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Why Distributed Work Is The Future—And How to Run An Effective Hybrid Team

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The future of work is remote and hybrid, and companies that force employees back to the office will quickly realize the disadvantages of fully office-based work.

It’s understandable why many leaders cling to in-office work. It’s what many of us are used to, and, admittedly, some work is performed better in person. But employees expect and deserve the flexibility of distributed work—and your company can achieve greater success by enabling it.

To help company leaders understand how to build an effective distributed team and explore why I built Frameable as a fully remote company, I joined Lisette Sutherland on The Collaboration Superpowers Podcast. Below, I share a few highlights from our conversation and tips for empowering remote teams. 

Why did you decide to make Frameable a fully remote company?

If you want to attract and retain the best talent, you can’t require employees to come to your physical office. 

We’re not back to 2019 in terms of the way we work and what employees expect about their relationship with their employer. Employees need a balanced life. For us, it’s not worth the trade-offs of having a physical office and insisting that we only hire people who are nearby and willing to commute. We’d prefer to benefit from investing in a remote team where people can thrive from anywhere.

What are some of the challenges your team has faced working remotely?

There are some challenges of entirely remote work, but they all have antidotes and best practices to mitigate the effects. 

The primary challenge of remote work is that, no matter how good your toolbox is, you still benefit from spending time in person together (even if you’re not working when you do it). Humans are social, and we need that person-to-person connection. Offsites are one of the things we do to fulfill this need. We hold an all-company offsite twice a year, and as we grow, we may support different teams having offsites across the country or around the world. 

We see many other companies try to get together at least once a year, too. And not just for gathering in a conference room with a novel view. Planning opportunities for team members to engage in social avenues above and beyond sitting in a room together working all day is essential. Host a cooking class. Go on a hike. Take a ropes course. Anything to help people understand each other outside of work will help them work together more effectively. 

For more advice, I recommend reading my Fast Company article about how to build a great company culture in a fully remote company. 

Are ‘return to office’ mandates misguided? 

There are many explorations of why companies are mandating employees to return to the office, and some are pretty cynical. In some cases, the boss thinks it’s not a big deal to ask people to commute (possibly because their commute is the shortest), or they simply don’t want to work from home anymore. 

From what I’ve seen with most managers, however, they are just used to working in an office. And it’s true there are elements of in-person work that are hard to replicate with the current out-of-the-box toolset that workplace tool providers offer. 

If companies aren’t intentional about adapting their toolkit—not only using the tools but misusing them deliberately to achieve certain things they weren’t designed for—then it’s easy for teams to just sit at home and rely on their calendar to guide their work. And it’s harder to achieve that same level of collaboration and creativity at home if everyone’s just working through their calendar. 

How can leaders create a better team culture remotely?

Enabling a remote culture is a win-win for the employee and the company. 

Research from Nick Bloom at Stanford found that people save 72 minutes commuting each day when working from home. And 40% of those time savings are spent working extra on primary or secondary jobs. The rest of the time goes toward leisure activities—which are essential for preserving one’s well-being—or caregiving activities. When companies give employees the freedom to work from home, workers are willing to split the time they save commuting between themselves and their employer. 

When people are rested, relaxed, and able to invest in their health, family, and well-being, they do better work. And they don’t mind working a little more if they love their job and feel a healthy balance. 

What is a virtual office manager, and how does the role benefit remote or hybrid teams? 

A virtual office manager is vital for companies trying to get comfortable with and effectively transition to hybrid work or a fully distributed team. You can have a sole virtual office manager or distribute the responsibilities across many people. And this doesn’t have to be a full-time position; 10-20 hours a week can suffice for many teams.

A virtual office manager ensures that everyone is engaged and can work effectively with their personal office setup. They help team members overcome challenges and continually assess and optimize the virtual or hybrid workspace so everyone can thrive. Think of it like a traditional in-person office manager but for distributed, remote, and hybrid teams. 

My team created this virtual office manager’s handbook to fully explain how this valuable role can maximize remote employee engagement. 

Why is Frameable focused on Microsoft Teams?

Frameable’s solutions have evolved quite a bit over the years. We created a virtual office that was truly delightful, and then our customers and potential customers expressed that they wanted it to integrate with the solutions they were currently using.

