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Category: remote work

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productivity remote work

Do You Have the Right Technology and Tools to Support Remote Work?

Woman sitting at a table with a laptop in a warmly lit room

By now, we all know that remote and distributed work will remain a part of many of our lives in one way or another. Whether your team is deciding to go remote to save on real estate costs or because you believe it is in the best interest of your employees to give them the flexibility that remote work offers, providing your team with the proper tools to maximize the benefits of remote work is crucial for both your success and theirs. 

For over five years, our team has been working together from all corners of the U.S. and the world, and we’ve come to discover what is most important not only for productivity’s sake, but also for supporting all aspects of our team’s work and lives. A recent Harvard Business Review survey discovered 59% of workers feel their collaboration tools are not aligned with how they and their teams prefer to work. Just like providing employees with the flexibility of remote work increases employee satisfaction, giving your team the tools they like and need to be productive and collaborative is equally important.

Our fully remote team has compiled a list of tools we use daily to show you what a people-driven technology suite can look like for your team.

Here’s a peek at our team’s collaboration stack:

  • MultiShare
    • Frameable MultiShare is our new app that we designed to make working together as a remote team easier. Born out of our other product, Spaces, MultiShare allows for simultaneous screen sharing by as many users in a call as needed. Just like pulling up a chair at your coworker’s desk to work back and forth between your respective screens, MultiShare gives our distributed team the flexibility they need to get things done faster than ever. Everyone can follow along and toggle back and forth between shared screens without slowing down a meeting or verbally passing along screen-sharing permissions one by one. It’s been a productivity game-changer, especially for our developers and designers, and during big working sessions and brainstorms with many ideas flowing back and forth.
  • Spaces
    • Frameable Spaces is our flagship product that houses all of the add-on features we make to enhance collaboration within Microsoft Teams. Spaces is our team’s virtual office inside of Microsoft Teams, allowing us to see ongoing meetings, join project rooms to collaborate, and view everyone’s status and availability so we always know who to contact with a pressing question. For a distributed team like ours, having a virtual office space that provides more transparency across departments and teams, has given us a greater sense of connectivity and made ad-hoc collaboration more seamless as we crush our goals.
  • Google Workspace
    • Google Workspace offers a wide range of features and functionalities that enable seamless teamwork and enhanced productivity. Our team particularly relies on Google Docs, where multiple team members can simultaneously edit and contribute to a document in real time, fostering collaboration and eliminating the hassle of version control. Google Sheets allows for easy data sharing and collaborative spreadsheet work, enabling teams to collectively organize, analyze, and update information. With an easy-to-use interface and real-time updates, Google Suite is perfect for any team, and essential for a distributed team. 
  • Figma
    • Figma is the primary tool we use for design-centered tasks. Figma makes design approachable and its elegant interface is great for cross-team projects involving both designers and non-designers. Being a distributed team, Figma’s real-time collaboration capabilities are top-notch, enabling multiple designers to work simultaneously on the same project. Figma also creates more increased visibility into what others are working on, meaning if one team member is out on vacation it’s easy for another to pick up right where they left off. Being a web-based product also means Figma projects sync across all devices automatically so designers never have to worry about accessing the correct, most updated version of a project.
  • Microsoft Teams
    • Since we built our products to integrate with Microsoft Teams, it’s no surprise our team also employs Teams for instant messaging and video conferencing. We love using Teams since it seamlessly integrates with our in-house products, and has a familiar feel to the rest of the Microsoft Office suite. The best part is that you can access chat, video calls, your calendar, and group messaging threads within a single application. Our team loves that we don’t have to switch back and forth between different applications for messaging, calls, and collaborating.
  • Jira
    • Having a centralized project management tool is something every remote team needs. Jira provides a centralized platform where team members can collaborate and track progress on tasks regardless of their physical location. It enables efficient communication and eliminates the need for lengthy email threads or scattered information across different channels. Jira’s comprehensive features, like issue tracking, task assignment, and workflow management, allow remote teams like ours to organize efficiently. Team members can create, assign, and prioritize tasks, set due dates, and monitor progress in real-time, ensuring everyone stays aligned and accountable. Jira offers transparency by providing visibility into the team’s work and progress. Being a remote team, it’s essential that members can access the latest updates, view project timelines, and generate reports from anywhere. Lastly, Jira integrates seamlessly with other popular collaboration tools, such as Microsoft Teams, Slack, Confluence, and Trello, making it easy to add into your suite of tools.

