4 Ways to Ease the Transition to a Remote Workforce
24.03.20 in Blog, Industry News
We understand that the transition to remote working involves more than flipping a switch. That’s why we’ve identified these tips and tools to help organisations better manage newly remote workers.
1. Ensure Effective Communication
Effective communication is critical when shifting from on-site to remote work. Harvard Business Review recommends managers take the following steps to improve engagement and productivity of telecommuting employees:
- Schedule Structured Daily Check-ins – This can be a series of one-on-one calls or a team call. What’s most important is that these check-ins are regular and predictable.
- Provide More Than One Communication Technology Option – Don’t rely on email alone. Video conferencing has advantages for complex conversations, while mobile-enabled individual messaging is excellent for quick collaboration.
- Establish Communication Norms – Regardless of the technology method, it’s crucial to set expectations for frequency, means and ideal timing of communication. For example, “Use videoconferencing for daily check-in meetings, but use IM when something is urgent.”[i]
- “WXYZ” Action Items – WXYZ essentially means to provide those last few details of exactly what’s expected, why and when. Be sure to include things such as: I expect the following deliverable, for this reasons by this date. So for example, you might say: “Can you please review the attached document by close of business today so that I have time to print copies for the board to review during their meeting tomorrow. That extra bit of communication will ensure 100% clarity to everyone collaborating on a project.
2. Address Technology Needs and Security Risks
A telecommuting staff creates unique challenges for your IT team members as they take on more responsibilities than ever before with fewer resources. Here are three best practices for transitioning employees to work remotely, while helping them stay secure:
- Conduct a Survey – After you’ve determined who will be working remotely, survey those employees to find out if they have the tools required to work from home. Do they have an available laptop, mobile phone, and access to high-speed internet? Do they need software installed to do their jobs and communicate with other employees?
- Keep Devices Up to Date – Software updates are patches that often fix security holes. If you want to prevent malicious attacks by shutting the door malware uses to exploit loopholes, it’s critical to keep devices and laptops updated with the latest version of operating software, security software and applications.
- Educate staff on cybersecurity – Don’t assume staff members automatically understand how to handle the enormous responsibility of accessing company data. Educate your employees on how to access information responsibly, and instruct them on any “emerging threats tied to the COVID-19 coronavirus, including new phishing attacks and attempts to steal VPN credentials,” recommends Forbes.[ii]
3. Deploy a Zero-Touch Model for Maintaining Mobile Devices
PC Locs can help facilitate a zero-touch model for deploying and maintaining mobile devices for your staff, ensuring continual access to a ready-to-go device used for employees working from home. The FUYL Tower can help manage devices in these cases:
- Deploying Devices– For employees who do not currently have a device but need access to one, IT teams can provide access to tablets and laptops without any physical interaction via a FUYL Tower 5 or 15.
- Loaner/Break-Fix Devices– If employees currently have a company-owned device at home, but the device breaks or is lost, IT teams can easily swap the broken device or provide a replacement without any physical contact via a FUYL Tower 5 or 15.
Here’s how to maintain a zero-touch model for maintaining mobile devices with the FUYL Tower:
- Choose an accessible location at your facility to place one or more FUYL Tower 5 or 15s.
- Stock the Tower with sanitised, ready-to-go devices.
- When an employee needs a device, IT teams can digitally provide them with a 4-digit PIN code to access an individual compartment of the FUYL Tower.
- IT teams can then retrieve broken devices and/or restock the Tower with new devices as needed.
- With the robust online management portal, IT admins can manage towers remotely. They can track the activity of the Tower to know when the compartment was accessed, reset PINs, open doors, or quarantine doors—all done remotely without any physical contact.
- Beyond the setbacks caused by the Coronavirus epidemic, Towers can continue to eliminate many of the manual processes associated with deploying devices, loaner device programs, break/fix programs or individual public charging for years to come.
4. Keep Company Culture Alive
- Check in with your coworkers, even if it’s something as simple as wishing them a good morning. Remote working can be isolating, so keeping up with regular conversation is a great way to stay positive.
- If you hold social activities during or after work hours, keep those activities alive. For example, our team over in the US usually gathers in the office for “Beer Friday” every Friday afternoon. During this time of office closures, they will continue that tradition, but virtually via a video conference call.
In these extraordinary circumstances, our team remains committed to assisting you in managing your mobile devices to help minimise disruption to your business and employees. You can also get in touch with a PC Locs team member to get a closer look at how our products ease your organisation’s transition to a remote workforce.
Sources
[i] A Guide to Managing Your (Newly) Remote Workers – Harvard Business Review
[ii] Checklist For Companies With Remote Employees Due To COVID-19 – Forbes
Improve Your Attendees’ Event Experience with Easy Access to Secure Charging
20.02.20 in Blog, Industry News
“Where can I charge my phone? Is there a power point around here?” These are the two most popular questions asked of event staff working at the Perth Conference and Exhibition Centre in WA. Followed closely by “What’s for lunch?”
When we’re away from home, traveling, or out and about, many of us spend way too much time worrying about where we can charge our phones. Especially while at a conference trying to get critical work done, using apps that quickly drain batteries. Who hasn’t had that dreaded feeling of despair upon seeing a low battery alert, or felt the anxiety of watching your power drop under 10%, knowing that it’s not even noon and you have a full day ahead?
