Two focuses of my blog are Organizational/Management and Workplace Discussions. No matter what sector you’re in, a key to creating a high-impact teams is doing so in ways that don’t hurt the team members and ultimately alienating them. The following contributed post is entitled, Methods For Creating High-Impact Teams That Don’t Alienate Their Methods.
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When you’re part of a world-beating team, you remember the experience for life. There’s nothing quite like it. Things just get done and you wonder why it doesn’t happen in every organisation.
But what makes great teams happen? It’s a bit of a mystery.
In many cases, high-impact teams happen by chance. They just emerge spontaneously when the people and conditions are right. Other times, they occur because senior management put the right incentives in place and hire the correct people for the job.
In many cases, high-impact teams are path-dependent. Small perturbations in the initial conditions carry through, and everything just seems to work from that point onwards.
Creating high-impact teams isn’t an exact science. It isn’t something you can just guarantee. But you can increase the likelihood that your team will cohere by following some best practices. Here’s how to create a high-impact team without alienating any of the members.
Inspire People, Don’t Drive Them
Inspiration is a far more potent force than driving people to excellence. It’s more relaxing too. As a leader, you want to avoid cracking the whip. Instead, you need to find ways to motivate people intrinsically. Ideally, you want them to work hard because they love the job itself.
You see this kind of attitude among employees at most top-tier organizations. The people working there don’t need bossy or authoritarian managers. They’re just happy to get on with the work for the sake of it. It’s motivating in and of itself because it is something that they believe in.
Our educational system doesn’t teach people many important life skills, including the ability to sell. Colleges seem to ignore the fact that we live in a market economy where selling is important. Most people only find out that they need to sell once they leave.
Great teams need people with sales training. These colleagues understand how to communicate the needs of the team to management and customers. Their actions are what make the output of the team valuable. They’re an essential link in the chain.
Think about when you last worked in a high-performance team. There’s a good chance that there was at least one person who could communicate the value of the team to senior management or the public. Without that kind of communicator, the team can’t easily justify itself and, therefore, struggles to find direction.
Get People To Trust You
Trust can be a big issue in teams if colleagues believe that you have ulterior motives. The best way to build trust is to lay out everyone’s incentives on the table and not to hide anything. If you’re trying to create a great team because you want a bonus or promotion, say it. If you’re trying to get a group of people together to create an award-winning product to ensure the survival of the business, don’t keep it a secret. Remember, members of your organization are often far more socially aware than you expect. If they smell a rat, it’ll adversely affect their work.
Three focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money, Business/Entrepreneurship and Organizational/Management Discussions. To ensure the continued operation of your business, you want to maintain and, in some instances, boost your staff’s morale. Strong morale in most instances will correlate with strong productivity. The following contributed post is entitled, Easy Ways To Boost Morale In Your Business.
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Your employees should be the heart of your business. Without their hard work, you can’t succeed. It’s important that your staff know you value them if you’re going to keep morale high in your company. Low morale leads to employees ae less engaged, less productive, and more likely to leave for another job. One of the best things that you can do for your businesses pay attention to the morale in your company and improve it.
A simple way to improve the way that your team feels about your company is to offer good perks for working for you. A benefits package is always attractive, and a good one can improve employee retention.
Offer something that is actually useful, such as a salary exchange scheme for a bike or electronics, vouchers for childcare, or small business health insurance.
You could also less formal perks, such as rewards at the end of a tough project, like a team lunch or after-work drinks.
Communicate
You won’t be able to keep your team happy if you don’t talk to them. An easy way to improve morale is to communicate better. Make sure you’re checking in with your employees all the time. Ask them how they’re feeling, and about the energy in their team. Discuss any challenges that they might be facing and how you can help them. Do this through regular one-to-ones, or in informal chats. Communicating will let you keep an eye on what is working and what isn’t, allowing you to spot and take on any problems before they can grow.