If your team is ready to stay ahead of the curve and stay connected, finding a group of applications that work best for your team is imperative for your success. For those with the means to survey your team on their preferences of collaboration software, this is a great opportunity to gather their feedback on how they like to work best, and provide solutions to make them feel both heard and supported. 

Finding the right tools to support a diverse and collaborative team is a constant effort from all parties, especially leaders. Explore how MultiShare can bring back the collaborative energy your teams want without sacrificing the value and benefits of remote work.

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Future of work remote work

8 Trends in Employee Benefits and Perks for Remote Workers

The remote work revolution has already drastically changed the job market landscape, what people expect from their jobs, and how they want their jobs to fit into their life. Now, with such a hot remote job market, people are taking a closer look at what companies offer beyond the salary and expected benefits to ensure they are joining an organization that values their skills and them simply as people. What does this look like in practice? We’ve compiled a list of some of the best perks remote workers receive as a part of their employment agreements and some companies redefining what it means to take care of your employees.

Common Remote Work Stipends

  1. Home Office Stipends
    1. At this point, most remote first organizations offer some form of a stipend for their employees to furnish their space and update their equipment. 
  2. Wifi Stipends
    1. In addition to home office stipends, stipends to go towards wifi bills have been growing in popularity for remote organizations to offer to ensure their employees have a strong internet connection for their home office.
  3. Wellness and Wellbeing stipends
    1. We’ve seen organizations offer stipends and reimbursements for gym memberships, health clubs, massages, other needs to help take care of your physical health. 
  4. Coworking Memberships 
    1. Getting out of the house during the day helps employees feel like a part of their local community, and feel less lonely. Bonus points if it also means they get the chance to work alongside colleagues that live in the same area more regularly. 
  5. Continuous Learning Stipends
    1. We’ve seen this type of stipend offered as lump sums, yearly allowances, or monthly subscriptions to various services that provide online courses and education.
  6. Blanket “Remote Work” Stipend
    1. Many organizations, regardless of if they operate under a fully or partially remote work model, offer some form of general monthly or yearly stipend. These funds help cover some of the costs associated with working from home, and let their employees determine how best to spend the grant based on their current needs.

Perks for Remote Workers

  1. Mandatory Time Off in Addition to PTO. 
    1. A few years ago, news of organizations offering unlimited PTO was everywhere, and it was a groundbreaking concept—employees could take off as much time as they wanted, within reason. But companies started to discover that the social pressure around not taking too much time off was stopping employees from even taking as much as they had been when their days off were capped (such as three weeks per year). Some organizations have company-wide or mandated weeks off where employees are required to log off and recharge. Others require employees to take a certain number of days of PTO each quarter or year to maximize their bonuses and to encourage a healthy work-life balance.
  2. Work From Anywhere
    1. Many remote-first companies, such as AirBnB, have embraced a work from anywhere policy, allowing remote employees to do their jobs wherever they’d like. Such workplace policies can manifest in various ways, such as working from a remote cabin for a month or from a different co-working space every week. The only stipulation most organizations have with this rule is that you have to stay in the country where you are based—otherwise it’s up to you!

Including all of these perks might not be a fit for every organization. But it is a great reminder that taking care of your employees helps them take care of you and your organization. Keeping a remote team feeling both connected and fulfilled is no small feat. When it comes to getting stuff done, see how a virtual office integration like Frameable Spaces for Microsoft Teams can enhance your day-to-day workflows and improve both team morale and productivity. Book a demo today and start experiencing a better way to work.

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remote work

Take Remote Work  More Seriously Starting with Supporting Their Office Design

Woman sitting at her home office laptop in a cozy room

In the absence of a physical office location, what does ‘office design’ mean for employees who work from home (WFH)? There are two ‘spaces’ that combine to make up a remote employee’s workplace. The first is their physical location, where they’re actually sitting at a computer doing their work. The second is their virtual location, which can be defined as the platform or collection of programs that an employee uses to complete their work online. For companies seeking to support their remote staff, a consideration of both spaces will be necessary. 

The Physical Office

Start with embracing what WFH is
When home space becomes a workspace, it’s natural that one will inevitably affect the other. In embracing WFH culture, we must normalize and embrace that there are variables at play in every employee’s environment that employers cannot and should not try to control. 

  • Interruptions
    There will be interruptions—dropped internet connections, kids screaming in excitement, cats sitting on keyboards, etc. Acknowledging this reality and having defined procedures for dealing with these inevitabilities will keep things stress-free and efficient. If there are important meetings that management particularly wants to keep uninterrupted, communication is key. Being flexible in scheduling may allow an employee to capitalize on naturally quieter times during their day, and planning ahead will allow the employee to temporarily adjust their environment or location to suit their work needs. 
  • Decor
    While it would be ideal for all remote employees to have spacious, private offices in their homes, that is simply not the reality for most. Many remote workers have gotten impressively creative with some WFH desk setups, as shown in this 2020 CNN article. As varied as these home workspaces are, they have one thing in common: they all work!

