Industry specialists alike believe that these upcoming trends in 2023 will keep you up to date and on task in the year to come:

Strengthening company moral and connection in an increasingly remote work world  

The workspace norm in 2023 is projected to keep changing as we have seen in both 2021 and 2022, with workers being offered more and more remote options and flexibility to work from places other than just the office. Strong communication with leaders and staying informed will both be vital to keep morale high and operations successful.

Here are some tips for strengthening company morale & connection in a remote workforce:

• Internal communication avenues such as chat, email & virtual meetings
• “Office hours” – set times that leadership is available for open calls or video chats
• Updating without micromanaging
• Keeping employees informed on any changes & updates

Growing emphasis on video communication

As we can see, remote working is becoming more popular amongst big and small businesses alike. Having the availability of communicating via video is keeping teams connected to not only each other, but to existing and potential customers as well. Having video conferencing capabilities will be a must moving forward in the new remote work environment that’s here to stay. 

CallHarbor offers an internal video communication platform available to add onto any account. Whether you use it for internal meetings or for meetings with clients, our video platform is reliable & flexible. With a browser-based platform, CallHarbor Video is accessible to all, without the person on the other end having to download an app. CallHarbor Video includes recording, chat (meeting-wide or private), and typical features such as mute, screenshare, etc.

Utilizing data to optimize communication

With so many new ways to communicate such as chat, video, and phone, analyzing metrics and data is imperative. By looking at these stats, companies can better hone in on successful tools, and track numbers to help reflect where use of resources are successful or could use improvement.

CallHarbor includes reporting & analytics at no cost to our customers. Create customized email reports to stay informed on what’s going on with your phone system. Using statistics and reports to analyze your communication (internal & external) can help you optimize your communication plan to better suit your needs. Analytics such as outbound calls, average hold time, abandoned calls, calls to voicemail, and more, are available at your fingertips.

Businesses are increasingly looking for multiple device solutions with easy relocation flexibility

The systems that are projected to be more successful in the new year are the systems that are able to move with their users. Phone calls are no longer only handled in the office and users need a system that supports multiple devices. Whether these devices are stationary or mobile, they must have the ability to move and function as their location changes.

CallHarbor’s system is available on your desk phone, cellphone via call forwarding or mobile app, and web softphone via browser or download. All avenues are available for every user, for no additional mobility cost. Easily switch between devices whether you’re in the office, at home, or on the road.

Internet based phone systems continue to grow in popularity and reliability over traditional phone services

VoIP and Cloud-based phone systems are quickly becoming the popular system of choice for companies that are remote or hybrid. The functionality and mobility that internet based phone systems can provide is technically advanced and gives more options when it comes to how and where business phone systems can be used.

With 2023 right around the corner, CallHarbor is continuing to grow and evolve with the changing realm of communication. With our platform continuing to update and grow, we offer flexibility and reliability in your communication system. Paired with useful tools such as video conferencing, data analytics, and many others, we keep your company in touch where it matters the most. 

Sources: Forbes, UC Today, Haiilo

The post Communication Trends to Lookout for in 2023 appeared first on CallHarbor.

Create Your Own Space

While working remotely, it’s very beneficial to have a designated area that you use only when working. This could be a separate office room, or part of your living room that you’ve turned into a professional and organized space for work tasks. Many people initially try setting up a work space in their bedroom, but this sometimes associates working with resting, which you’ll want to avoid if possible.

Make sure you have a simple and distraction-free space behind your work area, and ensure that there are not too many windows behind you, as this can make you look like a silhouette during virtual meetings. If you’re in an area of the house where you’re tempted to watch TV while working, try turning on some white noise or relaxing music instead. There’s always time for Netflix once you’re off the clock!

Don’t be afraid to spend a little money on your office decor and accessories (if your budget allows for it). Making the space inviting and aesthetically pleasing will help you look forward to your workday more. Add some plants to your desk or an end table, hang up an inspirational quote that speaks to you, or plug in some aromatherapy to stimulate your senses and make for a relaxing vibe throughout the day. Remember, working remotely gives you the potential of taking control over the way you experience work (which most likely takes up a decent amount of your day), so you might as well make it gratifying and appealing! 

