This year’s Black Friday and Cyber Monday rush was, well, a bit of a let-down. Everyone’s probably seen the viral video of a single customer turning up at Currys PC World for the early store opening. It’s not quite the post-apocalyptic scenes we’ve come to expect. Retailers aren’t saving their deals for the big day anymore. They’re moving away from the traditional one-day flash sale, and instead cutting prices for periods as long as two weeks. These Black Tag events are becoming more popular with both retailers and consumers alike. There’s no pressure to buy potentially unnecessary or unneeded products on the day: people can compare, decide and think purchases through instead.  

As stated in The Guardian, Diane Wehrle of shopper traffic measuring company, Springboard, said “It was not Black Friday but mid grey week.” And this longer, Black Tag-style event is good news for retailers. Ian Geddes, head of retail at Deloitte, said to The Independent, “However, with Black Friday having grown from a day of promotions to what is now almost a month-long event, Black Friday event sales are far higher.” 

Through our social listening activities using Microsoft Social Engagement (MSE), we found that major retailers started their Black Friday campaigns and events weeks in advance. From early September, Black Friday was mentioned around 7,000 times a week, with the Black Friday season starting in late October, where mentions grew to 37,000 a week. This shows that retailers are moving away from this static one or two-day event, and extending their deals and sales for a much longer timeframe.  

Was it a case of bad timing? 

One reason for the lacklustre turn out may have been the Autumn Budget. This year’s Black Friday and Cyber Monday weekend coincided with the government announcing the new budget. This, combined with many young people talking about their money problems, may have accounted for the increased scrutiny around what a deal actually is.  

People are wising up to what Black Friday really offers. Are they good deals, or are people lured into the pretence that they are? 3,000 people mentioned this idea, of what is a deal, with the majority agreeing that a deal is only a deal if it has a minimum of 25% off the original price.  

And it wasn’t just the government’s timing that may have put people off shopping. 8,600 posts complained about the mass influx of Black Friday emails in their inboxes. Some went as far to say that they use Black Friday emails to decide which retailers and providers to unsubscribe from.  

What next for retailers? 

Well, it might seem obvious. Moving away from a one-day spectacular is the way forward for the majority of retailers. Customers want the time to peruse, decide and compare before making a final purchase – and a Black Tag event offers them exactly this.  

Plus, people want to shop online. Last year’s online dominance continued with 2017’s Black Friday and Cyber Monday. People prefer to beat the crowds and shop online at home. So, retailers must be ready for this huge spike in traffic. Using the right cloud provider is vital if retailers are to cope with handling such large volumes of online shoppers.  

Using MSE, retailers can keep an eye on what’s being said. From their brand and their products, to the general sentiment around sales, they can get the insight to discover what works and what doesn’t. For example, we used MSE to analyse and investigate the 213,000 social posts that mentioned Black Friday, and the 67,000 posts that talked about Cyber Monday. For next November, retailers should start looking at how they can use social listening tools to understand what their customers want. And with 89% of Black Friday and Cyber Monday social traffic going through Twitter and Instagram, it pays to use a tool that analyses all social platforms, rather than just one or two. Over 10,000 of the posts we listened to were set with intent. They were from people who wanted help, either to get more information or to get help with buying. If retailers can tap into this, and help their potential customers, they’re more likely to make more sales.  

Watch the webinar: Breaking down business silos with the power of social media

The post Black Friday: is it the end of a fad? appeared first on Microsoft Industry Blogs - United Kingdom.

You’re responsible for a growing amount of sensitive information, both about your business and your customers. And given the turbulent times we’re living in – where there’s been a 300% increase in user attacks in the last year – it’s growing even more important to secure your platforms.

But what your employees want is changing too. With a multi-generational workforce, you need to offer employees platforms and tools they enjoy using. And sometimes, this can be at odds with the measures you need to take to protect your business.

At Microsoft, we have a universal toolkit for teamwork. The combination of Office 365’s enterprise-level security features, with a collaborative, chat-based hub, results in Microsoft Teams. We also have Yammer, and other pieces that combine give people a holistic toolset. But what should you use when? What conversations should you have on each? And how can you use them effectively and efficiently – and not get tied up in collaboration overload?

There are certain challenges you’re going to face in internal communications. You need to find a way for senior stakeholders to engage with employees to create a shared understanding of company goals – in a way that’s both secure and flexible. You need to find a platform that meets the preferences of a multi-generational workforce. For example, millennials want the freedom to work with directors and peers alike – not just within their hierarchical role.

All communications must be two-way, and now employees expect instant, fast messaging, rather than email. And you also need to consider what apps to use: some may work for some people and requirements, but not for others.

Don’t get stuck in a loop

If an organisation uses internal communication to tell people what to do, they’re never going to get the most or the best from employees. Instead, we should use it to create shared understanding and meaning; to connect employees with their purpose. And when we can do this, employees can work together to achieve their company’s goals. By telling stories about services, culture and products, organisations can engage and communicate with employees on a higher, more valuable level.

But it needs to be relevant. We can’t replace mass emails with mass instant messages. Instead, we should look to our inner loop and our outer loop. Your inner loop is a close-knit group, working together on a particular project or deliverable. Your outer loop sits further away from your core team, and may encompass the entire department, location or organisation. You’re unlikely to want a conversation about an element of an upcoming project with the entire department. But if you want new perspectives and thoughts, you might want to speak to more people.

As part of Office 365, you have access to two additional communications platforms: Microsoft Teams and Yammer. Both are designed with the inner loop and outer loop in mind, while Outlook sits beside both, remaining a ubiquitous tool for targeted communications.

Your inner loop requires in-depth and detailed collaboration across a range of documents. You need shared access to information tools like PowerBI and third-party integrations. You need to chat instantly, getting answers faster than if you email someone. You need to save and share documents, and have the ability to invite any relevant people into the conversation. You want to remove barriers, and give all team members an equal playing field, letting everyone come together to share ideas and feedback. With Microsoft Teams, you can:

• manage core products and services, and keep key stakeholders up to date
• improve productivity in your internal teams
• create internal communications documents and keep them safe
• manage workloads, with notifications and preferences to suit each user
• use leadership teams to drive employee engagement.

When it comes to your outer loop, you might not want or need the detailed collaboration and sharing associated with your inner loop. Instead, you want to pose questions to gather new insights and ideas. You want to reach a large group of people at once, and share links and news in a fast, unobtrusive way. With Yammer, you can:

• ensure that people understand your company strategy
• improve employee engagement
• drive customer satisfaction
• celebrate and promote success.

So, when you , you have a complete internal communications solution, encompassing both project-based teams and the entire company. Plus, as they’re part of the Microsoft solution, they work seamlessly with Outlook, Office 365 and SharePoint.

Our tools and solutions help you to start and maintain conversations between employees at all levels.

Keeping internal communications inside the business

The conversations you have within your team might be as inane as the daily lunch menu. But on the whole, they’re likely to be packed with sensitive information. Information you don’t want your competitors getting hold of. So, it’s vital that your internal communications solutions offer best practice on how to keep those conversations strictly within the business.