    So long as an employee’s work is getting done on time and to satisfaction (and there is nothing on display that could be potentially harmful or offensive), there is no need to question or comment on what their workspace looks like. If a role requires high-level professional meetings or face time with current and prospective clients, providing a good camera light, external mic, and coaching on best practices for virtual backgrounds is appropriate.
  • Location
    With the line between home life and work life blurring with remote employment, it is important to understand appropriate boundaries regarding work requests. Limiting where and when an employee can travel hampers future open and proactive communications from taking place. Instead, let your employees take responsibility for ensuring they can connect effectively and complete assignments to the proper standards, no matter where they choose to do their work. 

Recognizing and accepting these eventualities are minimum requirements for employers of a remote workforce. Furthermore, embracing flexibility can be linked to better mental health, work-life balance, and increased workplace satisfaction for everyone–including those in leadership positions. 

So what can be controlled in a remote employee’s physical workspace? There are several things employers can do and provide to support their remote employees and set them up for success- wherever that physical location may be.

  1. Standardize tech wherever possible
    For employers constructing a remote office, it can save time, frustration, and money to ensure all employees are equipped with the same brands and models of equipment wherever possible. Not only will this standardize the employee experience, but it will also enable employees the opportunity to troubleshoot issues together rather than relying solely on the office tech support specialist.  
  2. Provide home office stipends
    No two remote employees will have the same work from home setup. Some will be better equipped than others, while some will have significant barriers in their immediate environment to working in comfort. A home office stipend is a payment given to employees to use towards investing in their remote workspace. Whether spent on ergonomic chairs, an air conditioner, or a rented desk in a co-working space, a home office stipend empowers remote workers to equip themselves as needed to do their best work comfortably and efficiently.
  3. Accommodate special needs
    Standardizing equipment and providing a stipend are great ways to level the playing field for your employees. However there may be a few individuals who need additional flexibility and support to shine their brightest. Keeping regular communication open and working together to create solutions to specific needs can positively impact an employee’s day-to-day work, producing a happy and productive team member. 

The virtual office

Don’t make the mistake of thinking that a virtual space does not need the kind of management and structure that a physical office space needs! If anything, a virtual office space requires even more explicit communication and coordination to ensure that individual employees and the organization have what they need to perform.

Improve remote work with a collaborative virtual office platform

Luckily, not all of the foundational work of establishing a remote workplace will fall to organizational leadership. Post-pandemic, there are now a wealth of remote work platforms that organizations can choose from to get them started. 

Many of these platforms vary widely but have similar core offerings that are now considered necessary office tools for modern work, such as cloud storage, video conferencing, and instant messaging and email capabilities. The decision on which to choose is an important one that organizations will want to weigh carefully.  “Technology and workplace tools are, for all intents and purposes, the new workplace,” says the Harvard Business Review. “As such they’re becoming central in attracting and retaining new talent, fostering workplace culture, creating productivity and more.” 


Whatever platform you choose, it will be essential to offer onboarding training and self-serve resources for further education and reference.

Meta work: proactively prioritize organization and communication

Even with a virtual office platform, employees can still be at a slight disadvantage. For example, it can be difficult to obtain quick clarifications when they’re in a work-from-home situation. Remote employees must rely on the timeliness of instant chat, email, or phone and video calls for all of their communications. Depending on their colleagues’ schedules, this could have them waiting much longer than they would in a physical office. Proactive organization and communication can resolve many of these time-consuming clarification requests.


Some easy first steps towards better organization and communication include: 

  • Write clear meeting descriptions or agendas into your meeting invitations
  • Create a central place where all important organizational resources are stored and accessed 
  • Implement naming conventions for saved files to make them easy to find
  • Document workplace conduct rules, communicate them and stick to them
  • Schedule regular check-in’s with direct reports to ensure there is no uncertainty about work responsibilities and roles

Creating and adhering to best practices for communicating and providing a clear, organized structure for company documents and resources saves employers time and money and allows employees to work efficiently and effectively. 

Office enhancements 

Keeping up with the newest technology enhancements and tools is important in the ever-changing landscape of virtual work. There are additions to the established platforms that improve on existing functionality and break down communication barriers that are still present in even the most efficient remote work teams. The Frameable Spaces integration in Microsoft Teams combines the structure of the Teams environment with added ability to work transparently, meet and communicate with teammates easier. Learn more about how the Frameable Spaces app can transform your Microsoft Teams experience today.  

