How to Maintain Productivity During the COVID-19 Pandemic

A global pandemic is about one of the worst situations that humans can endure. It has an effect on every person. The CDC is recommending that everyone practice what is called ‘social distancing.’ The unfortunate result of this policy is that many businesses lose access to their onsite workforce. Provided that you are set up to allow your staff to work remotely, you can avoid losing huge swaths of productivity. Today we will discuss some of the considerations and the technology you will need to make this strategy work for you.

The Fear of Infection

One of the biggest concerns for anyone in a time of widespread illness is that they are going to get the disease as well. This makes congregating anywhere an anxiety-filled proposition. This includes going to the workplace. Anxious people are by nature distracted and likely won’t work as well as when their minds are at peace. 

You know how the flu can be passed around the workplace? What if the flu was a disease that spreads easier and has a mortality rate at several hundred percent of the typical flu bug? Materials get passed around, people sneeze, they cough, and next thing you know you have several people calling in sick. 

With COVID-19, this can be a major liability as it is spread by these same respiratory droplets. That is why many places have started to shut down non-essential businesses and force business owners’ hands to set up their staff remotely. Social distancing has proven to “flatten the curve” of infected cases and is about the only thing keeping huge numbers of people from getting the disease.

Fortunately, the technology you need to make this shift isn’t very expensive and can be implemented quickly. Let’s take a look at it.

Working Remotely for Safety

Most of the technology you need is built in or is already utilized by your business. Here are four technologies you will need in order to maintain security and productivity during times like this where your staff doesn’t have access to the office’s equipment:

• Smartphones - Almost every person in your office is bound to carry a smartphone. If you want your employees to be productive in their time away from the office, utilizing smartphones’ ability to house several forms of communication, allowing them access to work information on their personal smartphones is a great option. 
• VPN (Virtual Private Networking) - Transmission of sensitive data requires some type of encryption. The VPN is a great tool to connect and transmit data to centralized infrastructure from outside connections. 
• Cloud solutions - Most businesses use cloud computing in some fashion, but if you are going to take on long-term remote workers, the cloud has extra value. Hosting your computing resources in the cloud enables you to have a reliable and dynamic solution in which to deploy applications, communications, or share data. 
• VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) - Speaking of communications, a Hosted VoIP solution can go a long way toward giving your staff the solutions it needs to keep in constant contact with their contemporaries and your clients. One great feature of VoIP is that most providers have a softphone option that allows you to turn your smartphone into a business phone instantly. 

Staying productive is always a challenge, and that challenge is exacerbated by COVID-19, but if you can get your staff working well from home you will be able to keep this situation from ruining all your hard work. Call SCW at (509) 534-1530 today to learn more about technology solutions that work inside the office and out.