Remote Work

Evaluate Your Remote Work Readiness

Organizational preparedness:

•  Does your business have the appropriate remote desktop or VPN (Virtual Private Network) licenses?
•  Do you have enough hardware to support remote functions? (i.e. laptops)?
•  Can your internet handle the increase in bandwidth to support users accessing remotely?

Employee preparedness:

•  As an employee, can you access the office network through a VPN or do you have another means of remote access?
•  Can all employees reach email and file shares?
•  Can teams access large files and not oversaturate your business internet connection?
•  Are all employees able to receive business phone calls on their home or cell phones?
•  Can employees dial out through the company phone system to mask their personal numbers?

Ask a Few Employees to Test It Out

To make sure that all of your bases are covered, ask a few employees from different departments to work from home for a full day to test out your remote work readiness. We’ve designed a simple checklist for potential remote workers to complete throughout their day. This will help you gain a better understanding of what areas you might need to improve to be ready to make the switch if the need arises. Below are a few examples of questions, but make sure to customize them to fit the needs of your specific environment.

Here are a few key questions to help you get started:

•  Can your laptop reach www.google.com when on your home network?
•  Can your laptop connect to the remote access solution?
•  Can your laptop reach files on the server? Can you open those files?
•  Can you open your email on your laptop?
•  If you place a test phone call from your personal home phone to your office phone number, does it ring on the desired destination (for example, your cell phone)?
•  If you call into the company phone system and dial out, does it allow you to place a call?

Make sure that you have covered and tested all functional areas for a full day with their complete job list. Make sure to include HR, Finance, Engineering, and beyond (for example, payroll, accounting systems, printing checks, accessing CAD files, etc.).

Identify your gaps and take steps to remedy them. If any of the questions above tripped you up, don’t worry – you are in the same boat as most organizations at this time. Every workplace is unique and thus your journey to being remote work ready will depend on a variety of factors.  Take a critical look at your organization to effectively prepare for the reality that COVID-19 might soon present to us.

How Can We Help?

We understand this is a moment of uncertainty for many people, and we’re here to help. Our team is prepared to work alongside you to determine your best options around remote work readiness, business continuity planning, cybersecurity, and rapid response projects to help make your transitions as smooth as possible.

As more information is released, we will continue to share updates with you on how to prepare. In the meantime, reach out to your client success manager to review your plans today.