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Future of work remote work

Elevate Your MSP and VAR Services Through Differentiation

smiling man sits at laptop in a loft

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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Microsoft Teams productivity remote work

How to Transition from Slack to Microsoft Teams Without Losing Your Culture

Person looking at Microsoft Teams app

Recently, our organization made a shift from using Slack to Microsoft Teams. The transition was not without its challenges, but we learned a lot along the way and are excited to share our experience with others. Many organizations are going through a similar transition as Teams has continued to grow, expanding from 44 million users in November 2019 to over 270 million users by 2022, far outpacing Slack’s 18 million active users.

In this blog post, we’ll outline key differences between Slack and Microsoft Teams from an end-user perspective, provide tips for planning and executing a successful transition, and offer advice on how to get the most out of Teams once you’ve already made the switch. Whether you’re considering a move to Teams or are already in the process, we hope this post will help make your transition as smooth and successful as possible.

Slack vs Microsoft Teams

Slack and Microsoft Teams both primarily function as business messaging apps but there are a few key differences between the two. Below is a chart outlining some of the key differences our team has noticed between the two platforms.

SlackMicrosoft Teams
Guest AccessSlack offered a more streamlined guest access experience, allowing single-channel guests to easily join one channel for free.We have found guest access to be more limiting in Microsoft Teams. Users need to be granted a licensed account and login to access channels.
Messaging CapabilitiesOur team misses custom emoji reactions and the smoother drag-and-drop file attachment capabilities within Slack.Teams has opened our eyes to the world of animated GIFs as they are easily accessible to add from within chat. We also enjoy the chat threads that are created directly from video calls, allowing us to easily communicate with specific team members.
IntegrationsWhile Slack offered many third-party integrations, you still must leave the platform in order to collaborate. Our team relied on the Google Drive integration to share file access and see document activity but users still had to click and open a browser tab to actually enter the document.Teams has advanced integrations with all Office 365 apps, allowing company member users to easily navigate to shared files from directly within the Teams app. Check out our recently launched apps as well! This is how our team improves the existing in-call experience with advanced features such as multiple screen shares and a dashboard of key Teams functionality.
Video CallsWhile Slack has video calling capabilities through third-party integrations, we did not use this feature.Teams allows us to easily make video or audio calls to multiple people directly from a group chat.

Planning and executing a successful transition

While we were all accustomed to using Slack and comfortable with its features, we recognized that Teams offered a more integrated and comprehensive solution for our growing workforce. Specifically, we were looking to integrate the Frameable Spaces platform directly into our messaging tool. 

We started by identifying a core team of individuals to lead the transition and serve as a resource for others during the process. This team was responsible for researching Teams’ features and capabilities, creating accounts on the new platform, setting up our teams, and answering questions from staff members.

For a successful transition we recommend:

  1. Map how you plan to migrate from Slack to Teams
    • Create a document outlining the steps and timeline for the transition. This should include converting what were previously Slack “channels” to “teams” within Microsoft, and ensuring the threads have the same privacy settings. Share this high-level view with employees and be sure to explain the reasons behind the transition.
  2. Migrate pinned files
    • If it is important for your organization to preserve historical records, you may want to look into exporting content from Slack. Depending on your Slack service plan, you will have the opportunity to export channels and direct messages. Our team built in a buffer period where employees were able to access both softwares during the transition to alleviate any concerns about losing historical records.
  3. Provide training and resources for employees
    • Be sure to offer training sessions and resources for employees to get familiar with Teams and the features it offers. To help employees get familiar with Teams, offer a mix of group training sessions, one-on-one coaching, and self-paced resources such as video tutorials or online guides. Encouraging employees to seek support as needed can also help facilitate a smoother transition. Be open to feedback and make adjustments as needed to ensure the transition is a success and your team is able to take full advantage of Teams’ capabilities.

While there were some initial challenges and adjustments to make, we are now enjoying the benefits of Teams’ integrated tools and more streamlined communication. Planning and executing a successful transition from Slack to Teams required effort and commitment, but it was well worth it in the end.

Tips for getting the most out of Teams

  • Use the Teams section and create channels for various functions, projects, and interests. Don’t forget to include some channels that help your remote and hybrid teams get to know each other.
  • If you find a group or a project is getting lost in group chat threads, create a dedicated channel so ideas, documents, and comments stay in one place.
  • Adjust your notifications so they work for you! Make sure you turn notifications on for important channels and adjust how and when you receive meeting reminders.
  • Explore apps and integrations to enhance your experience.
  • Customize or re-order the apps on the left-most panel so the tabs you use most are always readily available.

