Try it free ➔

Tag: hybrid work

Categories
Hybrid work remote work

The Remotely Possible Podcast: Insights from Zach Rattner on Empowering Global Remote Teams

Remotely Possible title card featuring Adam Riggs and Zach Rattner and the Remotely Possible logo

There are undeniable advantages of working with a global team that can keep your company running at all hours. But juggling time zones can quickly become a headache—or a significant source of burnout—without a flexible plan.

In the fourth episode of the “Remotely Possible” podcast, I spoke with Zach Rattner, Co-Founder & Chief Technology Officer at Yembo, to discuss how his global team keeps projects moving seamlessly without forcing a structure that frustrates them. Here’s an excerpt from our conversation, including how he builds connections with his remote team and the importance of asking for feedback.  

Introducing Zach and His Fully Remote Team

Yembo is a computer vision company providing estimation services for home services brands (primarily moving and property insurance companies). Its team of approximately 70 people is fully remote, spanning India, the Philippines, Ukraine, and the U.S. 

“If we’re starting a new product, it’s always an inconvenient time for somebody. We’ve had to put together processes and workflows so that people are able to be productive and make meaningful progress when it’s not business hours somewhere else,” Zach said. “I feel like the benefits way outweigh the cons and that you can make 24-hour progress without burning anybody out because everyone’s working an eight-hour day.”

Zach and his team have developed a strategy that empowers each department to decide how they work, focusing on flexibility.

“You should strive for harmony, not homogeneity. Things don’t have to be identical across different teams, but everyone needs to get along,” he said. “One-size-fits-all solutions compromise something in a way that leave things to be desired. Letting each department head figure out what their team needs to do has been a bit more impactful for us. [We’re] able to be flexible and nimble and adapting to the needs of folks on the team, as opposed to trying to impose a top-down organizational structure that makes nobody happy at the end of the day.” 

How To Build Connections And Stay Efficient When Working Remotely

Savvy remote work leaders understand that teams must come together occasionally for some work or at least to get to know each other. And there needs to be a budget for this.

“Shared experiences are what drive a team to gel. If you are remote and not careful about this, you don’t have shared experiences; everybody is a Slack interruption in your day, a little red blip that can show up in the corner,” Zach said. “We aim to go out of our way to make opportunities so that people can get to know each other, get to know each other’s strengths.”

Yembo hosts an annual company retreat, YemboCon, and quarterly executive offsites. If teams are facing a particular problem that’s easier to solve in-person, there is a process to request an offsite. The key, however, is that Zach prioritizes free time during all company offsites.

“The unstructured time is actually super productive,” he said. “You have a unique opportunity when you’re a remote company and you bring everyone together, so I’ve been focusing less on trying to pack the schedule with all these productive outcomes—work meetings and things like that. Leaving enough room in the schedule so people don’t feel overwhelmed. And not just making that OK, but encouraged.”

During day-to-day operations, Zach’s leadership team prioritizes clear communication across teams, ensuring everyone understands what they need to do when they first sign on for the day. Part of this involves using the right tools to assign work and communicate updates, and Zach shares his tech stack in the recording. 

“If someone’s on vacation, they shouldn’t have to go read 100 messages and scroll back to figure out what went on,” he said. “The end result should be somewhere that they can pick it up.” 

At the end of project planning meetings, to foster an environment of continuous improvement, Zach surveys his team to understand if they gained value from the meeting, asking:

  • Did you get what you needed out of it? 
  • Was it helpful? 
  • What would we have done better?

For more of Zach’s insights into running an effective remote team, listen to the Remotely Possible Podcast, episode 4. You can also read his book Grow Up Fast: Lessons From An AI Startup to learn more about the challenges his team has overcome.


Interested in sharing your distributed work experience with our listeners? Apply to be my guest for a future episode.

Remotely Possible is now available on all platforms

Listen now
Categories
Hybrid work remote work

4 Quick and Free Games to Play with Your Virtual Team in Microsoft Teams

Whether you’re part of a fully remote organization or joining calls with clients across the country, you’re bound to find yourself joining a video call and needing to fill a few minutes while everyone logs on. While Mondays are great for asking folks about their weekends and catching up on the usual small talk, by the time Wednesday rolls around you might find yourself searching for new ways to make the most of the first five minutes of meeting time before digging into your agenda.