After assessing the core infrastructure providers currently available to power hybrid work—video conference solutions, collaboration solutions, scheduling solutions—we realized that Microsoft would be a valuable place to start!

What does Frameable offer? How does it improve Microsoft Teams?

We offer a family of complementary, interoperable—but distinct—upgrades available through the Microsoft App Store. We designed these solutions to improve the out-of-the-box experience companies and users get from Microsoft Teams. 

For example, During Microsoft Teams video calls, only one person can share their screen at a time. We’ve observed, however, that many collaborative working sessions work better if people can work fluidly—receiving, producing, and note-taking. Our app MultiShare allows multiple people to share their screens simultaneously in a Microsoft Teams call. This helps meetings move smoothly without team members interrupting each other to ask for permission or give a courtesy heads-up that they would like to share their screen.

We offer a diverse set of products that sit on top of Microsoft Teams, and MultiShare is just one example.

Tools That Power Effective Remote Teams

The above topics are just a few areas that Lisette and I discussed. To learn more about what tools my team uses to power our distributed workforce and how we assess which tools we will use next, listen to the full episode here. 

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Future of work Hybrid work remote work

The Remotely Possible Podcast: Insights from Amy McGeachy on HR Considerations For The Future of Work

As companies continue to realize the advantages of hybrid and remote work, it’s critical to not lose sight of the importance of prioritizing human connection and cultivating deep empathy for each employee’s unique circumstances.

In the fifth episode of the “Remotely Possible” podcast, I spoke with Amy McGeachy, Founder of McGeachy Consulting, to discuss her clients’ solutions for overcoming the inevitable challenges of transitioning to remote and hybrid setups. Here’s an excerpt from our conversation, including why empathetic managers will lead us into the future.

Introducing Amy and Her HR Consulting Business 

Amy is an HR consultant for mid-size businesses across various industries, primarily in Oregon and Washington. She also leads an eight-week virtual training series for companies across the country. For more than 13 years, she has helped brands build and evolve their HR strategy. 

“Having employees in different states, or even globally, adds a lot of HR complexity, which I think that employees and most people don’t really think about,” Amy said. “There are a lot of employment laws in different states that are varying and competing, there are a lot of tax laws that are varying and competing. There’s a lot to think about before just hiring somebody in Colorado or California. It has to be a strategic decision.” 

Establish Behavioral Norms for a Healthy Hybrid Culture

Amy shares that it can be challenging to balance the needs of in-person and remote workers, especially during team meetings.

“Probably one of the hardest situations is facilitating a meeting in person and having people calling in remotely and trying to keep that meeting on pace,” she said. “I tend to notice that one group tends to dominate the conversation more than the other.” 

While workplace technologies can help keep meetings productive, reinforcing behavioral norms within your company is vital to overcoming this challenge.

“Policies might exist, but the actual behavioral norms of how we show up in a hybrid environment haven’t completely been established,” she said. “In a year to two years, that’s going to be much more well-defined of how you show up to a hybrid meeting or facilitate a hybrid meeting.” 

For entirely remote companies, Amy advises that it’s essential to budget for in-person meetings at least once a year.

“The opportunity to bring people back together—at times—is a great one,” Amy said. “I have clients that will not be back together in the same way. And what that looks like for them is more emphasis on quarterly meetings [with] everyone coming together in a location. Or maybe it’s every six months. It’s really powerful to build some connective tissue and team build in person.” 

Successful teams will continue to empower employees by providing tailored resources they need to be productive and efficient.

“We have pushed through and broken down barriers we never thought could happen. The most common thing I am experiencing with clients is the need to work through the accommodations process with disabilities,” she said. “Employees need to speak up about what their needs are. And managers are getting much better at having those dialogues with their team members—it’s called the interactive process—and working with HR leaders to support their employees.” 

One of Amy’s clients led a book study group with its managers to help them refine their skills for the new realities of work. She recommends starting with Dare to Lead by Brené Brown if you want to do something similar.

“That book taps into the empathetic manager so much more than our very old picture of a manager,” Amy said. “Working with and understanding people for who they are and being empathetic to their situation and being willing to be vulnerable and unravel a situation—versus just pave over it and move on—those are the managers that are going to lead us into the future.” 
For more of Amy’s insights into HR and culture considerations for hybrid work, listen to the Remotely Possible Podcast, episode 5. Interested in sharing your distributed work experience with our listeners? Apply to be my guest for a future episode.

