#workinthetimeofcoronavirus – staying connected, safe and healthy

The scale of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic presents a challenge unlike anything experienced by our inter-connected and globalised community. It’s causing unprecedented confusion, instability and, of course, a risk to life. Intelematics, like every business across the globe, is in uncharted territory.
But there are things we can do to improve our ability to work through this challenge, even as the situation is unfolding. There are steps we can take, right now, that will actively assist us in safeguarding our health, productivity and work culture. Three steps to be precise.

• Stay Connected
• Stay Safe Online
• Stay Healthy

Having completed our transition to a cloud computing solution last year, Intelematics possesses the systems and flexibility to enable employees to work from home without compromising productivity. This is an effective strategy for continuing our work whilst minimising exposure to coronavirus. However, working remotely comes with its own challenges. That’s why we want to share the three steps of connection, safety and health. They apply to us, or indeed, any organisation in a similar situation. We’re guessing that definition applies to a lot of organisations – so let’s get started.

The interpersonal relationships, teamwork and culture of our work environment is one of the best aspects of working at Intelematics. This shouldn’t be surprising; humans are social animals and connecting with other humans makes us feel good. That’s why we’ve been experimenting with different ways of facilitating connection while working remotely.

So far, the most successful platform has been Microsoft Teams, followed by running a Virtual Office Video call during office hours. We’ve found it reliable, easy to use and fit for purpose. It’s our virtual office. Particularly beneficial aspects have been the ability to share and edit documents efficiently, exchange ideas, collaborate using a virtual whiteboard and, of course, see one another.

To get the most out of this platform, it’s vital that when people talk, they turn their cameras on. Not everyone enjoys being on camera, and this is understandable. People often feel uncomfortable with a camera recording them but failing to be physically present when everyone else is visible is like hiding in a box during an in-office meeting. This is hardly conducive to a fruitful discussion!

Working from home means you don’t physically interact with your colleagues and so being able to see one another is hugely important.
The regularity of video meetings is key. It’s better to have frequent, short catch-ups than infrequent catch-ups that go for a long time. For example, one catch-up a month that goes for an hour isn’t as beneficial as two catch-ups a week that go for 10 minutes. These don’t always need a complicated reason for occurring – they can be excellent opportunities to simply, touch base and discuss what people are working on, just like we’d do if we were in a physical office together.

It’s also important to encourage each other to over-communicate. Some people have more of a natural inclination to talk than others. It can be easy for these people to dominate a conversation. When this happens, it’s the loudest ideas that get heard, not necessarily the best. Thankfully, this has a simple fix: questions. We can ask each other questions. Asking different team members for their thoughts, opinions and ideas is a great way to ensure everyone gets a chance to speak.

Another platform that is proving very efficient is Slack. This has become our primary messaging solution and is utilised by the entire team. It’s also handy for 1:1 communication when only a quick chat is needed. It’s easy to use and feels a lot like writing and sending a text message, which adds a degree of familiarity to the discussion.

We’re open to the use of alternative tools, Microsoft Teams remains our go-to video platform internally. For setting up meetings with people outside of Intelematics, so far we found Zoom to be a reliable and accessible platform.

We’re all washing our hands and practising social distancing. We do this to protect our physical health and ‘flatten the curve’. Likewise, there are practices to follow that will protect ourselves online. At Intelematics, our work laptops were refreshed recently, and our infrastructure was migrated into the cloud in late December. Whether it’s for our staff or our customers, we take our security very seriously. To facilitate this, our Cyber Security team have set some rules for us to follow.

1. When working, only use your work computer, with up to date patches – these are monitored and have all the necessary underlying tools to ensure our systems remain safe and are not compromised.
2. Do not work from cafes, libraries or general public Wi-Fi hotspots – all internet traffic between your laptop and other machines on the wifi network is public. You need a private VPN to ensure your traffic is not being accessed. Then, consistently use browser plugins such as HTTPS everywhere to mitigate risk further.
3. Use of Multifactor Authentication for single sign-on – this means you need more than just a username and password to log in.

We’ve recently done a phishing awareness exercise. With lot more people working from home around the world, there has been a spike in this sort of attack. Click here and here to read more about them. 

Additionally, click here for the recommendations from the Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC): 

With the advent of the digital revolution, more and more people have been able to work from home. What many people quickly discover is that working from home comes with a unique set of challenges, particularly to mental and physical health.

The human body has evolved to move, not to sit down. Sitting for long periods of time causes postural issues, muscle tightness and mental lethargy. So set a timer and periodically stand, stretch and move. Even getting up for a glass of water is better than doing nothing. And while we’re discussing sitting, let’s discuss posture. Sitting upright is better for your spine and your mood, whereas slumping will cause back pain and mental fatigue.

Being healthy is, obviously, important. So now is a perfect time to develop and execute an exercise plan or routine. Self-isolating indoors helps prevent the spread of coronavirus, and the downside is it’s extraordinarily bad for your physical fitness. To combat this, there are thousands of exercise videos on YouTube for you to access. Some of the most popular are by Joe Wicks, aka ‘The Body Coach’. These workouts can be done from home. He’s recently adapted his content to coronavirus and provides routines for people to do with their children while home from school. Check him out here.

Exercise by yourself, exercise as a family – just make sure you exercise!
Block out specific time where you’ll work on specific work tasks. It can be all too easy to ‘drift’ and check emails, texts or the 24/7 news coverage of the pandemic. This is a guaranteed way to lose motivation and work inefficiently. So, utilise ‘productivity focus time’. Use your calendar to designate specific blocks of time where you only focus on work. This improves productivity and provides the day with a sense of rhythm and purpose, rather than a dreary eight hours where each hour is indistinguishable from the others.

If you’ve not worked from home before, you may have been looking forward to wearing your pyjamas! Give it a go and see how long you last – you’ll quickly find it’s disastrous for self-esteem. Human’s enjoy, crave and seek variety. If your work clothes and your leisure clothes are the same, then the lines between work and leisure become blurred. This isn’t work-life balance; this is a work-life mess. When it’s time to work, work. When it’s time to relax, relax. Confusing the two means, you’ll be unable to do either. So, turn off messages/emails once the working day is over. Phone calls can still be used for urgent issues.

If you’re reading this and thinking these tips are standard advice for a healthy lifestyle, you’re right, only now their application isn’t just desirable, it’s essential. Having a routine and sticking to it will help. Meditating will help. Eating a healthy diet will help. Staying informed will help – up to a point. However, being constantly exposed to a 24/7 news cycle, is not helpful. We advise turning off or limiting your exposure to social media and only visiting trusted news sources. Staying informed is essential, and so is staying connected, just be mindful about choosing your information sources carefully to avoid becoming overwhelmed. We recommend the coronavirus app that’s been released by the Australian Government. The speed at which this resource has become available is very impressive and provides a centralised hub for official news, advice, press releases and more. Available on iOS here.

There is also an official Australian Government information service available on WhatsApp which provides easily accessible and shareable information. It’s accessible here.

It’s a challenging time —one of the most challenging times any of us have ever experienced. Working from home is a great privilege and advantage. It also requires good discipline. The onus is on all of us to ensure we stay mentally and physically fit, maintain our interpersonal connectivity and productivity, and help each other. It’s never been more important to practice kindness to one other, to be sensitive and have empathy. We’re all in this together, and we’re going to get through this together.