Time Management & Workday Structure

It’s all about time management and staying focused when working remotely. If you’re just diving into a remote position, you might want to consider scheduling regular breaks, making sure you don’t work intensely for more than 90 minutes at a time. Just taking two-minute “microbreaks” has been shown to improve cognitive performance.

Allowing yourself to take multiple mini-breaks will also increase your overall productivity throughout the day, as you’re less likely to get burned out. Giving yourself (and your brain) a few minutes to breathe can be incredibly beneficial for your mental and emotional wellbeing. Some people use the Pomodoro technique: 25 minutes of uninterrupted work, with five-minute breaks throughout the day. 

Additionally, many companies have moved away from micromanaging their remote employees, so it’s important to create your own work schedule if your employer does not provide you with one. Set aside time each morning to check your email, respond to anything urgent, and plan out the rest of the day’s priorities (whether it’s hour-by-hour or task-by-task). Keeping up with all of your responsibilities in a structured way will not only set you up for success, but you’ll end each workday feeling rewarded and confident – all from the comfort of your home!

Communication is Key

It’s nearly impossible to over-communicate with your coworkers and supervisor(s) while working from home. Communication is really the foundation of good remote work,” says Brie Weiler Reynolds, a career development manager at FlexJobs. Since you don’t have the opportunity to collaborate in person, you’ll need to find other ways to stay in touch effectively and clearly. Some great ways to do this include:

• One-on-ones and routine check-ins
• Team meetings/video conferencing
• Slack or Microsoft Teams messaging
• Project management software
• Email

Don’t forget to ask your coworkers what their communication preferences are, as they may be different from yours. Some people prefer to receive an instant message via Slack or Teams rather than having to reply through an email, while others would rather collaborate through a video meeting. No matter what the preferred method is, frequent communication will undoubtedly help everyone stay on the same page and build better connections and trusted relationships across the team.

Final Thoughts

Working from home requires self-discipline, time management, and strong communication skills. It can take a few weeks to get into the swing of things when starting a new remote job, but you’ll soon experience the rewards that come along with it. While some people might be starting to return to work full-time or in a more hybrid capacity, the trend towards remote work is here to stay. 24% of professional jobs are still available as fully remote, so find the one that’s right for you and start reaping the benefits of remote work!

Sources

(1) Apollo Tech

(2) 8×8

(3) US News

The post Tips for Succeeding in a Fully Remote Position appeared first on CallHarbor.

Make Online Meetings Fun

Meetings typically are not peoples’ favorite part of the work day. However, virtual teams need to have periodic meetings to share updates, progress, and share information. So why not make them a little more interesting and refreshing?

How is everyone feeling this week?

One idea to break the ice during a quiet meeting is to have team members share a short update on how they’re feeling this week. Feeling overwhelmed with a home improvement project? Did you find a new hiking trail over the weekend that brought out your adventurous side? It doesn’t have to be work-related. This is an opportunity to share worries and triumphs about personal things as well.

What’s new with you?

Feel free to also share something new with your teammates to get a conversation going. It could be a new album you’ve been enjoying lately, or maybe a new a recipe that you made over the weekend. Did you find a new show on Netflix that you binge-watched? Share anything new that you discovered that week or month.

Share a funny picture, meme, or gif

We all know there’s a meme and gif for anything and everything. Incorporate this into the conversations you have with coworkers and take turns with each team member to share a funny picture, meme, or gif for a few minutes during a meeting. Funny pictures could include their pets, children, travels, or anything at all. Invite them to explain what’s happening in the picture and why they selected it.

Don’t feel like you have to use all these activities at once. Choose whatever works best for your team and you can always change it up if you want something different.

Virtual Team Building Icebreakers

Doing an icebreaker at the beginning of your virtual meeting not only helps your employees establish rapport, it can also increase interaction. When your employees take part in a virtual icebreaker, they will feel more comfortable and willing to speak up. 