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7 Smart Ways to Engage New Hires With Virtual Onboarding

80% of new hires say they’ll leave their company if they receive a poor onboarding experience. Can you blame them?

It is exciting to join a new company, but also anxiety-inducing. If companies fail to help their new hires transition into the virtual workplace smoothly—either by not providing guidance on how to get started or leaving questions unanswered—then anxiety can turn into frustration or upset. And that’s far from an ideal first impression. 

A fulfilling onboarding experience will give new hires a clear understanding of their role, how they can navigate their virtual workspace, and ways to collaborate with their teammates effectively. Most importantly, the experience has to be engaging. Let’s explore proven ways to engage new hires so you can get them started on the right foot.

How to Engage New Hires During Virtual Onboarding

Every new hire should feel included and ready to hit the ground running in their new role. To help you achieve this, we’ve compiled the top seven tips for engaging new employees:

1. Establish Communication Norms

Explain your common company lingo, meeting styles, and critical projects to all new hires. This will help them more easily transition into the team. Ideally, you should document your standard verbiage, workflows, and meeting styles and save this information in a commonly accessible spot for your team.

2. Start Building Relationships From Day 1

New hires will be eager to meet their manager, mentor, and direct teammates. Schedule 1-on-1 meetings throughout the new hire’s first week to introduce them to the people they will be working closely with. If your company has 12 or fewer people, you can even schedule 15- or 30-minute meetups with everyone. The purpose of these meetings is to help new team members get to know their coworkers and understand how their role fits within your company’s bigger picture. 

3. Encourage Engagement Throughout the Virtual Office

Understanding how employees can engage with their colleagues in a virtual office is often challenging. During a new hire’s onboarding, show them how to venture to different “locations” in your virtual workplace and use statuses to indicate their availability. Explain how various team members use the space’s functionalities and tools, and encourage new employees to experiment with these capabilities to find out what works best for them.

4. Pair New Hires with An Orientation Buddy

After the new hire finishes their initial onboarding paperwork and administrative tasks, pairing them with a coworker who shares similar responsibilities is helpful. Have the new hire shadow their colleague and attend the same meetings, discuss their tasks, and frequently debrief throughout the day. This is a valuable opportunity for the new hire to observe the team dynamics and ask questions about navigating the virtual workspace.

5. Provide Training and Resources

Give all new employees the necessary resources and training to thrive in their roles. Overview your company’s products or services and provide an organizational chart and employee handbook. Help the new hire understand how to use your company’s virtual office software, and host several training sessions detailing these tools and how to use them (and be sure to brush up on these virtual training tips). 

6. Set Clear Expectations of Individual and Organizational Goals

A healthy culture requires every employee to understand their individual goals and how they can support the company’s mission. Outline and explain your new hire’s individual responsibilities and how these responsibilities support your company’s purpose. By knowing responsibilities from the start, new hires can prioritize their workload and stay focused. By understanding the company’s goals, they can have a better sense of purpose and a drive to accomplish those larger goals.

7. Inspire Collaborative Learning

Include your new employee in group discussions to showcase your company’s collaborative process. Doing so from day one will demonstrate how they can start in their new environment in the right way and effectively collaborate with their peers. These collaborative discussions will also help the new hire observe the team structure and each teammate’s work style. 

Employee Success Starts With Virtual Onboarding

Every new hire deserves an engaging virtual onboarding experience that equips them for success in a hybrid work culture. Building connections for new hires from day one and providing a full breakdown of how your company speaks and works will set them up for sustained success—and, ideally, a long career with your company.
There are a lot of factors that go into building an ideal virtual onboarding experience and keeping a virtual workspace running. It often helps to hire a virtual office manager who can prioritize your employee experience and orchestrate a fulfilling onboarding experience. Download our virtual office manager’s handbook to learn the processes, tools, and strategies that will empower your virtual office manager to maximize your team engagement

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Future of work

The Remotely Possible Podcast: Insights from Rebecca Liu on Adopting a Hybrid Work Approach

You don’t typically think of financial services firms as early adopters of flexible work—given that some of the industry’s CEOs have been outspoken advocates for the return to the office. But, there are many successful global firms that have embraced a hybrid work approach since before the pandemic. In the second episode of the “Remotely Possible” podcast, I talked with Rebecca Liu, Vice President of Global Strategy and Innovation – Travel & Lifestyle Services at American Express. Here’s an excerpt from our conversation about her approach to distributed collaboration and how her team has adapted to hybrid work.

