The world around us is changing rapidly. Many governments are entering the "delay" phase of their anti-coronavirus strategy during the coronavirus pandemic. Closing schools and requiring people to work from home are examples of social distancing techniques. People in other parts of the country are being forced or choosing to work remotely to self-isolate or simply help slow the spread of the virus. Many of us can now carry out our daily tasks from the comfort of our couches thanks to the internet era and technological advancements. Though remote working during the corona pandemic can be challenging, people are adapting to it.
Many people already work full-time from the convenience of their own homes or a nearby coffee shop. This luxury, however, comes with drawbacks, primarily in the form of online security threats. Working from home can jeopardize not only remote workers' privacy but it can also undermine company security. If you are intrigued to know tech tips for Remote Workers During COVID-19 to stay safe online, read this article to learn it all.
Tech Tips for Remote Workers During COVID-19
1. Swear By The Use Of VPN
Many people are familiar with using a Virtual Private Network (VPN) to get around geographic restrictions on streaming sites and other location-based content. A VPN is ideal for location spoofing because it tunnels your traffic through a server in the location of your choice. However, a VPN serves another essential purpose: it protects your online privacy. All of your internet traffic is encrypted by a VPN, making it unreadable to anyone who intercepts it. It keeps it hidden from prying eyes, such as your Internet Service Provider (ISP), government agencies, and hackers. It's worth noting that using a VPN can slow down your internet connection. You'll need a VPN that's known for its speed and reliability if you need to perform high-bandwidth tasks like video conference calls.
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2. Be Sure You Are Using Good Internet Connection
The speed and quality of an Internet connection are determined by the service and level of service provided by the customer's Internet Service Provider. Check the level of service you currently have with your ISP before going on an extended work-at-home period, especially if you don't know. Mainly if your work involves teleconferencing, extensive file sharing, video editing, or other bandwidth-intensive tasks, you'll want to know your plan's upload and download speeds. If you think you'll need more bandwidth to work from home, it's a good idea to rethink your service plan now. The reason is that the internet forms the base of your work while working from home, and thus it should be advanced and smooth.
3. Right Monitor Matters
If your laptop has Thunderbolt 3 or USB-C, connecting multiple displays to it is simple. And there's not much you can do to boost your productivity faster than attaching a couple of 4K displays to your laptop that is 27 inches or larger. Suddenly, your laptop becomes a productivity powerhouse. If you're working on a laptop, you have an almost limitless number of layout options. You can prop it up on a stand or buy a vertical laptop stand and keep your laptop closed while using it for an ultra-clean desk. While you're at it, learn how to use split screens and multiple displays in Windows 10 (or Mac, if that's your platform). Your display may have built-in tools for carving up screen real estate to make multitasking easier.
4. Stay Safe From Online Threats or Unsecured Wi-Fi networks
Most workers will work from home to secure their Wi-Fi and secure their Wi-Fi. However, some people may be forced to use unsecured public Wi-Fi networks, which are prime targets for malicious parties looking to monitor internet traffic and collect sensitive data. Personal devices and networks: Many workers will be forced to perform work tasks using personal devices and home networks. Robust antivirus software, customized firewalls, and automatic online backup tools are frequently missing from these. It increases the risk of malware infecting devices and compromising personal and professional information. Scams aimed at remote workers: Malicious campaigns aimed at remote workers are likely to increase. Furthermore, with many employees lacking remote work opportunities, the prevalence of work-from-home scams may rise. Fortunately, armed with tech tips for working from home and the proper knowledge and tools, you can fend off many of these threats and keep working.
5. Choose The Right Equipments
Working from home necessitates a more significant number of video calls. When teams collaborate, they like to see each other, so you'll need a good webcam and headset to ensure a high-quality experience. Using your built-in webcam and essential headphones should suffice, but if you want to improve your experience, purchasing a webcam or headset, especially if you're working at larger monitors, is a good idea. Investing in a good external keyboard and mouse will make a massive difference in your work environment. These input devices are not only more versatile than the built-in options on your laptop, but they're also more comfortable to use. There are many options for both gaming and typing if you want to upgrade to a mechanical keyboard. Just make sure the typing isn't too loud for your family or roommates.
6. Remember To Use Strong Passwords
It's more important than ever to make sure that all of your accounts are password-protected. Many people, unfortunately, still use the same password for multiple accounts. It means that a criminal only needs one compromised password to gain access to all of your accounts. They attempt to log in to other online accounts using leaked usernames and passwords, a technique known as credential stuffing. Every account should have its password, a long string of upper and lower case letters, numbers, and special characters. Remembering all of these passwords is difficult, which is why password managers have become so popular in recent years. You can use a password manager to create, remember, and autofill passwords.
7. Secure Your Data
Data can be lost due to a variety of factors, including human error, hardware damage, or a cyberattack. Ransomware and other types of malware can wipe out entire systems without you noticing. There are several compelling reasons to keep your data backed up. While hardware backups are still an option, storing your data in the cloud is one of the most convenient and cost-effective ways to do so. Cloud backup services provide a plethora of customization options, allowing you to tailor your backup schedule and storage options.
Tips for Managing Remote Employees
- To gain visibility into employees' challenges and concerns, use both direct conversations and indirect observations. Make it clear to employees that you support and care for them at all times.
- Ensure that employees have the technology they require to succeed, which may include more than just a phone and a laptop. Do your employees, for example, have adequate cameras to attend virtual meetings?
- Manager-employee dialogue ensures that communication efforts aid rather than hinder employee engagement.
- During the disruption, role definitions may begin to disintegrate, leaving employees unsure of where to focus their efforts. Concentrate on the tasks that employees should be completing. Focus on objectives rather than processes to give employees more clarity — and to increase employee engagement.
- Allow employees to complete their work most conveniently and productively for them in the remote landscape, where many people juggle work and family commitments from the comfort of their own homes.
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To Summarize
Working from home can prove to be challenging yet fulfilling at the same time. The new model of working has its pros and cons and thus employees must take care of tech tips for working remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic. This will ensure a smooth flow of work and increase work satisfaction. From using the right monitor to backing up the data, each tip mentioned here is indispensable. Both employers and employees are required to cooperate to make this setting work. There is a long way ahead of us in the journey of remote working and thus we should be equipped with the best tips to help us along the path.