Improve remote work within your Microsoft Teams instance

If you are considering the switch to Microsoft Teams or are in the process yourself, improve your experience with Frameable! Enhance your employee experience and productivity by unlocking the Teams functionality your team has been asking for. Book a demo to learn more!

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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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productivity remote work

How a Virtual Office Integration Can Benefit Your Customers and Your Business

Men shaking hands in an office

As more organizations look to incorporate hybrid and remote work into their workflows, virtual office integrations have become an increasingly popular option. With virtual office integrations, organizations can offer their employees increased flexibility while reducing costs associated with traditional office spaces. In this blog post, we will explore virtual office integrations’ benefits for both channel partners and their customers and why they should include them as a key part of a modern business strategy.

What is a virtual office integration?

A virtual office integration enables employees to work together more effectively when they are not physically together. These integrations are typically bolted onto traditional meeting and communication software, such as Microsoft Teams, enhancing the platform’s existing capabilities. Think about the different interactions you have experienced when working in an office versus working remotely. Traditional meeting software is very limited in terms of visibility and insight into co-workers’ daily activity and enabling ad-hoc collaboration. Integrations can allow employees to hold more effective and engaging, scheduled and unscheduled virtual interactions that better replicate the in-person experience.

Benefits to Customers

As a channel partner, you understand that keeping your customers happy is essential for building long-term relationships with your customers to drive growth. By offering a virtual office integration, you can help your customers reduce friction, increasing customer satisfaction and loyalty. When offering a virtual office integration, highlight the following benefits:

Increased Flexibility

A frequently cited benefit of working remotely is the increased flexibility it gives employees. Virtual office integrations can help fuel this flexibility by providing a greater toolkit of real-time collaboration tools, more accurate statuses, and eliminating the silos that can arise during remote work, allowing teams to work together more effectively.

Access to Top Talent

Whether your customer is currently working remotely or is transitioning to a remote or hybrid workstyle, a flexible work environment will open up the opportunity to hire top talent from around the world. Recent data from LinkedIn showed that although remote jobs represent less than 20% of jobs posted, these listings accounted for over 50% of all applications. As the labor market continues to remain tight, employers looking to hire top talent face increased pressure to maintain or expand their remote work policies. A virtual office integration can ease communication across locations and time zones and increase productivity during core working hours, allowing organizations to hire the best talent from around the world.

Cost-Effective Solution

One of the most significant advantages of virtual offices is their cost-effectiveness. According to Global Workplace Analytics, “a typical employer can save about $11,000 a year for every person who works remotely half of the time.” Virtual office solutions and integrations can eliminate costly expenses such as rent and overhead costs, justifying the integration cost.

Minimize Learning Curves

Out-of-the-box virtual office solutions offer the same benefits as integrations, but they can pose a challenge for customers in terms of learning and adaptation. Integrations, on the other hand, can be much more user-friendly as they can blend seamlessly into existing workflows and systems. According to a 2021 Deloitte survey, poor integration across applications is seen as one of the main barriers to the effective application of tech, with 45% of respondents ranking this as one of their top three issues. Offering customers a virtual office integration rather than a new solution can help make the transition more manageable for employees, ultimately resulting in a more seamless and productive work environment.

Benefits to Partners

Upsell Current Product Offerings

According to the book Marketing Metrics, businesses have a 60-70% chance of selling to current customers, compared to the probability of selling to a new customer at 5-20%. Virtual office integrations can provide a great opportunity to upsell or cross-sell to your existing customers. Providing bundles with virtual meeting platforms or other complementary products can offer your customers a wide range of valuable benefits while increasing your recurring revenue streams. 

Increase Customer Retention

As companies continue to navigate the new realities of the post-pandemic world, virtual offices have emerged as a practical solution to optimize remote and hybrid work. With many companies looking for solutions that can help them stay connected and produced while not physically together, offering cutting-edge virtual office integrations to your customers can help position you and your business as a leader in the industry. Stay on top of your customers’ current problems to help increase satisfaction and loyalty long-term.

