Tip of the Week: Keeping Productivity Up When the Internet is Down

Modern businesses rely pretty heavily on the Internet--so much so that, should the Internet go down, many employees will find themselves at a loss as what to do. However, there’s no need to sacrifice productivity just because your Internet isn’t cooperating. There are plenty of ways to get something done on a day that the Internet calls in sick, which we’ll go over for today’s tip.

Tidy Up
Regardless of the season, an Internet outage is an excellent opportunity to do some spring cleaning. Whether your workspace itself is getting a little cluttered, or the files on your local network need to be organized, what better time is there to make sure things are spic-and-span?

Making sure that your workspace is tidy, and that your employees do the same, can also have benefits that will impact each employee and your organizational collaboration. An organized desk features fewer distractions than a cluttered one, and makes resources easier for someone else to find, should the desk’s tenant be out that day.

This benefit extends to storage space around the office. A cluttered cabinet is one that’s hard to find things in. Taking the time to tidy it up will help you save time later, and doing it during an Internet outage means that you aren’t taking up time that could be spent doing something else.

If you still have access to your data storage, take the opportunity to organize them. Folders are your friend in this case, as you can develop a hierarchy that permits you to arrange those ‘loose’ files scattered around your desktop into a concise and logical system, making them much easier to find.

Teamwork!
If there’s one weakness to a workplace being so technology-intensive, it’s the boundaries that it can put up between team members. Communicating through a screen all day doesn’t allow for the camaraderie that some old-fashioned facetime can develop, which can lead to improved synergy and productivity when working collaboratively. If your Internet fails you, you may want to take advantage of that time to encourage some face-to-face interactions.

Whether they take the opportunity to hold meetings or fraternize with other departments, your employees can engage in some team building as they wait for Internet access to return. Alternatively, they can also meet up and discuss ideas they may have and never had the opportunity to share before.

It isn’t just your employees who can benefit from this, either. Letting your employees get to know you a little better, and vice versa, can help keep them engaged and allow you to understand who they are a little better as you manage them. This allows you to better sculpt your management style to suit each employee, maximizing your impact.

Go Mobile
Many employers may find that mobile devices can be distracting in the office, they can be a real blessing as well. Should your Internet fail you, your team may be able to continue working on some of their tasks by utilizing their mobile data, either as a part of a BYOD strategy with data reimbursement, or on a company-provided device. For assistance in setting up these solutions, reach out to us.

What are some of the things you do to combat the loss of productivity due to an Internet outage? Share your strategies in the comments!