Introducing Rebecca and Her Team’s Hybrid Work Model

Over ten years and several roles at American Express, Rebecca experienced a range of different team dynamics and work styles. Today, as the leader of a 150-person team with members in New York City, Phoenix, Arizona, and the UK, she serves a global constituency across 22 offices worldwide. 

“We try to have an in-office culture where a lot of meetings happen in conference rooms,” she said, noting that VPs and above now work three days per week in the office. “But, because of that global nature of our work, and because so many colleagues are now virtually working…we absolutely need to have every physical meeting be outfitted with the ability to reach out and to connect and to speak to our virtual colleagues.”

“Even if it’s an in-person meeting for [the] majority of the colleagues, we will still make sure that the virtual presence is felt,” she said. “We make sure that there is not just audio-only—that there’s a visual component to their contribution. There’s been a lot of conversations had about the best way to juggle both an in-person experience as well as a globally connected virtual working experience.”

The Importance of the Right Technology to Enable Hybrid Collaboration

Rebecca’s entire organization uses the Microsoft Office Suite and tools that integrate with it, such as WebEx, plus Slack for asynchronous messaging. While this reduces communication friction across time zones, it still has opportunities for improvement.

‘”A positive is that there’s such unity and consistency and uniformity and adoption that everyone naturally, it’s almost like muscle memory and second nature,” she said. She noted it makes it easy to know how to reach each other, no matter what office they are in or their work schedule. But once external parties join the meeting mix, there can be some challenges.

“As soon as you go outside the walls of your own company, you don’t know what other people are using,” she said. “The mismatch of what systematic tools other people use can sometimes create little hiccups in the big meetings.”
For more of Rebecca’s’ insights into leading a hybrid team and fostering global collaboration, listen to the Remotely Possible podcast, episode 2. Interested in sharing your distributed work experience with our listeners? Apply to be my guest for a future episode.

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6 Virtual and Remote Training Tips and Tools to Improve Your Workflows

A recent analysis of over 96 studies revealed that virtual learning can be up to 19% more effective than traditional, in-person learning. Not only can virtual learning be more effective and accessible to more people, given its nature, but virtual training, when done right, is an easy way to learn a great deal. 

If your organization is taking the leap into remote training or virtual onboarding, there is much to consider: 

  • What platform should you host sessions on? 
  • How often should sessions be scheduled? 
  • How do you keep attendees engaged? 

Below, we explore how to host successful virtual training sessions from anywhere, and technology and software outside of traditional meeting or conferencing software that will elevate the experience for you and your trainees. 

How to Host Exceptional Virtual Training Sessions

  1. Have a clear learning objective you want attendees to take away
    1. One of the best things you can do for your trainees is provide them with clear guidelines that articulate precisely what you want them to take away from training sessions. Doing this will help both you and your trainees understand where their goals should lie, and you can point back to these objectives throughout the training so they can self-assess their progress. 
  2. Chose different ways to engage attendees throughout the session
    1. Some people love to raise their virtual hand and participate in discussions, while others are more keen to stay behind the comfort of the chat box and participate from there. Regardless of how different attendees like to engage, it is crucial to attempt to engage all participants in multiple ways so that each member has a chance to shine and participate in a way that works for them. When posing questions to the group, switch back and forth between asking for answers in the chat, coming off of mute and answering a question, or using polls and other meeting functionality to encourage participation. Incorporating easy-to-use games like Kahoot! makes checking comprehension and participation more fun for everyone involved. 
  3. Take breaks often
    1. At this point, we’re all familiar with “Zoom Fatigue” and its ever-present strain on remote work and education, but that doesn’t mean dealing with it has gotten any easier! It is still as important as ever to factor in breaks, especially if you want to ensure trainees retain as much information as possible from your sessions. The cognitive load of video calls is significantly higher than other forms of learning and communication, making breaks to stretch, walk around, and look at things other than your screen exceptionally important! Our rule of thumb is to factor in a five-minute break for every 30 minutes of content. If you are delivering a longer content block, consider slotting in breaks of 15 minutes or more between sessions. 