We’ve curated this round-up of the best free, work-friendly games you can install today to Microsoft Teams or other video applications so you can banish those awkward silences and start hosting the virtual meetings everyone is excited to attend. 

Install these before your next virtual meeting

Frameable Anagrams

If you and your team have been fans of Wordle, you’re sure to love this new game that teammates can play solo or during a meeting. Unscramble letters to make words from 3-6 letters long. Playing Anagrams is a great way to collaborate with your team to solve a quick and new puzzle every day. 

Race to complete puzzles with your colleagues in a meeting or play by yourself as a quick brain break throughout the day from the Anagrams app in the Teams sidebar.

Kahoot Trivia

For the days when you have a few more minutes or want to break out into teams to build connections, a round of Kahoot trivia is a great way to get everyone’s attention and start your next meeting off on a positive note. 

Install the Kahoot add-in to connect your existing Kahoot account and access trivia games without having to leave Teams. Kahoot is great for quick, fun trivia questions everyone can take part in, engaging breaks during long meetings, or checkpoints during learning sessions to be sure your lessons are effective. 

Microsoft’s Games for Work

Last fall, Microsoft released its Games for Work application to provide users with classic games like Microsoft Solitaire, Microsoft IceBreakers, Microsoft Minesweeper, and Microsoft Wordament in their in-call experience.

Microsoft’s native games application is a great option for large meetings, with options for up to 250 players at once so you can engage and excite even your biggest gatherings or break the ice in smaller groups and kick-off calls with a quick, fun game. 

Polly for Quizzes

Polly is an excellent addition to meetings as you can develop quiz questions based on your upcoming meeting topics, your organization’s history, pop culture or current events, and plenty more. Many organizations will have already approved and installed Polly, so playing it should be a breeze.

You can also start with polls to kick off meetings: ask your team what drink they’re currently enjoying, what they’ll have for lunch, brain teasers, and more. 

Create moments for connection and celebration

While it is common to simply think that connection with remote colleagues, clients, or teammates will come with time, it’s important to create space for these small, fun moments to happen as they are crucial for building a sense of connection with your team. These interactions help foster trust between coworkers and help to remind us that we are working with real people with real emotions who want to celebrate big and little wins alike. Although every meeting is different, I’m sure most of us wouldn’t mind an extra dash of fun here and there.

Add Anagrams to Microsoft Teams and explore all that Frameable has to offer with our full suite of productivity enhancements.

Learn more and install Anagrams for Microsoft Teams

Explore Anagrams

Categories
Future of work Hybrid work remote work

Why a Virtual Workspace is Essential for Productivity, Whether You Work in the Office or Not

woman smiling at laptop

This article originally appeared on Fast Company.

We’re no longer debating whether hybrid work is the future of work. The question now is if leaders should prioritize the in-person experience or the virtual experience to optimize their distributed workplace strategy.

It’s understandable why many executives want to focus on their company’s in-person experience. Shared office spaces carry a perceived sense of normalcy that many have missed, and it is seemingly easier to brush the dust off our old playbooks for designing in-person workplace cultures than it is to tackle the challenges of distributed workspaces. But to achieve the full benefits of hybrid and distributed workforces, and enable all employees to be productive and fulfilled, the virtual experience must be the priority—even if your company primarily engages in person. 

The Enterprise has Been Distributed for Decades

With all the talk about hybrid work and remote work, many people have lost sight of the fact that traditional office environments were often also distributed. We just weren’t as aware of the ways in which the friction between people who sat together and those who worked in distant offices detracted from their experience. 

It has always been rare for an entire company to work from a single building in one location. Large companies had offices globally, or a few regional offices around the country. Over time, team skills and information inevitably became siloed. In the worst cases, company tools and resources were restricted to the corporate headquarters, leaving everyone else—including freelancers and consultants—to fend for themselves. Not a great recipe for a productive and engaged workforce. 

A shared virtual workspace can remove these barriers and empower everyone with the same tools and resources. Now that the future of work is here, we have the opportunity and means to fulfill this potential. 

How a Virtual Workspace Empowers Teams

A dedicated online workspace allows everyone to work together more effectively, regardless of where they are located. To get work done, employees can access the same information, resources, and people through a purpose-built virtual workspace instead of needing to work from a specific office location.  

