Making WFH Safe In 2024: A Guide

Remote work has become the new normal, and social media plays an important role in collaboration and fostering communication. Platforms, once used for social interaction, have become one of the most crucial parts of maintaining effective communication.

Although you might last have heard people discussing the implications of working from home in 2020, a great proportion of workers still perform their duties remotely. However, while this flexibility is effective for many companies, it can put their security at risk. 

This article talks about work from home safety tips and how social media has a huge impact on social media.

Work From Home Safety Tips

Working from home and social media comes with a lot of baggage. The systems are sometimes at risk, and it also becomes difficult to connect to a secured network.

So, here are some of the best work from home safety tips for your employees and your business in 2024. 

Consider Remote Access VPNs

Even though they are working away from the office, your team will still need to access your company’s computer network so that they can download documents and files and access software. To do this, you should provide them with a remote access VPN. 

This can give them a secure connection to your network no matter where they happen to be. This will ensure that they can complete their work efficiently and that they will not have to come into the office to finish tasks. 

However, you should look for one of the latest options. Some of the traditional, outdated, open-source VPN solutions tend to be vulnerable to cyberattacks and do not offer complete network visibility. 

Offer Them Work Laptops

Around 14% of people work from home full-time, and many of these use their personal laptops to complete work. This can help them to finish work quickly as they will know their way around their own computers better and can be cheaper for companies. 

It will also mean that your team can do their work even if they do not own their own computer. However, these laptops might also be vulnerable to cyberattacks as they might not have the correct security software installed on them. 

This means that you should offer your entire team a work laptop that they can take home. This will give you the chance to be in control when it comes to security features. For instance, you can download solutions such as firewalls onto these laptops. 

However, before you give your staff these laptops, you should rule out your employees using their work laptops for personal activities.  

Lock Laptops 

Although you might think that ‘home’ is in the name, many employees will not work exclusively from their abodes and will instead go to coffee shops and libraries for a change of scenery. 

Although you have little say over where they work, working in public spaces can leave your employees and your business vulnerable to crime. For instance, strangers might be able to access your team member’s laptop if they leave it unattended. 

This means that you should encourage your employees to lock their laptops with strong passwords and to switch on automatic locking. You might also give them a talk on the importance of avoiding sensitive and monetary transactions when connected to public Wi-Fi. 

Make Video Calls Secure

To stay in communication with their remote employees, many business owners decide to host video calls a few times a week. Although this can be an effective means of communicating with your team members and imparting information, video calls can be hacked by outsiders. 

This means that you should always use a waiting room for your group video calls to screen who has access to the call, and you should make sure that any links to these calls are kept within the company and not shared further afield.

Impact Of Social Media On Work From Home

Social media helps enhance productivity and maintains a sense of community among workers, even when they are working from different places. Social media plays a huge role in transforming the remote work culture. However, the impacts are not always positive.

Rise Of WFH And Social Media

This sudden change in the work culture, meaning remote work, has changed the entire corporate landscape, and social media plays a very important part in it. With various teams working from different locations, these platforms have become crucial for communication and collaboration. 

More and more organizations are embracing remote work or bringing in a hybrid culture. Social media influences how people engage and connect with their colleagues, and this has helped create a strong bond.

Bridges The Gap Between Colleagues

One of the biggest impacts social media has on WFH is the ability to connect with colleagues. Platforms like X, Slack, and LinkedIn have become virtual watercoolers, which help employees share updates and maintain a sense of fellowship even though they are physically distant. 

Social media helps create a sense of belonging and is known to keep the team spirit alive. It is needed to boost the morale in remote work culture.

Enhances Collaboration And Communication

Effective communication contributes significantly to the success rate of remote work, and social media has made it easy to stay connected. With the help of real-time messaging, collaborative platforms, and video calls, teams function a lot more smoothly, no matter what the location is.

Some software analyzes engagement, making sure that there is consistent communication and everything is aligned with the company goal. This smooth integration of social media into daily work helps streamline the processes and keep everyone informed.

Builds Company Culture

It is difficult to maintain company culture when your organization has a WFH culture. However, social media brings about a solution. It creates a space for team interactions, like Facebook groups or Slack channels.

Organizations create a strong and positive culture that goes above and beyond geographical boundaries. These social media platforms allow employees to share updates, participate in virtual events, and engage in informal conversations, contributing to an inclusive and cohesive work culture.

Managing Work-life Balance

Social media has a lot of positive impacts. However, it sometimes blurs the line between personal life and work. This makes it difficult for remote workers to stop that connection. Constant expectation and notification lead to burnout.

You have to encourage your employees to set some boundaries and take regular breaks, which will help them maintain a healthy work-life balance.

Social Media And Professional Development

Social media is not just a communication and connection tool but also a resource for professional development. Remote workers use different platforms like Twitter, LinkedIn, and other online communities to network with their colleagues, attend events, and can also access a huge amount of educational content.

By utilizing these opportunities, employees have the chance to grow in their careers, even if they are working remotely. You can encourage development and learning through social media, making employees more skilled and motivated.

Future Of Social Media And WFH

Now that you know about the impact social media has on WFH and some of the effective work from home safety tips, you can understand how they are shaping the work culture. This is likely to be enhanced as new tools and platforms emerge.

Organizations embracing this trend and using social media will get a better position in the future. When you stay ahead of the curve and adapt to the changes before anyone else, you create an engaging and dynamic work-from-home culture that supports the success of the business and takes care of the well-being of the people.

Read Also:

• Is The Future Of Work Still Hybrid In 2023?
• The Future Of Work: IT Outsourcing In The Remote Work Era
• How To Build A Strong Remote Team With Video Interviewing Software