A lot of it comes down to your data residency, and your legal and compliance requirements. With Microsoft Teams you know exactly where your data is. It’s in our cloud, protected by robust, industry-leading security processes. So, you’ll have the right level of authentication in place when your employees are working away from the office. Plus, you can use Microsoft Teams as an audit log, as you have access to complete records on the system’s back-end. Microsoft Teams has the security, authentication and compliance you expect from Office 365. For example, if you use access controls or DLP to block sensitive customer information from being shared beyond a restricted set of employees, it applies on Microsoft Teams too.

At Microsoft, we’re leaders in collaboration. From Microsoft Teams and Yammer, to SharePoint and OneDrive, our tools connect your people, and help you share and store data.

Discover more about Microsoft Teams and Yammer here, and see how companies like yours are using them to create change.

The post Internal communications: where should your conversations start? appeared first on Microsoft Industry Blogs - United Kingdom.

Among technological, political and economic changes, it’s no surprise that the pressure’s on for financial institutions to change too. And slowly but surely, it’s happening. There are many institutions trying to change – but it’s not always for the right reasons. Sometimes it’s for the sake of press, publicity and marketing. Sometimes it’s so organisations can say ‘me too’, and keep up with the others. And when this happens, change is rarely understood properly. Leaders don’t know why they should be changing, what the process should be, and what the overall impact on their organisation might be.

Behind all of this change is technology. It’s both helping and making financial institutions change, adapt and innovate. According to Genevieve Kangurs, for TSB, technology is the enabler. TSB wants to build a bank for the 21^st century, with the right platform, processes and people in place to support that vision. And it’s taking the approach of understanding why and how to change – rather than focusing on solely what it wants to achieve. It’s vital to think about how you’re evolving and transforming your organisation, to prepare yourselves for the upcoming changes.

Making change in a traditional market

PwC recently surveyed CEOs across a number of different markets, and found that 81% of CEOs from the banking and financial institution space are significantly worried about the pace of change, especially with regards to technology. When you’re working in an industry where organisations haven’t changed significantly in around 100 years, accelerating – or even starting – change is a big issue.

One of the foundations behind successful change is culture. While technology is a vital part behind transformation, you need the right culture in place to make it successful. Genevieve advises financial institutions to be clear on their vision, and know what cultural change must happen to help the business adapt. At TSB, the customer was put at the heart of everything – rather than technology. The organisation focuses on what customers need, want and where they struggle.

All cultural change must come from the top down. Senior management and the board of directors must have 100% buy-in for it to succeed. Institutions must clearly communicate to people on the ground, clearly defining and explaining what the behavioural and cultural changes include. Everyone in the organisation should understand what they’re and why. Technology alone can’t solve all your problems, but when combined with culture, in a comprehensive and coherent way, you’re on the road to success.

But it’s not just legacy systems and traditional processes that block change. Ronald Kent states that financial institutions need to bring regulators on the transformation journey with them. You need to be shoulder-to-shoulder: they must agree with your changes and understand what’s going on, if they’re going to review and allow them in an agile, timely fashion.

Competition – or ‘co-operatition’?

The term ‘co-operatition’ may be the best model for a successful Financial Services market. Instead of out-and-out competing with each other, should financial institutions look at how co-operating could lead to the same successes? The emergence of fintech, new players and new business models has many traditional organisations worrying about their futures – but the key could be working together.

Genevieve believes it’s key to understand what benefits partnering and co-operating can bring to the customer, and which organisation can bring them. TSB is evolving from focusing on products, to focusing on experiences – and that’s where Genevieve believes the biggest changes will be to begin with. She gave the example of photography. Once, you would go out and buy a disposable camera to take photos. Now, you simply use your camera phone. The photos themselves haven’t changed, but your experience of them has. The early days of open banking will see a transformation on the experience-side of finance.

Tanya Andreasyan points out several examples of this in the UK already. Santander and Kabbage have teamed up to give a better experience to SME customers. As an SME, you could be waiting for weeks or months to get a loan. But with the Santander and Kabbage partnership, you could get a loan approved in a matter of hours, with instant access to the capital.

Fintech companies classify themselves as being born in the cloud, and have the increased agility that many traditional institutions are seeking out. So, will cloud become vital for all organisations, if they want the same ability to adapt and be agile? Genevieve stated that cloud is an enabler, but again, the key to agility and adapting an organisation to swift reactions is culture. Successful organisations will be those who can modify and develop their culture in line with technology. Ronald says organisations must look at what’s stopping them from being agile. Culture is the first place to look: are your people stuck in old ways, or are they happy to adapt and get on with new challenges? Secondly, what’s getting in the way? Do you have the tools to be agile in a practical sense? While culture is important, you do need the right technology to deliver agile solutions.

Look everywhere for inspiration

While there are new business models in the market that are doing well, Tanya says from what she’s seeing, there’s no definite winning model. There are notable examples of institutions finding the right niche and addressing specific problems, and she believes that’s where success lies. For example, there’s Aldermore. This organisation found a pain point in that big banks don’t service SMEs well. So, they addressed the issue and solved the problem, with great success.

Genevieve says to look at this from three angles. Firstly, it’s important to see what other institutions are doing. Secondly, you need to understand what your customers’ needs are and what their pain points are, and be relentless about removing them. Thirdly, you need to understand what the job to be done is. You need to know where new opportunities are coming from, and know how the game changing. She believes it’s wise to look outside of Financial Services for this, and see how other organisations are doing well. For example, data-driven experiences are vital to TSB, so they look to Spotify and Netflix inspiration.

In a cloud-enabled Financial Services market, there are opportunities everywhere. It’s just a matter of finding the right technology, and building the right culture to support it.

Read more about how you can create a culture that supports digital transformation, in our comprehensive report

See how TSB is advancing its digital transformation, with our help

The post Keeping pace with change in a cloud-enabled world appeared first on Microsoft Industry Blogs - United Kingdom.

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Productivity is changing. Long gone are the days of clocking in with a time card and counting the hours you’ve been sat at a desk. Instead, both employers and employees are measuring productivity on the merit of work. And productivity isn’t a solo endeavour anymore. People rarely work alone, and the nature of teams has changed almost unrecognisably.

While open-plan offices were once lauded as the answer to increasing collaboration, study after study shows that open-plan alone isn’t enough. Likewise, the increase of remote workers, digital nomads, and virtual teams has seen new challenges arise when it comes to productivity. How can you motivate employees who aren’t in the office? How can you allow for deep work when in an open environment?

Well, here’s ten top tips to help you stay productive, whether you’re in the office or on the go.

For workers in an open-plan office

1. Create your own virtual barriers

According to the 2016 UK Workplace Survey, 8 million people work in open plan environments in the UK. It’s great for collaborating and having an open culture, but presents new challenges for productivity. Workers in open plan offices are interrupted every three minutes on average, making productivity a distant dream[1]. To get the most from your day, it’s worth creating your own virtual barriers. If noise distracts you, invest in a pair of good noise-cancelling headphones. For those who can’t work with music on, try getting a pair that block out noise. Or look at playing background sounds, like white noise or the sound of rain.

