The world is experiencing exceptionally high levels of the flu and the news regarding
COVID-19 (coronavirus) changes daily. Businesses need to ensure that they are prepared to
deal with the impact of these illnesses in the workplace. We have put together some
important recommendations on how you may prepare for possible disruptions to your
normal business operations.

Recommendations

• Maintain Open Lines of Communication
  • Educate employees about the flu and coronavirus, including symptoms and risks,
    and mitigating steps recommended by relevant health authorities.
  • Communicate business continuity plans and keep employees up to date on the
    latest happenings.
•  Establish Protective Measures

Check recommendations issued by public health authorities and take appropriate action in response. The CDC and the State of Massachusetts have several very informative publications that offer employers critical information and proactive steps they can take to
protect their employees.

https://www.cdc.gov/nonpharmaceutical-interventions/pdf/gr-pan-flu-work-set.pdf
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html
https://www.mass.gov/resource/information-on-the-outbreak-of-coronavirus-disease-2019-covid-19

• Plan for Business Continuity

With new pathogens, our changing weather patterns, growing cyber security concerns,
human error and equipment failure, and now the coronavirus businesses need to be
prepared and agile. It is imperative to have a plan to deal with any business consequences
resulting from these threats:

• • Develop and implement your contingency plans for operations and supply-chain
    disruptions that may occur due to travel restrictions in affected areas.
  • Train and cross-train staff members to reallocate tasks from those unable to work.

• Facilitate working from home where applicable by ensuring remote access to resources and
  systems.

More and more organizations are asking their employees to work remotely. It is essential that you have the proper IT systems and collaboration tools in place to keep your employees engaged to minimize disruption to your operations and maintain productivity.

• • Establish Clear Objectives and Expectations

• • • Prior to sending employees home to work, it is important that you agree on
      the firm objectives around the types of work that is required to keep things
      moving forward.
    • Make time to maintain personal connections. Schedule 1 on 1 meetings (in
      person via remote meeting tools). It is important to check-in regularly with
      your remote employees to make sure everyone is on the same page.
    • Encourage employees to create a “virtual watercooler” where they can keep
      connected with their colleagues. Moving to a remote workplace can be
      isolating.

• • Collaborate Effectively
  • • For Microsoft Office 365 users, Teams is a tool that allows remote workers to
      collaborate effectively. Teams is a chat and collaboration platform that
      integrates with other Microsoft applications such as Word, Excel,
      PowerPoint, SharePoint, One Note and Planner. Key functions within Teams
      allows users to access shared files and caletime, and switch easily between voice, video and text chat.ndars, edit collaboratively in real
    • Any documents, spreadsheets, presentations and the like that are shared
      within a Team are synced with a copy stored in Microsoft's OneDrive cloud
      storage and a local SharePoint environment, so every Team member always
      has access to the latest version.
  • Put The Right Tools in Place
  • • A laptop/desktop, monitors, keyboard and mouse, headphones and
    • printer,
    • Phones,
    • Video conferencing capability,
    • Security of their remote devices,
    • Monitoring and maintenance,
    • Remote infrastructure (Secure wireless…)
    • Distribute updated contact lists for employees and customers with secondary
      contact information, including cell phones, home phones, home address etc.

Many companies already have the infrastructure in place to enable their staff to work
remotely. However, if you aren’t prepared to do this, contact InfraNet 781-356-5858 x. 201
to discuss your business continuity needs and how to enable remote working capability,
and/or Teams in your organization.

Stay Well!