Working from home can at times be compared to Marmite - you either love it or hate it. You have people that regularly work from home and find themselves far more efficient and productive doing so, and then you have people that are generally office-based and fear the loss of the structure of the day and the social interaction.
With the majority of office workers now being asked to work from home, we've spoken to some of our regular home workers to get their 10 top tips for working from home, and how to get the most out of it and still feel connected to the wider team.
1. Do have a good working environment
Sitting up in bed or on the sofa sounds nice, but your back won't thank you as the day goes on. You should try to create a suitable working environment where you can sit up properly and have your laptop at the correct working height. Whether it's sat at the kitchen table or in your study, try and create an area clear of clutter. Why not try re-arranging some of your house plants to make your 'office' more inviting?
2. Do make healthy choices
Stay hydrated - drink water and don't overdo it on the caffeine! Why not keep some fruit or healthy snacks nearby to reduce the temptation of biscuits, chocolates and crisps? You'll thank yourself for it at the end of the day!
3. Do use video, it's good for all parties
Much of communication is non-verbal. Seeing your colleagues, clients or suppliers on video encourages interaction and engagement. But don't forget, everybody else can see you – make sure you're dressed appropriately and you've not just got out of the shower!
4. Do remember you can blur your background when on video calls
Using Microsoft Teams? You can blur your background on video calls, meaning that the pile of your kids' toys in the corner won't be visible. Handy right!? If you're using Zoom, there is a great feature that allows you to create a 'virtual background' – video call while on the moon, anyone?
5. Do remain focused and productive
Don't be tempted to start that new season on Netflix; plan your activities for the day in small sprints with what you want to achieve and deliver on it. This will help get you into a working rhythm and give you a sense of achievement.
6. Do schedule in 'virtual coffee breaks'
Why not schedule 20 minutes in the morning and afternoon to have a short social period with your team? You can all jump on a video call while you recharge your batteries with caffeine and talk about anything but work. Being able to keep some of the social side has a lot of benefits for all involved.
7. Do stay active and get away from your laptop
It's important that you look after your physical and mental health while working from home. Take the dog for a walk, or go for a run, at lunch. Take some scheduled breaks to do something different to help stay active and let your mind reset.
8. Do have some background noise if it helps you focus
If you're the sort of person that finds sitting in silence mind-numbingly boring, why not turn on the radio? Keep the volume low so you can still focus on your tasks and not get distracted. Just like in the office, if you find yourself drifting away from work due to the noise, make sure you refocus yourself.
9. Do have a routine
It's easy to slip into a 'lazy' way of working, potentially even be tempted to stay in your dressing gown all day, but it's important to still have a routine and set your mind up for the day. Try to keep the routine you had when going into the office - wake up, shower, have breakfast - you'll feel far more ready to tackle the day ahead.
And finally, the one that many people dread…
10. Don't worry about the kids/pets coming into the room
Cat jumped up on your keyboard? Your kid asking if they can have some crisps? We're all human and these things happen. Embrace them if they happen to you, and help others feel comfortable when it happens to them - everybody understands the situation that we find ourselves in. We'll all have stories to tell about 'those' moments in the coming weeks!
Now, most of these points will be stating the obvious for those of us that work from home on a regular basis. The challenges that we will all face in the coming weeks are some of the common challenges faced by regular home workers. Once this all dies down, and we are all able to return to the office environment, why not reach out to your colleagues that work from home to make sure they feel part of the team?
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Cyber professionals say that companies involved in the manufacturing industry are more exposed to cyber-attacks. This was revealed by a number of studies produced by the Manufacturers Alliance for Productivity and Innovation (MAPI). According to MAPI; 40% of manufacturing firms experienced a cyber-attack within the last year. Of those attacked, 38% of them suffered over $1 million in damages.
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Over the last week, school leaders have risen to the challenges of the current crisis. It is a reminder of the responsiveness and resilience of our education system, and for those that are living on another planet (or wish they were at the moment!), the government is closing schools as of today to the vast majority of students. Children of key (critical) workers are still able to attend to ensure medical and transport staff can remain at work, but what does this mean for the other students?
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Organisations partner to deliver enhanced connectivity and seamless services for Europe's leading hospitality venues.