2. Adjust your working hours or location

If it’s not possible to work remotely, then try changing your working habits. Most offices have a busy period, so if the office gets unbearable in the afternoon, see if you can start earlier and finish earlier. While most companies are open to flexible working, there are still a number that don’t recognise it as a useful workstyle. If that’s the case for you, then it’s worth finding somewhere in the office that’s quieter. Meeting rooms – or even quiet reception areas – might give you enough time to get your head into something. Otherwise, see if you can designate a certain part of the office as the ‘collaboration space’. Try to encourage all group activities and teamwork to happen there, rather than spreading throughout the office.

For remote workers and digital nomads

3. Take advantage of new technology

When completing work depends on answers or input from others, being based in the same location means you can get what you need instantly. But when you’re working remotely, getting those answers is hard. Using email feels like it takes decades, especially if you don’t know whether the recipient has received your message. Picking up the phone is easy, but you’re stuck if they’re in a meeting. So, take advantage of chat-based apps. Sending an IM is more likely to get you a fast response. For example, Skype for Business syncs with Outlook, so it shows whether your colleagues are available, in meetings, or on a call. Both the increase in mobile working and changing employee expectations have led to a device-led transformation. You don’t just need the best software and platforms, but you need mobile devices that support anywhere productivity and security too.

4. Improve the quality of processes around data and knowledge sharing

It’s bad for any business to have the majority of good knowledge tied to one person. Not only does it make that person a prime candidate for collaboration overload, but it drains their time answering questions. Plus, it slows down productivity and bars other employees from completing their work. So, improve the quality of your processes around data and knowledge sharing. Ensure that there are plenty of avenues for people to share the knowledge they have, and that documents are open and accessible to all need to refer to them.

5. Set yourself up for success at home

It’s important for remote workers to turn their homes into offices during business hours. While it’s tempting to stay in your pyjamas all day, getting up and dressed is better for productivity. Likewise, try to schedule your day’s work in advance: plan when you’ll take breaks, when you’ll have meetings, and when you can immerse yourself in deep work. To improve productivity, set up your own work space with all the right equipment. Having everything to hand, where you need it and when you need it, will stop you from getting distracted looking for things.

6. Give digital nomads top security protection

Security worries can plague remote working. Digital nomads and remote workers need robust security measures, so they don’t need to worry about business data while creating and innovating. Whether they’re working in a café or on the train, employees shouldn’t have to worry about losing or leaking business data. Precautions like blocking access to certain data and resource won’t work either. Remote workers and digital nomads need the same experience on the move that they’d get in the office. So, choose platforms and software with built-in security features, so people can crack on with their tasks rather than wasting time on manual security processes.

For people in virtual teams

7. Make password and account management simple

It’s not just remote workers who need simple security. People in virtual teams need easy password and account management. If you can simplify security, you’re likely to boost productivity and remove security worries. If you can work with one integrated solution, like Microsoft 365, your team members don’t need to worry about constantly updating passwords and signing into a multitude of different apps.

8. Decide on team-wide communication tools

When people stop talking, mistakes start happening. Make it easy for virtual teams to chat to each other and you’ll see two benefits: better relationships, and better teamwork. Virtual teams don’t have the same opportunity to build relationships as office workers do. Teams who work in the same office block are likely to sit together at lunch and bump into each other in the kitchen. Teams can recreate this using chat rooms, like those in Microsoft Teams. By having a chat room open all the time, teams can have off-topic conversations and get to know each other better. Likewise, it’s good to set boundaries on how to communicate. You may want to say that all conversations, reviews, and document sharing and editing occurs in a collaborative space like Teams, while email is reserved for project updates and status reviews. Either way, make sure you all have a say and choose methods that suit the entire team.

9. Define processes across all virtual teams

Leaders must define processes and communicate them effectively to create a productive, cohesive and create virtual team. Identify your goals and roles before working out what processes will enhance your collaboration. In a virtual team, it’s easy for people to make up their own procedures and work to their own processes. A team of people working in their own way is unlikely to generate the same results as a streamlined group working to the same processes. For example, marketing teams may want a standardised procedure including everything from taking a brief and creating assets, to reviewing and publishing material.

10. Use software that helps, not hinders

It might sound obvious, but choose your software carefully. Just like desks, office spaces and equipment make life easy for real-life teams, collaborative software does the same for virtual teams. You need something that ticks every box: IM, video calls, screen sharing, document editing, and document sharing. Using just one platform reduces the amount of time wasted jumping between programs and searching for sign-on information. Likewise, be consistent with technology. We found in our latest research report that 39% of people in UK organisations say the introduction of new technologies makes them feel anxious. It’s hard to ensure user uptake with new tech, so don’t create an uphill battle. Once you’ve found software that works for your workers, pick devices that run it seamlessly. We develop our security and productivity solutions closely with our devices, so they run together naturally.

Discover more ways to keep productivity levels high

[1] http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/2017/10/01/open-plan-offices-dont-work-will-replaced-coffice-says-bt-futurologist/

The post Ten tips for productive working, wherever you are appeared first on Microsoft Industry Blogs - United Kingdom.

While the headline-hitting moves seem controversial, in reality, they aren’t. 47% of UK businesses don’t encourage any form of flexible working[1]. Yet 4 million UK workers wish they could work at home at least one day a week. And 70% say it makes a job more attractive[2]. So why aren’t more businesses taking advantage of it?

Some of the top reasons for businesses not wanting to offer remote working include:

• Company culture: it’s hard to build a culture if your employees aren’t all sat in the same room as you. And if you don’t bump into each in the kitchen, or sit together during meetings, will you build the same kind of relationship as in-house employees do?
• Communication: need to ask a quick question? Well, if someone isn’t sat near you, it can take a whole lot longer. And what if they don’t answer their phone or reply to your email? You might not be able to complete your work on time.
• Reliability: trust is hard to earn, and if you don’t see someone every day, how do you know that they’ll produce a high quality of work for you? If someone isn’t coming into the office every day, could they just disappear without a trace, and stop answering your emails?
• Management and accountability: managing a team in-house can be hard enough, but when you add remote workers to the mix, things get even more complex. Similarly, if people don’t feel they’re ‘part’ of your company, are they going to hold themselves accountable for their work?
• Productivity: when someone’s working from home, you have very little insight into what they’re doing all day. You don’t know how hard they’re working, how long they’re working for, and whether they’re getting as much achieved as in-house employees are.
• Security: from lost laptops to hacked connectivity, security risks increase exponentially when you have remote workers.

On the face of it, these concerns appear well-founded. Of course you want a team that’s going to suit your company, work well on projects, accept responsibility, work productively and efficiently, and not put your company data at risk. But we don’t live in a world where the only form of communication is over the phone or face-to-face. Today’s technology protects us from mislaid laptops and dodgy connections. We have apps and tools coming out of our ears, each professing to improve productivity and link up remote teams. So, what’s stopping a rush towards remote working?