You also need to communicate with your employees about any upcoming changes in your business. Make sure you do this well in advance, so people can feel as though they are being kept up to date and don’t feel as though you’re springing changes on them with no warning.
Remember that your employees are people and should be treated like that. Make them feel that their opinions matter and will be listened to, and involve them in conversations that affect them.
Get Feedback
If your business is struggling to make sales, then don’t struggle with trying to come up with a solution on your own. Instead, remember that you hired your team for their expertise, and ask for feedback.
By taking this route you may discover a new way to make improvements. As an added bonus, this lets them know that their input is valuable to you.
Make Firm Business Decisions
As the owner of a business, you can’t sit on the fence. You have to be decisive. Whatever issues come up, you need to take the time to weigh up the pros and cons, and then make a decision. When you’ve made a choice, stand by it. If something then goes wrong, be honest, learn from the mistake, and move on.
Your employees need to know that they can trust their leaders to guide them in the right direction. It’s far more productive to have a post-mortem on why something didn’t work out than to fail to do anything in the first place.
Two focuses of my blog are Organizational and Management Discussions and Workplace Discussions. Unfortunately in some instances there are issues that need to be worked out in workplaces. At the end of these disputes, there needs to be some form of resolution and this comes in the form of Settlement Agreements. The following contributed post is entitled, What You Need To Know About Settlement Agreements.
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Being called in to have a discussion about your employment can be a shock, or it can be a relief if you’ve suspected something is up. A settlement agreement might be raised with you during a disciplinary matter, a redundancy, or if you have a made a formal complaint. There are lots of reasons that your employer might open discussions with you. Here’s what you need to know about settlement agreements.
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Settlement agreement is the new name for compromise agreement
Settle agreements used to be known as compromise agreements. This name was changed to better reflect what the agreement actually is. A settlement agreement is a way for employees to agree not to bring an employment law claim in return something, usually financial compensation, from the employer. Employers might prefer to use settlement agreements as a security measure to protect their reputation.
They’re not just for dismissals
A settlement agreement doesn’t mean that your employment has to come to an end. Maybe you have raised a grievance about your employment that your employer agrees is valid, but wants to keep confidential. Your employer might want to change the terms of your employment in a way that could be a breach of contract. They may offer compensation under a settlement agreement to do this.
There’s more flexibility than a tribunal decision
Whether the discussions are a surprise or you expected them, there are advantages to negotiating a settlement agreement which you might not be able to achieve through a process server or an employment tribunal claim. For example, as part of a settlement agreement, you might get a reference from your employer which a tribunal couldn’t order.
Legal advice is essential
If your settlement agreement is going to be valid, you must take independent legal advice from a relevant independent adviser. This could be a barrister, solicitor, trade union office or worker in an advice centre if they have certified by a trade union. The adviser must have insurance covering any claim that comes from the advice they give. Your employer might offer to pay for this legal advice, so the requirements of a valid settlement agreement can be met.
Claims you don’t know about can’t be covered
Your employer might ask you to sign a settlement agreement ‘in full and final settlement’. However, if there is a claim that could not have been known about at this time, an exclusion like this isn’t like to be successful.
Discussions will be confidential
If the settlement is being talked about in the context of ongoing employment tribal proceedings, or there is a dispute between parties, any negotiations will be ‘without prejudice’, and may not be referred to before the tribunal. Discussions that are not in the connect of proceedings or a dispute between the parties, then these discussions didn’t used to be confidentially automatically. However, these discussions are now allowed to be kept confidential for unfair dismissal claims, even if there are no existing proceedings or disputes between you and your employer.
Two key focuses of my blog are Current Events and Organizational/Management Discussions. The Coronavirus/Covid-19 pandemic has significantly affected the landscape of most workplaces. A continual consideration for managers is how to maximize employee productivity. The following contributed post is entitled, Effective Ways To Boost Employees Productivity Levels In 2020.
