5 Ways To Build Smart Tech Habits In the Office

Turn bad habits into good ones for a healthier business.

Sometimes the small things lead to the most significant problems. An employee visiting a risky website, a password left taped to the bottom of a keyboard, or an unsecured Wi-Fi network can all have serious consequences.

The good news is that’s it’s never too late to turn things around. Hopefully, your business hasn’t fallen prey to a cyberattack, but even if it has, you can take steps to minimize the risk of it happening again.

The key is establishing sensible tech habits in the workplace. Most of it involves good communication. The rest consists of making the most of your IT people — be they in-house or contracted outside services.

Here are some great ways to get started strengthening your business’s approach to tech.

Get To Know Your IT People

Popular culture hasn’t done us a lot of favors for our perceptions of IT staff. Shows like The IT Crowd depict tech staff as nerdy, socially awkward, and out of touch.

There could be an argument saying those stereotypes had their place in the very early days of computing, but they’re much less apt these days.

Still, misunderstandings persist — possibly because many IT departments are set along the outskirt of a company or are entirely off-site.

Try to bring your tech people more into the center of your business where other employees can get to know them, what they do, and — most importantly — how they can help keep everyone up and running.

Your employees need to know who to call when problems happen, and all departments need to be comfortable communicating with one another.

The closer your IT department is to the rest of your business, the more harmonious the relationship becomes. When that happens, all parts of your business benefit.

Establish Solid IT Policies Through Collaboration

Carefully crafted infotech policies can help employees more effectively apply technology to business goals. They provide employees with the operational guidance needed to keep everyone up to speed regarding communication, application, data access, maintenance, and security.

Get your experienced IT staff together with your project leaders and managers to see how infotech can best suit their needs, where to strengthen the links in the IT chain, and how to get all employees on the same page with how to manage IT to their advantage,

The more thorough your infotech policies are at the beginning and how well they’re presented to staff, the more likely they will be followed and executed correctly.

This is particularly important from a security standpoint. If someone fails to follow correct password protocols or conducts risky online behavior, that puts the company’s network and data at risk. Part of the problem is that not all employees understand these risks.

Having IT teams work more closely with other departments and emphasizing proper communication can cut down on these issues.

Establish a Tech Support Chain

Is your computer behaving oddly? Does it make a weird noise during start-up, freeze without warning, or have trouble launching specific applications? Sure, you could take a crack at troubleshooting the problem yourself. Some issues are simple fixes.

Many are not.

Frequently, poking around a system that’s giving you trouble may only end up giving you more trouble. It’s one thing to make a mess out of one work computer’s system, but it’s an entirely different game when it comes to monkeying around with the server.

When things go wrong, who in your business would be the best person to help fix the problem? If you’re a small business without a dedicated IT department, who’s your designated “go-to” person for tech issues? If you contract with an outside service provider, who’s your contact, and what’s the best way to get hold of them?

Turn problems over to the people best suited to handle them. It will save you downtime and keep your systems less vulnerable to outside attacks.

Encourage Good Tech Care

Do your employees treat company equipment with the same concern and care they do with their personal devices.

Actually, this can be a tricky question as many people don’t even treat their own devices with the care that they should.

In either case, you should clarify to staff that company equipment should be treated with a certain amount of respect and care. This stuff is expensive. And more to the point, the data it holds or controls access to and the functions they serve are all crucial to keeping your business up and running efficiently.

If an employee breaks an expensive piece of tech equipment or allows malware onto your network through carelessness, business suffers, and it could even put their jobs at risk.

Make sure employees not only treat your tech with the same respect they would their personal tech — but better whenever possible.

Keep Everyone Informed on the Latest Cyber Threats

If you want to keep your tech in good condition and your business running as healthy as it can, then you also need to pay attention to cyber threats and make sure everyone is up to speed on the latest virus, malware, and ransomware news.

If you’re too busy running your business to keep track of all the news, designate a member of your management or IT team to keep the rest of your organization informed about online risks and new cybersecurity recommendations.

Something as simple as a biweekly email blast to employees can go a long way in keeping your business from being the next news story about a company dealing with devastating ransomware attacks.

It’s Never Too Late To Establish Positive Tech Habits

These suggestions should get you well on your way toward getting employees on board with better technology practices. Once you have sound tech habits in place, you should see a marked improvement in performance, network security, and online productivity.

Moreover, good tech habits at work can be brought home, making everyone’s life easier and more secure.

A good goal for everyone.

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