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Author: Molly Foulkes

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Future of work remote work

Elevate Your MSP and VAR Services Through Differentiation

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In today’s fast-paced and technology-driven business landscape, it’s more important than ever for organizations to optimize their IT operations and stay ahead of the competition. This is why the managed services market is experiencing explosive growth, with more and more businesses turning to MSPs to provide a comprehensive suite of IT services tailored to their specific needs. As a result, the global managed services market was valued at $179.33 billion in 2021 and is expected to reach $393.72 billion by 2028. The highly saturated market showcases the need for differentiation to stand out.

The importance of differentiation

It has become increasingly difficult for VARs and MSPs to differentiate themselves. With over 1 million global information service providers, most of which offer Microsoft 365 products, there is often a significant overlap between offerings. A recent study determined that over 80% of VARs and MSPs offer the same services. As a result, VARs and MSPs need help to stand out in a crowded market and attract new clients. They must now focus on offering unique value propositions, such as specialized expertise in a particular industry or technology, personalized customer service, or innovative solutions that can solve specific pain points for their customers.

Ways to differentiate your services

If you are a VAR or MSP struggling to differentiate your services from the competition, there are several strategies you can employ to set yourself apart in the market.

  • Become a thought leader
    • Becoming a thought leader effectively allows VARs and MSPs to differentiate their services and establish themselves as experts in their field. By sharing their knowledge and expertise with potential clients, VARs and MSPs can build trust and credibility, increasing business opportunities. One way to do this is by publishing blog posts that offer insights and advice on industry trends and best practices. VARs and MSPs can also share their expert advice on local media outlets and podcasts to increase their visibility and reach a wider audience.
  • Offer flexible pricing and packaging
    • Pricing is a crucial part of MSP’s profitability and revenue streams. There is no “one-size-fits-all” model. Kaseya’s 2022 MSP Benchmark survey respondents indicated billing model data is relatively evenly distributed. Offering flexible pricing and packaging options can give MSPs an advantage in a competitive market. By tailoring pricing and packaging to fit their customers’ needs, MSPs can create more value for their clients and make it easier for them to do business.
Predominant Billing Model for MSPSAll Respondents
Combination of per user and per device22%
Per user (all-in seat price)21%
Per device17%
Value-based (fixed fee subscription) managed services15%
Tiered bundles for managed services12%
A la carte11%
Other2%
Kaseya, 2022 MSP Benchmark Survey Report: MSP Industry Trends.
  • Invest in marketing
    • Marketing is a valuable aspect of any business; VARs and MSPs are no different. Create content that is useful for your ideal customers and that helps your current customers get more out of your offering.
  • Expand your product offerings
    • Consider expanding your product offerings to differentiate your services and provide more value to your customers. One way to do this is by adding a virtual office integration to your product suite. With more businesses adopting remote and hybrid work, virtual office integrations offer a great way to upsell current offerings while opening up recurring revenue streams. In addition, a 2021 survey identified managing remote workers as one of the biggest challenges for MSP clients. 

Communicating your differentiation

It’s not enough for VARs and MSPs to differentiate themselves—they must also effectively communicate their unique value propositions. This can be achieved through targeted marketing efforts, including social media campaigns, email newsletters, and website content highlighting their expertise and showcasing what sets them apart. By taking the time to understand their clients’ unique needs and challenges, VARs and MSPs can offer tailored solutions that provide maximum value.

VARs and MSPs can also leverage customer testimonials and case studies to demonstrate their differentiation in action. These resources can be used to showcase successful projects and satisfied clients, providing evidence of a particular VAR or MSP’s value to a business.

Differentiate your offerings with Frameable Spaces

In today’s remote work environment, businesses rely on digital collaboration tools to stay connected. As an MSP or VAR, you have the opportunity to differentiate your offerings and stand out from the competition by providing innovative solutions that enhance the remote work experience for your customers.

Frameable Spaces offers a powerful Microsoft Teams integration to help you achieve this goal. Our app allows you to expand your product offerings and increase retention by providing a valuable add-on to Teams. Connect with us today to help your clients communicate and collaborate more efficiently while delivering advanced collaboration features, visibility, and analytics.

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Future of work online meetings remote work

The Future of Work Begins Now—Here’s Who’s Designing It

By now you’ve probably heard this a thousand times: hybrid work is here to stay. People love their remote and hybrid jobs, and everyone has come to the general consensus that workplace flexibility is not something that people will easily forgo. As companies and workers alike look to the future, it’s helpful to keep an eye on the biggest change-makers in the industry. Here’s a look at our team’s round up of the people and organizations to watch as we navigate the ever-changing future of work. 