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2020 has been a strange and scary year for everyone thanks to the Coronavirus pandemic. Out of what seemed like nowhere, the entire world was hit hard by the virus, causing many countries to go into complete lockdown and forcing businesses to adapt around these rules. Whether your team worked from home, or you were able to stay open due to being key workers, if your business has made it this far then congratulations! It’s likely that your team has worked hard during these strange months, and you may be beginning to notice a little lackluster in their efforts – and that’s totally understandable given the year we’ve had! However, to ensure your business continues to thrive, it’s your job to keep productivity levels high, and here are some effective ways to boost your employees productivity in 2020.
As a boss, you expect your staff to work hard but sometimes, motivation can drop and a great way to boost their productivity is by giving incentives to your staff. Your employees may already have the advantages of using your Health Reimbursement Account, so you may want to look for more creative incentives! You could offer a day off completely paid if targets are met, or vouchers for money off their favourite brands. Having something exciting to work towards is an extremely effective way of boosting productivity levels, and it’s a great way of saying thank you to your staff for working so hard!
Reevaluate your office layout
Sometimes motivation and productivity levels can drop because of your surroundings. Rooms with little to no natural light, boring and dull decor, and even an office layout can affect this, so shake things up! Provided you’re complying with COVID-19 office regulations, you could experiment with different seating plans, the direction desks are facing, or even treat your staff to brand new office chairs to maximise their comfort while working. A great way of achieving this is by speaking directly to your staff so they can voice their opinions and ideas. Creating an environment where everyone works well will help your business thrive.
Switch up roles
Job roles can become mundane when you do them day in and day out for months or years on end, so why not switch up your employees job roles a little? If possible, allow your team to switch roles for a day or two each week to keep things interesting. Not only that, more ideas and opinions for each job role could lead to bigger things for your business. Obviously, this might not be applicable for specialist job roles, but generic roles such as answering the phone or data entry could be switched up to keep things interesting for your staff.
Millions of businesses have been forced to close thanks to the pandemic, and if yours is still going but your staff are struggling with motivation or productivity, then use this guide to help bring those levels back to where they should be. Remember that showing gratitude for all of your employees hard work will make the world of difference.
A key focus of my blog is Organization/Management Discussions. No matter the industry and no matter how arduous the workplace, the annual corporate Christmas party is a big deal as it’s a time for everyone feel good and fellowship in the organization. As the world eases back to some semblance of normal, it’ll be something workers will look forward to. The following contributed post is entitled, Corporate Christmas Party Planning Success.
If there is one thing that all employees look forward to it is the corporate Christmas party. This is an event that will make sure you end the year on a positive note, giving everyone a morale boost for the coming year.
With everything that has gone on this year especially, it shows us just how important our employees are. As we get to the close of the year, it is the perfect time to host a party (even if it needs to be virtual in your part of the world) and to review your employee benefits for 2021. Head to https://cjfig.com/employee-benefits/ for more advice on this.
With that in mind, read on to discover some top tips on planning your corporate Christmas party, including choosing from all of the Christmas party venues has to offer.
One of the best places to start is by getting feedback on how last year’s party went. It is a good idea to put together a small questionnaire with a number of simple questions for your employees to answer. Examples include: What would you prefer was not included this year? What would you like to see again? What did you think of the venue hire? What was your favourite part of last year’s Christmas party? This will give you a good idea regarding what they like and what they don’t, which will help you to form the basis of this year’s party planning.
The next thing you need to do is set the right date and time. There are two factors that will come into consideration. Firstly, you need to consider your employees’ schedules. When is the ‘official’ last day of work? The party should be on that day. No one wants to come back to work the day after the Christmas party. The second factor is availability. There are many Christmas party venues, however, there are also a lot of companies looking for venues too!
