Being able to collaborate effectively online means that modern businesses can allow their employees to be more flexible in their approach to work – they can work from home, from the office, and even anywhere in the world, and still be able to complete their work to a high standard. Maintaining safe collaboration is key so that your employees, clients, and your company’s information are always secure. Read on as we look at how you can stay safe whilst collaborating online.
Collaborating in business
Collaboration plays a key part in businesses in all sectors. Teams must work together to complete tasks efficiently and effectively, and with more of us working remotely, or in a hybrid way, online collaboration has never been more important. Sharing documents, data and information online is necessary so that tasks can be completed just as they would be in the office, but that does mean that information runs the risk of falling into the wrong hands or being compromised. This is why we must consider how we are going to reduce the risk of this happening.
Why do we need safe collaboration?
Collaboration means sharing ideas, as well as documents and information with our colleagues over the internet, whether that’s via a platform specifically designed for this, or email. Whichever way that your business chooses to collaborate, you must ensure that it is safe. If you do not take the time to ensure the information that you share is secure, you could be leaving yourself open to cyberattacks and hackers. If information falls into the wrong hands, your business may be in great financial danger, and you will no longer be seen as a trustworthy business by your customers or clients – after all, it is your duty to protect the information shared with you. Here are a few ways that you can stay safe whilst collaborating effectively online.
Choose a secure platform
The best place to start when collaborating safely is to ensure that you are collaborating using a safe and secure platform. There are a range of apps that you can choose that come with a variety of benefits like private circles, confidential file sharing and encrypted messaging as a standard. You should do your research to choose an app that is most suitable for your business. These apps are often simple to use and can guarantee that information you send online is protected – they can give you greater peace of mind than you would get communicating solely through email.
Encryption
This is something that is often featured in emails and apps – encryption is the process of coding messages so that if it was to be intercepted by a third party, they would not be able to read the message and its contents. Encryption is common within apps and emails, but you should make sure that whichever way you choose to collaborate can offer this so you can be sure information is secure.
Promote staying safe online
When running a business of any size, making sure that your employees are aware of the risks that come along with collaborating online is important. You should make sure that they know how to protect themselves and their information by keeping up to date with training platforms and technology updates. You should encourage your team to use strong and unique passwords that vary with each of their accounts. Employees should also get into the habit of backing up data to an external hard drive to reduce the impact if the information is lost, as well as ensure that they update all technology, software, and tools that they use regularly to reduce the risk of them malfunctioning.