Nicholas Bloom

Bloom, a Stanford Economics professor, is the foremost expert on remote work and remote work trends, authoring some of the most insightful research on the subject to come out in the last decade. In 2017, when only 8% of the U.S. worked from home, Bloom gave a talk about his research and how leaning into work from home could change the world. Now in 2023, he’s become a key advisor to many Fortune 100 companies, and definitely someone everyone interested in the remote work revolution should keep their eye on.

Katie Burke

As Chief People Officer at Hubspot, Katie Burke has shaped the company’s post-pandemic approach to business and has even shifted how they pay their employees. Compensation at Hubspot is now based on one anchor city per country; for example, New York City is the anchor for U.S. based employees, so no matter where U.S. Hubspot employees find themselves, they are being paid fairly. With this move, Hubspot is leading the way as many other organizations look to become both more equitable and attract top talent—no matter where they are in the world. 

Canva

Canva is an approachable graphic design platform that is changing the way people create and collaborate on visual content. With a user-friendly interface and extensive library of design templates, Canva is empowering individuals and teams to create professional-quality designs without the need for specialized skills or software. This democratization of graphic design is helping to break down barriers to entry for those interested in design and enable more creativity in the workplace across various industries. Furthermore, Canva’s cloud-based platform allows for seamless collaboration and sharing of designs across teams. Canva is playing a key role in enabling remote collaboration, they even bolster a large roster of entirely remote employees around the world.

Cheryl Cran

Cheryl Cran, the founder of NextMapping, is a recognized expert in the future of work and its surrounding thought leadership. She has been at the forefront of the conversations surrounding the future of work, providing insights and guidance to organizations worldwide. Cheryl’s vision for the future of work is one of innovation and human-centeredness, where organizations are able to adapt quickly to changing circumstances and leverage the latest technology to achieve their goals. As an acclaimed author of 10 books and an inspiring keynote speaker on the topics of remote and hybrid work, Cran is a visionary thought leader in the future of work. Her insights and expertise have been featured in top-tier publications including Fast Company, Huffington Post, and Forbes as she works to shape the future of work by empowering individuals and organizations to embrace change and create success regardless of their industry.

Frameable

Frameable has brought a new perspective to what it means to collaborate remotely. Developing sleek and easy to use tools for elevating day to day meetings, productivity, and even large-scale virtual events, has positioned them to become a stand out in the remote work space. Their flagship product, Spaces, gives teams a virtual office that is straightforward and easy to use. And for organizations that already use Microsoft Teams, they even offer a built-in application specifically for Teams users to make work more streamlined and collaboration seamless no matter where coworkers are located. 

If you’re looking to take your remote team to the next level, see how Spaces can improve your team’s connectivity and productivity–no matter where they are. Schedule a demo to learn more.

Front

Front provides a shared inbox platform for teams to manage their emails, social media messages, and other communication channels in one place. Its platform offers features like email templates, message assignments, and automated workflows to help teams work together more efficiently and effectively no matter where they are. On top of this comes integrations with top technologies already in use by many, like Slack. By simplifying and automating many repetitive tasks that come with day-to-day work, Front is positioned to keep changing how we work.

Chris Heard

CEO of Firstbase, Heard founded the company that is now changing the way organizations handle the hardware needs of their remote workforce. By giving teams access to the physical items they need to get their jobs done and keeping track of everything in the cloud, Firstbase is making it easier and more efficient for companies to take advantage of going remote. Follow him on LinkedIn where he regularly discusses the future of work and shares conversations from his podcast Against the Herd.

Hive

Hive is a new platform for managing both projects and teams. It offers a centralized workspace where team members can collaborate, track their tasks, and communicate with each other. Hive’s big differentiator is its ability to integrate with other tools that teams often use, such as Google Drive, Salesforce, and GitHub.Its user-friendly interface and powerful features make it a popular choice among teams of all sizes, from small startups to large enterprises. 

Notion

Notion is the productivity and project management app taking the world by storm. From solo-entrepreneurs to full teams, Notion’s user base has quickly grown and it’s easy to see why: Notion is approachable. Whether a team needs to plan and scope a large project, or a young adult finds themselves needing to create a budget, Notion is straightforward and customizable to users’ needs. This all in one powerhouse that can be a CRM, calendar, note taker, and even an Excel competitor is definitely one to pay attention to. 

