A Remote Working Strategy: You’ve got to have one!
Posted by Craig Mather in Opinions on 21st February 2012
In a recent article published by HR Magazine, journalist Estelle James examined several strategies for managing remote workers. Citing the new Robert Half UK survey which states 38% of HR directors plan to offer remote working options during the first half of 2012, the piece goes on to list the countless (obvious?) benefits of such a practice. Greater productivity and the reduction in property and other costs aside, one of the greatest benefits to companies is the enhanced recruitment and retention possibilities remote working brings about.
“Allowing employees more flexible schedules makes them less likely to seek other options. At the same time, it opens up a wider pool of talent, since some professionals wishing to make career changes, but not wanting to relocate are attracted to companies with flexible working options” says Estelle.
Once a company offers remote or flexible working as an option to staff though, it is vitally important to have a strategy in place so to manage staff, and the process at large, effectively.
It may seem like a no-brainer; however, establishing clear goals and objectives from the start allows workers to know what is expected of them and how they will be evaluated. Company’s often worry about bums on seats when what they should concerned with are results. Therefore, starting to construct your strategy with that thought as a base is highly recommended.
“A lack of clear guidelines governing how remote workers should work and the hours they should be available is one of the primary causes of conflict and misunderstanding further down the road.”
Strategy! You've got to have one.
Businesses should also consider how best to keep the remote worker from feeling like a proverbial office leper. Although the benefits of remote working are plentiful, employees can feel lonely or demotivated if ‘left alone’ for too long. Thinking of motivational rewards and encouraging regular trips to a physical environment, where he/she can bounce ideas off others face-to-face, is something that should be deemed essential.
“Get-togethers which celebrate the success of team projects are ideal times to invite remote workers in. Scheduling occasional team-building sessions that include remote workers gives them a chance to brainstorm and reignite their creativity”
Searching the Q&A site Quora, we managed to find a whole host of responses regarding best practice and further tips for mapping out remote strategies. One of our favourite posts [irrespective of the fact they don’t mention Powwownow] is titled “What are some products or strategies that help remote teams work more collaboratively in terms of communication and documenting knowledge?”
In this thread, Josh Cramer states “we really enjoy the level of collaboration we’ve been able to achieve as a remote team to the degree that it has exceeded our experiences in teams operating under the same roof”. And it’s that quote in itself which seems to encapsulate the rewards for both staff and business that remote working can bring about.
We highly suggest reading both the full article in HR Magazine and the thread on Quora. Thereafter try telling us you aren’t convinced of the benefits and haven’t started mapping out your own strategy*!
Let us know how you get on!
*even if you do tell us that, we won’t believe you.
Want to work for Powwownow?
Posted by Craig Mather in Opinions on 20th February 2012
Powwownow are currently looking for a brand new Senior Marketing Executive. If you think you could fit the bill and want to join one of the fastest growing Technology companies in the country, then carry on reading.
Contact:
Marketing Manager – Casey.williams@powwownow.com
Salary:
£35k
Start Date:
ASAP
Introduction:
Via-Vox is looking for an experienced and motivated marketing professional to help lead its marketing activities on a day-to-day basis. Working in a fast-growing telecommunications company for a leading B2B brand the role will involve further raising the company profile, primarily in the UK market, through the delivery of effective integrated marketing communications campaigns.
Company Information:
Via-Vox Ltd was founded in the UK and has been operational for eight years. Turnover for 2011 was over £7m and the company employs approx 50 people based in Richmond and Manchester. The primary operations of Via-Vox are audio conference calls, web conferencing and video conferencing. The largest market is the UK where Via-Vox holds 3% market share of the unattended audio conference market. Significant overseas operations also exist in Europe, North America and the Asia-Pacific region.
Via-Vox has three main conference call brands; Powwownow, AllConferenceCalls and All-Call plus a web conferencing brand; Yuuguu. Powwownow is the leading free conference call provider in the UK and was included in the 2011 Sunday Times Tech Track 100, the league table that ranks Britain’s 100 private tech companies with the fastest-growing sales over the last three years.
With quite a flat organisational hierarchy and a flexible approach to the workplace the company culture is laid back, entrepreneurial and social.
Job Summary/Purpose:
Reporting to the marketing manager, the role will be responsible for offline and online marketing program execution involving paid for media, e-marketing, website management, collateral, search engine optimization (SEO) and search engine marketing (SEM), social media and PR. Working closely with marketing, sales and technical teams, the role will be responsible for strategic and creative input with the objective of improving the marketing performance and consequently Powwownow’s revenue. You will also manage other members of the marketing team being directly responsible for driving an highly efficient, organised and motivated department.