Changing workstyles don’t fit with traditional workplaces

As a business leader or manager, it’s easy to get spooked by the term remote working. Visions of employees sat binge-watching Netflix spring to mind, as do leisurely lunches, strolls to the park, and numerous doctor-dentist-hairdresser appointments. But gone are the days of working from home being synonymous with having a day off. Younger generations are entering the workplace and their expectations are wildly different to their predecessors. Cultural, economic and social factors are influencing how people want to work, and traditional structures don’t hold up anymore.

Flexible working isn’t just leaving early to do the school run or working at home while the dishwasher gets fixed. There are digital nomads, travelling the world while producing high quality work. There are virtual teams, where entire projects are managed by people in disparate locations. And there are millennials, who put a greater emphasis on work-life balance, and expect to work flexibly at the very least.

But remote working isn’t just one of those ‘millennial’ things. Around 14.1 million people in Britain want flexibility in their working hours or location – around half of the working population.

In addition to generational expectations changing, the workplace itself is too. Current trends see businesses knock down walls to create open plan offices, in an attempt to encourage collaborative working. However, this method is far too simplistic. Open-plan offices without private spaces for deep work simply create more issues for employees. As revealed in the Steelcase Global Report, the UK has the most open office layouts in the world, yet falls far below the average for offering access to meeting rooms.

So, what does this do for employees? Well, it reduces productivity. The number of people who can’t focus at their desk rose by 16% between 2008 and 2014[3]. Office workers lose 86 minutes a day due to distractions[4]. And 31% of workers have to physically leave the office to do productive work[5]. If businesses aren’t in a position to change their office layout, then what? Buy all their employees noise-cancelling headphones and get on with it?

Or, you implement remote working policies. You let employees get the best from working in teams in the office, then give them time alone to concentrate on deep work. A study with senior HR leaders revealed that 60% believe the introduction of remote working practices would increase productivity.

After the 2014 flexible working policies were introduced, we conducted some research into the workplace. We found that 36% of those surveyed were more productive, over a third were more motivated and 52% felt their work-life balance was improved by flexible working.

How to make remote working work

At Microsoft, we’re big advocates of remote working. We know that each individual has their own preferences of where, when and how they want to work. But equally, we know that remote working has pitfalls. The key to making it work is striking the right balance. You need to offer employees a combination of opportunities: enough privacy and enough teamwork. Getting this right enables productivity, creativity, deep work, innovation and teambuilding.

From our own transformational journey, and our work with our customers, we know that technology plays a key role. And in our latest research report on building a culture for digital transformation, we show how businesses can incorporate new technologies, without creating anxiety and distrust.  Office 365 gives employees the tools they need to stay connected, secure and creative wherever they are. Microsoft Teams, for example, is a hub for all team and project-based activities. From video calls and chatting over IM, to sharing documents and editing them, it gives employees the sense of being in an office – even when they’re in their local coffee shop. Likewise, Word, Excel and PowerPoint let your employees create, edit and share files from wherever they are, meaning teamwork can continue, even when the team isn’t together. Skype for Business aids with communication, showing your colleagues whether you’re available, in a meeting, away from your computer, or even locked down in deep work.

We designed platforms like Yammer and Microsoft Teams specifically for remote workers. We know that workstyles and preferences are changing – so your technology needs to change as well. It means that you don’t need your employees in the same place all the time. So, you can help your employees be happier, less stressed and more productive.

But we also know that platforms and software aren’t enough on their own. If people are going to work remotely, they need devices that support this. Using a desktop PC in the office, then working on a personal laptop at home isn’t the most secure or productive solution. So, we’re developing our security solutions and productivity tools in sync with our devices. We know that one must work intrinsically with the other, if an employee is going to stay productive wherever they are.
Discover more about how Microsoft solutions can help your employees stay productive, happy and creative, regardless of where they are

[1] Flexible Working 2017, Powwownow, 2017

[2] Flexible Working 2017, Powwownow, 2017

[3] https://hbr.org/2014/10/balancing-we-and-me-the-best-collaborative-spaces-also-support-solitude

[4] https://www.steelcase.com/research/articles/privacy-crisis/

[5] https://www.steelcase.com/research/articles/privacy-crisis/

The post Striking the right balance for successful remote working appeared first on Microsoft Industry Blogs - United Kingdom.

For many, it’s a normal week. Businesses want to encourage collaboration and teamwork in every sphere of working life, and there’s good reason for it. 97% of employees and executives believe lack of alignment within a team impacts the outcome of a task or project[1].

Implementing cross-company collaboration gives both employees and employers more freedom, more knowledge, and more resource. A 16-year study by Idea Champions found that 97% of people get their best ideas throughout the day – not necessarily while at work. Thanks to collaboration technology, people can share these ideas and creativity wherever they are, instead of being confined to the office.

But employees around the country are starting to suffer at the hands of collaboration. Time-consuming, endless meetings and a constant stream of emails drain enthusiasm, productivity and workplace happiness. When companies then throw more technology at improving and increasing collaboration, feelings of apathy and disillusionment rise.

Are you suffering from collaboration overload?

Implementing collaborative practices in the workplace has started to go awry. Being asked to collaborate now often translates to ‘sitting in more meetings’ and ‘answering more emails’. This hasn’t gone unnoticed. In 2016, the Harvard Business Review (HBR) conducted a study into collaboration in organisations and concluded that we’re suffering from collaboration overload.

The HBR study found that over the last two decades, the time managers and employees spend in collaborative activities has ballooned by 50%. The time people spend in meetings, on the phone and answering emails is around 80% at many companies. And this huge chunk of time takes its toll on more than just employee well-being. Tom Cochran, former CTO at Atlantic Media, worked out that each email sent at the company cost 95 cents. Yearly, this cost the company over $1m[2].

Time is one of our most precious assets, arguably as valuable as money. It’s very unlikely that you’d walk up to a colleague, take money from their bag, and tear it up. So, why do we let our peers waste our time with irrelevant meetings and emails? Studies show that if you’re trying to reach a decision, inviting between four and seven people is ideal[3]. The toll of collaborative overload on productivity is clear. The most productive companies in HBR’s study lose 50% less time to unnecessary and ineffective collaboration.

What’s collaboration overload doing to your business?

It’s not just office productivity that suffers. There’s only a 50% overlap between top collaborative contributors and top performing employees. And 20% of top performers don’t interact or collaborate at all[4]. Collaborative efforts aren’t spread equally across a business: 20% to 35% of value-added collaborations come from only 3% to 5% of employees.

If an employee helps on a project, more people ask them to work in their teams. The employee gets a reputation for being helpful and having great ideas, resulting in more people wanting to collaborate. It’s a vicious circle, and one that has overwhelmingly negative results. HBR found the individuals who colleagues regard as the best information sources and the most desirable collaborators have the lowest engagement and career satisfaction scores.

Diagram source

Helping your teams get the right balance

Business leaders need to prevent over-collaboration. There are two avenues to take: one around culture and behaviour, and the other around technology.

