Why Communication and Culture Are So Important for a SOC Analyst while Working 100% Remote during COVID

• Has team culture been lost as a result from working from home?
• Communication is key to maintain morale
• Types of communication have varying levels of effectiveness

Why are communication and culture important to a SOC analyst working remotely due to the COVID outbreak?

The importance of the various options we have for communication during this trying time is easy to see. Communication via email is paramount to keeping the team functioning as a cohesive unit. Beyond email, various chat platforms provide an instant messaging interface and, usually paired with the ability to call other team members and chat just with voice or with video as well. Seeing one another while talking allows for a more nuanced interaction. Team members can thus more easily convey humor, sarcasm and other emotions that are hard to get across with only the written word.

Communication is key to keeping the team moving in the correct direction and to ensuring that all members know what is going on with the other members. Since we can’t hold in-person team meetings, the ability to communicate quickly over different media lets the analyst work as part of a team. For example, if a questionable case comes up, it helps to be able to pick up your headset and call a fellow analyst to verify the activity you see.

Then there is the team culture, which can be lost when working from home. The culture has been maintained for SOC analysts through weekly meetings with the entire Managed Detection and Response team. These meetings let us communicate with other departments and better understand the ongoing tasks and operations of the team as a whole. We can also participate in video calls and activities that allow the team to connect on more personal levels, and not just based around work. Ensuring the company’s culture thrives among SOC analysts while working completely from home directly promotes loyalty to Bitdefender and upholds moral standards. Keeping SOC analysts loyal prevents them from leaving for another company because they are unhappy or feel their work is not appreciated.

So, communication and culture are important aspects of a healthy work environment for SOC analysts, or any other worker for that matter. A lack of either communication or culture would hurt morale and diminish the work capabilities of a SOC analyst.

Find out more about our MDR service delivered by our SOC on bitdefender.com/MDR