Remote work has cemented itself in today’s business environment, but there are some issues regarding whether or not people can effectively work outside of the office. In particular, the idea of a workation has sprung up in that people are working while going on a vacation. This “workation” trend is one that must be examined.
What is a Workation?
A working vacation is not a new thing, but with the recent surge in remote work, more people than ever before are taking vacations and working remotely at their vacation destination. Maybe someone wants to spend some time on the beach instead of cooped up in their home office. In essence, a workation is like a hybrid mix of a vacation mixed with the workday, and it’s only really possible because of remote work. Notably, however, a workation is a break from the office rather than a break from work, and it does not yield the restfulness that a traditional vacation might bring.
The benefits of a workation are pretty straightforward:
- By allowing the employee to engage in recreational activities when they aren’t working, they are able to be more relaxed when they are. Even the change in environment can have a positive impact on overall productivity.
- Offering the capability to partake in a workation can be a significant draw for new employees.
- A workation can also expand on the perspective that an employee has, not only refreshing them and their productivity but giving them new ideas to implement.
All that said, there are certain drawbacks to workations. For example, there might be delays in communication if people are working remotely while on vacation. A workation can also make things more difficult for scheduling meetings and collaborating.
Allowing for workations is your decision ultimately, but we want to give you some tips for how to make them work for your business. You can apply these same principles to remote work in general, too.
How to Ensure That Your Workation is Secure
The place of work is irrelevant when it comes to network security. You need to have a plan in place to keep your network safe. Here are some of the recommendations we have in this regard:
- Use a VPN - You want to ensure that your business’ communications remain secure, regardless of where your team members are working from. A virtual private network can help you accomplish as much.
- Enforce Multi-Factor Authentication - Multi-Factor Authentication (or MFA) is a great way to double-down on the protections that are afforded to you by your typical username-password authentication.
- Educate Your Team - Your team members will be your biggest vulnerability against cyberthreats, unless you train them to be an asset. Making sure they know how to spot threats, and how they should react when they do, will be crucial to preventing issues from arising… particularly while working remotely.
What are your thoughts on the workation? Do you think it’s worth a shot, or do you think it’s not worth the effort or risk? Let us know in the comments.