There is a lot that needs to be considered when looking at Christmas party venues. You need somewhere that is convenient. No one wants to spend a fortune on taxis because the venue is far away from a tube station! You also need somewhere that is unique and will get everyone excited about the party. Your employees don’t want to feel like you have simply chosen the cheapest venue that is on offer. After all, your Christmas party is meant to be an opportunity to thank your employees for all of their hard work.
Aside from looking for the best Christmas party venues, you also need to organise entertainment. There are many different options to choose from, including musicians, DJs, magicians, comedians, and much more. The best thing to do is talk to your employees and find out what sort of thing they would like. Of course, your budget is another important element to take into account. Take the time to devise a proper budget, and then decide how much you are going to attribute to each element of the party. It’s vital to spend on the important elements first, i.e. food, drink, and music. These are the things that matter the most. The décor and any other extras can come after this.
Hopefully, you now have all of the advice you need to get started with planning your Christmas party. From choosing the right date and time to assessing Christmas party venues with care, there is a lot to take in, but it will all be worth it in the end when you throw an incredible party.
Three focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money, Business/Entrepreneurship and Organizational/Management Discussions. If you’re in management for a business or an organization of some sort, an important consideration is getting the most out of your staff. Doing so will maximize your employee’s happiness and productivity. The following contributed post is entitled, How to Improve Employee Performance in 4 Easy Steps.
In a business organization, every employee’s performance counts for success or failure. By properly managing their workforce, business owners can improve their quality of services and productivity. However, without adequate knowledge of the critical factors that drive employee performance, it may be hard for you to get the most out of your staff. Are you a boss who wants your employees to utilize their talents to the fullest? The following tips can help you boost your employees’ performance:
1. Empower your workers
The best way to make your employees more efficient is to empower them. Empowerment builds confidence and stimulates creativity and positivity within a team of employees. This in turn increases productivity at the workplace. Equip your employees with the requisite tools and equipment they need to succeed in their job. According to Charlie Nooney of MobiTV, excellent business returns can be achieved when employees feel valued and are well-resourced to perform their tasks. Another way to motivate your workers to do more for the company is to reward them for their success. Empowerment pushes workers to achieve milestones through new innovations.
2. Boost your employees’ health and wellness benefits
Your employees’ health also determines their level of success with your company. As a business owner who is looking for growth, you may want to prioritize their health first. 61% of employees choose to live a healthier lifestyle because their companies offer them effective wellness programs. Having a comprehensive wellness program can improve the health of workers, and help them work better. Thankfully, by partnering with SanaBenefits.com, you can get cost-effective comprehensive health packages for you and workers.
3. Adopt the right communication technologies
In an advanced business world such as that of today, many workforces are decentralized. Therefore, creating effective communication channels is crucial to the success of individual employees. When you implement the appropriate communication technologies, managers can collaborate with their team to increase engagement and boost employees’ performance. Sometimes it takes just freedom of speech to spark creativity in your workers. When you open up communication channels, employees will not only see themselves as instruments for growth; they will be at liberty to perform like business owners. According to Forbes, employees whose voices are heard are about 4.6 times more likely to be productive.
4. Investigate the reasons for low productivity
When employees are struggling to stay productive at work, managers need to investigate the issues surrounding their low productivity. Instead of making ill-advised assumptions, you may want to ask questions and gather some data from your workers. An employee may find it hard to do their job due to insufficient training. There may also be personal issues beyond their control that may be affecting their work output. When you understand the reasons behind your workers’ underperformance, take steps to address them. You may also want to create room for their improvement. Increasing working hours more than 40 hours per week is probably not the best way to increase efficiency. You can improve your employee’s performance using the above easier techniques.
A key focus of my blog is Health/Wellness and Organizational/Management Discussions. If you’re a business owner or in management, a key objective of yours should be to keep your employees and your workplace safe. The following contributed post is entitled, Tips To Keep Your Staff Safe In The Workplace.