Culture and behaviour

Cultural change doesn’t happen overnight. It’s a process that needs to embed itself into the business. However, someone needs to ignite change. If not, things stay sedimentary, and collaboration overload continues to run rife. Businesses need to think about changing their culture if they want to succeed in the digital era. Yet in our latest research report, we found that only 23% of UK organisations are undergoing a cultural transformation. There’s a few things you can do to influence this cultural change, all through shaping employee behaviours.

Respect people’s time

If business leaders show empathy and respect towards people’s time, the behaviour will filter down. Think carefully about meeting invites: consider the aims, and who and how many people will be useful. In a launch meeting, you’re always going to need a bigger group. But when you’re trying to reach a decision, whose opinion really matters? Decide whether meetings are necessary. For example, status updates don’t need an entire session. You can convey the information using an app, letting people read and absorb in their own time.

Encourage ‘me-time’

The most innovative, creative, impactful work stems from deep working. But if employees are consistently emailed or called into meetings, they can’t reach this level of concentration. So, encourage employees to book time out for themselves. This might be blocking their lunch hour out, so they have time to recharge before tackling their next task. Or it might be blocking the day out and working in a different environment. Business leaders should also encourage employees to say no. It’s a hard skill to master. However, employees should understand what will add value to the company, and what won’t.

Grow networks within the business

One of the most important ways to combat collaboration overload is through networking and relationship building. Research by Microsoft found that the top performers in a company tended to have larger internal networks. This ensures if someone asks them for help, they have more people to call upon. They don’t take on the work if they know someone better suited. Business leaders should encourage employees to grow their networks. As the HBR study revealed, those with bigger networks suffered less from collaboration demands.

When people are interested in their collaborative tasks, the overload disappears. Give a subject expert the opportunity to collaborate with others in their area, and they’re naturally going to enjoy it more than someone who’s further away from the information.

Technology

One of the key causes of collaboration overload is the amount of collaboration tools employees are expected to use. A study by Smartsheet revealed that a third of businesses struggle to get employees to use company collaboration tools. It’s unsurprising. Throwing another piece of technology at a workforce won’t solve any problems.

But there’s one way you can really make a difference: using social technologies[5]. A McKinsey survey found that employees communicate differently within teams when using social technologies. Users are twice as likely to connect with colleagues through interactive, real-time tools, like collaborative document editing. 63% of teams using social tools self-organise, compared to 43% of those using other communication means.

Take, for example, the global advertising agency JWT. After investigating collaboration overload in the company, its CTO found that some teams were sending and receiving over 3,000 emails a month. The firm decided to try Microsoft Teams, included with its Office 365 package. Within two months of using Teams, email traffic dropped by over 30%[6].

The story is similar for giant retailer, Marks and Spencer. Using Sharepoint and Yammer, teams can collaborate online. This has led to faster decision making and the streamlining of company-wide projects and initiatives. The Renault Sport Formula One team depends on teamwork and collaboration, especially when it comes to uniting scattered team members. Mobile team members need collaborative tools that enable productivity, wherever they are. So, the team use Office 365 and Skype for Business to help them stay in touch.

But it’s not just about platforms and software. The increasing number of millennials in the workplace has kicked off a device-led transformation. From BYOD to working remotely, employees want to work on mobile devices. People will always work better on devices they enjoy. And if they work remotely, they need devices that can support this, in terms of both performance and security.

The end of collaboration overload

With the right culture, the right behaviours, and the right technology, collaboration can resume its status as hugely helpful activity. At Microsoft, our chat-based, collaborative space, Microsoft Teams, lets you share feedback, take calls, IM colleagues, and edit Excel, Word and PowerPoint documents. It’s made for teamwork, and helps eliminate the incessant emails and meeting requests that cloud every project.

To find out more about how Office 365 can give employees the tools they need for teamwork, click here

[1] https://www.tinypulse.com/blog/sk-company-culture-of-collaboration

[2] https://www.economist.com/news/business/21688872-fashion-making-employees-collaborate-has-gone-too-far-collaboration-curse

[3] https://www.eab.com/daily-briefing/2017/01/11/the-optimal-number-of-people-to-invite-to-your-meeting

[4] https://hbr.org/2016/01/collaborative-overload

[5] Defined by McKinsey as: “products and services that enable social interactions in the digital realm, and thus allow people to connect and interact virtually.”

[6] https://www.wsj.com/articles/beware-collaboration-tool-overload-1489370400

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Teams are a lot different now to even just a few years ago: we spend 50% more time in collaborative activities than two decades ago[1]. And we’re on twice as many teams as we were five years ago[2]. Companies expect us to collaborate and work together on a daily basis, and it doesn’t matter whether you’re based in the office or at home.

Teams aren’t just growing in size and number either. More often than not, teams are split across company departments, age and experience, and even geographical location. This has led to a rise in virtual teams. And where there are more teams, there are more barriers. From physical office space to unused technology, it’s important to make sure nothing hinders your team’s ability to work well and collaborate. So, here are ten tips to help your teams work cohesively, creatively and productively, whether they’re in the office together, or spread around the world.

Changing company culture

1. Start changing behaviours at the top

To be successful, change needs to start from the top and trickle down. If employees are told to start behaving a certain way, but it isn’t mirrored in the executive teams or senior management, what sort of precedent does that set? Likewise, ensuring cross-team collaboration requires strong leadership. Build bridges between departments by setting goals that different team members need to work together to achieve. Involve all members of a team and don’t isolate certain departments.

2. Set teams up for success

If team members are coming from different departments or locations, changing aims and agendas is vital. Departments may have their own goals, so it’s important to ensure that all team members focus on the same mission. Set up a team charter: outline the purpose, objectives, roles and responsibilities, expectations, and time-frames. That way, everyone is aligned and knows what to aim for. Likewise, when creating teams, build on existing relationships. Harvard Business Review found that when 20% to 40% of team members were well connected, the entire team had strong collaboration from the start.

3. Make communication easy

Teamwork in and out of the workplace goes wrong when people stop talking. So, you need to create an environment where communicating is easy. This might be structural: giving people spaces where they can have impromptu meetings without interrupting colleagues. Or using tech to include all team members. According to a McKinsey study on social technologies, 80% of employees who use message-based platforms communicate more often with others in teams, compared to 65% of employees who don’t. Microsoft Teams is a chat-based workspace, so people can stay engaged and informed, without being flooded with emails and meeting requests.

4. Identify the obstacles stopping teams from working together

Despite having the right members, the right behaviours and the right technology, sometimes teams still struggle to work together. If this is the case, the following obstacles may block progress. Firstly, look at physical barriers. An office full of walls, cubicles and private spaces doesn’t lend itself to dynamic teamwork. Successful collaboration comes from having an open space to work in. Next, language and cultural barriers arise when diversity isn’t at the heart of the business. If this is happening, it’s the root of a wider problem and senior management must address it. In an organisation with structured hierarchies, status can affect communication and cause silos in teams. If cross-team collaboration happens at the top, it’s likely to filter down.

5. Teach employees to value ‘self-care’

While teamwork is vital and collaboration necessary for creativity and producing impactful work, employees shouldn’t feel overburdened by their responsibilities. Ensure that employees know how to say ‘no’ to taking on too much, and that they have enough time to concentrate on deep work. One way to do this is encouraging people to block time out. Just as you would book time in your diary for a team meeting, ensure employees book their day out if they need to concentrate and be left alone for a while.

