Over a year has passed since the pandemic began and vaccines are becoming widely available. In turn, companies have begun gradually bringing staff back into the office. Experts say this may be the new way of doing business—a new hybrid work environment—with some employees working remote while some are in-office.

On episode 32 of TechTalk Detroit, Chuck and Brian discuss this new environment and what you should think about from a safety and security perspective; with tips on how to keep your employees productive and able to collaborate efficiently.

A New Hybrid Work Environment

A year ago, Chuck and Brian discussed how to get everyone working from home quickly. At that point, the thought was to get people up and running—for the time being—until a return to the office was possible. For most businesses, this is no longer the case. Remote work is here to stay.

A lot businesses are going to a new hybrid work environment, having a rotation of staff each week; some working in-office and some working remotely. What are some things to consider?

Safety (2:45)

COVID Protocols and CDC Guidelines

• 6 foot separation
• Masks when not at personal work spaces
• Vaccinations
  • Are you requiring employees be vaccinated before returning to office?
  • Are you incentivizing vaccines to encourage employees receive them?
  • Are you allowing staff their personal choice?

It comes down to bringing everyone back safely and comfortably. Yes, you want your employees to come back and be efficient and productive, but the only way they will do so is if they feel comfortable.

A great way to get a feel for your employees’ comfort levels is to create a poll (3:26). At Vision, we asked our team for their thoughts on coming back to the office and their comfort levels in doing so.

Security (3:56)

• Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) (5:34)
  • Email, Microsoft Office 365, GSuite, or any kind of remote desktop
  • Biggest tool to prevent catastrophic exploit
• VPN (6:21)
  • When users are working from home, their networks are nowhere near as secure as your business’s
  • VPN will require the user at home to connect to our business office opposed to their home network
• EDR (Extended Detection and Response) Platform (7:53)
  • Anti-virus platform
• Training Your Employees (9:23)
  • Your employees are your front line
• MDM (Mobile Device Management) (9:54)
  • Protecting company data from disloyal employees
  • Can lock down and wipe data from stolen hardware
  • Restrict which work stations are accessing your company data

Gap Analysis (11:20)

Take all of the security tips Brian runs through and put those across the top of a spreadsheet. Look at where you are at security-wise today. Do you have any of these in place? From there, y0u can build a plan.

Collaboration (15:23)

Wherever your employees are working from, how do you keep up your collaboration?

• Microsoft Teams (16:03)
• SharePoint (16:23)
  • Access your data from anywhere
  • Next-level cloud platform

Check out some of our past TechTalk Detroit episodes:

TechTalk Detroit EP 31: Microsoft Exchange Hack – Why You Should Be Using Cloud Email

TechTalk Detroit EP 30: Microsoft 365 Add-Ons You Should Be Using

TechTalk Detroit EP 28: IT Budgeting and Planning

TechTalk Detroit EP 27: Is it Time to Switch Your Managed IT Service Provider?