Last Thursday, 12^th of March 2020, my wife was asked to self-quarantine. She had been exposed several days prior to someone who had tested positive for COVID-19. We were somewhat troubled at first, but when the initial knee-jerk fear settled down, we went back to the hard data and information that we had long sourced from the World Health Organisation regarding the virus. Her exposure was two days shy of the golden 14-day safety period and she wasn’t showing any symptoms at all.

Misinformation is a major problem

In fact, the biggest problem that we faced with regard to her situation was misinformation. My wife works for the government. She’s a Project Manager with the Philippines’ Department of Education and, while the meeting where she was exposed was known to all, we never expected her own boss to name her along with two other colleagues to the rest of the department. Suspected cases or even confirmed ones are usually never named. It seems to be a global practice in COVID-19 communications and one that prevents suspected cases from being unduly alienated and maligned.

This move led to gossip circulating around their office that the three of them were COVID-19-positive. While my wife has taken it in her stride, it’s clear that there was not a comms protocol in place to ensure that things like this don’t happen. All that’s been ultimately accomplished by this faux pas is causing panic with those who have been in contact with my wife fearing they’ve been infected – they haven’t.

So is the lack of information

In any case, it all turned out to be academic. She was safe at home with me when rumours started circulating among our circle of contacts that Manila would be placed under lockdown within the next few days. It eventually spilled over into social media—including speculation as to what a lockdown actually entailed. Again, with very little in the way of official COVID-19 communications coming out of our local or even national government, resulting in panic amongst the population.

My wife and I experienced that first-hand when we opted to stock up on groceries and other essential supplies in anticipation of the lockdown. When we got there, lines stretched out longer than they would have been during Christmas and New Year’s. Alcohol stocks were completely depleted – we only managed two tiny bottles of the gel-based sanitizers – and trolleys were generally jam-packed with foodstuffs. We had seen the increasingly worrying trend of hoarding on social media and opted to be more measured in our own purchases.

National sources need to be clearer

It was our second hour into queueing up to pay for our purchases when the delayed press conference from our President was aired live over social media. It was one of the first serious COVID-19 communications coming from the government. If we were expecting clarity, we were somewhat disappointed. For one thing, there’s a lot of debate regarding terminology. Many insist that the president called what we have a “community quarantine”—including his own spokesperson. What he specifically said, however, was that “we do not want to use that (term), but it is a lockdown.”

While it was clear that domestic land, air, and sea travel into and out of the capital would be prohibited, how this would be enforced was never covered. Also, why international air travel would not be stopped when it has been a proven global vector for transmission of 2019-NCoV confuses all of us here in the Philippines. He did clearly state that people were to stay at home as much as possible or else practice “social distancing” when out and about—although how this was to be done was never explained either.

Miscommunications can cause even more headaches

The press conference raised more questions than it gave answers. There was no mention of medical response, no guidelines for reporting should one start to feel symptoms of COVID-19, no clear protocols as to what to expect in a hospital. Those answers would come later from industrious independent sources who took it upon themselves to clarify unclear points and even create useful infographics as guides posted on social media.

The reach of these resources is sadly far smaller than that of our national government, and my wife and I are again lucky enough that we fall within that scope. I have an epidemiologist as a friend and he’s the one who invited us to a Viber group that has thus far been our go-to source of reliable and comprehensive information in our country. Sadly, there are only 296,594 members on the group against the population of our capital that sits at 13,923,452—which means that many are still in the dark.

A reliance on social media

For the vast majority of Filipinos in the capital, Facebook is the main source of news. We have extremely affordable smartphones that can retail for less than USD 50 and our telecoms carriers often offer free Facebook browsing. While this has meant that even the segment of the population you would consider indigent has access to news via Facebook, the veracity and quality of the information that they get isn’t always high. Throw in the conflicting news brought about by the messy political situation in the country and you end up with a population that is often confused and panicked.

As a consequence of this lack of information and understanding and an odd “grace period” given prior to imposing a lockdown, many Filipinos flocked to the bus stations—overcrowding them—the day before the March 15 lockdown to flee back to their home provinces. While one can understand the emotional reasoning behind this, one can’t also help but wonder if this has only opened up even more opportunities for the virus to spread out towards areas of the Philippines that were previously unaffected.

Indeed, several passengers on these exodus buses have shown symptoms upon arrival at their destinations. With a clearer rationale behind the lockdown and a more detailed explanation of the beneficial effects of enforcing one, the whole situation could really have been avoided. As a communicator, I told my wife that the government should post a more detailed explanation or even an infographic after the conference. That infographic did eventually come, not from the government, but from that same friend of mine who had been a very reliable source of information for us.