The 3 best tools for virtual training engagement 

  1. Virtual Whiteboard
    1. Whether you are leading a brainstorming session or want to build connections between different ideas, a virtual whiteboard is a great way to help make connections among learners, and encourage participation across the group. Products like Miro are great collaborative options that you can often install directly into your chosen video conferencing software. 
  2. Multiple Screen Sharing Software
    1. If you want to ensure everyone follows your instructions or guide them through a complicated situation, employ a multiple-user screen-sharing software. Sharing multiple screens at once can give you a similar experience as walking around a classroom to ensure everyone is on the same page. Additionally, this allows learners to show they are paying attention without turning on their camera feed—thus providing a reprieve from worrying about how they appear on camera while giving training leaders the ability to verify everyone is engaged with the lesson. MultiShare is an excellent option for unlocking this capability and can be installed directly into Microsoft Teams calls to allow up to 15 users to simultaneously share their screens at once. 
  3. Quiz Software
    1. An engaging quiz platform is essential to the virtual training environment! Platforms such as Quizlet are great for creating flashcards for trainees to utilize or short quizzes to check comprehension, and it’s easily accessible with a widely-used free version. It’s a user-friendly option for training leaders to design study or supplemental materials for your courses and for learners to build their own quizzes to enhance their information retention. 

Training and onboarding are challenging in any format, and virtual training is a unique problem deserving of a unique approach. If you want more resources to host virtual onboarding sessions, explore our Virtual Onboarding Handbook. The guide is packed full of new ideas and proven strategies to make training and onboarding as smooth as possible. And when you need that collaborative spark back in your virtual training sessions, MultiShare is just what you need to bring the classroom feeling to the virtual world.

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The Remotely Possible Podcast: Insights from Travis Bogard on Embracing Distributed Work

You can’t open a digital magazine or news site without seeing another headline about distributed work these days. Yet, while it may be new to some industries, it’s actually been around for decades. In the first episode of the “Remotely Possible” podcast, I talked with Travis Bogard, Founder & CEO at Phonon X, a leader who has been part of distributed teams for decades. Here’s an excerpt from our conversation, including the tools he uses, the processes he embraces, and how he makes it possible to have a fully functional, highly creative, distributed team working hard together every day.

Introducing Travis, and His Intro to Distributed Work

Travis’ impressive resume includes stints at renowned companies such as AOL, Samsung, and Uber before founding his current company. With his diverse background in engineering, product development, and team management, Travis brings a wealth of knowledge to the conversation on distributed work.

“I was at AOL—part of the founding team of AOL Instant Messenger,” Travis said. “And [I] was very fascinated early on of how groups that are distributed from each other could communicate and interact.”

He put that experience into action throughout his career, including at Uber—with its San Francisco headquarters integrated with numerous city hubs—and Samsung.

“My team prior to this, I built, was about 300 people across 14 time zones—so, highly distributed, kind of a mixture of some office hubs, and then people who actually didn’t sit in an office at all,” he said. 

It’s no wonder that with this background, he’s chosen—as we have here at Frameable—to build his new team without the constraints of location, too. While most of the team is within 5 hours of each other, they also have an Eastern Europe teammate. So how do they make it all work?

“We focus on our synchronous moments—which is around 7:30 to 10:00—is kind of that sweet spot where we tried to put most of our meetings, that where we want people to be together and be able to come together,” he said. “And then the rest of it is very asynchronous.”

Best Practices for Managing Distributed Teams

Drawing from his experiences, throughout the podcast, Travis shared some valuable insights and best practices for managing distributed teams:

1) Set Clear Goals and Prioritize Effective Communication

Travis emphasized the significance of clearly defining and communicating goals to team members. He stressed the importance of repeated communication to ensure everyone is aligned with the objectives. Additionally, he advocated for documenting and preserving communication for future reference.

2) Encourage Collaboration

Travis believes in fostering a culture of collaboration within distributed teams. He makes a point to encourage team members to connect and actively facilitates conversations between individuals as needed to ensure knowledge and ideas flow seamlessly throughout the team.

3) Embrace Asynchronous Communication

A crucial aspect of managing distributed teams is asynchronous communication. Travis suggested maximizing synchronous moments for essential meetings and using tools such as asynchronous voice messaging platforms to maintain effective communication at other times. This approach allows team members to work independently while staying connected.