Differentiate and Grow Your Business

One of the best ways for partners to maximize their ROI is to diversify their portfolio mix. By adding virtual office integrations to your existing portfolio, partners can expand their product offerings, target new markets, and reach a wider range of customers. Virtual office integrations are a valuable product add as the remote and hybrid work models continue to grow. A Gallup survey in June 2022 found that 8 in 10 people work in a hybrid or remote environment, leaving only 2 in 10 people working entirely on-site. This means there is a significant market for virtual office integrations, and partners who offer this solution can capitalize on this trend while reducing dependence on a single product offering. Since most virtual office integrations are subscription-based pricing models, this also opens up the opportunity for recurring revenue streams, leading to greater stability for your business.

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You’ve heard about the rise of remote and hybrid work models, but are you offering your customers the solutions they need to thrive in this new landscape? Our Microsoft Teams integration allows you to enhance your customers’ remote work experience while latching onto a software solution they are already familiar with. Connect with us today to expand your product offerings, increase retention, and boost your ROI.

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How to Create a Digital Skills Roadmap for Virtual Work Success

Black woman working remotely on her laptop taking part in a video meeting

This article originally appeared on Fast Company.

As the future of work shifts toward remote and hybrid arrangements, employees should be equipped with the digital skills required to succeed in the virtual workplace. Businesses adopted a slew of new software tools in the immediate switch to remote work. But it seems to me that little thought was given to whether the workforce had the right skills in place to make the most of these tools.

Despite the recent focus on an alleged Gen Z digital skills gap, the reality is that three in four global workers feel they lack the necessary resources to learn the digital skills they need to be successful. 

To build a more resilient workforce, organizations should reassess their company’s digital skills gap and software commitments and create a culture of ongoing learning. Here’s how:

THE FIVE MOST IMPORTANT SKILLS FOR THE FUTURE OF WORK

Understanding which skills are most important for succeeding in hybrid and remote work requires you to deeply reflect on your employee experience and assess what abilities are crucial for navigating entirely digital environments.

Salesforce’s 2022 Global Digital Skills Index identified the digital skills that are most important for the future of work. These include:

  1. Collaboration technology
  2. Digital administrative
  3. Encryption and cybersecurity
  4. E-commerce and digital trade
  5. Project management technology

Leaders should use this list as a starting point for identifying their digital skills gap—does your team know how to use all of your workplace tools to their full potential? Are there clear guidelines for how to share and store documents? Are they aware of cyber security best practices to protect accounts and sensitive information? 

SEVEN STEPS TO CREATE A DIGITAL SKILLS ROADMAP

Keeping the digital skills from above in mind, your team can start to identify areas within each category that they need to develop. Then, follow these seven steps to document your digital skills gap and create a roadmap to address those needs:

1. Revisit your goals: Before making any changes, you should understand how digital skills influence your business goals, and how each team supports achieving those goals. Identify the skills that are critical to your company’s ongoing success and note any skill gaps.

2. Survey your employees: Survey your team to understand the challenges they face and their concerns about their readiness for the future of work. Provide opportunities for them to elaborate on their concerns and identify what skills they need the company’s support to develop. Supplement your surveys with one-on-one conversations between managers and direct reports, ensuring that each employee knows they can share their honest feedback. Specific questions to ask include:

  • Do you have the necessary tools and resources to succeed in your role?
  • How do you prefer to learn new skills or ideas? What type of resources do you welcome?
  • What skills or concepts do you want to learn more about so you can feel more confident in your work?
  • Are the goals and metrics for your success appropriate to reflect the work you do and the value you provide to the team?

3. Develop digital personas: Although every employee will have unique needs, it can help to group them into categories to streamline your initial upskilling initiative. Gartner has identified five technology user types that you can use or modify to reflect your team’s current digital personas. Use your employee survey responses to fine-tune the categories and develop distinct strategies to engage each group. Effective personas should assess each group’s overall workplace experience, willingness to adopt new technologies, and preferences for how they conduct work. 

4. Audit your tech stack: As your team fields its employee surveys, you can concurrently audit employee digital experience across departments and roles. For example, how many tools do they use daily? How integrated are these experiences? What applications do they use the most and least? It’s essential to understand how each tool fits within the workflow and what purpose it serves so that you can find ways to consolidate tools where possible.

5. Invest in upskilling: With a clear understanding of your immediate employee needs and the tools critical to your business success, you can now identify the skills most needed to build a resilient workforce. Next, group each skill by category—such as creative design, digital marketing, sales, or artificial intelligence—and explore a mix of formal and informal training opportunities, such as investing in online classes for your team, providing job-shadowing opportunities, or hosting weekly “lunch and learn” sessions.

6. Create support networks: Team silos can widen your skills gaps and make it harder to identify ways to improve your employee experience. Develop support networks that encourage collaboration across teams, such as creating mentor programs or ongoing networking opportunities for employees to discuss their work, challenges they’re facing, and ways that everyone can better align. Providing a shared virtual office platform everyone uses, for example, can help build a culture of collaboration.