Okta

Okta provides identity and access management solutions. With a cloud-based platform, it allows organizations to securely manage and authenticate users’ identities across different applications and devices. Okta’s platform is highly scalable, allowing businesses to easily integrate it into their existing infrastructure. As remote, hybrid, and work-from-anywhere models continue to grow, the need for secure and efficient identity management solutions is definitely not going anywhere.Their continued expansion of capabilities has positioned them to become a new leader in the industry.

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online meetings productivity remote work

19 Tips for a Successful Sales Kickoff (SKO)

Make your next  SKO a success

Whether you are kicking off a new fiscal year or a new quarter, it’s imperative that you set the right tone for your team. An effective sales kick-off can make all the difference for maximizing your team’s energy, effort, and optimism when it comes to the upcoming season. 

Starting off on a positive note is crucial. But how do you do so without sounding cheesy and disingenuous? Doing this effectively requires setting both reasonable first milestones and not starting off on a negative note or creating an association of fear with the project or quarter. 

However, this doesn’t mean you have to avoid talking about gaps or areas for improvement entirely. Just be sure to round out any mentions of potential blockers by talking about how you will help alleviate them and ways that leadership can support your team. You want your team to leave the sales kickoff feeling invigorated!

The Essential Hybrid or Remote Sales Kickoff (SKO) Checklist

Our diverse team of experienced remote work professionals compiled a checklist of the best steps to take (and the order in which to take them) to make sure your remote or hybrid team’s project, quarter, or yearly SKO is a great success!

Enable Your Hybrid SKO’s Success with the Right Technologies

Of course, every team is different, and no checklist is one size fits all. But incorporating many or all of the above steps will ensure your kickoff is enjoyable, memorable, and tee’s up your next chapter on a good note.

Whenever and wherever your team works, Frameable has all the tools you need to make your next kickoff customized, fun, and functional. To discover how you can bring this same excitement to the way you work, learn more about Frameable Spaces for Teams and book a demo to get started.

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remote work

4 Small Ways to Show Your Remote Team You Appreciate Them

Just because your team works remotely doesn’t mean you can skip out on employee appreciation. When working as a distributed or hybrid team, it’s important to develop a variety of avenues where you can publicly show your team how much you value their contributions. Research has continually shown that teams who feel valued and appreciated are more engaged, confident that they will be treated well in the future, and are less likely to quit.

Establish A Culture of Communication

If your team is fully remote,  it is unlikely that you will have the opportunity to walk down the hall and say hello or good morning to everyone. Because of this physical separation, make a point to check in occasionally about things outside of work with different members of your team. Offering your team members this point of unstructured regular contact with you can help them feel supported. This can also be a great time to offer up positive feedback. If you noticed something they did well recently, these small moments are great for offering up those pieces of feedback.

HBR reports that it’s best to offer positive and constructive feedback as soon as possible, but not together. So when you have positive nuggets to share – make sure you share them! 

Create Opportunities for Wider Recognition and Appreciation

While it’s important to give praise one-on-one, it’s also important to do things for your entire team to show them you care.

Do you have weekly or monthly all-hands or other team meetings? Have different members showcase accomplishments, successes, or promotions within the team. Get multiple people involved in the announcement and make a point to recognize contributions from all corners of the business. Making sure people feel seen for their individual contributions and for the impact they have on the team as a whole. These small celebrations are also a great way to remind everyone what you’re working towards and that their contributions are important to the entire team’s success. Two great options our team recommends are TinyPulse and Achievers.

Send Care Packages People Actually Want to Receive

In a remote work environment, throwing a pizza party or bringing in donuts isn’t something you can easily do, and introductory swag boxes are more often than not seldom used by new members for long. Instead, send your team something that they would actually love and use. 

Every team is different, so it may even help to send out a survey every year or during your onboarding process to help you get a sense of what your team members would love to receive. Packages could be something to accompany a remote event or activity or be just by themselves. Here are some ideas to get you started:

  • Team sweatshirts 
  • Wine tasting or mixology box for a team happy hour or activity
  • A nice meal for their family, like steaks or sustainable seafood (no shellfish!)
  • A box of candy or cupcakes for their birthday
  • A house plant or flowers for the holidays
  • A card or gift card for those welcoming a baby
  • A gift card to order lunch during the team all hands
  • A craft box for a team activity

Remember when sending food or consumption-based activities that you are aware of any dietary restrictions or allergies team members may have. No one wants to receive a care package they can’t enjoy!

Be Flexible

The idea of offering more flexibility to employees in our current remote-forward age is not new, but it does bear repeating! Many note that being given the opportunity to flex working hours is a huge sign of trust and recognition of a job well done from management. Consider if there are times of the day you could offer as flex-time to your team. Flex-time refers to an arrangement where employees can adjust the start or end times of their work days as long as they are still working their agreed upon hours.

