Security and collaboration tips for running a remote business
It’s the age of the remote employee! Many of today’s businesses operate across continents and time zones, with employees meeting in person once or twice a year—if at all.
When everyone on your team works from different locations, it can feel nearly impossible to get everyone on the same page. However, many modern collaboration and security tools exist specifically for small businesses to keep their teams cohesive. In fact, armed with the right repertoire of tools and programs, your team can function within the same virtual “office” from anywhere in the world.
Collaboration & Organization
One of the most popular questions we answer is, “How do I keep my team on task when we work out of different offices?” 99% of the time, our answer is a collaboration system like Office 365. With file-sharing, group email addresses tied to a custom domain, and ways to hold meetings by video chat or conference call, Office 365 offers the best all-around collaboration techniques for remote small businesses.
For more collaboration tools, check out our in-depth articles on:
- Project management platforms.
- Cloud storage for backing up data and passwords, potentially with tiered access.
- Remote monitoring and management.
- Customer relationship management tools.
Security
When it comes to remote teams, security is the most important factor in keeping your team connected. Collaboration and organization tools are excellent, but how are you keeping sensitive information safe? Especially if your business handles credit cards or bank info, or medical information that must stay HIPAA-compliant, you need to have security tools in place to guarantee that data’s safety.
For example, we mentioned cloud storage as an excellent tool for both organization and collaboration. However, you must ensure that information stored in the cloud stays protected. If a virus put your business laptop through a hard reset tomorrow, would you have access to client data? If an employee’s spouse or child accidentally opened the wrong window on a shared cell phone or tablet, would they be able to see your clients’ credit card numbers?
We’ve spoken at length about business security tools and the importance of data privacy. Some of the most important of these are password protection and top-quality encryption (both of which are available through the GTS Password Portal and GTS Backup, respectively).
If you’re looking for ways to improve efficiency in your remote team, give us a call at (904) 606-6011. We’re here to listen, and we’re here to help. We’ll find creative, collaborative solutions that keep your team on track—and keep your information secure.
