As the novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) spreads to more cities across the country, you may begin to worry that you have not done enough to prepare for an outbreak in your community. If you have found yourself wondering how you can protect your staff, or what you would do if social distancing measures forced you to work remotely, you are not alone. However, it is never too late to create a coronavirus readiness plan for your business.
To make sure that your company is not caught by surprise, here are just a few of the steps that you can take to prepare for the spread of coronavirus.
Stay Informed
In order to make sure that your business is prepared for, and your employees are protected against, the potential spread of coronavirus, it is important that you stay informed about the latest news and guidelines relating to the virus and social distancing protocols. The CDC has a lot of resources available on their website that can help you to learn more about how the coronavirus spreads, and what you should do to keep your staff safe in the coming weeks.
The CDC also has special resources available for businesses that can help you to learn more about ways to keep your office clean and your employees healthy as the coronavirus spreads. It is also important that you listen to local, state, and federal recommendations on how businesses should respond to the coronavirus, which may include limiting company functions and implementing social distancing.
Communicate With Staff
Of course, your primary defense against the spread of illness in the office is your staff, which is why it is important that you keep your staff informed on the latest information regarding coronavirus developments and protection. You should also consider messaging staff to remind them to do their part to maintain a healthy work environment by washing their hands frequently, getting enough sleep, and keeping their distance from others when possible. It is also more critical than ever that you encourage sick employees to stay home and that you consider allowing sick employees to work from home for a while once they have recovered.
Create a Remote Work Plan
If more strict social distancing protocols are implemented in your community, you may find that you and your staff are required to shelter-in-place. In order to ensure that you are able to maintain productivity should this happen, it is important that you develop an effective remote work plan that will make it as simple as possible for your staff to work from home. It is important that you think about whether your employees have the necessary tools to work from home, and whether your employees have the ability to easily access business solutions and systems remotely if need be.
You do not want to find out that your staff cannot, or do not know how to, access and complete their work should they be forced to work from home. Consider surveying employees to find out if they have the adequate tools and equipment to work from home, and make plans to help those who do not feel ready to prepare for the possibility of telecommuting. It is also important to assess what jobs can easily be done from home, what positions may need tweaking to accommodate remote work, and if there are any essential jobs that cannot be done remotely.
Invest in Telecommuting Technology
In addition to making sure that your staff is ready to work from home, you will also want to make sure that your company has the right technology and business solutions to support remote work. You will need to make sure that you set up the right collaboration tools such as internal communications programs or secure Wi-Fi networks and access points to allow for remote work. Make sure that your staff has access to, and knows how to use, collaborative software such as Office 365 or Google’s G Suite, as this can be essential in allowing for successful remote collaboration.
Once you know what needs to be done to prepare your company for a coronavirus outbreak, you can create an action plan specific to your business that will ensure that you are ready for anything that may happen in the coming weeks.
Contact us to learn more about solutions that can help your business to prepare for potential social distancing measures and remote work.
The post Late With a Coronavirus Readiness Plan? Here’s What You Can Do appeared first on 4 Corner IT.
