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How to Transition Online

The way we do business is quickly changing, and those businesses that are not transitioning online could quickly be left in the dust. 

Especially with the pandemic causing many businesses to shut their doors, the ones without an online presence were definitely effected. 

1. New normal

With everything happening during the current pandemic, it is important to ensure your business is able to resume business as normal, in the event of another state wide shutdown.  

While many businesses are beginning to re-open their doors, there is still a chance in the near future, store fronts may once again have to close their doors to the public. In order to keep your business running as usual, having systems and processes in place to switch your business online is necessary.

2.Preparing for Crisis

If you learned one thing from this pandemic is should be that crisis can strike at any time. This can range from another pandemic to a natural disaster.  Either way, these can quickly and unexpectedly affect your business. 

Having a plan to transition your business online in the event the physical location cannot be accessed, is extremely important in keeping your business running. 

3. Ability to Pickup and Work from Anywhere

The ability to pick up your business and work from anywhere will not only give you a lot of freedom and opportunity in running your business, but can protect you in the event of a crisis, to keep business running. 

Checkout our post on transitioning your business online. 

Returning to Work - COVID-19 Checklist 

As government is beginning to loosen restrictions and regulations after closures from the COVID-19 virus, many businesses are looking to begin re-opening their doors. 

When looking to re-open your business, it is increasingly important to prepare yourself and your business for an overall game plan to keep you, employees, and clients safe.  Use this checklist to jumpstart your return. 

1. Create a "return to work" task force. 

Especially depending open the size of your organization, you will want to slowly start bringing employees back into the office.  Look at appointing individuals or an entire team to lead efforts of optimizing the return to the physical office.

2. Create a “return to office” schedule 

Manage how many people are simultaneously in the office and avoid having too many people at one time.  Instead, develop a schedule on employees needs, abilities, etc. that will allow you to have less people working in common areas at the same time. 

3. Establish an ongoing “work from home” policy 

It is important to ensure your business is not overly crowded at any point in time.  Setup a policy to work from home, and allow those who do not need to be at the physical office, the ability to work from home. 

4. Review and update policies 

Because times have changed, fairly drastically in the last 6 months, it is very important to look at sick leave, vacation time, etc. and update any outdated policies.  Also, consider adding a section on COVID-19, if necessary. 

5. Encourage good hygiene practices in the office.    

When employees begin to enter the workplace again, it is extremely important to set new cleaning standards, and ensure high touch areas are disinfected often.  

Ensure that there is enough cleaning supplies to keep areas disinfected.  Also encourage employees to practice good hygiene.  These practices should include frequent hand washing, eliminating high touch areas, wiping down work spaces, etc. 

Remember that even though businesses are beginning to re-open we are returning as a completely different workforce.  Prepare yourself ahead of time for the changes, to avoid being caught off guard. 

Download the complete checklist from the form below! 

Checkout our post on transitioning your business online. 

How to Have Productive Virtual Meetings 

With many business moving to an online platform - read our latest blog post on how to transition your business online here - one of the biggest ways to be successful in doing so, is to continue to communicate and connect with your team. 

While meetings in person are less frequent, meetings do not need to cease altogether.  Rather, learning how to have productive meetings online can help your business succeed and excel in productivity. 

Here our our 7 tips on how to hold effective virtual meetings: 

1. Schedule the meeting ahead of time

Try not to hold impromptu meetings unless absolutely necessary.  Impromptu meetings without a plan or agenda can be extremely unproductive. 

The best time of day to schedule your meetings are first thing in the morning and late afternoon, as they set the tone for the day or for the next day. While mid-afternoon meetings are typically the least productive times for meetings. 

When scheduling meetings ahead of time ensure everyone is invited to the meeting and knows the overall agenda and objective. 

2. Put together an agenda for the meeting

Have a specific agenda for the meeting along with goals and objectives to be achieved to set the expectations for the meeting.  When these are broken down into tasks and goals to be achieved, everyone can better see what steps need to be taken next.  Don't forget to send out the agenda ahead of time, so everyone involved can come prepared and ask any potential meeting stopping questions before hand. 

3. Turn off distractions

All distractions that could destroy productivity during the meeting should be muted. Require phones to be turned off and email to be closed.  This will ensure that everyone is staying on task and not getting side tracked. 

4. Allow time For announcements and conversation at the beginning

Allow a 5-10 minute segment at the beginning of the meeting to be for conversations and announcements while everyone gets settled.  Especially with many of us working remote, this time allows employees to share random facts before the meeting takes place, preventing distractions. 

5. Work towards a solution

When discussing problems in the meeting, the goal should be to come to a solution on how to resolve that problem.  Rather than discussing the problem for a long period of time, the problem should be identified, and the remainder of the time should be put toward solving it.

6. Honor the purpose of the meeting

Don’t get side tracked by issues or other problems unrelated to the meeting.  Each meeting should have an overall goal and purposed defined before a meeting is scheduled. 

Hold each-other accountable to stay on track and redirect the conversation  back to the purpose of the meeting. If needed, schedule another meeting to discuss any unrelated issues that may be brought up. 

7. Use a reliable source for virtual meetings

Ensure you are using a reliable source for your virtual meetings.  Each platform has its own pros and cons, so evaluate each before making your decision, and ensure all employees know how to use the tool before starting the meeting.  This will ensure no distractions arise preventing the meeting from starting on time.

Some platforms have time restrictions allowed on their free version, so make sure you have the paid version of virtual meeting platforms, if you need extended time. 

Checkout our FREE webinar here to learn more about the importance of a business continuity plan and how to implement one for your business. 

Is Your Wordpress Site Secure or is it a Target for Attack?

Have a secure password

Having a secure password that keeps hackers out in the first place is crucial to avoiding attacks on your Wordpress site. 

When choosing a password, it should not be one that you use commonly on other sites or easy to guess.  We recommend using the four word method by preshing.com.  

This method involves using 4 common radome words to make a password that is secure and easy to remember.  

Password management tools are also a great resource to store passwords in a secure format and also allow you to update passwords with a click of a button!

Ensure that plugins and updates are complete 

Security Plugin

Having a security plugin that monitors your sites over all health can lead to insights and potential threats before they are a problem. 

These are great plugins to have as they will email you as plugins need updates, potential issues, logins, and threats made against your account.  

Install and SSL Certificates

An SSL Certificates are an encrypted channel between user and server.  These sites are more secure as they create a secure link between the website and the visitor. 

Don’t Login on Public WI-FI

Public WiFi is a very un-secure space, especially for important data and information.  It is very easy for hackers to gain access to public WiFi and steel credentials or gain access to data. 

Backup site

The truth is mistakes, disasters, and attacks can happen even if you do everything perfect! Prevention is the first step in preventing loss of valuable data or information, but preparation and planning can make or break your business. 

Always have a secure and up to date backup, so in the event of disaster you can recover your data. 

For more information on how to secure your business and data, and setup employees to work from home, contact us today! 

Scammers targeting COVID-19 

Streaming Services

Netflix, Hulu, etc. 

Working from home (WFH)

Dropbox

file sync and share tool

How Dropbox can help

Things you are already doing

• Taking notes during meetings
• Creating a tasks or to-do list
• Brainstorming
• Accessing files
  
  

Slack 

Instant Messaging Software

Things you are already doing

• messaging with your teammates/coworkers - emailing, texting, and instant messaging 
• Organizing content

How slack can help

Things you are already doing 

How to Work Remote from Home in a Secure & Productive Manner

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