With the country having entered the final stages of level two this week, it seems that New Zealand will once again start to feel like it's back to normal. Many people will be looking forward to seeing the newest Bond flick with their friends, enjoying larger gatherings and no longer toting facemasks on public transport, and these are just a few of the many differences - or perhaps normals - for many of us. We can potentially explore the country without restraints and sit in restaurants without feeling like we are VIP’s to be checked off the list.
Despite the ‘normal routine’ New Zealanders will be returning to, it's now more important than ever to reflect on the changes your business has encountered over the past couple of months.
A large portion of people have found they have enjoyed working remotely from home or breaking up their work-week with a combination of remote and office work. This has been a good test of your business backups and remote access plans to ensure you could operate as normal as possible. However, it's important to ensure that your IT does not take the back seat as you are trying to regulate your work routine and recover from a period of potential hardship in both personal and professional scenarios.
Although businesses were able to operate remotely if deemed necessary, it is beneficial to ask yourself ‘’Were there some improvements that could be made to make the transition smoother if this were to happen again?” “Were there some oversights due to the accelerated speed in which your business had to adapt?” or perhaps “What processes do we need to have in place for next time?”.
It is also important for you to be aware of the risks of some of your employee's working remotely. There has been a steady rise of cyber-criminal activity that is likely the by-product of a large portion of the world still being in lockdown. Note that your personal home or public WiFI may not be as secure as the one from the office. You also may not have as much control over your operations if your business utilises a specific DNS AdBlocker or the redundancies that your business has in place. Note also that just because the country opens up again and the new normal is well established, that your employees may still prefer to work from home or break up their week.
Reflect on when the last time your business software was fully updated, or if there may be some other programmes available to help optimise any future transitions. Updating software and ensuring that processes are seamless in all scenarios is a good way to ensure stability and resilience for your clients and your company.