Picking the right technology

6. Find the right security measures for your business

Employees can’t work productively and collaboratively if they’re constantly remembering passwords and requesting permission to view files on external systems and platforms. Finding one piece of technology that ticks every teamwork box is the dream, and Microsoft 365 could be the answer. It’s a comprehensive, cloud-based solution that protects your people, data and devices without interrupting productivity. Your employees can work from one platform, and work together without needing various sign-ins and links to different sites.

7. Help employees – remote and on-site – to understand security best practice

Employee behaviour causes around 80% of security-related breaches[3], so it’s in everyone’s best interests to promote security best practice. Train employees to create secure passwords and emphasise the need for careful management. When working remotely, choose devices that enable multi-factor authentication, and ensure that your remote working policy has a robust security section. For ultimate peace of mind, choose software with built-in security features. Microsoft 365 lets you create policies and rules around your employees’ devices, so you can eliminate the chance of security breaches when working remotely.

8. Identify what devices would suit your employees

Entire teams are rarely based in the same space anymore. Your devices need to cope with this disparity, and offer the same level of performance and productivity, wherever they are. From our latest research around company culture in the digital era, 58% of UK leaders say that augmenting their workforce with technology is more important for productivity than simply automating tasks. We’re seeing a device-led transformation occur thanks to this growing desire to work remotely. More and more, people want devices that support their life and work-style. Remote workers need powerful devices that enable mobility, while employees in the office need devices that help with teamwork, like screen sharing abilities. To collaborate and function as a team, your employees need to move seamlessly from one device to the next, without worrying about losing work or productivity. At Microsoft, we build our productivity, security and collaboration solutions together with our devices, so both work seamlessly together.

9. Experiment with different collaboration tools to find the best fit

Not all collaboration tools will suit all workplaces. 45% of millennials say their preferred workplace collaboration tool is instant messaging, while 36% of baby boomers believe it’s the least effective[4]. So, give your employees a choice. If a platform includes chat and email, people can use what they prefer. Then, as company culture begins to change, you already have more innovative tools, like chat-based workspaces, installed and ready to use. The best collaboration tool is a device. The Surface Hub lets you connect with colleagues and business partners wherever they are – whether that’s down the road or in a different country. So, you can continue to work as a team, even when you’re not sat together.

10. Promote the healthy use of tools and technology

When you have new collaboration tools, it’s easy to get carried away. It’s important to establish a collaborative culture before implementing new tech, otherwise the overload of software can create more problems than it solves. Take advantage of demos and explainers to understand how to use each tool. Show people the tools that are best suited to specific purposes. For example, you might want all team updates given ad-hoc on a chat-based tool, and all documents saved on team-accessible tabs – rather than legions of emails flying around between team members.

Discover how to create cohesive teams here

[1] https://hbr.org/2016/01/collaborative-overload

[2] http://www.ukauthority.com/NewsImages/2016/Secure_foundation_for_rapid_change_and_joined_up_service_delivery.pdf

[3] https://www.theguardian.com/business/2015/jan/21/cybersecurity-small-business-thwarting-hackers-obama-cameron

[4] Collaboration Trends and Technology: A Survey of Knowledge Workers, Dimensional Research, 2015

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James Knowles, Acting Head of Commercial Content Operations at Retail Week, presented at Microsoft Future Decoded 2017, giving the results of research around retailers, data and the single customer view. After surveying 70 chief marketing officers, Retail Week found that only 8.6% of respondents said they have achieved a single view of the customer, while 15.7% think they’ll get there in a year. However, one in five said they’ll never achieve this.

When a single customer view is deemed so important, why are this many CMOs saying it’s never going to happen? Well, it all comes down to data. How you gather it, how you manage it, how you handle privacy needs and regulations, and how much your customers are willing to give you.

Better data – not just more

61% of the respondents to Retail Week’s research said that better quality data would help improve retention and loyalty. And then retailers can use this better data to underpin strategic decisions and improve market performance.

At this year’s Microsoft Future Decoded, we heard how better data solved many problems for one customer, retailer N Brown Group. With roots as a mail-order company, N Brown Group is now a successful e-commerce company – all thanks to data. Using the Celebrus data collection tool from Microsoft partner D4t4 Solutions, N Brown Group understands its customers in an advanced way. Celebrus collects a rich set of data from a variety of sources. Across all digital channels, it collects everything that shoppers do on a website, from the tabs they open to the clicks they make.

Consumers are driving a lot of the innovation in retail. They’re now more value conscious, they’re always-on, they’re socially engaged, and they’re channel agnostic. And this is making it increasingly difficult for retailers to differentiate on the traditional factors of price and location. The competition now lies in knowing the customer better than other retailers do. In having the ability to make business decisions at the speed of light. In understanding customer behaviour, desire, intent, preference, and lifecycle. In having a single customer view.

And this is exactly what Celebrus enables N Brown Group to do. If, for example, a customer views a pair of jeans, N Brown Group can send an email that’s timely and relevant, with the right content and context. And when using a combination of transactional and web data – rather than just traditional emails – N Brown Group sees sales per email increase by 25%.

The better use of data has meant that N Brown Group can not only react to customer wants and desires, but also predict what they’ll want next. They already used a predictive model, scoring around 75% accuracy. But after using web data to bolster this, the retailer increased accuracy to 93%. This predictive modelling – machine learning – also shows them who to market to, showing who responds well and who doesn’t, saving them from wasting money on those who never engage. The team removed the bottom 10% of targets, and improved return per contact by 8%.

Seizing the data gives retailers like N Brown Group the power to understand their customers even better and interact with them in a way which delights them.

Data, Black Friday and the Golden Quarter

With Black Friday and the Golden Quarter on the way, we spoke to James Knowles at Retail Week about how important data is at this time of year. It’s key to have robust data management and insight, as it could be the differentiating factor between a customer buying from your store – or your competitor’s. if retailers aren’t using data insight in the right way to target their customers appropriately, they could miss out on the sales. Retailers should be using data insight to do everything from personalisation to stock management.

Retail Week asked 70 business leaders about the sort of data they’re collecting, and what they’d like to collect. And while the data they’re capturing – names, ages, addresses – helps retailers build demographic profiles, it’s still basic. It doesn’t tell them what their behaviour is, or what their attitudes are towards the business. So, the next stage for retailers is to look at how they can get data about attitudes, behaviours and lifestyles.

During the Black Friday and Golden Quarter period, Retail Week emphasise how important it is to use data to have a single view of your customer, and a single view of your stock. Putting both views together lets you target customers with appropriate messaging, then offer them products that you know they can buy. This comprehensive view of your stock and your customer will let you deliver the best possible customer experience.

While this year’s Black Friday and Golden Quarter are coming up too quickly to make major changes now, there’s a number of things you can do for next year. James recommends that retailers should look at how you can drive data management throughout your entire business. Some retailers are doing this by appointing a director of customer insight, a CIO, or a Chief Customer Officer, to help drive the message from board level down through head office and into stores. But it must involve putting data at the heart of strategy, and then giving it the resource to function properly.