There are several reasons why it’s smart to align your company around a virtual workspace: 

1. Workplace Inclusivity

More voices can be heard, and people can more easily engage when online collaboration is the standard for your company. Asynchronous communication channels and modern video conferencing solutions give people opportunities to connect and share their feedback. Contrast that with sitting in a conference room, where they may be spoken over or ignored, or putting colleagues in distant offices on speakerphone. Furthermore, people can more easily balance their work and personal priorities when they can access a reliable virtual workplace from anywhere.

2. Analytics

Unlike in in-person environments, everything you do in a virtual setting can be utilized and shared to improve your company culture. For example, you can use a virtual meeting tool that analyzes how much each attendee talks. This data can help you notice if specific people dominate meetings or talk over their peers. 

3. Knowledge Retention

The most effective teams rely on shared templates and central resource hubs that streamline their work. Building your virtual workspace to have rich information libraries means employees have a go-to place to overcome their challenges—instead of asking around the organization and across offices to get the information they need. The key is to train them to navigate your virtual workspace and access these resources effectively.

4. AI Capabilities

When everyone operates from a digital-first mindset, you’ll get the most value from your software—especially AI-powered tools. When you have a bot attend your meeting to take notes, for example, it can automatically transcribe your conversation and analyze that meeting content to generate to-do lists for your team. 

Futureproof Your Organization With the Right Virtual Tooling

Providing an optimal in-person working environment requires your team to first focus on the remote experience. By using the right tools—and training your team to use them effectively to boost productivity and increase knowledge sharing—your team will be more productive and connected with your culture regardless of how they choose to work.

Keep your organization future-proof with top-of-the-line collaboration tools

Explore Frameable
Categories
Hybrid work online meetings productivity remote work

6 Tips for More Effective Virtual Training

Virtual training has become essential in the new age of work, and it comes with benefits!

Virtual training sessions are less costly than renting out a venue and catering a meal for hundreds of trainees, meaning you can allocate that budget elsewhere. And because you can record a virtual training session, you can repurpose its content to provide lasting value. Further, people with accessibility needs can join virtual training sessions more easily from wherever works best for them.

Given this incredible potential, companies should ditch their old new-hire process and build a modern training strategy to reflect the needs of remote and hybrid work. 

How To Host Successful Virtual Training Sessions

Effective virtual training offers many of the same elements of in-person training—small group exercises, Q&A, and hand-outs—while using the digital environment to its fullest potential.

As you restructure your new hire training, consider these best practices for hosting virtual training sessions:

  • Include Breaks Between Training Sessions: Employees need a mental break between training sessions. Breaks also allow them to grab a snack or use the restroom. Ideally, you should provide at least one 5-10 minute break per hour to achieve optimal retention.
  • Provide Engaging Content: Trainees are most focused when given visually engaging presentations and opportunities to interact with the training content. When creating your training slides, include brief details on slides and use bullet points when possible. Further, you should continually outline the processes you are working through and create opportunities for new hires to analyze and think critically about what they are learning. 
  • Recap Material Twice Daily: At the end of a training day, summarize key points and ask team members what concepts stood out. Host a similar conversation the following day and ask if there are questions that trainees may not have realized they had when you initially covered the material. 
  • Vary Your Training Structure: Your training content should be as easily accessible as possible, whether it’s a presentation, video, or hands-on project. Experiment with each training structure and switch up your style across training sessions to keep the content engaging.
  • Ask Employees How They Like to Learn: Employees have different learning styles and may prefer to consume your training content in specific ways. Ask employees about their training experience and how they prefer to learn. Consider catering your training to individual needs and creating resources that repurpose the content for different formats.
  • Create Spaces to Connect: Whenever possible, enable trainees to collaborate during the training. Onboarding is a valuable opportunity for them to get to know each other and build a meaningful connection. 

Virtual Training Is Essential For A Fulfilling Employee Onboarding

Regularly seek feedback about your company’s training and ask employees how you can improve their training experience. By experimenting with different training structures and repurposing your content for new formats, you can appeal to the range of different learning styles within your company.

One of the most common times you train employees is during their new employee onboarding, which can make or break your new hire’s future with your company. Don’t worry: we’re here to help. Download our virtual onboarding ebook for a complete walkthrough of how to deliver a fulfilling virtual onboarding experience, including how to develop a virtual onboarding plan and strategies for engaging new hires. 