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Your staff’s safety in the workplace should certainly be the main priority of yours. When it comes to your workplace, you have a responsibility to your employees in making sure that where they’re working is safe and isn’t going to bring or cause them harm in any way. With that said, here are some tips to keep your staff safe in the workplace.
Safety measures are a great way of ensuring that your staff is being looked after and that there are precautions in place to help avoid injury altogether. This might be in the form of signs and warnings that are placed around the worksite or office, for example. You may want to introduce everyone that comes into the company with an office safety training pack or to have either your HR or operations manager train the staff member in the basics of keeping safe in the office. There are lots of different measures you can take to ensure that your staff is being looked after and it’s up to you as the employer to make sure that these expectations are being met at all times. If not, then you could be liable for legal cases where a staff member has been injured to a lack of safety precautions in place. That’s not a situation you should want to find yourself in.
Have The Right Protective Gear
The right protective gear is important when it comes to keeping safe, and with medical supplies being in demand at the moment due to COVID, this should be a reminder that our health is important. Look at what you might be lacking when it comes to protective gear not only for general work tasks but also those areas of the business where staff might be working with particular machinery that can also pose a danger.
Educate Your Employees
As much as you have a responsibility to your staff, they also have a responsibility for their own wellbeing and that of their colleagues. With that being said, it’s good if you can offer them any additional training that you think they might need when it comes to them staying safe within the workplace. There’s plenty of basic training courses that could be useful for them as well as common courses like First Aid Training, etc. It’s important you have some sort of budget when it comes to staff training.
Encourage Regular Breaks
Regular breaks are a must, and so it’s worth making sure each and every staff member is getting the breaks they need throughout the day. Be strict on ensuring they’re getting up from their desk and not spending their lunch breaks eating in front of their computer. Be the encouragement they need to take a proper break and to ensure regular breaks are also taken throughout the course of the working day.
Safety in the workplace is paramount, so be sure to check that every staff member is ok and that you’re doing all you can for their safety.
A key focus of my blog is Organization/Management Discussions. Across the country, businesses and organizations of all kinds are pondering a return to workplaces. A part of the thought process is doing so as safely as possible. The following contributed post is entitled, Planning A Safe Return To Work Amidst The Pandemic.
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The reopening of businesses around the world after the COVID-19 lockdown has been much awaited by many, but there are many important precautions that you must take to ensure that you can keep yourself, your staff and your customers safe. Luckily it needn’t be as difficult as you might think to plan a safe return to work, as there are a few key areas in which you can focus your efforts to ensure every individual is out of harm’s way. So, if you would like to find out more, then read on to uncover some of the best top tips and tricks that you can make the most of today.
The first step that you must take when opening your business post pandemic involves a thorough deep clean. It’s absolutely vital that you can enlist the support of trusted decontamination services to create a clean and hygienic space in which the virus has no means to flourish. Deep cleaning involves the use of chemicals in order to kill bacteria, so this has to be carried out by an experienced specialist who knows exactly how to handle them. You’ll have ultimate peace of mind when heading back to work knowing that the entire place is spick and span, so it’s a worthwhile investment to undertake.
Social Distancing
Group work, crowded offices and many more socially diverse activities are now a thing of the past, as social distancing measures now require people to maintain a 1-2m distance between one another. This may mean that only a small percentage of your workforce is able to safely return to work, as you should remove furniture such as desks that are connected to be replaced with better suited socially distanced alternatives. It’s a good idea to utilise some kind of floor sticker system that signals to staff when and how to keep their distance, such as 2m markers in the lunch queue that encourage your team to stay safe and separate.
PPE
One recent focus of a risk reduced working environment is PPE. PPE, or personal protective equipment, involves any item that exists to help keep an individual safe. For example, disposable gloves that can be used once and thrown away, face masks for densely populated areas, or alternative face shields for those who find it difficult to breathe in such an accessory. Evidence points towards these PPE items being somewhat effective, so you may find it beneficial to implement these strategies. If you use a pair of disposable gloves or a disposable mask, then always ‘dispose’ of your item after one use. One use is the maximum that you can get from a ‘disposable’ item, and it can even put you in danger if you choose to use it again.