7. Build self-service resource hubs: You can solve many of your team’s digital training needs by creating how-to documents and guides that explain how to use your business tools and ways to overcome common challenges. Create guides for each of your business tools, starting with those tools that are most critical to your business success. Invite feedback on your resources and encourage employees to request new materials or edits as they encounter challenges in their work. 

BUILD A RESILIENT TEAM WHERE EVERYONE CAN THRIVE

Every leader is responsible for setting up their workers for success in this new world of digital work. Every employee’s needs should be accounted for to ensure the effective execution of your company’s strategy.

Rethink your employee experience for a remote and hybrid world, and audit your workplace tools to ensure they still meet their intended purpose. By revisiting your company goals, speaking to employees to understand their unique needs, and creating ongoing learning opportunities, your company can create a competitive advantage for itself by emerging as a leader in the future of work.

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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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3 Ways Your Remote Hiring Process Is Costing You Your Best Candidates

A stressed man at a computer

After hearing countless horror stories about remote interviews, it’s clear that the worst practices from in-person hiring have transferred online—and they’re destroying the candidate experience.

A long time ago, I applied for a role at a Fortune 500 company where several former colleagues worked. I passed the initial screening and was scheduled to visit the company’s downtown office and meet who would have been my manager and coworkers. 

On arrival I had to check-in with security, who clearly were not told I was coming. After 30 minutes trying to contact the company, I was finally allowed into the office—to then be told that my interviewers were no longer available; so, they threw anyone they could at me. 

The first person I spoke with had no idea what I was supposed to do, and it was clear he didn’t like his job. Others asked me a generic list of questions. The person who would have been my manager had decided to work from a remote office that day, so I sat in her empty office and had a phone call with her. Good thing I took the whole afternoon off to come into their office, right?

Poor communication, unprepared interviewers, and a clear disregard for my experience made it easy for me to decide to not move forward in the process. The disappointing thing, though, is that these are all simple areas to address with the proper care. And, they should not still be a problem in the age of remote hiring. Yet they are!

If you’re hoping to hire great people, then you need to structure the whole process from the interviewees’ standpoint. Let’s explore what companies are doing that is hurting their hiring process, and what to do instead.

The Current State of Remote Hiring

We’ve been hearing from many industry peers that remote work has led to an even longer, more involved hiring process—and that’s not a good thing for candidates and companies alike!

Let’s look at the current reality:

  • A standard job opening will receive 118 applicants on average (250 or more for corporate jobs). Understandably, this applicant volume can overwhelm a hiring team.
  • Job seekers who apply to 21-81 jobs have the greatest likelihood of landing an interview. This numbers game means that candidates are likely to become critical of every step of the process for each job opportunity.
  • Most entry-level positions involve 2-4 interviews, but executive-level positions often require more than four. 
  • Recruiters and hiring professionals generally agree that it takes 60 days to fill a non-managerial professional role. But what if you can accelerate that by creating a better process?

How To Improve Your Remote Hiring Process

Instead of creating a more efficient process, too many companies have taken what they were doing wrong in the pre-pandemic world and ported it over to the virtual interview process—so now, people take a half day off to sit on video calls with people asking them the same questions.

In talking to our peers, the following are the most commonly cited criticisms about remote hiring processes, and tips to help you build a better experience.

Improve Candidate Communication

A lack of communication, communications intended for another candidate, and slow response times cause anxiety and frustration for job seekers. To help alleviate these feelings, companies should clearly explain:

  • How long candidates should expect to hear back after they apply
  • How many steps the interview process may take, with an overview of what each step involves and an estimated timeline for each
  • How candidates can ask questions and seek help during the process 

Start by reviewing your job listings. In addition to the job description and company background, include a section about what the interview process involves and how quickly you’re looking to fill the role. Be as specific and transparent as possible, detailing exactly what happens at each step of the process and how long it will take—and be sure to fulfill those expectations!

Consider setting up automated responses at every step of the hiring process to let people know when they will hear back from you, and the next steps. Automated — but personalized — messages will greatly improve your hiring experience.

“People often spell my name Andy instead of Andi, which is understandable if you have not seen it spelled,” says Andi Robinson, Hijinx Marketing. “But I had a recruiter call me by a completely different name in an email communication. I also had an interviewer not show up for the interview.”

As you receive questions and feedback from candidates, create an FAQ document with approved messages that your team can use when addressing specific needs and questions. Even better, you should share that FAQ with candidates to preemptively address their needs.