Create and share music playlists

Who doesn’t like listening to and talking about music? Ask your coworkers to share their favorite playlists for when they’re working, driving, working out, or just relaxing at the end of the day. You might discover teammates who share similar tastes or have attended the same concert. It’s a fun way to know more about a person and get some great music suggestions!

Messy desk showcase

When you’re working from the office, there’s an expectation that your desk will be relatively neat and organized. It’s a whole different story when working from home. Some people might sit at a desk at home, but others might like to work from the kitchen table or living room area. Have team members share pictures or even a short video clip showing their messy work space at home, and see whose is the messiest!

Guess who?

This virtual team-building activity requires a little prep work, but there can be prizes involved to make it more competitive. Have your manager ask everyone to share some fun, unknown facts about themselves. They will then compile this into a master document and everyone has to guess who each fact refers to. After a week or so, share the answer key and give a prize to whoever guesses the most correctly.

Team Building Games For Remote Employees

With many employees working remotely for the foreseeable future, it’s more important than ever for us to foster that sense of community through team building. This in turn can strengthen relationships and boost engagement by as much as 50%.

Virtual escape room

A virtual escape room can mean a lot of fun for your team. There are many virtual escape room options to choose from. Your team will have a host who will guide you through the room while you and your team work together to escape. Not only is it good fun, but it also encourages team members to bond and problem solve together.

Trivia contest

Who doesn’t love a good round of trivia? Try recreating this classic pub game virtually with a host or get a trivia app. Invite teammates to play in real-time, join teams or battle it out individually. Virtual trivia can help you build a stronger, happier, and more productive team.

Online lunch date/social hour

One thing everyone is sure to miss with remote working is going out to lunch or drinks after work on Friday. Set a date and have everyone order from their favorite meal delivery service while you kick back and relax. If someone in your team knowledgeable about mixing cocktails, you can host a virtual happy hour as well. Everyone can join in with their favorite drink!

With remote working at an all-time high, now is the perfect time to reevaluate your company’s team-building opportunities and strengthen your bond through various activities. A flexible and fun work culture allows employees to maintain a healthier work-life balance, which leads to better productivity. So, which team-building activity will you try first?

The post 3 Ideas for Virtual Team Building Activities appeared first on CallHarbor.

The workday routine isn’t as cut and dry as it used to be. The days of repetitively getting up, commuting, working, going home, and repeating all week is no longer. There a few different situations and scenarios that make it easy for you to schedule which days to go into the office when flexibly working.

Go into the office for important meetings

Video conferencing has made work meetings accessible from anywhere. Attending meetings/conferences by video may not always be the best option. Some meetings are better, more serious, and more productive in person. Whether it’s a client meeting, a large monthly sales meeting, a marketing or product rebrand, or another important meeting, attending in person can make a big difference. Sometimes, it’s also a powerful way to signal the importance of a meeting.

Projects that require in-person collaboration

There are a few ways to keep people engaged and collaborative via video meetings. But there are still a handful of tasks that are simply easier in person. In person collaboration sessions can be more productive for some people, and can create a more inspiring environment. Working together with your colleagues in a physical space, grabbing lunch or coffee, and having an in person way to share ideas can help grow trust and a sense of connection. This will ultimately improve the outcome of a project, and future projects, too!

Interviewing job candidates for both in person and flexible positions

There are definitely benefits to doing 1st or even 2nd round interviewing remotely. It makes the recruiting process much easier when you can start off with phone or video calls. Especially if you are interviewing a large pool of candidates initially, you will save time and money. Once you get to the final stages of interviewing, conducting an in person interview is the way to go. Interviewing job candidates face-to-face can help give you a better understanding of their personality. You’ll be able to instantly see how well an individual will fit with the team, and convey certain messages better in person.

The same goes for new employees. Even if they will mostly be working from home, or given the opportunity to work flexibly, it’s important that they feel comfortable with the workspace for when they do come to the office. Giving new hires a full tour, showing them areas they can/cannot access, and introducing them to other employees makes for a great start. You could even consider hosting a lunch and having mostly remote employees come into the office to meet the new hire. Meeting in person first, and then continuing to work together on calls and video is a good way to feel more connected right off the bat.