Key Duties & Responsibilities:
- Drive the execution of the marketing program within budget and agreed timelines
- Maintain active understanding and awareness of issues, marketing objectives, technology and products
- Be responsible for online and digital communication channels including: website, email, blog, twitter, linkedin, facebook and video across the portfolio
- Manage day-to-day media contact including proactive off and online news generation and reactive media requests, maintaining high-profile influential relationships with PR industry, national, media/advertising and business press
- Propose ideas (timing and content) and educate on broader marketplace to gain press coverage and fuel social media channels.
- Produce internal marketing and promotional materials including: presentations, reports, newsletters etc
- Lead market and product research: supporting product development and user proposition via client feedback, focus groups and surveys to help shape the product roadmap
- Profile users to help define strategies to manage conversion, reduce churn and maximise retention
- Identify key events and exhibitions for sponsorship and attendance
- Identify and develop partner and affiliate programs
- Day-to-day management of members of the marketing team
Key Skills & Experience:
- Understanding of a broad channel mix (offline & online media, email, PPC, SEO, CRM, PR, social media)
- Experience in executing successful marketing plans
- Experience in managing multiple projects simultaneously
- Strong people management skills
- Ability to create and maintain relationships with internal and external stakeholders including senior leads
- High level of initiative and enthusiasm
- Strict attention to detail and very organised
- Confidence in making decisions
- Excellent communication skills, written and verbal
- Team player
- Minimum 3 years’ experience in a similar role
- Experience in B2B desirable
- Experience in PR and/or Social Media desirable
- An interest in technology
Operation StepChange – Government trail pre 2012 Olympics
Posted by Craig Mather in Opinions on 9th February 2012
Today marks the end of a four day trial of civil servants’ ability to work from home during the predicted chaos caused by the Olympics. During the 2012 games which are a mere five months away, staff from Whitehall and the public sector will be ordered not to commute, and instead are being asked to work from home.
If ‘Operation StepChange’ is deemed a success then there are those who advocate making these reforms permanent. This could transform the civil service as we know it, something that was welcomed by British political author and blogger Richard North who said, “Of course they can do it…just like I have for the last 30 years. But [amazingly-sic] it takes something like a potential gridlock to make it happen on a larger scale. The good thing is that we might get a legacy from the Games that might be worth having”
Effective communication and business continuity is a basic priority for a majority of organisations. It’s well documented that a break down here can lead to a whole host of problems including reputational damage, as well as financial loss.
With 800,000 spectators, plus 55,000 competitors travelling to and fro, the effect is expected to be that of a general strike or an especially heavy snow fall. However, as much as the Government is encouraging to work from home, it also points out The Olympics may slow down Internet speed and reduce the capacity available. According to a Cabinet Office report published on the London 2012 website, “All communication methods will need to be reconsidered, and any kind of video streaming or video-conferencing is likely to be impossible during peak times this summer”. We doubt that quote is a direct result of this latest trial, but what the Coalition need to be 100% clear on is one message. One instruction needs to go out to everyone. We don’t need mixed messages; businesses need to be clear on what they’re doing instead.
Here’s hoping there are some more concrete findings published soon.
What do you think of ‘Operation StepChange’? Would you want to work from home during the Olympics?
Do You Have More Sense Than Money?
Posted by Craig Mather in Opinions on 8th February 2012
Here at Powwownow we’re all very pleased with our new creative marketing campaign – ‘more sense than money’. Put together with the help of the fine folks over at Gyro, it’s our way of poking fun at those businesses that definitely have more money than sense. With the invention of our very own slime-ball-banker, honourable ‘Cecil Goldwell’, we hope to take an irreverent look at those businesses who still insist to overspend, befriend inertia and resist change, irrespective of commercial logic.
That ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’ attitude costs business thousands of pounds per year!
Don’t be afraid of change. It’s easy for business owners to become complacent. After all, the familiar can be comfortable – even if it’s largely ineffective, right?
You’re being charged excessively for a service that you’re used to, but, to make a mammoth understatement, is hardly the best value proposition. Why would you continue paying for that service instead of looking for an alternative?
Powwownow want to know the answer to that question. We want to support those businesses with more sense than money, which do change, and are in fact, constantly evolving. Those businesses like us and hopefully yourselves, that know how to make savvy spending decisions with a view to improving their overall business.
If you were buying a car and you were presented with two identical models, but one was significantly more expensive than the other, which would you choose to purchase?
Now ask yourself that same question in reference to your business services, which much to everyone’s surprise, undoubtedly match the cost of a new motor over the course of year. Who feels silly now? Don’t be a Cecil, be smart instead.
And once you’ve thought about that – we would love to know what you think of our new creative. #moresensethanmoney
The World Of Work Is Changing – Are You Changing With It?
Posted by Craig Mather in Opinions on 7th February 2012
It was recently highlighted once more that flexible working practices can add value to individual workers and organisations all together, according to an industry expert.
Dr Graeme Codrington, futurist at Tomorrowtoday.uk.com, said that encouraging remote working can help businesses become more flexible and also boost staff retention.