Planning the safest possible return to your workplace for you and your colleagues amidst the ever changing nature of the pandemic has never been so simple when you are able to utilise the top tips and tricks detailed above!
Two focuses of my blog are Business/Entrepreneurship and Organizational and Management Discussions. Whether you’re running a business, a government agency or nonprofit organization, your human resources (HR) component is critical. No matter what your business is, it’s critical that you get the right personal in to optimize your operations. The following contributed post is entitled, HR Mistakes That Will Cost You Big Time.
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Out of all the different facets out of running a business, human resources is probably the one that most employers could happily live without. Not only does it involve a lot of bureaucracy and paperwork shuffling, but it’s also highly regulated, meaning a slip up can land you in some particularly hot water. Here, we’re going to look at the HR tasks that so many employers slip up with, and how to make sure it doesn’t happen to you.
Not acting on employee reports If you want to keep your employees happy, then you need to consider their needs and challenges in the workplace. However, if an employee formally files a report on an issue, investigating and acting on it is more than a case of keeping them happy. If they report an issue that infringes on their rights, such as rights to workplace safety or cases of harassment, you can not only increase the turmoil in the office and the risk of employee turnover, but you can be found negligent and have to pay if the issue turns into a legal case.
Not having an onboarding process When you need new labor in the team, it’s understandable that you might want to get them in their role as soon as possible. However, if you don’t take the time to create a proper onboarding process, they can lack the preparation they need to be as productive as possible. On-the-job training is not as effective as taking the time to help new hires feel at home and learn the ropes in a more relaxed environment before testing them for real.
Forgetting unemployment claims Employees that are fired or who resign have the opportunity to file for employment, which you have to pay for if it is granted. However, a lot of business owners forget that this is a possibility, and might forget to push through a claim, which can cost them literally thousands of dollars. Software like https://unemploymenttracker.com/software/ can make you much less likely to forget it. You’re still going to have to pay unemployment either way if it’s granted, so make sure you pay it promptly to avoid the additional fees.
Failing to keep documents Whether it’s documenting pay stubs, reported issues, past HR meetings, or otherwise, never underestimate the need to keep documents of every interaction between the team and the HR department (even if said department just consists of you right now.) Should there ever be a workplace dispute in how an HR matter was handled, you need to use document management software like https://www.quicksprout.com/best-document-management-software/ to be able to quickly locate the data you need to show what steps you have taken. Failing to have any records can mean not having any proof when you do act in accordance with best practices.
If your company is growing, then you need to think about investing in hiring people who are equipped to fully handle your HR needs. Otherwise, your chances of making mistakes can skyrocket, as can the resulting costs.
Three focuses of my blog is Financial Literacy/Money, Business/Entrepreneurship and Organizational/Management Discussions. Many businesses will have to figure out how to course correct and rebound during the Covid-19 pandemic and in its aftermath. The following contributed post is entitled, Areas of Your Business to Invest in During the Pandemic.
The coronavirus and Covid-19 pandemic has hit the majority of us pretty hard when it comes to business. Whilst the main tragedy of the pandemic has been health consequences, the economy and business have taken a battering too. Countless businesses have collapsed – whether that’s because they have been unable to operate while adhering to lockdown guidelines, or because people are more reluctant to spend their money when their own jobs are on the line. If your business has managed to make it this far, it’s important that you know where you should be investing your money to help to keep things afloat and to keep sales ticking over. Hopefully, some of the advice below will give you a few key areas to focus on!
