5 Tips to Keep Your Team Working
When your systems go down, you have your IT staff or provider bring it back up as soon as possible, and if you have reliable IT support, then you know you’ve got all hands on deck. But what do you do when the power goes out? The utility company may be working on it, but how long will you be down? Consider these 5 tips to stay productive and plan before the next outage.
#1 – Install a UPS on Each Computer
An Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) is a device that provides emergency power when the device it connects to loses power. Rather than the computer/server shutting down improperly, a UPS will provide a short amount (only a few minutes) of reserve power, which will give you time to save your work and shut down the machine properly. Alternatively, if you have too many workstations to buy emergency power for, choose the mission critical machines and install a UPS on these machines only.
#2 – Find a WiFi Signal
With a quality UPS, you might have time to save your work to a cloud storage solution, but with the power down, that means you don’t have access to the internet. The next tip is to find a WiFi signal. There are one of two viable options to seek to regain access to your team’s files:
- Mobile Tethering / Mobile Hotspot: If your organization provides mobile devices to your team, there is a good chance they can enable a hotspot. This will enable your team to communicate with clients, access files saved in the cloud, and work from mobile or tablet devices (Microsoft Office for Mobile)
- Find Nearest WiFi: Luckily, on the off chance that your team does not have mobile data packages, local businesses frequently offer free WiFi to their customers. Run up to the nearest coffee shop or WiFi friendly business.
#3 – Take Advantage of Battery Life
Despite the improvements in battery technology, our mobile devices sometimes burn through their charge faster than we’d like. In a power outage, prioritizing your battery life on critical tasks will be essential to maintaining your productivity. Make sure to power off demanding applications, and if you live in an area where the power goes out frequently, look into an extra battery than can attach to your device.
#4 – Offline Tasks
We’ve now covered ways to ensure your computer powers down properly, that you can get a WiFi signal to communicate with your clientele, and maximizing battery life for your mobile devices. The top priority tasks are handled – but now what?
We often have so much going on that we let some offline tasks slip through the cracks. This is a perfect opportunity to get caught up on file organization, hold team meetings, or discuss ongoing issues within the company.
#5 – Work from Home
Sometimes the power goes out for hours, and all of the above tasks can be handled before the systems go back online. If this is the case, sending your team home with a work laptop can be an effective way to stay productive. At the office, there is nothing they can do, but if they have files stored in the cloud, or work they can complete from home, this may be a rare occasion in which telecommuting can benefit your organization.
The most important thing to stay productive in unique situations is to develop a plan for business continuity. For more tips on how technology can keep your team productive, speak with one of our Virtual Chief Information Officers today!