Exponential-e has partnered with at‐visions, the specialist global provider of Guest‐Facing Technology for the hospitality and leisure industry, to form the one‐stop shop for all hospitality technology requirements under a single, fully managed, service umbrella.
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Ransomware is malware that encrypts an individual's files so that they no longer have access to them, and subsequently demand payment for the files to be released. Usually the payment is asked to be made in an untraceable cryptocurrency form, such as Bitcoin. The most common way ransomware ends up on an individual's computers is through email spam, which individuals will click on and open.
Unfortunately, the files cannot be decrypted without a mathematical key which is only known by the cyber attacker, and the reason why many individuals tend to pay up. However, many find that despite paying the ransom, their files remain encrypted.
When looking at which countries were affected by ransomware attacks the most, the UK was found to have the highest percentage out of Europe:
Figure 1: Cybercrime Tactics and Techniques: Ransomware Retrospective Report, Malwarebytes
Despite the NHS facing one of the worst ransomware attacks in May 2017 - the WannaCry ransomware attack - which cost the NHS £92m and caused more than 19,000 appointments to be cancelled (The Department of Health), this chart clearly highlights how organisations in the UK still need to invest more into their Cyber Security solutions to stay protected from ransomware attacks.
At Exponential-e, we help organisations that have been affected by ransomware attacks. Our Head of Cyber Consultancy, Mark Belgrove, discusses a real-life cyber attack in the video below, and shares how Exponential-ehelped mediate the situation.
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Phishing is the fraudulent use of electronic communications to try and obtain sensitive information, such as usernames, passwords and credit card details by posing as a legitimate institution. Phishing attacks attempt to get individuals to click on a malicious link and enter confidential information to steal their identity, funds or to be the first step in a serious cyberattack against an organisation.
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All organisations store data, and regardless of whether it's a recipe or an algorithm, this data is an organisation's most prized asset, which is why hackers make it their target. The Cyber Security Breaches Survey 2019 from the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS) found that 32% of businesses identified cyber security breaches or attacks in the last 12 months, which have cost an average of £4,180 in lost data and assets
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Cybercriminals are only getting more cunning and skilful with their cyber attacks, which is bad news for organisations when it comes to meeting privacy and compliance regulations. There can be significant legal implications for organisations if their data is not secure and regulations are not met. For instance, since the GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) came into effect in May 2018, data protection regulators have imposed 114 million euros (approximately 97 million pound) worth of fines under the GDPR regime (GDPR Data Breach Survey 2020 by DLA Piper).
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Exponential-e today announced its partnership with Five9, the leading provider of the Intelligent CX Platform. The collaboration will mark the next stage in the evolution of Exponential-e's UC and CC solution portfolios, providing their teams with the means to design and deliver customer service transformation for clients. This, in turn, will help establish the new breed of contact centre as a critical part of delivering exceptional customer experiences in the new age of rapidly evolving AI technology.
The Five9 intelligent CX platform facilitates billions of call minutes annually, and provides digital engagement, analytics, workflow automation, workforce optimisation, and practical AI to create more human customer experiences, engage and empower contact center agents, and deliver tangible business results. Along with our people and the relationships they bring to our customer engagements, that is what creates our true CX difference.
As the ways in which we communicate and collaborate continue to evolve, the contact centre has become the focal point of many organisations' customer communication strategies. Exponential-e is working closely with a range of organisations across the private and public sectors to accelerate this journey, designing and delivering solutions that optimize the customer journey across every channel - empowering agents to deliver exceptional outcomes, while ensuring productivity and wellbeing are maintained.
Crucially Exponential-e and Five9 share a number of common values, including a focus on reliability, security, innovation, a commitment to service excellence, all delivered through a consultative approach.
The Five9 platform has a key role to play in this journey, providing Exponential-e's own specialists with a range of leading-edge tools to support modern organisations' increasingly sophisticated CX requirements.
Customer service has always been part of our company DNA, and partnering with Five9 was simply a logical next step. When we combine these tools with the right people and processes, I expect the results to be genuinely transformative for our customers, and their customers in turn.
Gareth Hayes
Head of UC & CX, Exponential-e.
Exponential-e's commitment to customer service has always stood out for us, and we're delighted to be partnering with them - not just to explore the full potential of these new solutions, but to ensure the human element remains at the heart of every customer interaction.
Thomas John
VP International, Partner Sales, Five9
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