Putting data and technology first

So, the data is there. It’s available and it’s ready for retailers to use. The question is, will you get there first, or will your competitors? Knowing and understanding your customers is key to staying ahead. You need to know them across every channel and in any store, you need to know how they like to shop, when and how they want to talk, and what sort of goods they’re interested in.

To make this single customer view happen, retailers need to put data at the heart of their strategies. This may be through a cultural change, or appointing a chief data officer. It’s likely going to involve technology investments, and an update to processes and policy.

At Microsoft Future Decoded, we heard from Andy Foley, Head of Retail Business Systems at Specsavers, who showed us how the global company has put technology and data first. Specsavers works with Microsoft partner, MPP Global, to enhance and upgrade the company’s subscription services.

Andy confirmed that customers are now driving the need for change, saying they expect a next day/same day Amazon experience. Doing nothing was simply not an option. Specsavers must grow to maintain their market leader status, and system change is an enabler in growing a business.  His advice was to be inquisitive and don’t be afraid of the start-up. To speed up change of this nature takes time, but it’s crucial to drive momentum.

Another of our partners, Blue Yonder, emphasised the importance of data in aiding decision-making around merchandising and supply chain. Working with a leading supermarket chain, Blue Yonder implemented an impressive supply chain solution, using AI and cloud technology, that has improved a key business metric: on-shelf availability. The system is in all 500 stores, with daily decisions for over 26,000 SKUs, based on store-specific historic sales data incorporating seasonality, events, weather data and promotions. It has resulted in a 30% reduction of shelf gaps in stores, without increasing waste and mark-down. As well as increased workforce efficiency, reduction of missed sales, and an automated manual ordering process, the solution has meant less stockholding in stores and a YoY increase in sales.

With the right technology and a rich data set, retailers can create digital engagements that are personal, contextual and relevant. They can base their understanding on purchase history, demographic information, location, time of day, preferred channel, product information, and other data sources. With this, retailers can:

• connect with customers at the right time, via the right channel, with the right offers.
• give sales associates the customer data they need to deliver personalised in-store experiences.
• predict what customers want before they act on it, using predictive analytic solutions.
• let customers add items to a cart from any digital touchpoint in the shopping journey.
• improve, shorten and transform the customer journey.

Watch this on-demand webinar to hear more about what you can do in retail with the right data

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Driving cultural transformation

Digital transformation has been felt in all sectors around the UK. It’s offering an unprecedented number of opportunities to better serve customers and employees, and is revolutionising business processes and systems. However, while it looks like a glittering landscape of new revenue streams and improved customer loyalty, there’s a dark side to it as well. Many organisations are struggling to take advantage of the changing environment, and if they don’t keep up, they can say goodbye to a successful future.

So, on the first day of Microsoft Future Decoded, Clare Barclay, COO at Microsoft UK, launched a brand-new report: Creating a Culture of Digital Transformation. This report investigates how UK organisations can empower the modern workforce, and create the right culture for digital success. In the first episode of this series, we hear from Clare, and how the report can help shape organisations.

You’ll also hear from customers such as Ian McLaren, Finance and Contracts Director at London Midland. London Midland feature as a case study in the report, and have hands-on experience of driving cultural transformation. Likewise, Patience Wootton, Office 365 Product Owner at Dentsu Aegis Network shares their story of digital transformation, in a global media organisation. Then you’ll hear the incredible story of how digital transformation and technology is changing the service provided by NHS Blood and Transport, courtesy of Aaron Powell, the Chief Digital Officer.

And then you’ll hear how you can give this digital revolution to firstline workers – those workers who often have the closest and the most contact with your customers. To share how you can do this, we’re joined by Andrew Cook, one of Microsoft’s Senior Product Marketing Managers who has responsibility for the firstline area, and Hector Minto, Microsoft’s Accessibility Evangelist for the EMEA Region.

From differentiating through data to empowering the modern workforce, episode one is full of key insights and actionable takeaways.

Listen to the Driving Cultural Transformation podcast on Soundcloud
Read more and download the Creating a Culture of Digital Transformation report

Technology for good

While episode one looks at how we can use technology to drive our organisations, episode two looks at how technology is helping us on a personal level. First up is the incredibly inspiring Haiyan Zhang, Innovation Director at Microsoft Research Cambridge. Haiyan was behind the life-changing Project Emma – a watch strap that will help people suffering from Parkinson’s Disease. You’ll have the chance to hear her speak about this experience, as well as her latest project: Project Fizzyo.

Following on is the latest about a new education project: UA92. Craig Parker, Microsoft’s Education Partner Lead, Professor Amanda Broderick, CEO at Newcastle University’s London Campus, and former Manchester United and England footballer Gary Neville, joined us to talk about University Academy 92. The first university to open in 23 years, UA92 will not only focus on closing the digital skills gap by developing skills for the fourth industrial revolution, but also help students develop their own personal skills, like self-analysis and resilience. By combining work placements, character development and learning skills, UA92 aims to offer something very different.

Bringing episode two to a close is the return of Andrew Cook and Hector Minto, talking about accessibility and embracing diversity. You’ll hear how Microsoft is ensuring that no one is left behind in digital transformation, through the use of a blueprint for accessibility. This inspirational talk looks at how we want companies to employ new, diverse views, and proactively employ people with disabilities.

Listen to the Technology for Good podcast on Soundcloud

Technology and innovation

Episode three brings together everything discussed in the first two podcasts. Without innovation, there’s no chance to help people. There’s no chance to drive business and succeed. This podcast is your chance to learn all about the latest in tech innovation, from people close to the heart of Microsoft. From learning about best practices for productive working and possibilities for the modern workplace, to hearing about the next in collaboration and communications tools, there’s plenty to get engrossed in.

You’ll hear from Scott Allen, Chief Marketing Officer at Microsoft UK, about how we can differentiate through data, using AI. Michael Wignall, Microsoft’s National Technology Officer discusses the latest in tech trends, and most notably, how you can apply them to your business. You’ve also got the chance to hear from a mixed reality expert, and a Fellow of the Royal Society.

The possibilities for the modern workplace – and for our society – are growing every day. And this podcast gives you a sneak peak into what’s coming, and how you can make it relevant to your industry.

Listen to the Technology and Innovation podcast on Soundcloud

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There are nine things that businesses must do to protect their users, customers and brand. And while some are simple common sense, others require technical knowledge. Some are quick fixes, small steps you can take in an instant. Others will need more time and attention to devoted to them, and even changes in organisation policy, process, attitude and behaviours.

Cybersecurity usually relies on fear to spur people into action. You’ve probably read a variety of threatening, scary articles that spark panic across your company. Well, the NCSC is pushing back. These nine recommendations below aren’t designed to scare anyone into action. They’re exactly what the NCSC does to protect the government. And as Dr Levy says, if it works for the Government – it’ll work for all organisations.

Do your administrators browse the web or get email using their admin machine or account?

