1、1 Improving employee engagement The collaborative workplace: Introduction Todays teams work from cities all over the world, and technology now enables them to communicate and collaborate instantly. 2018 reports are showing record numbers for remote workers, with as many as 52% of global employees wo

2、rking remote at least once per week. As we enter 2020 and beyond, this number is only expected to grow. HubSpots 2019 remote work report states “remote work is a key ingredient to building a high performing and diverse company”. Remote work is no longer the future, it is the present, and employees a

3、nd managers alike must adapt - fast. As Michael Dell said, “Technology now allows people to connect anytime, anywhere, to anyone in the world, from almost any device. This is dramatically changing the way people work, facilitating 24/7 collaboration with colleagues who are dispersed across time zone

4、s, countries, and continents.” This explosion of endpoints and widespread, immediate collaboration spurs the need for centralized management and a solution that helps you capture data and feedback instantly and inclusively. As excited as workers might be for the transition to a primarily remote work

5、force, studies show that we may be ill-equipped. In an effort to fill this gap, we crafted this in-depth guide on how to build and manage an effective and collaborative remote team, hold more efficient meetings, scale your company culture across the globe, and capitalize on upcoming 2020 tech trends

6、 with clarity and consistency. “38% of remote workers and 15% of remote managers received no training on how to work remotely” OwlLabs, 2019 study Table of contents Section 1: Collaborate with your team Section 2: Scale your company culture Section 3: 2020: A clear vision for enterprise Remote team

7、management. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 In-office vs. virtual teams: key management differences. . . . . . . . . . . . .11 Mic drop your meetings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14 Bridge the gap between remote and in-office teams. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18

8、 Seamless communication. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21 Gamify employee engagement: 3 unique ways. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24 Redefine your People Ops strategy: why safety matters. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29 Top tech tools and trends. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

9、. . .33 Cybersecurity. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .37 Customer collaboration: the benefits of interactive SKOs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .41 Collaborate with your team Section 1: 1 Remote management We live in the information economy where todays top businesses incre

10、asingly rely on sophisticated teams of employees rather than the output of sequestered individuals. Todays complex work environments require the multi-layered perspectives, experience, creativity, and talent of a team. Businesses need to build better, stronger, and more cohesive teams, but that isnt

11、 easy! The foundation of a great team is a strong sense of comradery and collaboration. Effective team management focuses on building a collaborative spirit within both the virtual or office workplace. How can todays managers improve collaboration, and, ultimately, their companys bottom line? Managi

12、ng a remote team comes with its own unique strategies and considerations. Virtual team members often have different schedules, roles, and communication styles, making team management a bit more challenging. Its important to know that team members are available, completing tasks, and producing qualit

13、y work. Because youre not in the office with them all the time, this can be more complex than in-person team management. How can a manager improve virtual team collaboration? It can be as simple and as seamless as integrating key software into your daily management routine. 2 Implement a task manage

14、ment software Task management may be without the confetti and fanfare of other software, but it is possibly the most crucial software for your teams success. Tools like Asana, Flow, Workfront, or other collaborative task management software ensures visibility into project statuses and timely complet

15、ion. Most task management software has the ability to store documents for easy access from any device, anywhere. Try this: Using Poll Everywhere, survey your team to find out which software they would like best. Then, take the top-voted options and set-up trial periods with them (most task managemen

16、t software has at least a 7-day trial period) so you and your team can gain hands-on experience and make an informed decision. Pro tip: Lengthy decision-making processes can lead to the dreaded decision fatigue, reducing your ability to make good choices and potentially leading to irrational trade-o

17、ffs. Luckily, there are a few ways you can avoid this: limit your teams choices to no more than 3 options, set a decision deadline, and decide early. Studies have shown that people make better decisions earlier in the day when their mental acuity is sharp. Your team and your to-do list will thank yo

18、u. 3 Offer multiple forms of communicationSchedule designated work hours Communication is the cornerstone of a collaborative and efficient team. But, everyones styles of communicating may vary greatly. Offering various channels of communication allows people to choose whats right for them and the si

19、tuation. While a more formal request might go through email, short messages might be better suited for organizational chat platforms like Slack, and last-minute emergencies might require a call or text. You can also set guidelines about how to use each communication method. Virtual team management u

20、sually comes with employees in various time zones and countries. To streamline communication and nurture collaboration, establish designated work hours that keep everyone in the loop as to when their team is available. Remote workers often set their own schedules, but having dedicated work hours thr

21、oughout the day is great for virtual collaboration, meetings, and productivity. Try this: Foster both formal and informal collaboration by setting up Slack for your team. If youre managing a larger team, you could even create channels for subdivisions of your team to ensure team members are only rec

22、eiving notifications most relevant to them. Poll Everywhere for Slack can be a great way to quickly take a vote or gather feedback from your team. Try this: Slack statuses can be a great way to provide both in-office and virtual team members visibility into their coworkers availability. Encourage yo

23、ur team to update their status to reflect when theyre on PTO, taking a coffee break, grabbing lunch, working heads down on a tough project, or in a meeting. Pro tip: Syncing Slack with Google Calendar will auto-update your Slack status to reflect when youre in a meeting. As a bonus, it will even sen

24、d you meeting notifications and reminders via Slack. Cheers to automation! 4 Meet virtually as often as you would in-office Working from different offices around the country, or maybe even the globe, can require some creative thinking when it comes to hosting team meetings. All-hands meetings, fires

25、ide chats, and virtual employee trainings are great ways to keep your team in the loop, celebrate wins, and set goals. Todays technology makes it easy to video call, collaborate virtually, and engage your team in real-time. Try this: Bring life to your meetings by actively engaging employees. Hostin

