7th October 2020 | Posted in Cyber Security, IT Services
Being furloughed, self-isolating or just because you and your department are able to work from home, the concept of working remotely is now commonplace. There are however a few pointers for home working that will help maintain professionalism, protect the company and ensure your wellbeing.
As you may not have a home office and a sturdy office chair it can be very easy to adopt the couch or breakfast bar. Try to sit upright keeping your screen at eye level.
Tidy work environment tends to go well with a tidy mind.
Take breaks from your work environment to make a drink and clearly define a start and finish time.
Where possible allocate a place in the home so you have somewhere to start work and somewhere to finish work. This keeps you in the habit of a decent work-life balance.
Distractions can disrupt your working day. Children need attention, pets need walking and partners can be somewhat disruptive. Where possible try to deal with these distractions in the breaks you have assigned according to your schedule.
Teams and Zoom meetings can become awkward if you are still in your pyjamas. Dress appropriately as you don’t know who you may video conference with during the day.
There is nothing worse than a broken phone call or video conference call. Where possible, ensure the internet connection is good avoiding broken or disconnected conversations.
Working from home can make people feel isolated and alone. Teams is a great collaboration tool to instant message, call or video conference with colleagues keeping you in the loop on the business or maybe you just want to say Hi.
The background of your video call can be adapted to be blurred or customized. Personal pictures or window cleaners tend to create distractions and may be seen as unprofessional to clients or co-workers.
Security is one of the main concerns of any remote or kiosk worker. If using your own computer make sure the machine is fully protected against viruses, malware or trojans. When your machine connects to the corporate environment it creates a secure pathway to the files stored on your work network so device security is paramount to not create an easy way into confidential data.
Always ensure the device is locked when not at your machine, this can be set to lock itself after a period of time so this makes sure you are the only one using the machine. It is vital that a secure password policy is implemented. All external connections in the workplace have to be very secure.
Strong passwords have the following characteristics:
One way to do this is to create a password based on a song title, affirmation, or other phrases. For example, the phrase might be: “This May Be One Way to Remember” and the password could be: “TmB1w2R!” or “Tmb1W>r~” or some other variation.
Any VPN links or remote connection software applications such as RDP, Cisco or Netgear should be made using very secure passwords and 2FA where possible.
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