Lockdown +2

It’s just the second day of lockdown here in Manila and the first of a workweek, it’s clear that the lack of effective communications is going to be costly. Day wage earners, government personnel, and those whose companies could not or cannot afford to enact remote work policies are clogging the near-empty roadways desperate for transportation that is lacking. What public transportation is there inevitably becomes packed tight with people—negating social distancing.

Who can blame them? They have mouths to feed, utilities to pay for, futures to secure. While some private services providers have suspended bill payments, many utilities still have due dates that fall within this lockdown. With no word from the government and its relevant bodies regarding economic and labour relief, these people fight their fears and risk infection to stave off the equally real threat of their families starving.

The lessons to be learned

Communication is something that technology today has made so much simpler. There are so many channels available for us to reach out to friends and family, share our lives with the world, and even work remotely. For all those benefits, however, crises like these often serve as a crucible on which the importance of communication becomes apparent. There are several clear lessons to be learned from the crisis here in the Philippines.

Leaders should seize the narrative

Prior to the Presidential press con, there was little in the way of a controlled narrative. Speculation ran rampant and so-called social media warriors spread all manner of misinformation or even outright falsehoods. Ideas like the virus evolving to become airborne in transmission and allegations of it being a bioweapon intermingled with the official facts. Had those in the leadership position effectively taken control and established themselves as credible sources, this could have been avoided.

The same applies to company leaders and businesses. When you take control of the information being spread and ensure that you push only the facts, you minimize fear, panic, and the further propagation of falsehoods. It’s really about being decisive and that’s something that’s been sorely lacking in the country. With no clear plans to alleviate even the most basic needs, people ignore the risks to their health to earn enough to bring food home to their families.

Leaders should understand their stakeholders and leverage more channels

My wife and I are decidedly middle class. We’re privileged. We sit comfortably at home with enough supplies to last several weeks and have access to all the information that we need. We can afford to be skeptical and verify any piece of information across many different sources. We have strong, established contact bases that allow us to get “first dibs” on key official and verified information. Many in the country do not. This shows that the government has a lack of understanding of their stakeholders.

Information campaigns regarding COVID-19 communications should have run the gamut from social media to mainstream media, flyers and even sending people out to the townships to discuss the issues at hand in person. This would have ensured that more people were privy to the right information and the right protocols to follow. As it stands, many don’t even realize that testing and treatment is government-subsidized, accounting for cases of under-reporting and even hospital escapes from sufferers who don’t know better.

Leaders should plan more carefully

I haven’t enough experience or level of expertise to talk about what measures the government should have specifically enacted—or even how they should have addressed the myriad of issues that have and still are cropping up. I do have enough experience in communications to know that what we have is more reactionary than anything else. With proper planning on the key timing of crucial messages pertaining to the COVID-19 crisis, people would never have had to rely on unreliable sources.

Since the first case reported here in December 2019, there has always been the feeling that not enough information is being disseminated by official channels for everyone to prepare properly. There wasn’t a clear COVID-19 communications plan in place. Even now, the manned checkpoints at the fringes of our capital are starting to show signs of cracking as the lines to enter the supposedly locked-down city are starting to run for kilometres. In many cases, protocols for temperature checking have been abandoned altogether. People simply don’t have enough information to act appropriately.

Leaders should be accessible

If there’s one bright spot in this whole crisis locally, it’s that many local business leaders have proven to be experts in their COVID-19 communications in their own right. Many Filipinos have shared on Facebook not just clear, compassionate, and decisive measures from their leaders, but how lines of direct communications have been opened to allow them to address their questions and their fears. Meanwhile, our own town’s leadership has been terribly silent. We only found out of the one confirmed case in our area from a very vocal neighbour.

Accessibility in a crisis matter because people need to have someone to send their questions and clarifications to. People need to be able to voice their fears and vent their frustrations as well. Some of the local government units have been proactive in this regard, opening lines of COVID-19 communications to their citizens. It’s telling that their specific cities are those that are faring the best. With open lines of communication, you afford yourself an avenue to spread and share facts.

Better Comms, Better Future

Without a doubt, this crisis is one of the most challenging we’ve faced globally to date. While there is certainly much to fear, there’s much to hope for as well. The key to ensuring that we remain prepared to weather the storms this crisis brings is to ensure that communications flow smoothly, reaches the most people possible, with honest messaging that will help us situate ourselves and deal with the challenges that COVID-19 brings.

