2020 has been a profoundly difficult year for businesses of all shapes and sizes, spanning across all different industries. The coronavirus and Covid-19 pandemic has wrought havoc with the way that businesses are able to operate and has seen countless companies collapse. There’s mass unemployment and increasing debt all round. So, if you’re running a business, it’s understandable if you’re feeling a little concerned and are actively looking for ways to help your business survive these strange and unprecedented times. Now, there are countless areas you can focus on and all sorts of changes you can make to maximise your chances of staying afloat. But for now, we’ll just focus on a few to get you started out in the right direction!
Accept Change
The first thing you need to do to help your business survive this pandemic is to accept change. Sure, you may be set in your ways with particularly operating procedures and processes. But times and circumstances have changed and your business is going to have to change in line with them in order to get by. If you stick to your usual ways of doing things, your business will quickly start to suffer. This may mean small changes, such as wearing masks and providing hand sanitiser in your commercial premises, or it could mean larger scale changes, as switching to a remote workforce. Whatever your business needs to do to get by, you’re going to have to do it!
Take Cybersecurity Seriously
Cyber security should feature highly in your list of priorities if you’ve switched to a remote workforce. Now, switching to a remote workforce is great and anyone who can do it should do it. It minimises the risk of staff contracting and spreading the virus. However, you do need to really focus on cyber security if your staff are now going to be operating from home. Every business out there is vulnerable if measures aren’t put in place for protection. Cyber criminals know that many businesses are switching to remote work and are vulnerable as a result, as they are just finding their feet and are more likely to slip up. Don’t make the error of believing that cyber criminals only attack the big corporations either. When it comes down to it, they are much more likely to target smaller businesses who are less likely to have invested in cyber security as much. Some key areas to focus on include:
- Training your staff – training your staff in cybersecurity is essential. It will open their eyes to common tactics employed by cyber criminals to access data and documents, including phishing and scam emails. There are a number of cyber security courses that will actively help your staff to avoid falling into cybercriminals’ traps.
- Implementing a VPN – while your staff are working remotely, it’s a good idea to implement a VPN – or a “Virtual Private Network”. This is a network that your staff can connect to while they work, guaranteeing as secure a connection as possible and preventing them from using public networks that are easier to hack into.
- Providing firewall – you should also ensure that all devices employees are using are fitted with a firewall. This will ensure that they are protected against viruses and other forms of attack.
Maintain a Sense of Team Spirit
Another threat to businesses during this pandemic is a lack of team spirit. When team members are working from home, they can quickly begin to feel isolated and disheartened. When it comes down to it, team spirit, bonding and communication are all absolutely essential for your business’ success. If your team can’t work together or communicate well, things can quickly become disjointed and projects and campaigns may not be as successful as you hoped. Discouraged staff also tend to be less productive staff and productivity is key right now. So, you want to keep team spirit alive. Here are some ways that you can achieve this:
- Try virtual team building activities – get employees chatting with one another on a zoom cool and encourage bonds by breaking the virtual ice with virtual team building activities. There are countless games you can play, quizzes and more.
- Hold regular catch ups – managers should also catch up with their team members on a regular basis by call or video call. This will help to keep people on track and feeling welcomed.
- Check in on furloughed or isolating staff – if any staff are unwell or furloughed, still check in with them while they’re off work. This will ensure that they know they are cared about.
These are just a few things you can do to protect your business against threats that this pandemic is likely to pose it with. Hopefully, the above information will give you a helping hand!