Marketing
With many companies looking to cut costs, many are making the mistake of cutting marketing when many businesses need marketing now more than ever. It’s going to be hard to get people to part with their cash for non-essential purchases right now, but if you’re going to do it, marketing is going to play a key role. You need to create desire and appeal around your products, placing them in your target demographic’s view as regularly as possible to encourage them to actually purchase what you have to offer. Market is what will help to achieve this. Whether you carry out marketing in-house, or whether you are using a digital marketing company, some key areas to consider include:
● SEO campaigns ● PPC campaigns ● Email marketing campaigns ● Social media marketing campaigns ● Social media influencer collaborations ● Competitions and giveaways
Your Website
If you previously had a brick and mortar based business, chances are many of your sales were carried out in-store. You may have simply had a website as a complementary presence, but may never have invested all too much in it. But now, while people are trying to spend as much time as possible inside their homes, it really is the time to make sure that your website is the absolute best that it can be. This is now going to be the space where customers engage with your brand. It’s about so much more than simply listing your products for sale and seeing if people buy them. You need quality website design and user experience to ensure that people stay on your site, enjoy being on your site and will return to your site. Now, this advice applies to all businesses. Even if you have a restaurant or cafe, you may want to consider providing online orders to generate an income during these trying times. A website is important for every business right now. There are a number of professionals you should collaborate with to get your website up to scratch. We’ll explore a few below.
Website Designers
Website designers know what they’re doing. They know what works on a website. They know what doesn’t work. If you’re avoiding paying for a web designer’s services, it’s worth remembering that various studies have shown that many people decide whether they’re going to stay on a site or click the exit tab within a matter of seconds. You need to make your site look good to get people to stay. You need to make sure your site works to get them to engage with your brand or buy. A consultation with web designers will help to familiarise them with what you’re looking for. This can include information like your brand’s style, its branded colours, its typography, its logo and more. You can also ask for extra marketing features, like a mailing list sign up form, discount pop ups and much more.
Product Photographers
If you’re selling products, you’re going to need some pretty good product photography to make sure they stand out from the crowd. Remember that photos are almost all your customers have to decide whether they want to buy what you’re offering. It gives them a look at what’s on offer. Now, nowadays, many of us try to take product photos ourselves with our smartphones. While smartphone quality is getting better, it can’t mimic the eye, the skill and the expertise of a professional product photographer. Use a professional to display your products in the best light possible.
Copywriters
Copywriters can sell your products and your brand with words. They can craft an “about” page. They can write appealing product descriptions. They can write up FAQs. You name it, a copywriter will be able to take care of it. Never underestimate the power of words on your website.
Cybersecurity
Chances are that you and any of your staff are working from home right now. Cybercriminals are also aware of this and may target your business, identifying it as vulnerable. A switch to remote working can leave all sorts of areas open to attack as you and your team get used to mobile operations. This is why you really need to ramp up your cybersecurity. Again, there are a bunch of areas you can focus on here. These include:
● Making sure staff use approved devices ● Setting up a virtual private network (or “VPN”) ● Training yourself and staff on cybersecurity ● Implementing spam filters to block phishing emails
Product Development
While you may be trying to save money wherever possible, launching a new product could, in fact, make you the money you need to help stay afloat. You may have a product development plan that you’ve been clutching onto since the pandemic hit and if you do, now may be the time to revisit and see if it’s viable to put your product idea into production. Think about how much of an investment you’ll need to make vs the time you’ll need to launch it. If you’re ticking all of the right boxes, then it might be time to put your new product into production to help your business make more money.
Team Building
Any business owner is well aware that team spirit is often what keeps companies afloat during hard times. This can be difficult to maintain when everyone’s working from their own homes and nobody is in direct contact with one another. But it is possible to keep team spirit alive virtually. Make sure to invest in virtual team building in whatever ways possible. Invest in chat or instant messaging software so your team members can chat amongst themselves. Arrange zoom calls for meetings and catch ups. Check in on everyone regularly.
These are just a few areas you may be wise to invest in right now. Each has its own significant perks, so don’t cast any out immediately. Hopefully, some of these suggestions will really help your business to keep going during this difficult year!