While much responsibility is necessarily placed on the shoulders of national and business leaders, we all really need to play our part in ensuring that the truths that people need to know get out there.

The post COVID-19 communications from behind the Manila lockdown appeared first on ICPlan.

For enterprise users of the Office stack, it’s the innovative new features that Microsoft are rolling out that will make a noticeable difference for end users within organisations.

What’s in a name?

The move towards ‘Microsoft 365’ is partly a move towards what is essentially a cloud-based subscription model. Though the ‘perpetual license’ versions of a majority of Office suite products like Home and Student 2019 will continue to be sold, subscription seems to be the destination Microsoft is trying to reach. Fortunately for end users, this brings with it a slew of features and upgrades with little change to the actual pricing as it stands.

These include the requisite Office apps. So, expect to still be able to enjoy Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Note, and Outlook—which are the most used. You also enjoy Microsoft’s intranet and collaborative platform SharePoint, enterprise social network Yammer, and the increasingly popular communication suite Teams. The announcement from Redwood also highlighted the 1TB of OneDrive storage included as standard, strong security features, continuous tech support and an hour’s worth of Skype calling time.

Microsoft 365 for everybody

While much of this recent announcement is focussing on non-enterprise offerings, the new features will overlap into versions of Microsoft products being used by large enterprise. Microsoft 365 is paving the way for a revitalisation across the board. Emerging technologies like AI and even online monetary transactions are taking centre stage and incorporated in the applications where these technologies are most beneficial. Here are the biggest improvements that you can expect.

Microsoft Word editor improvements

Proofing within Microsoft Word has always been somewhat hit and miss. Without customisations to its dictionary, it’s very easy for the program to overlook simple errors in spelling and grammar. Microsoft 365 seeks to keep people from having to rely on external, third-party software like Grammarly for their document editing needs. To this end, they’ve added far more advanced artificial intelligence capabilities.

Apart from advanced editing features that emphasise better grammar as well as style. It will also include rewrite suggestions to improve the final output as well as anti-plagiarism measures—including a quick-click citation addition tool. Like a lot of AI additions to Microsoft 365, much of this will stem from Azure AI services. While Word is the initial focus of this move, the same features will be rolled out to Outlook and even Microsoft’s proprietary Edge browser (via an extension) as well as other browsers like Google Chrome.

Microsoft PowerPoint Presenter Coach

If you’ve ever found your presentations either too long or too short, Microsoft 365 has you covered. It is rolling out an updated version of Presenter Coach for PowerPoint. The name says is all. Utilising advanced AI analytics, the latest version will actually monitor your speech, tone, and the words you choose as you dry run your presentation. It then gives a post-presentation report that tells you exactly how you have performed.

What’s great about this report is that it’s very comprehensive. You not only get the total time you have covered as well as a slide count, it provides powerful suggestions regarding your pace and cadence. More importantly, it also aids in improving the quality of your overall presentation by noting if you’re simply reading off slides without adding anything substantial. It also tags filler words you might be regularly using without realising or any convoluted phrases that might have slipped in. 

Better connectivity and communications in Microsoft 365

The feature updates for Microsoft 365 when it comes to Teams are subtle but just as relevant—particularly when it comes to collaboration. That’s seen in shared to-do lists within a team, the ability to organise shared calendars that sync in real-time, and even share team passwords. These are timely updates given that the recent and ongoing COVID-19 crisis has driven more companies moving towards a remote work model.

Mobile improvements in Microsoft 365

Whereas Microsoft’s Office suite used to exist as separate applications on mobile platforms. While those separate iterations still exist and function well, for Microsoft 365 they’ve created a single application that brings the functionality of all three together. This lets you interact with different file types without needing to open up a separate app. It certainly speeds up the workflow in instances where you’re working on a document, spreadsheets, and presentations all at once.

More than that, however, this new mobile platform also allows the transformation of images into Word and Excel files with relatively good accuracy—subject, of course, to image quality. There are also built-in actions that cover a wide spectrum of enterprise needs like PDF creation and electronic signing for contracts, Sticky Notes for quick drafting of ideas and facilitated file transfer. Overall it’s a streamlined experience that will make working on the go significantly easier.

More is coming in Microsoft 365

The transition to Microsoft 365 is going to take many more months of implementation and staggered releases. It’s clear, however, that this isn’t just a matter of a mere name change. Microsoft is looking to the future here and is working to ensure that its full range of products are future ready and adapting to evolving trends in both the tech and enterprise world.

