Working from home – the new normal or the new risk?
So, working from home is the new normal – right? We’ll never go to the office again – really? The kitchen worktop or the chest of drawers in the spare bedroom makes for a great office – yes? The kids screaming– isn’t an issue, the cat/dog pawing at your leg doesn’t intrude on your train of thought or interrupt the flow of the important client meeting on Zoom or Teams? All is sweet then – carry on!
If you’re fortunate to have an office at home you may be spared some of these intrusions…. but note….. it’s an ‘office’. For most, the home ‘office’ is a ‘make do’. ‘Make do’s are either a pain or a novelty that eventually become a pain. ‘Make do’ spaces are often a borrowed resource with such borrowing sometimes lasting only minutes.
The current crisis is sure to bring about some changes but, is going to the ‘real’ office a thing of the past? For many reasons, we think it unlikely – although for sure, on the back of the novelty factor, the ‘we-can-work-from-home’ brigade , which range from those counting the pennies (believing it will save a fortune) to those with imaginations of a paradise, will strive to prove it is the new normal.
So why do we think the ‘real’ office is still here for a while longer……
Well for one, the majority of businesses are technically not ready. Cyber criminals, though, are very ready! The ‘real office’ may be well firewalled but, the likelihood of this extending to the home office, is small. Wrapped within pages of GDPR legislation, businesses have many legal obligations for securing data – especially that which is personal. Aside the possibility of all company data being encrypted and ransoms demanded, those that flout the regulations can be heavily fined and Directors held accountable. Home working – is it the new normal or is it the new risk – a very big risk!