26、g a retrospective on big projects and releases can be a valuable way to gather feedback and find areas for improvement. Creating a competition to end your meeting offers the benefits of testing team knowledge and gamifying the workplace. Try this: Challenge employees to take more ownership of their

27、jobs. Encourage them to pitch their own projects or brainstorm ways they can do more with less oversight. Also, you can give the opportunity for them to manage a project you would have managed as an way to encourage growth and ownership in their role. Give your employees autonomy No one loves a micr

28、omanager, but even companies that give their employees some autonomy may not be going far enough. Employees want to feel like they have control over how they perform their jobs. Offering your team more autonomy shows trust You believe I have your best interests at heart, I do what I say I am going t

29、o do consistently, and you see me perform these actions. I view these as core dials for team success and even MORE important for remote team success.” Pro tip: Impeccable agreements. Because trust is easy to erode, Kyles team practiced a process called impeccable agreements, asking that everyone wri

30、tes down who will do what and by when. This simple yet powerful agreement process helps prevent dysfunction from escalating and sloppy agreements from forming. Having it written down helps remote workers check in explicitly with others and acts as a forcing function for us to ask the question, “Did

31、you see me do this and agree the agreement was accomplished?” 13 14 Mic drop your meetings Meetings, when done right, can provide incredible value to a business. They allow teams to brainstorm, share information, collaborate, and track progress on goals. Meetings form the cornerstone of any successf

32、ul team and play a critical role in the efficient synthesis and distribution of information designed to keep members aligned. Why then, are workplace meetings dreaded by employees and managers alike? Research from David Grady and Jason Fried shows that 50% of people find meetings to be unproductive

33、and 73% of employees do other work in meetings. The cost of these wasted meetings is estimated at a whopping $37 billion per year. Another shocking statistic from Grady and Frieds study points to what could be the root of the meeting problem: The solution to our collective meeting miasma isnt to era

34、dicate meetings for all time and never speak their name again. Rather, its to improve how meetings function so that they provide clear value to participants and help the company complete its goals. In other words, good meetings depend on good meeting facilitation. “75% of people have received no for

35、mal training on how to conduct a successful meeting” David Grady and Jason Fried 15 Determine the best communication methodAsk key questions Check your tech With so many options to choose from, Google Hangouts, Zoom, to name only a couple, selecting a tool that best fits your meeting has never been

36、easier. Slack, for example, is great for quickly communicating with remote employees, and can also help facilitate meetings. Slack offers video calling options, allowing you to call employees directly through the app or call everyone related to one channel, such as the team working on a certain clie

37、nt or project. For the most technical teams, Slack offers screen sharing and drawing on screen capabilities, making it easy to explain how to use software or a program or troubleshoot a computer issue that your coworker may be having. What are you working on today? What did you accomplish yesterday?

38、 What are your blockers? Daily standup meetings are an effective way to identify blockers, track progress, and gain insight on project statuses. With Poll Everywhere, you can easily collect answers from your team and record the data for later reference. Having high-quality audio and video technology

39、 will make all the difference during your remote meetings. Make sure to test your equipment and to have everything set up before the meeting starts. Investing in a pair of good headphones with a built-in microphone can also help provide clear audio and minimize background noise for both you and your

40、 meeting participants. Keep it short As we discussed before, meetings are costly to a business (calculate the cost of yours here). Your meeting should only take as long as absolutely necessary to achieve your goals. Youd be amazed at what you can get done in 15 or 30 minutes when everyone at the tab

41、le is motivated and engaged. The job-hunting website, Monster, suggests that 45-minute meetings hit “the attention-span sweet spot.” All the way back in 2009, Harvard Business Review wrote about the power of 50-minute meetings. Googles Calendar app simplifies scheduling shorter meetings. Customize t

42、he default meeting duration within settings to the number of minutes that best fit you and your team. Additionally, enabling Googles “Speedy meetings” option automatically ends 30-minute meetings 5 minutes early and 60-minute meetings 10 minutes early, allowing for breathing room and much-needed bat

43、hroom breaks. 16 Designate working hours on the calendar app Come prepared Make an agenda Only invite necessary members Start on time, end on time One of the benefits of having a remote workforce is that employees can work from anywhere, but this also means that youll have to schedule meetings aroun

44、d varying time zones. Tools like Every Time Zone can help. While tools like Asana arent exactly made for meeting facilitation, they are still great collaboration tools to organize your teams work and know what everyone is working on. Using all this information, you can easily come to your next meeti

45、ng prepared to discuss the teams progress, goals, and action items. Visibility into your teams workflow and tasks is key to hosting a successful meeting. Creating an agenda may seem like obvious advice, but not everyone takes it. Before you call a meeting, figure out exactly what topics you want to

46、address and what you want to achieve. Provide everyone a copy of the agenda prior to the meeting in order to give your team a chance to review and think of any questions they may have. Many workers get dragged into meetings because it “might” be useful for them to observe, but its probably more usef

47、ul for them to spend that time doing their jobs if they arent really needed. When scheduling your meeting, consider who absolutely must attend and only invite those individuals. Time is a finite resource, which makes it nearly invaluable. Every minute a worker sits in a meeting is a minute they cant

48、 be working on their own projects. Start your meetings on time and keep an eye on the clock. Sometimes long meetings are inevitable, but usually, a good facilitator can help the team wrap up on time or even a little early. Ensuring your team is adequately prepared prior to the meeting can help keep them brief and productive. Set up a “virtual watercooler” Bu