The post Microsoft 365: An Overview of what’s to Come appeared first on ICPlan.

Work Life After COVID-19: Speculation and Reality

While China was the first country to fully face the devastating effects of what was then yet-to-be a global pandemic, it’s now become the best indicator of what work life after COVID-19 could look like. In late March of 2020, it began to lift its strict quarantine in the city of Wuhan when, finally, no new infections were being reported. While their efforts have been met with mixed results, the rest of the world is watching with anticipation as the country tries to restart its economy—doubtless taking notes for their own attempts down the line.

However long or short that “line” will be remains to be seen. If the recent spate of lockdown protests in the United States are any indication, many are itching to get back to “business as usual”. While the global Coronavirus recovery numbers are encouraging (at the time of writing they sit at around 1,159,000), it’s clear that it will be a long time before everything—especially in the workplace—will be anywhere close to the normalcy we once knew. The physical, emotional, and psychological toll is simply too great to be batted away.

More than likely much of work life after COVID-19 will resonate facets of our life today that have become the “new” normal. People will be generally wary of large gatherings—as they should be—manned checkpoints armed with portable temperature “guns”, and face masks are going to be in place until a reliable and accessible antibody test and —ultimately— a vaccine is in place. For those who soon return to offices will see much change in the foreseeable future.

The Changes That Might Be: Work Life After COVID-19

The World Health Organization has already released a set of guidelines covering work life after COVID-19 in anticipation of the inevitable return. In it, they cover in great detail many of the things that will likely feature in your workplace when people return. The first of these is a focus on sanitation and cleanliness. Whether by colleagues, cleaning teams or both, your workplace is going to be cleaned more regularly than before.

Although fumigation—which was very popular at the start of the outbreak—has been proven by the US EPA to be ineffective for cleaning contaminated surfaces, wiping them down with liquid cleaning products is. Expect to have your workstations regularly wiped down.

Keeping the (Social) Distance in Work Life After COVID-19

As for the actual look of the offices themselves, commercial real estate firm, Cushman & Wakefield have developed what they call the Six Foot Office. Given the experience, they had aiding over 10,000 companies and organizations in China move a one million-strong workforce back to work, their ideas are interesting to see. Much of the redesign ideas for work life after COVID-19 ready office comes from their own experimentation and testing.

The central guiding principles for the Six Feet Office revolve around concepts familiar to us already: social distancing and better hygiene. To the first end, they call for a reorganization of office workspaces to enforce that distance. The physical spacing of workstations is reinforced by visual signals—like clear and obvious circles embedded on the floor to subconsciously prompt people to keep a distance from their co-workers. Separation is further enforced by barriers between desks.

This they further support by the idea of a clockwise direction-only movement policy in lanes marked by arrows on the floors to get around the office. They cribbed the idea from hospitals they’ve worked with where the policy ensures that—even in the hustle and bustle of a work day—people don’t bump into each other, inadvertently breaking social distancing rules. The challenge, of course, is in shifting “very ingrained behaviours and expectations”, according to their head of Occupier Business Performance, Despina Katsikakis.

The New Face of Meetings

Of course, social distancing for work life after COVID-19 is one thing when people are sitting at their desks. It’s not so easy when you think about how meetings used to be conducted prior to the lockdowns. These were gatherings of varying sizes of people, often cramped in small spaces within the office. Many companies have recognized the danger should work resume and some have taken drastic measures.

When you think about it, however, the solution has been staring us right in the face. For the past weeks, the remote work setups adopted by many companies have paved the way for virtual meetings—as seen in increased usage of platforms like Microsoft Teams and Zoom. It wasn’t easy for some but necessity is the mother of invention and online meetings are pretty much the norm nowadays.

There’s really no reason why a modified form of this setup can’t be utilized even when people are back in the office. Conference rooms can serve as main communications hubs from which those who are initiating a meeting can safely base themselves with all the materials they need. Employee-attendees, in the meantime, can stream meetings via the company’s preferred platform from the safety and comfort of their workstations. The arrangement doesn’t take away the need for connection and interaction, neither does it compromise safety.

Comms Teams Will Take The Lead in Work Life After COVID-19

Apart from their very obvious role in facilitating effective meetings as previously discussed, internal communications teams will have a big role to play in work life after COVID-19. We’ve talked previously about how critical they have been at the start of and through this current crisis, as well as in the ongoing adoption of remote work by many companies. That’s likely to be further built on when we start transitioning back into the office.

