gets stolen, hackers will not be able to access your system. This method requires the employee to provide more than one form of identification.
Important tech gadgets
External webcam
We all know how awful the laptop’s webcam quality can be. Standard webcams doesn’t cut it when attending professional meetings. Your employee should use an external webcam with a higher resolution. A webcam with LED is preferable, but any higher-end webcam will suffice.
Extra Monitor
If your employee’s job requires them to keep lots of tabs open at once, it can be difficult for them to maintain focus. Always staring at one screen can also be tiresome. To overcome these challenges, the employee can use a secondary monitor paired with their computer to increase productivity. With two screens, the employee can work faster, analyze better, and produce optimal results.
Noise cancellation headphones
We highly recommend noise isolation headphones because they provide complete sound isolation, to minimize disturbance. This can boost employee overall performance, as they will only focus on their work and be less distracted. Another advantage they have is the soft ear cushions. These soft cushions provide comfort so the headsets can be used for prolonged durations without causing fatigue.
Wi-Fi extender/booster
Every home has dead spots where the signals from a router don’t reach. This can be distracting when you are working. The employee needs full and strong signals at all times. Using Wi-Fi repeaters, extenders, or booster can help. These devices can boost the signals making them reach every room. With full signals, your employees can attend uninterrupted meetings.
USB hubs and docks
A single laptop does not have enough ports to plug in every device. In this case, your employee can use a USB hub or a dock. They can convert a single type-C port into numerous other ports such as a card reader, HDMI, and extra USB-A ports. With a USB hub, they can connect all their devices without hassle.
Conclusion
Utilizing the right technology can prove to be helpful both for you and your employee. To cope with the pandemic, help your employees adopt the appropriate technology. We hope this article proved invaluable to you.
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