For more of Travis’ insights into leading and developing distributed teams, listen to the Remotely Possible podcast, episode 1. Interested in sharing your distributed work experience with our listeners? Apply to be my guest for a future episode.

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How to Build a Great Company Culture in a Fully Remote Company

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This article originally appeared on Fast Company.

Companies are increasingly mandating a return to office-based work, with many leaders claiming that it’s too difficult to foster collaboration and build a strong culture remotely. 

Given that 53.9% of employees want to work from home three or more days per week, forcing them back to the office will do little to solve the cultural challenges you may be facing. Further, Gallup polls suggest that in-person interactions alone are not enough to spark collaboration—the key is how leaders consciously build a culture in their distinct settings. 

My highly collaborative company has been fully remote for more than five years, so I know firsthand that it is possible to build a unified, engaged team with a strong culture. Here are my not-so-secret ways how to do it.

Enabling An Employee-Led Culture, Remotely

Your company culture will develop whether you mold it or not. It’s best to take an active role in shaping that experience.

Many teams stumbled in the initial transition to remote work because they thought their tried-and-true culture playbooks would still apply. They don’t. But we now have a much deeper understanding of how to keep remote workers happy and connected to their teams. 

Specifically, the below areas are most critical for building a resilient culture that encourages collaboration and innovation.

Establish and Communicate Clear values 

Your employees need to understand why your company exists and the values that you live by. Job seekers—especially in younger generations—want to work for companies with a clear purpose and values that align with theirs. 

Document your company mission and values, then detail how your team can reflect them in their work using clear examples with do’s and don’ts. Although explaining your values in this much detail may feel overly formal, it will help new and prospective employees quickly embed themselves within your culture (or decide that your company isn’t the best for them, which is also okay).

Companies should include one value around lifelong learning, as it is essential for building a culture of innovation. Create a digital skills roadmap and rework your roles and responsibilities if needed so your workers can excel in their current career paths and continually build the skills your company needs to be future-ready. 

Foster Communication and Collaboration 

Building a truly collaborative culture requires more than starting a company Slack channel and leaving the rest to your team to figure it out. Consciously create programs and spaces for your team to connect, including team members who do not overlap in day-to-day work. Several strategies I’ve seen work include:

• Virtual Mentoring Programs: Pair established employees with new hires in a formal mentoring program, and encourage them to share guidance, feedback, and support regularly.

• Lunch-and-Learn Sessions: Host monthly training sessions during lunch for your team to learn new concepts and connect. Start each session with a short activity to spark engagement.ADVERTISEMENT

• Virtual Water Coolers: Create dedicated channels for employees to discuss non-work topics and encourage them to use those channels during the day.

Each of the above ideas will require time and money to implement. But don’t view this as an expense—it is a necessary investment in your team’s cohesiveness.

Create Opportunities for Social Interaction in Real Life

With a solid set of digital collaboration tools and spaces, your team should be able to excel in a remote setting. That said, you should also encourage team members to meet in real life when possible.

My company brings everyone together twice a year for an offsite in a different location across the country. The key is that we spend that time on social activities that help our team get to know each other as people—not trap everyone in a room and discuss growth metrics and financial goals.

Another way to encourage in-person connection is to allocate a budget to allow employees who are close in proximity to meet up for a monthly lunch. Consider renting a company coworking space if you have several team members who live close to each other.

Recognize and Reward Employees Publicly

One of the most accessible areas to invest in is employee recognition. Your team members need support and encouragement when they exemplify your values and drive meaningful results (monetary or otherwise). 

Recognize and celebrate accomplishments in your team communication channels, such as your instant messaging platform and email. In addition, it can be valuable to adopt an employee engagement and feedback platform. 

Using an employee engagement or feedback platform can help track your employees’ successes. You should also create communication channels for team members to nominate each other. At a minimum, every people manager should regularly celebrate their direct reports and provide occasional rewards to encourage good behavior. 

You Build Your Company Culture One Day At A Time

Building a great remote company culture is possible—you don’t need the confines of an office or cubicle walls to encourage transparency, collaboration, and innovation. 

Agree on your company basics and clearly explain who you are and what you do. Next, document how an ideal employee will reflect those values in their work. Finally, create systems of ongoing feedback to monitor your employee engagement and identify new areas to invest in.

While there is no perfect company culture, teams can work each day to create a better environment where everyone can thrive—regardless of where they choose to work. 