Much of the work that communications teams can expect to be doing has to do with ensuring new setups and policies are disseminated and reinforced constantly. Remember the difficulty people experienced in getting used to remote work to begin with? It’s because the accepted way of doing things was turned on its head. This will be the same experience when office life returns.

So visually rich and engaging collateral like infographics, digital signage, training, and videos—are going to be necessary to ensure that everyone knows the rules and what they need to do. There are already highly creative examples like the ones posted in this post that make effective use of eye-catching visuals and easy-to-remember text to get a point across. All of this will then have to be carefully scheduled and planned so as not to overwhelm.

Testing The Waters With Technology

Of course, any information campaign is only as effective as how many people actually action what is being asked. This challenge is in changing embedded behaviour—a difficult task if there ever was one. For Cushman & Wakefield and their Six Feet Office, it’s all about leveraging existing technology. Beacons are installed throughout their office to track their employee’s movements via their phones.

Apart from allowing for a more comprehensive audit of their design, those same beacons can send out warnings to those who are breaking the six-foot limitations in place. This technology and its application are not completely new. They have been used before to gather so-called “people analytics” to aid in the refinement of diversity and inclusion programs within a company. It’s a noble aim, but the application of the technology isn’t without controversy.

Many have likened the application to Orwell’s 1984 and the breach of privacy is certainly something to note. Given the gravity of the risks in work life after COVID-19, the technology might warrant revisiting, but companies need to tread carefully. Besides, with careful communication planning and reinforcement, there might not be a need to go overboard and spend time and resource on tracking technology. Effective communication can reinforce the required behaviour without extra cost.

More Emphasis on Remote Work Options

The COVID-19 pandemic and its associated lockdowns globally has revealed for many companies how business does not stop when it goes remote. While that might not signal a grand shift towards wholly remote work setups, work life after COVID-19 will likely feature at least limited integration of the option for remote work within many companies. After all, the benefits of the model for employers and employees alike is one that has been proven time and time again.

In order to do this, companies need to invest in communication platforms and be clear on what is used for what. Comms heads can and should work alongside their counterparts in IT in uncovering which platforms meet the needs of their company when it comes to remote working. Microsoft and other leaders in the field have stepped up the development of their platforms to provide for the communications and collaboration needs of companies through the crisis and beyond.

Without doubt communications will have a strong part to play in work life after COVID-19. Initially, this will be centered on the education of employees in the shifts in policy that companies are making, and the continuous reinforcement of it. On a wider scale however, comms heads are becoming the go-to people for executives who are starting to realise that a knowledgeable, engaged and aware workforce is key to the survival, growth and prosperity of the organisation post COVID-19.

The post Work Life After COVID-19: New Realities, New Possibilities appeared first on ICPlan.

Much information passes back and forth across the Internet daily. With evolving technology that provides all of us with convenience and ease-of-use comes many different threats to the security and privacy of our most critical and important data. We recognise this as well as our clients’ need for reassurance that what is shared with us, stays with us. This certification is confirmation that we adhere to the best practices in information security management.

What is ISO 27001:2013 Certification?

Put simply ISO 27001 is a framework for managing information security.  It is the globally recognized standard for the management of risks to the security of information held by a company. It was established not just to provide companies with the reassurance that everything with regard to their data is safe and secure. The processes by which a company like ours achieves certification also helps us to uncover any flaws in our protocols and aids us in ensuring that the systems and processes we have in place are world-class.

More than that, it means that we are well-equipped to assess and manage risks as they develop. As part of the long process of accreditation for ISO 27001:2013—the latest version of the certification—we underwent an extensive audit of not just our infrastructure, but our software design and development practices as well.

Our policies and procedures were also carefully scrutinized. These include our data and privacy policies as well as those concerning  customers and third parties. All of this was done to ensure that they meet the highest standards set for information security. Just as important as all these was the review of our security and risk management protocols. Beyond just our systems and policies, our personnel were also trained in the proper implementation of these protocols.

What does ISO 27001:2013 mean for our customers?

What this certification means is that every time our customers work with us, whether it’s using our platform to plan and manage communications or in a consultancy capacity, you can do so with peace of mind that your information assets are secure. You can be confident that any data and information given to us is safe. It also means that we have procedures in place to ensure it remains that way.

This certification also showcases, from an Information Security point of view, that we comply with international best practices and reinforces our focus on maintaining industry-leading security programs and practices.

If you’d like to see our ISO 27001 certificate, you can do so here.

The post Information Security: ICPlan is Now ISO 27001-2013 Certified! appeared first on ICPlan.