Upgrade your virtual trainings with multiple screen share

Explore MulitShare

Categories
Future of work

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

podcast mic in front of a laptop

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. 

Listen to our podcast, Remotely Possible, wherever you get your podcasts

Listen now
Categories
remote work

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.

Get our new Virtual Onboarding ebook

Download now
Categories
Future of work remote work

A Manager’s Checklist of Opportunities to Build Meaningful Connections in Virtual Offices

Building a healthy and collaborative workplace culture requires a consistent strategy, but the rewards are well worth the effort.

Employees who feel connected to their company’s culture are much more likely to thrive and stay. And those happy employees can even be up to 20% more productive than those who are dissatisfied. The key is to help employees build genuine relationships with their peers to foster healthy communication and overcome potential conflict—and that’s easier said than done.

Managers play a major role in building connections in virtual offices and reinforcing the company culture. For those who may be new to managing virtual teams, it can be challenging to know where to focus your effort to drive the best results. Let’s explore the main opportunities for managers to connect employees, regardless of where they are based.

5 Ways to Connect Employees Across Your Distributed Workforce 

To perform their best, virtual and hybrid workers need a clear understanding of their “purpose at every level.” This means that everyone—from your entry-level employees to executive leadership—should feel confident that they are working toward your mission with purpose.

Rallying virtual employees behind your company mission requires a different approach for each level, and relationships will make or break your experience. Implement these strategies for building relationships in virtual teams to strengthen your culture:

  • Prioritize Your Virtual Onboarding: Your company needs to make a solid first impression on all new employees. To do so, create a virtual onboarding plan that provides a smooth transition into your company and clearly explains how new hires can succeed as part of your distributed team. Onboarding is also the ideal time to get to know new hires and encourage them to share their outside-of-work interests and previous work accomplishments. Not only does this help new hires start building their own internal network, but it also gives leaders more insight to connect employees based on their commonalities and shared hobbies. 
  • Establish Mentorship Programs: Pairing early career professionals with mid and senior-level employees can be incredibly effective for building relationships and breaking down potential cultural barriers. New employees can more quickly learn about your company’s culture and understand their potential career progression with guidance from their mentor, and both the mentor and mentee will benefit from the new relationship. 
  • Create Space for Non-Work Conversations: In the physical office, a company’s water cooler or kitchen was a hub for quick conversations and friendly banter. Likewise, virtual workspaces should also offer places for employees to chat about matters not related to work. Consider creating dedicated channels in your communication tools for employees to talk about personal hobbies and interests, and offer open networking rooms where employees can catch up throughout the work day.  
  • Start Meetings With an Icebreaker: Team meetings are a key opportunity to check in with employees. At the start or end of your meetings, host a quick conversation where everyone can share something about their week or personal life or recognize each other for their accomplishments. Taking a few minutes from each meeting to focus solely on your employees as humans can spark connections and help them build and find commonalities. 
  • Live By Your Values: When implementing the above strategies, your team needs to live the values you are trying to nurture. Encourage managers to dedicate time each week to actively work on building relationships within their team, and openly discuss the challenges that people are facing. 

Start to Build Employee Connections on Day One

There are challenges—and distinct advantages—to building genuine connections in fully remote, distributed, and hybrid teams. Try out a few different tactics, and find out what works best for you and your team. But ask for ongoing feedback and be open to adapting as your team grows and develops. 

One of the most important times to help an employee embed themselves into your culture is during their new hire onboarding. The onboarding process presents many key opportunities to connect employees and establish a healthy foundation that will help them overcome any challenges they face in your virtual workspace.

To bring a new-found sense of community to your virtual or distributed team, add Spaces to Microsoft Teams and see what a virtual office can do for your team’s productivity.

Improve productivity and share multiple screens at once all with Spaces

Learn more
Categories
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.  

Transform your Teams experience with Frameable Spaces

Learn more
Categories
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.

Start elevating the way you work with Spaces

BOOK A DEMO
Categories
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.

Empower Your Business Growth—Join the Frameable Partner Program

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.

Start unlocking more recurring revenue as a Frameable Partner

Learn more
Remotely Possible is now available on all platforms
Listen now