He noted that there are huge cost benefits in reducing office space, as well as improving productivity and efficiency through reductions in the morning and evening commutes, which may entice staff.
“Flexibility has been a consistent top-rated engagement policy in research for at least the last decade, so anything employers can do to increase flexibility will gain rewards in engagement and staff retention,” Dr Codrington added.
NationalField – “This is social with clear ROI”
Posted by Craig Mather in Opinions on 18th January 2012
If any of you read the Metro on your way to work this morning you may have noticed an article entitled ‘The new Social Network’ regarding the enterprising NationalField. For those of you who didn’t, the double page spread lavished praise on Edward Saatchi’s (yes, the son of Charles Saatchi) brainchild, an internal social network similar to that of Yammer and Jive. Known to some as ‘Social software’ solutions, all of the above platforms are meant to enable a set of cost reduction / productivity increase practices including ‘fewer meetings’, ‘more ideas generated’, ‘less email’ and a significantly ‘greater feeling of community’ within companies.
Powwownow ❤ Pintrest
Posted by Craig Mather in Opinions on 9th January 2012
With the New Year comes a whole host of new innovation! From the pioneering Skillshare, which offers an online marketplace for offline classes, to the increasingly popular Dwolla, a tool that facilitates the transfer of money via social networks and now processes $1 million per day. There are tens of new technologies keeping our office positively buzzing, but it seems there is one website that attracts more kudos than anything else. We just can’t stop discussing Pintrest, an invitation-only site that describes itself as a pinboard to organise and share things you love. The growing phenomenon looks to be this year’s hot ticket in the social networking space, and thus far has managed to attract four million users in little over twelve months.
Pintrest combines two of the most captivating aspects of social media: visual content and sharing who you are. Not to mention, it looks as sexy as any website we’ve ever seen.
Look what came in the Pow Wow post today…
Posted by Craig Mather in Opinions on 8th December 2011
Last month we teamed up with UK Business Zone and asked their members to tell us their costliest business mistake in the hope to win a MacBook Pro. We were inundated with responses with everything from being mis-sold a franchise to mis-understanding an event speaker’s contract and being hit with a bill for thousands. However, there had to be a winner and we were only too glad to announce Bhavin Patel, marketing director at IdeaBright, as the fortunate (unfortunate??) winner a few weeks back.
How To Bag The Tech Job Of Your Dreams; 8 Key Core Skills To Remember
Posted by Craig Mather in Opinions on 24th November 2011
Onboarding Remote Staff
Posted by Craig Mather in Opinions on 21st November 2011
Last week we read about Mashable’s Digital Career Series and were bowled over by the amount of advice on everything from ‘considerations for creating remote policies’ to articles on how to ‘better communicate with remote start-up employees’. However, the article that we found most useful and interesting, was the piece titled ‘5 Tips For Onboarding Remote Workers’. In it, Sharlyn Lauby detailed a series of smart and savvy tips for recruiting, initiating, and developing a long-term relationship with remote workers. Below, we’ve included a copy of that article along with just a few of our thoughts which we hope you might find equally interesting. If you have had experience in ‘onboarding’ remote staff then we’d also love to hear what you think.
The Digital Careers Series is supported by Elance, the world’s leading site for online work. Check out Startup Cloud for tips on how to build a remote team.
There might be an assumption that recruiting is easier when unemployment is high, but that’s simply not true. According to Manpower Group, 52% of employers reported having a difficult time finding qualified employees to fill jobs. Employers cast a wide net when it comes to finding candidates, and remote workers can be attractive to companies because they can fill an opening that’s difficult to place with a local.
It’s more important than ever to ensure that new hires become engaged immediately upon entering their new place of employment through a well-designed onboarding process. Successful onboarding programs aren’t just a paperwork-filled orientation: They create a connection between employees, their work and the goals of the organization. Here are a few best practices from companies that effectively onboard remote workers.
1. Bring the Office to Them
In a traditional office environment, it’s easy to forget what it’s like for a remote employee. Sometimes we take for granted the ability to walk around the corner and ask a quick question. David Lewis, president and CEO of OperationsInc, a human resources outsourcing and consulting firm, has several employees who work virtually. He says the key to a successful workplace is creating a way for new hires to experience the office regardless of where they’re located.
“We get them connected with the team, make sure they know who does what and bring the office to them,” Lewis says. “Slides with pictures. Organizational charts. All geared to paint a picture.”
“This is an absolute must” says Powwownow joint-CEO, Andrew Pearce. “It’s something many companies overlook but it is imperative you ensure happens. You want to make all employees feel equal, otherwise going forward, at some point; you will encounter issues in your company culture. Small or medium size businesses in particular should bare this in mind. When companies grow, especially if they grow quickly, there is leeway for a company to lose its personality which is often a defining factor for any new business that wants to stand out from competition. SMEs should have an all for one and one for all mentality, and if your remote workers have not even seen the office then it’s impossible to move forward with that ethos.”