Trim the Excessively Lengthy and Complex Hiring Processes

Interviews are an essential way for candidates and hiring teams to assess each other and decide if it’s a mutual match. The issue, though, is that teams often coordinate too many interviews, which take too much time, and often involve unpaid work projects that the company plans to use (don’t do this!).

“I have been to interviews that have five rounds,” says marketer Amy Higgins. “However, each round requires multiple people and presentations. In all, I’ve interviewed sometimes over three months, meeting with 10+ people individually, completed multiple presentations that are in-depth enough to be event sessions, and still end up waiting for a decision. The higher you are in your career, the longer the process. I’m actually ok with the multiple people—it gives me a better feel for what I can expect working with the company and how their culture is internally. It’s just the time that can be painful.”

In many cases, extending a hiring process over a month or two is enough time for your preferred candidate to find and accept a job elsewhere. This makes it critical to map out your current hiring process to identify where you can streamline things. How long should each step take, and how long does each step currently take? What can you do to optimize each step without sacrificing the candidate’s experience or your ability to assess candidates?

For starters, host fewer interviews and use panel interviews to connect more team members with your candidates. Provide interviewer guides that help them understand how to effectively assess a candidate (we’ll share more on that next).

A Word About Those Unpaid Marketing Interview Projects

Back to those interview projects. I strongly recommend that you compensate interviewers if you assign them homework. Alternatively, you can host real-time tests that can be done in the course of an interview, which also allows your team to immediately assess the output and determine the next steps. 

So why shouldn’t you ask candidates to draft a content strategy or do a content audit?

“If you have job applicants create some type of work product as part of the application process, the applicant retains the rights in their work,” says Ruth Carter, Esq., Geek Law Firm. “You don’t own the rights unless they’ve assigned it to you. (If you make all prospective employees assign the rights in what they create as part of the application process, you suck, unless you’re compensating the applicants for their work.)”

The good news for applicants is you can use that project as an example of the caliber of work you do if you don’t get the job. 

“Let’s say you don’t have the prospective employee sign over their rights,” says Carter. “The applicant retains copyright ownership of their work, and can copy, distribute, and display it wherever they want. If their work contains IP owned by your company, such as a company logo, they will likely need to change this to a fake company logo to avoid giving the impression that there’s a relationship with the company that doesn’t exist.”

One senior marketer friend went through a month-long interview process, with three rounds of interviews with multiple people in each round, and a final content audit project. They didn’t get the job, yet noticed the company implemented many of their ideas. While this is perfectly legal since there is no legal protection for ideas in the U.S., it’s yet another reason why it’s better to pay even a small fee to candidates creating a work product that your company intends to use.

Prepare All Interviewers 

One of the easiest areas to address is also one of the most common issues with hiring processes in general: unprepared interviewers. 

Every interview should dig into unique areas to decide if the candidate is the right fit for the role and company. Instead, most interviews rehash the candidate’s work history, reconfirm the role they’re applying for, and explore a script of questions. 

Make this experience better by ensuring that every interviewer has read the candidate’s resume, understands the job description for the role, and reviewed the candidate’s LinkedIn profile or portfolio. Your goal is to make the candidate feel valued and gain an understanding of what it is about them that compelled your company to interview them for the role.

“I was interviewing with a hiring manager and the first question she asked was about my book,” said Andi. “It showed that she had done her research on my background.”

Ensure that every team member prioritizes interviews the same way you would treat a client—there should be no reason for an interviewer to be late or miss a scheduled interview. If your team has a virtual office manager, they can remind your team members about an upcoming interview. 

In the worst case scenario where an interviewer misses their meeting, then you should immediately call the interviewee to apologize and alert them of the next steps. If someone is waiting to be interviewed but receives no update, then they will understandably become frustrated with the process.

Prioritize The Remote Candidate Experience

The shortcomings of most remote hiring processes are not unique to remote environments, but they cause greater harm to the candidate experience because there isn’t an in-person connection to compensate. 

Provide clear and direct communication throughout the entire process, and ensure that everyone involved with the interview understands their role. Prepare interviewers so that they can host a meaningful conversation with the candidate, and consider hosting panel interviews to streamline the process.

If you see an increase in candidate turnover, then you may need to assess if you have too many interview steps or are taking too long to interview your candidates. 

After you find the ideal candidate and they’re about to join your team, follow these four tips for welcoming and engaging your new remote team members. To encourage ongoing connection and collaboration in your remote team, learn how Frameable Spaces empowers your team to interact just as you would in the physical office. 

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