No Connection

We all get disconnected from time to time. Sometimes we lose our Array/VPN connections. Sometimes our internet goes down. Sometimes a particular technology has load issues. Does that mean you just hang it up for the day? No – You get creative.

Contact Information - First thing, you need to have contact information for your leaders and teammates in multiple locations. If this is only on a SharePoint list and your network connection goes down, how will you reach anyone? Even to just let them know you are down? At minimum, you should have an HR system or team list or whatever you use to track this information. You also need your backup. This could be a local copy. For me, I prefer to keep my peeps as contacts in my personal cell phone. I keep their work and personal info so that I can reach out to them via phone or text if something happens. I like to keep these on separate devices, disconnected, for disaster recovery purposes. If one is hard down, I still have the other.

Alternative Methods to Connect – Many companies and products allow for a variety of ways to interact. With email, for example, there is the email client on your computer. But there is also likely an email application you can configure on your cell phone. Collaboration tools often have the same capabilities. It may not be as easy as your connected computer, but it’s still an option.

Meetings – Most meeting clients also offer means to connect through your computer, your phone, and alternate machines. Many have smartphone applications, and almost all have a web client you can use from any device. If you are participating to listen or contribute through talking, you can still join in. Unless you are presenting content you cannot access or control effectively, or trying to look at content that’s just too small on your mobile, there’s no reason you can’t be a part of the call. (You could even listen while going for a walk and getting those steps in!)

Work Product – This is the hardest part. If you work on documentation, source code, or other artifacts that live on the network that you cannot access, there’s not much you can do here. If you have advance warning about a planned outage, you could save a local copy and then upload or merge later. If this isn’t an option, there’s still likely something you can do locally. Many people still have word processing and email applications installed on their local machines. This might be a perfect opportunity to write some of the support documentation we all neglect to do.

Training – Worst case is that you just can’t get to anything. Hard to believe with everything above, but if you can’t or the downtime is extended, it could happen. If you truly can’t do something with your work product, look at what training you could be doing. Does your employer offer books and classes online? What about training resources on the web? Or even those physical books you have on your shelf? People always complain about not having time for training, so use this as an opportunity versus a setback.

Exhaust all of these options before walking away. Your company still needs you. You might not be as productive as your usual self, but you have value to add. This will also save you from getting behind schedule when all is well again.