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9 Technology and Equipment Recommendations to Empower a Distributed Workforce

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A shocking 49% of employees who work away from an office at least one day a week say their company does not provide them with remote collaboration tools. Of those given collaboration tools, 26% say the tools aren’t exactly right or haven’t received training to use them well. 

To create a successful hybrid work culture, companies must enable their employees with the tools for remote collaboration and connection. Let’s look at the most important tools that companies should provide.

Remote Work Tools and Equipment Every Company Should Provide

Your distributed workforce needs the right tools and equipment to be successful. Employers should provide the following technology items and equipment in their official workspaces and employees’ home offices:

  • Computer or laptop: Employees need a reliable, updated desktop computer or laptop. A laptop is an ideal choice for its portability and because it provides many of the items listed below. 
  • Monitor(s): Ask employees if an additional monitor would enhance productivity. Provide at least one monitor if you provide desktop computers to your team.
  • Keyboard and mouse: Supply ergonomic keyboards and mice to provide comfort during long working hours and avoid potential adverse health effects. 
  • Headset or earphones with microphone: Improve call quality by giving employees a headset or earphones with a microphone. This will also enable them to type while talking.
  • Reliable internet connectivity: Help remote employees secure a stable internet connection to prevent disruptions in their work.
  • Web camera: Ensure remote employees have a functional webcam for video conferencing and virtual interactions.
  • Collaboration tools: Provide access to collaboration platforms, a digital workspace or virtual office, and project management tools to facilitate seamless asynchronous teamwork.
  • Video conferencing software: Select a platform for face-to-face video communication and virtual meetings, and set up accounts for your team members.
  • Security software: Protect your team and company data from cyber-attacks by providing security tools like antivirus software and VPNs.

Help Virtual Employees Thrive From Day One

The above tools are essential for building meaningful connections in a virtual workplace, but employees must understand how to use each tool successfully.

Your employee onboarding is the ideal time to provide each employee with these tools and explain how they can use them. To help you craft the perfect virtual onboarding experience, download our virtual onboarding e-book to set your virtual and hybrid team members up for success from their first days with your company.

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Future of work remote work

The 5-Step Onboarding Plan Playbook to Go From New Hires to Raving Fans

First impressions leave a lasting mark on your employees. This is especially true when their entire experience with your company is virtual.

Employees onboarded prior to the pandemic report “significantly higher” satisfaction with their company than those onboarded virtually. In recent years, new hires have even quit before they started or shortly after their first day because of a disappointing—or nonexistent—onboarding experience.

So what are brands getting wrong? Too often, HR teams or supervisors improvise the new hire onboarding, which means employees get an inconsistent depth and quality of experience. In other cases, HR teams still use their in-person onboarding playbook, which fails to address issues vital for supporting hybrid and remote employees.  

To engage new hires, companies must reinvent their onboarding process to reflect the realities of virtual and hybrid work. Luckily, creating a fulfilling virtual onboarding is easier than you might think. Here’s how.

5 Steps For Building a Successful Virtual Onboarding Plan

An employee’s onboarding experience will set the tone for their future with your company, so you should plan each element with careful consideration. 

Follow these five steps to create a hybrid and remote employee onboarding process that makes a positive first impression and sets them up for ongoing success:

Step 1: Pre-boarding Activities

New hires will be eager to officially start their roles from the moment they sign the paperwork. Provide employees with pre-boarding activities and resources that help them become familiar with your company culture and values and begin to prepare for their work. 

Think through your employee’s experience from the moment you hire them: How will you welcome them to the team, and what questions will they have? A few essential things to provide include:

  • A series of welcome emails that share vital information and explain what the employee’s first day or week will look like
  • Company handbooks or resources that detail your company’s culture and procedures, as well as guidelines for effective written communication in virtual settings
  • Mailed swag packages with branded items, such as notebooks, laptop stickers, or apparel
  • A schedule of introductory meetings that will foster engagement 

Before your new hire starts, ensure that you plan to get them the tools and equipment they’ll need for virtual work. 

Step 2: Orientation and Training

Your pre-boarding activities should answer your employee’s initial questions and clearly explain what they should expect on their first day. Now, it’s time to plan their official orientation and training process.