If you’ve already worked from home several days in a row

One thing to remember while working flexible, or hybrid, is that you are not fully working remote. If bosses and companies are allowing you to work fully remote, that’s fine! But a lot of companies like to adopt the flexible work environment so their employees still have the opportunity to work remotely part-time, but because they also value in person work as well.

The big shift towards hybrid & flexible work has definitely erased some misconceptions around productivity. The idea that the amount of time people spend at their desks is a useful gauge of performance is a thing of the past. This doesn’t mean, however, that showing your face at work is useless. Working closely together with colleagues can help keep teams connected. It also promotes greater organic sharing of information, reducing silos and other barriers to teamwork. 

If you’ve working at home for several days in a row, coming into the office can help to renew bonds with colleagues. It will ensure you stay in the loop, and give you some solid motivation when it comes to team projects.

Working flexible during team or company socials

Company culture is directly linked to employee engagement and productivity. Maintaining company culture and employee bonds while people are working from home can be difficult. This is why it’s important to still host teambuilding and social activities – some of which occur in person.

Conferences, meetings and even happy hours are just a few events that have gone virtual recently. Virtual events have many benefits, including the opportunity to easily and quickly widen reach. But while they will always play a role in the marketing and sales processes, they don’t connect communities in the same way that in-person events do. 

Virtual events are here to stay, but we should opt for in-person events whenever possible. 

When you simply need a place to focus or change or scenery

While employees tend to report that they’ve found remote work to be highly productive, working from home can also be distracting sometimes. Family members, pets, and household chores can all steal focus. It may be difficult for some employees to find a quiet space to concentrate. 

When you really need to hunker down and work, sometimes there’s no better place than the office. 

If your office hasn’t made the switch to hybrid/flexible working, check out our blog post on how to move towards a flexible work environment!

The post Scheduling Your Week With Flexible Work appeared first on CallHarbor.

We’ve collected 8 statistics from the IEA, an organization that works to shape a sustainable energy future. These stats show how the move to remote work & remote learning have impacted the environment. This also includes reduced transportation, including air travel, throughout 2020 as well. Check out their article, Global Energy Review: CO2 Emissions in 2020: Understanding the Impacts of Covid-19 on Global CO2 Emissions. It features an analysis done across 69 countries representing 85% of the world’s population and 97% of global CO2 emissions.

Here are the stats:

1. Daily global CO2 emissions decreased by –17% by early April 2020 compared with mean 2019 levels, with just under half of the decrease coming from changes in surface transportation alone.
   
2. At their peak, emissions in individual countries decreased by –26% on average.
   
3. Global emissions from surface transportation fell by –36% by early April 2020, and made the largest contribution to the total emissions change.
   
4. CO2 emissions declined by –60% in the aviation sector during the same period, and by –21% in the public sector.
   
5. A small growth in global emissions occurred in the residential sector (+2.8%), representing the move to work from home.
   
6. As primary energy demand dropped nearly 4% in 2020, global energy-related CO2 emissions fell by 5.8%, the largest annual percentage decline since World War II.
   
7. In the United States specifically, stay-at-home orders due to the pandemic led overall annual CO2 emissions to decline by more than 10%, or almost 500 metric tons of CO2.
   
8. Transportation emissions decreased the most in the United States, with a 14% decline as activity plummeted in April.

A change for the better

Here is one more stat we want to throw in from Global Workplace Analytics: “If 3.9 million people worked from home at least half of the time, that would reduce greenhouse gas emissions in an amount equivalent to removing 600,000 cars from the road for an entire year.” To replicate that reduction, it would take planting 91 million trees, according to 2017 Global Workplace Analytics data.

Here at CallHarbor, our team has a flexible work environment. Our leadership allows us to work where we feel most productive, and wherever we can get our job done successfully. Our company had a flexible work environment before the pandemic. Many others are moving toward more long-term fully-remote & hybrid workplace options, certain to benefit the environment in the long-run.

Check out another of our blog posts about the 3 types of hybrid working that are emerging now.

The post The Impact of the 2020 WFH Shift on the Environment appeared first on CallHarbor.

