Tips for Staying Connected and Working More Productively on the Go

These days, it’s increasingly common for workers to complete some of their jobs on the go, whether they check emails while waiting for a meeting, write a social media post on public transport, or connect with other team members while working from a café.

Although technology allows people to stay connected and be more productive no matter where they’re located, there are some potential downsides and risks to this trend. To help ensure you and your teams get the most done possible, and keep information safe while you’re at it, read on for some mobility management tips.

Understand the Specific Needs of Your Company and Workers

For starters, it’s important to consider what the specific needs of your company and workers are when it comes to on-the-go interactions and tasks. Each firm and its team works differently, after all, and have different requirements that need to be catered to.

For example, perhaps you have teams of sales reps who are out in the field each day, uploading orders and needing to check available supplies, customer details and the like. Or you could have architects, engineers, builders, or other contractors on building sites, taking photos of progress updates and double-checking work against plans. Alternatively, you may have a large number of employees who spend one or more days per week working from home. If so, they may need access to company documents, reports, systems, and so on.

No matter the business, there are certain things which need to be determined to get the maximum value out of mobility management. Ask yourself who exactly will need mobile access, when (that is, how often and what times of day or night) will they need it, and what do they need to be able to see? Also consider how the firm is growing, and what requirements may have to be met over time.

Investigate Enterprise Tech Solutions

Next, it’s time to investigate enterprise tech solutions which can handle the behind-the-scenes computing tasks required for your workers to enjoy remote access to systems and data. Research a variety of top enterprise mobility management tools which might suit your needs. Search for companies providing these services which are trusted, have a good reputation (particularly when it comes to security), and which are within your budget.

Once you have a shortlist in place, it’s time to ask questions of yourself, and the firms in consideration, in order to decide which company will be the best fit. For example, do you need to give people different permissions and privileges? What integrations will be required? Are there particular devices and operating systems which need to be supported? How will you segregate internal company information and applications from the personal usage and apps of your team members? Do you need to define individual user profiles for the employees you grant mobile access to, and if so, how will this be done?

This is just a sample of issues which have to be discussed with providers before you sign on the dotted line. Also find out from companies the percentage uptime they can guarantee on their Wi-Fi services, and if the coverage is everywhere or limited to only certain areas. Ask about international service, for when employees travel overseas, too.

Think about Securing Information

When you have team members working on the go, it’s imperative that security is tightened so that hackers and other criminals can’t get access to sensitive company and employee information. To guard against this, make sure you choose a mobility management firm that takes security seriously and has protocols in place to safeguard data and networks.

In addition, there are cautionary steps you and your team can take. For instance, make sure devices and Wi-Fi networks are protected with proper passwords (which aren’t easy to guess based on information shared online and elsewhere). Biometric security options, such as fingerprints and eye scans, are good options too. You should also utilize security software and firewalls to help protect against viruses, spam, spyware, ransomware and the like. Try to avoid having lots of data actually stored on gadgets too; instead make use of the Cloud.

Set up Company Policies

Lastly, it’s wise to set up company policies which revolve around mobility management and how devices and systems should be used. You may need to get employees to sign an agreement about who they can allow to access their gadgets and networks and go through what to do if devices are lost or stolen. You should also have lockdown plans in place, so that thieves won’t be able to cause too much harm if they find or take devices; and you should talk to your mobility management partner and IT provider about setting up emergency data-recovery systems.