The NCSC see many, many mistakes resulting from people receiving emails or browsing the web, while on the company’s admin account. It’s human nature to err, and considering the rules of probability, someone’s going to make a mistake one day. From clicking on a suspicious link in an email to browsing a dodgy website, if someone does this while on an admin account – that’s the entire company broken into. This, according to the NCSC, is the most important step you can take towards protecting your business. Don’t allow anyone to use the internet or email applications while on the admin account.

For big companies using Managed Service Providers, it’s not quite as simple, as you’ve basically outsourced all of your IT admin. You need to look at all parts of the contractor relationships: trust, contract and processes. To help companies out in this position, the Government has published comprehensive advice. Whether your admin account is local or through an MSP, you need to get it right. It’s your biggest vulnerability: employee behaviour causes around 80% of security-related breaches.

Do you whitelist executables? Do users ever have write and execute permissions to a directory?

Everyone wants to hope that their security processes are robust enough to stop any attacks. But thinking like this could be your downfall. Instead, assume that someone’s going to break in. Assume that someone’s going to make a mistake. Assume that you don’t patch in time. And then minimise the damage that can be done.

If you update your settings to say that users can’t write and execute from the same directory, your damage control will be a case of restarting your device. If you do let users write and execute at once, hackers can wreak havoc on your systems. Or, they can lie in wait, dormant in your systems until they decide to strike. Dr Ian states that in the investigations the NCSC does into hacked companies, the ‘nasty stuff’ has sometimes been in their systems for years – even decades.

When a mistake happens, don’t let it be world-ending. For example, Windows AppLocker prevents non-trusted code from executing. If you have more resource, you can look at using apps to whitelist your executables. That is, rather than allowing all programs to run and only blocking suspicious ones, you’ll block everything, and create rules for a certain few programs to break through.

You do use a VPN, right? And the credentials aren’t just the user credentials, are they?

Most people take for granted the security that a VPN brings. But at some point, someone’s going to create a lookalike of your log-in page. They’ll phish your employees and gain access to their credentials. That won’t be the end of the world if you’re securing your VPN properly. But if the only thing standing between a hacker and your company’s data is a username and password, then you’re in big trouble.

Two-factor authentication and machine certificates are necessary to complete a VPN’s security process. Without using one of these, it’s like putting a set of locks on your front door, but not bothering to shut it before bed.

Two-factor authentication is easy to install now. There are plenty of plug-and-play solutions to help you do this easily, like the built-in feature in Windows 10. Or, you can eradicate user impact. A machine certificate means that even if a hacker guesses credentials, unless they have access to the device tied to the credentials, they won’t have access.

Do you have a register of systems and domains that expose a service to the internet? What’s your process for adding one?

It’s not hard for someone to pretend to be you or your company. Whether it’s through fraudulent emails, letters or phone calls, you know that you need to be aware of all communications purportedly coming from your brand. But what about your actual website?

You need to know exactly what’s on show. The main problem the NCSC sees during incidents is a compromised system that no one even knew existed. You must know what you’ve got out there exposing a service. Else how do you know what you need to patch? And if someone uses ransomware to hold data on an old site hostage, how do you know if it’s vital enough to pay for?

If you don’t know what you’ve got, you can’t protect it. It’s a case of asset management, down to the last, tiny detail. Go through all of your external, internet-facing pages that offer services, and decide if they’re still important. It might be obvious. Or it might be a case of shutting the page down, and seeing how quickly it takes departments to complain.

You’ve got a sensible patching policy for all your internet facing stuff, right? And you’ve audited it recently, haven’t you?

For anything internet-facing, you need a robust patching policy. It’s likely to differ depending on how important each page or service is. And the speed at which you patch is always going to change based on how business critical the situation is. But you need the same stringent attitude towards your patching policy as you do towards your financial control policy, including the regularity of audits.

You need to know what you’ve got, and how long it’s been live for. You need to patch quickly, and not let your company get caught out due to a vulnerability from a few years ago – exactly like what happened to TalkTalk.

If your external-facing services and sites aren’t well patched, you’ll have problems. Luckily, there are a lot of ways you can do this automatically. Windows Update provides automatic updates by default, and WSUS (Windows Server Update Services) supports all enterprise updates.

Are your systems that hold personal data designed properly?

If you run externally-facing systems that hold customer data, you have to assume that one day, they’ll be successfully attacked. So, you need to have a system that’s designed for managed compromise. You need to be able to have a conversation with your CIO and your customers, where you can say that X, Y and Z need to happen before hackers get hold of precious customer data.

It’s hard to do this. If you use a service that processes personal data, you need to have a robust, reliable security system. The built-in features in Windows 10, plus Microsoft’s world-leading dedication and expertise in the security field, are an ideal place to start. And for further information, read this guidance set out by the Government, about what to think about when designing a system that processes personal data.

Do you follow NCSC email guidance?

The NCSC has released recent guidance around email security, recommending the use of TLS and DMARC. Organisations should be using both preventions to protect both their customers, and themselves. In a nutshell, TLS stops people intercepting your emails, and DMARC stops people pretending to be you.

With DMARC, you can take control of your email domain. It’s another barrier stopping fraudulent emails from reaching your customers. And because it sends all failed emails back to you, you can process what people are sending out in your name.

TLS is just as important. You don’t want commercially sensitive information leaked or spread around the internet. It’s a simple way to ensure your company’s and your customers’ data stays private and secure. TLS is an automatic feature on the majority of email systems, for example, with Office 365, you simply tick a box to action it.

Do you do active brand protection online?

Once you’ve got installed the right software, ticked the right boxes, and instilled the right employee behaviours, you might think you’ve guaranteed the protection of your company. Well, almost. To reach the higher levels of security and protection, you need to be actively protecting your brand online. You need to search for lookalike domains, analyse and process spam, and monitor phishing sites.

If you’re not doing this, you’re not protecting people. However, by looking actively for suspicious activity and behaviour, you can reduce the likelihood of harm when someone clicks on a fraudulent link. Yes, everyone is warned not to click if you think a link looks suspicious. But according to Dr Ian, this advice isn’t good enough. Technology is sophisticated enough for hackers to disguise suspicious-looking links, as he wrote about recently. Instead of telling people not to click links, just make sure there’s nothing harmful waiting for them when they do.

Are you careless when you communicate with customers?

One last thing to consider is how you interact with your customers. Are you encouraging dangerous behaviours in them? Are you training them up to give away details to criminals? If your organisation calls customers up and asks them for their account details and hidden passwords, then what’s stopping them from relaying the same information to a criminal when they call up pretending to be you?

You need to put measures in place that protect people – and don’t encourage behaviours that could get them in trouble. This could be implementing two-factor authentication with every piece of communications – from calling back your company back on a different number to clicking on a link emailed separately.

Analyse the communications you’re sending out – and you’ll have to work alongside your marketing department here – and see how they encourage both good and bad behaviours. Don’t let your emails, gated sites and communications be the reason your customer becomes an easy target.

See how Microsoft 365 can protect your business here

Visit Microsoft Secure to see how you can develop the right security strategies

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