The last couple of months have been unlike anything we’ve experienced in the past.  Whether you are a worker on an assembly line, a healthcare employee on the front lines or a back-office staffer, your job has undoubtedly changed. 

As restrictions in states across the country start to lift, your staff probably has some concerns about their own risks in coming back to the office and what that will actually look like. 

Watch the video below for a few tips on adjusting to this new reality where your office environment may look quite different than it did before the pandemic.

Business has permanently changed.  In the early days of COVID-19, many people looked at the pandemic as a temporary setback.  Perhaps due to optimism, they looked at this situation as if working from home or even closing their operation was going to be this thing we do while we hunker down for a few weeks and weather the storm. 

But even as we “reopen”, there is a growing sense that every business is going to have to change moving beyond the immediate crisis. 

There are a few factors leading to this: 

The current pandemic has forced us to look at incident management planing with a real-life crisis that requires fast change in order to remain successful at what we do.

At the time of this recording, we are several weeks into the "new normal" as we adapt to working and living in the age of social distancing.   

So, what has the pandemic taught us about how to use and manage technology into the future to get the best possible outcomes?  I've put together a few stand-outs...

Due to the Coronavirus disruption, many businesses found themselves needing to quickly come up with remote work solutions so their productivity wouldn't plummet.

While some organizations had the infrastructure for a quick transition with minimal disruption, others had to implement "on-the-fly" solutions which, while they got the job done, perhaps weren't the solutions they would have chosen given adequate planning time.  

As a result, there are millions of Americans out there with less than ideal remote workspaces from a security standpoint.   

With so many people working remotely these days, effective communication and collaboration tools are more important than ever. 

Microsoft Teams is an excellent resource to keep your team connected and working cohesively when they can't physically be in the same space.

I've put together 4 tricks to help you get the most out of Microsoft Teams:

As a business owner today, you are now facing unprecedented challenges to help deal with the coronavirus pandemic. You are asked to self-isolate and practice social distancing to “flatten the curve.” You are asked to allow your employees to work from home to reduce possible exposure and slow the spread of COVID-19.

These are all reasonable requests. However, as a business owner you also need to maximize productivity, bring in revenue and try to grow your business in these demanding times. How can you accomplish these goals when your office is now a ghost town and productivity has fallen off a cliff?

In a matter of just a few short weeks, we have gone from living how we’ve always lived to changing just about everything we do. Schools are out for weeks if not months. Cruises have stopped sailing, and air transportation may be next. Bars and restaurants are closing, sporting events are nonexistent and so many people are now unemployed. If you watch the news or follow social media and see the number of infected keep rising, you can’t help but wonder when (or if) life will return to normal.

As a result of these unprecedented life changes in such a short amount of time, so many people today are frozen in fear. They don’t know what they can do and what they can’t do. They’re numb, fearful and questioning everything.

I believe that the accomplished and determined business owners in our world are facing a unique brand of fears: Will I lose sales and revenue due to the coronavirus? What if I have to lay people off? How can I keep my team and keep them working hard? How will I continue to provide for my family? How long will this last?

Here are five steps you can start taking now to stop being frozen in fear and move forward with your business, your family and living your life.

The world is slowing down during this COVID-19 pandemic. Wall Street is being hit hard. People are no longer going out. We’re told to quarantine or self-isolate and not engage in groups.

You can bet there’s one group that’s not slowing down at all. In fact, they’re probably working overtime while the rest of us have our lives turned upside down. Cybercriminals and hackers know there’s no better time to strike than during a global crisis.

• Collaboration Tools
• Management
• Hardware
• Security