There are a variety of ways to approach flex time such as allowing 8-10 am or 3-5 pm as a flex block or by implementing meeting-free afternoons on certain days where employees can choose to flex if needed. These options provide the flexibility to go to the gym, schedule appointments, or drop off and pick up kids from school. Having the freedom for employees to manage their responsibilities in a way that works best for them allows you to show them they are valued and that you respect and trust them enough to get their work done, even if they choose to do so outside of conventional hours. 

Boost remote employee engagement with our free Virtual Office Manager e-book! Click to download now.

To support such freedom and flexibility, your team also needs to be supported by the best possible tools. Frameable Spaces offers one of the best ways to keep your remote and distributed teams connected wherever they are. A virtual office where you can easily see who is online allows everyone to make the best use of their time and creates space for those serendipitous interactions we know and love from the office. Check out how you can set your team up for success with Frameable Spaces.

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remote work

4 Tips for Welcoming and Engaging New Remote Team Members to Your Virtual Office

Are you doing enough to ensure remote team members are set up for success?

Quickly and effectively onboarding remote team members is a lot easier said than done. It can be hard to make sure they feel welcomed, comfortable, and ready to hit the ground running when your first meet-and-greet is through a screen. But it can be done! Here’s how our fully remote team has learned to run the most effective onboardings into our virtual office and workstyle.

Share Common Verbiage, Workflows, and Meetings

The first day of joining a new team is scary enough without the added stress of learning new phrases, workflows, products, and projects. Sharing a document with common company lingo, meeting styles, and key project names right away will set your new hire up for a successful first few days. It will also make their transition into your team smoother by eliminating the need to ask others to define every term they hear. This will also aid in their feeling of inclusion from day one.

A recent McKinsey report found that since the COVID-19 pandemic, increasing employees’ sense of inclusion in the workplace has become A recent McKinsey report found that since the COVID-19 pandemic, increasing employees’ sense of inclusion in the workplace has become more and more crucial to maintaining a productive work environment for all — especially with so many now working a remote or hybrid schedule. Giving new employees a leg up on day one by laying out as much of the shared knowledge as possible is one of the most straightforward ways to ensure all new hires, regardless of location, feel included in their new team.

Initiate Relationship Building on Day 1

Make a point to have your new team member meet 1-on-1 with colleagues they will be working closely with. For smaller organizations, schedule time with all the employees! These meetings will be key to helping new team members get to know their coworkers and understand how their role fits into the bigger picture of your organization. Pre-scheduling these conversations makes joining a new team less daunting in addition to encouraging a culture of relationship building throughout your entire organization.

While using a virtual office for your hybrid or remote team comes with many benefits, oftentimes, teammates will navigate and use a virtual office differently. Having your team reach out to set up 10-15 minute meetings will provide the new hire with greater context to workflows and help them get acquainted with their new role. These quick meetings will also be a great introduction to how different hybrid or remote employees use your remote office and tools.

Encourage Engagement Throughout the Virtual Office

On a recent episode of McKinsey Global Institute’s Forward Thinking podcast, Nicholas Bloom discussed how integral a sense of connection with colleagues is to creating a successful remote or hybrid work environment. It can be difficult for hybrid and remote new hires to know how to go about engaging with their new colleagues within a virtual office space. Modeling how your team uses your virtual office before sending off your new hire to do so on their own can accelerate their learning curve and invite more opportunities for them to engage with their new colleagues.

One of the main benefits of a virtual office is the visibility and reachability of your teammates. Encourage new hires to occupy a virtual office or desk, venture to different virtual “locations”, and use statuses to convey their availability. Share how different team members use the space’s functionalities and tools and encourage new colleagues to try out the various aspects of your virtual workspace to identify their preferences.

Pair Your New Hire With A Buddy for a Day

The first few days of a new job are typically filled with onboarding and administrative tasks. Once your new hire has completed these, pair them up with another colleague who shares similar responsibilities for a day. Encourage the pair to attend the same meetings, discuss their tasks, and frequently debrief throughout the day. Depending on the size of your organization, this can help speed up collaboration between two crucial team members, or give your new hire an established team member to reference when it comes to producing great work within your organization.

Boost remote employee engagement with our free Virtual Office Manager e-book! Click to download now.

Setting your remote team members up for success does not have to be overly complicated. Learn how upgrading to Frameable Spaces can transform your virtual office and employee experience.

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