When it comes to working virtually, there are both pros and cons of virtual work environments.
Pros of Virtual Work Environments
Many employees aspire to work from home. What is so great about working from home?
Greater flexibility of your schedule for work-life balance
Greater productivity in a controlled environment with fewer distractions and interruptions
Improved effectiveness and efficiencies in the office with less workspace for employees
Reduced pollution without the commute to/from work
Wider talent pool where you can hire the best without geographic restrictions
Even though there benefits of working at home, what are the drawbacks?
When it comes to collaboration, video conferencing can help facilitate virtual collaboration but there can be challenges without having everyone in the same room. For example, there are fewer nonverbals and often a time lag that leads to multiple people talking at once.
When it comes to cybersecurity and compliance, you need to make sure your employees have the proper computer security and safeguards in place to protect sensitive information.
Employer concerns often revolve around trust and the employee’s ability to get the job done from home efficiently and effectively.
Even though there are some challenges in terms of collaboration, cybersecurity, and employee effectiveness and efficiency, many of these challenges can be overcome with the right tools.
Virtual Collaboration Tools
When it comes to virtual collaboration, you can use team chat apps, screen sharing software, and video conferencing to collaborate with your co-workers or meet with customers.
Chat Apps
Chat Apps are ideal when you want to chat with your team on-demand instead of scheduling a time for a call. Slack is the most popular team chat app, but Microsoft Teams and Google Chat are also popular options.
Video Conferencing
Video calls are a great way to get all your teammates in one meeting! FaceTime and Google Meet works great for one-to-one calls. Slack is great for calls with your team. Zoom, GoToMeeting, Join.me, and Webex are great options as well.
If you are looking for video conferencing, the best app is going to depend on the number of attendees and your software preference (installing software versus follow a link to a web app).
The University of Wisconsin – Whitewater primarily uses Webex. Zoom is a popular choice with our clients because it is easy to join a meeting and it is absolutely free to meet with 1 or 2 other individuals. If you want to host a meeting with more than 3 individuals for over 40 minutes, you will need to upgrade to a premium Zoom account.
Screensharing
To help facilitate discussion, visuals often help. Screensharing allows you to share what is on your screen with others. The whole team can view the same file and take a show rather than tell approach. TeamViewer, Slack, Zoom, Join.me, or GoToMeeting are popular choices.
Computer Security
The IT department likely setup and updated your work computer. However, when you work from home on your home computer, you need to make sure the proper safeguards are in place.
Make sure your computer, browsers, and programs are all up to date! Outdated applications present a great security risk! Also, consider installing antivirus and computer security software (i.e. Norton or McAfee). Additionally, it would be beneficial to install anti-malware software to protect you against malware, ransomware, malicious websites, and other online threats (i.e. Malwarebytes).
Also, it is a best practice to require a password/pin to access your device and to encrypt your entire hard drive. Windows' built-in BitLocker or Mac OS X's FileVault allows you to encrypt your entire hard drive. Alternatively, at a bare minimum, you can manually encrypt folders and files with sensitive information (i.e. account names, SSN, etc.)
Remote Desktop Software
When it comes to accessing files on the internal network, remote desktop apps allow you to securely connect to your work computer from your home location. Depending on your device, you might consider Microsoft’s Remote Desktop, Apple’s Remote Desktop, or Chrome Remote Desktop. For a tool that works across devices, TeamViewer is a great choice. This remote desktop software allows you securely access your company files from your home location.
Employee Effectiveness & Efficiency
To help enable employee effectiveness and efficiencies remotely, file sharing and to-do-list apps are extremely helpful. However, timely communication is the most important factor in building trust with your employer that you are actively working from home.
File Sharing
To share files, you might consider cloud storage. Google Drive, Sync, OneDrive, and Dropbox are fantastic, free options. Box and iCloud might fit your needs, but come at a price.
To-Do List
To keep your to-do list organized, you can always use an excel spreadsheet or a handwritten list. However, if you are looking for an electronic solution, Trello or Asana offer great free plans to test. For more advanced features, Jira, Coda, Airtable, Monday, or Insightly may be a better choice.
Summary
There are plenty of tools that can help you overcome the challenges of working at home remotely! To choose the right one for you, do your research and test a few out to see which one you like best!