Fulfilling the need to charge our phones is universal, undeniable, and at times unattainable. The obvious solution is to plug your device into a power socket when it requires recharging. But most buildings aren’t outfitted with enough power points to meet our ever-increasing demand. If you’re lucky enough to find an inconveniently located place to charge, you’d better be up to the challenge of sitting on the floor for half an hour just to get some juice while guarding your phone. That is, assuming you had the foresight to bring along your power adapter.
One remedy for event organizers to meet the charging needs of their attendees is to install additional outlets. But infrastructure updates are costly. Also, outlets don’t provide any protection against breakage or theft. As you can imagine, a convention hall floor is not the safest spot to store a device.
Reacting to this common problem, the team at Seven West Media and Arinex event solutions, the organisers of the hugely successful Resources Technology Showcase 2019, teamed up with PC Locs to come up with an innovative solution. Mobile device charging lockers were deployed at three strategic locations throughout the show: one event charging station on the main exhibition floor for the 6,000 attendees, one in the Seven West Media Hub for journalists and reporters, and one for the keynote speaker sessions allowing the resources sector executives to stay connected.
Easy to use and accessible, FUYL Tower 15 Charging Stations provide an ideal solution to a growing problem. Event phone charging stations can be placed in open public areas where they’re needed most. Working much in the same way as a hotel safe, users choose a locker and assign a PIN to store and charge their device safely. Each compartment is equipped with a power outlet and a 2.4 amp USB port, which charges almost any device, including iPads, tablets, laptops, mobile phones, Chromebooks and more. Fast charging capability, while devices are securely locked away, provide much-needed relief from the angst caused by a dead phone. Charging stations can also save money by eliminating the need to install new power points. Lastly, PC Locs solutions are equipped with an ECO Safe Charge, so you won’t have to worry about electrical overload while charging up to 15 devices at one outlet.
Conveniently located, the Towers were in constant use throughout the Resources Technology Showcase and proved to be a real hit with delegates and staff. This additional resource added a level of comfort and flexibility for visitors, further enhancing their experience.
While we can’t help with your lunch menu, we can help provide the answer to your event’s most common questions about charging and power points. If you would like to learn more about having charging stations at your event, please contact us here.
A Quick Word from PC Locs CEO, James Symons
05.02.20 in Blog
James Symons, CEO of PC Locs, is here to fill you in on what’s happening at PC Locs as we head into 2020.
First, we have some new products and services coming out this year. So be sure to stay tuned throughout 2020 as we make those announcements to the public.
Second, our customers have spoken out time and time again about our exceptional customer service. We are REALLY proud of our Net Promoter Score for Customer Support of 97, which competes with some of the largest tech giants in the world.
Next, for those interested in our products, we highly recommend joining us for a product demo. You’re welcome to stop by any of or showrooms rooms around Australia, or we can come to you via the internet through a live video demonstration. We’re happy to walk you through all the features and benefits of our products and how they will make your life easier for you in your environment.
Finally, we want to thank all of you as our PC Locs customers. It is great doing business with you and we hope 2020 is a fantastic year for all of you!
PC Locs Customer Voices: Director of Instructional Technology Saves Time and Space in Schools with Putnam Charging Station
08.01.20 in Blog, Product News, Testimonials
Charri Stratton, Director of Instructional Technology at Putnam City Schools in Oklahoma City, OK talks about the features of the PC Locs Putnam Charging Station that have allowed her school district to get back valuable teaching time by streamlining hand out and pack up of devices every day.
PC Locs Makes Investment in New Leadership Positions
13.12.19 in Blog, Industry News
Over the past several months, two top-level positions were created at PC Locs, bringing even more talent and expertise to an already top-notch team. With roughly a century of multi-faceted global experience among them, these individuals are well equipped to fuel our fast-growing, multi-national and uniquely cohesive team across the globe.
With every customer interaction, we are committed to providing the best possible experience. By hiring high calibre people, we know we are better able to serve and to meet the needs of our customers and partners. We not only focus on their impressive experience and work history, but also on their dedication and commitment to people. These two new faces are proven leaders at their craft, and they inject energy and new perspectives into their work. We’re proud to tell you a bit more about the two new people who are driving innovation and growth at PC Locs.
Mark Kuna
Chief Financial Officer
Office Location: Madison, Wisconsin, US
Mark once attended the Queen’s Garden Party at Buckingham Palace at the invitation of the Queen. But perhaps more noteworthy is the life he leads among the commoners. He’s a regular Habitat for Humanity volunteer, has held positions on various non-profit boards and government agencies, and enjoys cycling and being in the outdoors.
Professionally, the Australian native has a track record of increasing profits and company value by building and driving superior financial and operations management, leadership, and delivery. Mark is a multi-faceted global executive with extensive financial, operational and strategic experience in public and privately held companies in the United States, Europe and Asia Pacific.
Stephen Baldry
Chief Technology Officer
Office Location: Perth, Australia
An avid kite boarder and mountain biker, Stephen and his wife Cathy prefer camping holidays to hotels. They’ve lived in South Africa, England and Egypt, and have been in Perth for 11 years now. Stephen began in finance, took an opportunity to transfer into IT to help implement the financial modules of an ERP system, then decided to read up on Java programming and has been in software development ever since.
His 20+ years of software development experience in industries including insurance products, manufacturing, oil and gas, treasury management, and agriculture is helping PC Locs bring significant value to our customers through the development of more innovative software products that complement our hardware offerings. Stephen is building up software development, new product development and project management capabilities.
Our goal as a company is to invest in great people so that we can provide products that make life easier for our customers. We strive to solve and anticipate the problems related to physically managing the deployment of mobile devices. We believe the only way to do that is with great products made by great people.