Many times, employees and employers disagree on how many days should be worked from home. This even varies from employee to employee depending on their preferences. There are three types of hybrid work models that are emerging right now. We’re going to take a look at all three!

What is hybrid work?

A recent Future of Work survey by PwC found a huge spread in the optimal balance of office time vs. work from home time. More than half of employees said they’d like to work remotely 3+ days a week. Executives were closely split on whether workers should be in the office two, three, or four days a week. Data from Microsoft found that 2/3 of workers want to share more in-person time with their colleagues.

One thing these surveys agree on is that there are no longer strict rules about what a workday looks like. That’s why hybrid work has become so popular. It gives employees and companies the freedom to work with whatever model is most convenient for them. Having a flexible work environment is definitely a huge plus, and it is becoming more and more of a necessity. Check out our separate blog post, where we break down the different steps you should be taking if you want to work towards creating a flexible work environment.

There are three primary models for hybrid work that are popular. Let’s take a look at each model, and the pros and cons. Here’s what they look like, and the pros and cons for each.

Model 1: Employees split their week—part remote and part onsite

Model 1 is likely what most people think of when they hear “hybrid work.” This model has employees work from home (or remotely) a specified amount of days, and coming into the office for the other days.

Pros:

• Employees choose to work from wherever they will be most productive. For example, doing work that requires more focus from home, and coming into the office for collaborative team projects. This can positively impact productivity and work satisfaction
• Having a predictable or set traffic flow of employees give you a good idea of office space needs. With a set schedule and less influx, you can also lessen the demand for a large physical office space. This results in resource and cost savings 
• Investments in technologies that support both onsite and remote users will see greater returns because they can be used seamlessly by the entire workforce in all situations

Cons:

• With irregular schedules, it can be difficult to coordinate onsite attendance and in-person activities
• It may require a more proactive effort to keep teams and cross-functional groups connected
• With people in both onsite and remote locations, meetings can be difficult

Model 2: Some employees work remotely, others work onsite

In this model, whether employees work remote or onsite is determined by their roles and responsibilities. Some jobs and teams will work on a fully remote basis, while others continue to come into the office every day.

Pros:

• Office occupancy is predictable. On any given day, management knows who is coming in, allowing for easier planning
• Greater consistency for employees who prefer routine
• You can staff remote jobs from anywhere, not just employees close enough to come in certain days a week. This allows for a wider hiring pool

Cons:

• This may be hybrid for the company, but it isn’t true hybrid for the employees. Individual jobs don’t offer the flexibility of hybrid, with the associated benefits. Roles are either in office, or remote – not both
• Remote employees can sometimes become separated and not benefit from the same thought and inclusion. It’s important to keep the same company culture as those who work onsite
• There may be continued segmentation of tools, processes, etc. for remote and office employees, resulting in a fragmented workforce

Model 3: Some combination of the two

It isn’t always a possibility for all employees to work remotely. This could be because of their job responsibilities requiring them onsite. This could also be because they do not have proper space or money to create a productive working environment at home. Another reason could be that some remote hires simply reside too far from the office to come into the office. This third hybrid situation has some employees working remotely, some purely onsite, and others doing a mix of the two.

Pros: 

• Allows an organization to provide flexibility to some employees that have the capability or want
• Greater number of options to meet individual employee preferences

Cons: 

• Can be difficult to scale if the model becomes overly complex
• Multiple hybrid models may further increase the risk of worker isolation and company fragmentation

Whatever the model, it’s time to embrace flexibility

The future is hybrid—and this means work is becoming more flexible than ever. As businesses explore new hybrid work arrangements, it’s important to consider the needs and desires of employees. Starting off by hearing what your employees want can help create success in the long run. Once you have the proper technology in place, everyone feels trained and ready, and you’ve gotten good feedback from your employees, you are ready to go. Pick and specific start date, and get rolling. Remember, the best part about flexible work… is that it’s flexible. If something isn’t working, or you need to change things around, it can be easily done. You don’t have to worry about being stuck in a bad situation.

A flexible work culture allows employees to maintain a healthier work-life balance, which leads to better productivity. While shifting to a hybrid work model takes proactive thought and careful planning, they are exciting changes.

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