Are you looking to work while traveling on vacation? Learn about the most important tools you will need to work from a hotel.
When it comes to working, most people think it is black-or-white: You either report to the office or telecommute from home. In the wake of the pandemic, a third trend has emerged: work from hotel. With remote workers eager to travel after lockdowns, they now frequently combine a vacation with work.
If you want to try out work from hotel, you must be prepared with the right tools. Without them, you may be unable to effectively perform your duties, potentially raising questions about your ability to work from anywhere. You may also get frustrated and stressed out, which undermines the entire purpose of working from a hotel.
Here are the essential tools that you will need to maximize your work from hotel experience.
You need more hardware than just your laptop when you choose to work from hotel.
Headset / microphone – Hotels may have distracting background noise, such as celebrating guests or ongoing construction, which may spell disaster for remote meetings. You should opt for a headset with a microphone to improve communication clarity. While more expensive, headsets equipped with noise-canceling ability may be worth the price tag.
External hard disk – External hard drives are most frequently used to back up data. These devices also have a relevant use case for work from hotel situations. When hotels have spotty WiFi, you should still be able to access key files, so you can continue working uninterrupted, albeit offline. An external hard drive allows this ability.
USB hub – Most laptops have far fewer ports than desktops. When working on-the-go at a hotel, this lack of ports may limit productivity. Fortunately, a USB hub can connect to a laptop and provide the ports necessary for work. You may opt for a powered hub, so that all connected devices are powered to their maximum voltage.
You must be ready to collaborate efficiently, even though you may be reporting from the hotel’s lounge or cafe.
Project management – One tool that can facilitate collaboration is Trello, which offers project management through a kanban-style interface. If your department has not already implemented a tool like Trello, you should advocate for one, so you can better manage your workflow while on-the-go. When you are working from a hotel, you should also download your project management software on all devices. This availability ensures that you don’t miss out on key deliverables while traveling.
Communication platform – Most workplaces will have an official communication platform, such as Slack or Microsoft Teams. To make the most out of these platforms, you should enable push notifications, so that you don’t overlook important messages while vacationing. You should also consider integrating with other work software, such as your project management platform, so key alerts are further centralized to a single location.
Voice collaboration platform – It may be easy to get lost during a remote meeting when you are in a vacationing state of mind. An AI-powered voice collaboration platform, like Vocol.ai, can help. By using such a platform, you can transcribe online meetings, generate AI summaries and topic highlights, share the transcripts with your comments and even assign action items to your team members. These productivity-enhancing features help you to work smarter, not harder, while traveling.
Because you are not reporting from a normal work environment, you must take extra precaution to be safe.
Malware scanner – Malware of all kinds can pose a significant threat to companies. For example, a senior developer at Ronin downloaded a fake job description that was actually a payload for malware. This phishing attack led to a US$600 million hack of his organization. Even if you think you won't be tricked into interacting with suspicious sites or emails, you should be proactive with a malware scanner when working from a hotel. These tools will identify any possible cybersecurity threats.
Anti-virus software – Enterprises are one of the most frequent targets for virus attacks, often because they are more lucrative. For example, ransomware attacks, which lock workstations or encrypt data in a given computer network, typically extort US$408,000 on average. You must protect your computer with strong anti-virus software that can mitigate the risk of attacks and remove any threats. The right anti-virus software can ensure that you work as safely from a hotel room as you would from the company headquarters.
Virtual private network – Most people conflate a virtual private network (VPN) with privacy: Consumers frequently use a VPN to illegally use software or consume content that is geo-restricted to a particular country or region. However, the main use case for VPNs is to provide a safe working environment for employees. When working from a hotel, you should log into your designated corporate VPN. If your company does not have a designated VPN, you may consider availing one for yourself, which you can use not only at hotels but other venues like coffeeshops and cafes.
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