  • Plan a Day 1 schedule and prepare assets that give an overview of the employee’s core responsibilities, team dynamics, and company processes. 
  • Use video conferencing tools to facilitate interactive sessions and connect the new hire with coworkers and company leadership. 
  • Provide hands-on training and help overcome technical hurdles. 
  • Establish clear guidelines for virtual communication etiquette, including response time expectations and office hours. 

Step 3: Job-Specific Training

It can be difficult for many people to adjust to a new hybrid or fully remote work environment. Onboarding is a perfect time to share remote work tips and job-specific advice for navigating your company’s virtual workplace.

For example, consider hosting online courses and webinars that explain key concepts or give a tutorial on your workplace tools. Provide training materials that cover the specific tools, software, and processes that will help them feel more productive and fulfilled in their work. Store all help documents and FAQs online so employees can access them whenever needed.

Step 4: Mentorship and Coaching

Mentorship and coaching programs provide ongoing support and guidance to remote employees. Pair experienced team members with new hires to help them understand their roles, navigate the team dynamics, and receive career guidance. Connect new hires with mentors during their first week, and encourage frequent check-ins during the first 90 days. Afterward, mentors and mentees should meet at least once monthly.

Step 5: Performance Feedback

Remote employees need performance feedback to understand how they can improve in their roles and progress to the next level. Schedule regular evaluations and check-ins to discuss each employee’s progress, address their challenges, and provide constructive feedback for continuous improvement. There are useful online feedback tools that can streamline this process.

Communication Makes Remote Onboarding Successful

New employees naturally feel anxious about joining a company and engaging primarily through text and video. Help alleviate potential negative feelings by fostering open and regular communication channels to invite questions and provide updates, clarifications, and guidance.

Carefully plan each step of your onboarding process, and continually refine your approach based on employee feedback and new insights you gain. Employees with an engaging onboarding experience can more quickly integrate into your culture and support a healthy workplace.

Of course, many other considerations go into conducting virtual employee onboarding. For a complete guide packed with tips and step-by-step instructions, download our virtual onboarding e-book.

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Why Virtual Onboarding for All Employees is Crucial for Success

Building a great hybrid work culture starts with your virtual onboarding process. But don’t just take my word for it—research shows that 70% of employees believe their onboarding can make or break their experience, and remote employees are 117% more likely to leave if they feel under-trained during the onboarding process. 

It’s crucial to create a positive first impression for remote workers and help them transition seamlessly into your company. Unfortunately, there appears to be a significant disconnect in how companies approach their onboarding for employees outside of the corporate HQ and what their remote and distributed workforce actually needs. 

The Virtual Onboarding Disconnect

A positive onboarding experience will set the stage for your workers to integrate into your company and feel fulfilled in their roles. When their first impression of your team isn’t face-to-face, however, it can be harder to ensure that impression is a good one—and it comes down to having a comprehensive onboarding process.

Where exactly are companies falling flat regarding the virtual onboarding experience? After an uninspired onboarding, remote workers are the most likely to feel undertrained (63%), disoriented (60%), and devalued (52%). 

These feelings are concerning, but companies can address them with intelligent planning. A successful virtual onboarding program should:

  • Include Workplace Technology Training: During onboarding, walk employees through each tool they will use to complete their work. Additionally, explain how they can successfully navigate your virtual workspace, including how to access critical resources. Check out more tips for successful virtual training here. 
  • Extend Onboarding Beyond Orientation: Employees need a clear understanding of what their first day and week will look like at your company. Provide a thorough schedule for their first week, and coordinate video meetings to learn more about their specific role and meet their manager, mentor, and coworkers. Schedule regular check-ins with the employee and their manager to discuss their challenges and ensure they understand their priorities. 
  • Show Them They’re Valued: Remote workers often need additional reassurance and recognition, especially when new to a company. Welcome all new team members through your companywide channels to show them they’re valued. Ensure managers provide positive feedback during every check-in, spotlighting specific achievements or accomplishments. 

Create a Fulfilling Virtual Onboarding Experience

New employees shouldn’t feel undertrained, disoriented, and devalued after they join your company. Following the strategies shared above can address these challenges and give your employees the best experience from their earliest days.

If you’re looking for more guidance on developing a successful virtual onboarding, we have you covered. Download our virtual onboarding ebook to learn the strategies and best practices to ensure your remote workers feel valued, supported, and confident in their new roles.

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