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remote work

Frameable Announces New Integration with Microsoft Teams

We’re excited to announce the release of our Microsoft Teams integration for our virtual office product, Spaces. Our new integration is available to any team that uses Microsoft Teams for remote and in-office collaboration.

With more than six times the number of people working from home today compared to 2019, according to WFH Research, a data-collection project, distributed work is not going anywhere. Microsoft Teams is utilized by more than one million companies and has seen explosive growth as users increased from 145 million in 2021 to 270 million in 2022. This integration highlights our commitment to provide our customers with the best and most comprehensive remote work experiences. We are excited to continue to expand and improve our offerings to meet the ever-changing needs of our customers.

With this integration, organizations can access Spaces within their existing Microsoft Teams environment. Spaces greatly improves your existing Microsoft Teams infrastructure, adding everything you need to interact more naturally with your colleagues. With this integration:

  • Meetings and statuses sync from Outlook in real-time, providing a birds-eye view of office activity.
  • Rely on persistent project spaces, offices, and war rooms to meet and collaborate, store documents, files, and links.
  • View ongoing Teams calls and increase visibility across the entire organization or department.
  • Review actionable engagement metrics including aggregate and individual meeting time, talk time, and average meeting size.

In the future, Frameable has plans to make the Spaces application available for download in the Microsoft Teams App Store. Learn more about how our integration can enhance your Microsoft Teams video calls and book a demo to get started today!

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6 Smart Ways to Ensure Remote Workers Find Work-life Balance and Prevent Burnout

Many remote workers have brought attention to their work-life balance as the separation between work and home has become smaller than ever. A 2022 Conference Board survey found that 47% of remote workers in the US are concerned about the blurred boundaries between their jobs and personal lives. While remote work can lead to a desirable work-life balance for some, it can be even more difficult to unplug and set clear boundaries for others. As the remote work workforce continues to grow, employers should focus on creating a culture of healthy work-life balance and ensuring remote employees prevent burnout. 

Read on for six ideas on how to maintain work-life balance and avoid employee burnout.

Encourage breaks

About 20% of workers say they don’t take lunch breaks because they’re worried about feeling guilty or judged when they step away from work at midday. It turns out that while these employees may have had positive intentions, they are actually doing a disservice to both themselves and the company. 94% of employees feel happier when they can take a lunch break during the workday and agree that taking a break gives them a chance to return to their work with a new perspective. These employees exhibit higher productivity levels and are more likely to stay at a company where bosses encourage employees to take breaks.

If you manage remote employees, encourage them to take full advantage of their lunch break by taking at least 30 minutes to step away from their work and from all notifications. Encourage them to go outside, take a walk, grab a bite to eat, or do something that will help them to recharge and refocus. Remind them that taking the time to refresh and reset will allow them to be more productive and successful in the afternoon.

Establish boundaries

During the virtual onboarding process, make sure that remote managers and employees discuss expectations and boundaries. 

Managers should prepare a list of guidelines regarding the following:

  • Working hours: What are the expected hours of availability, breaks, and overtime expectations?
  • Job responsibilities: Who will assign tasks, and how are deadlines communicated?
  • Communication standards: How does the organization use different communication methods? 

Employees should consider what their idea of a healthy work-life balance means and communicate any concerns.

Recognize achievements

Research has indicated that insufficient recognition can lead to burnout, with a 48% increase in employers reporting burnout when they don’t receive recognition. There are both informal and formal ways to recognize the achievements of your employees. Organizations should use a combination of the two to ensure that employees feel appreciated and motivated to continue to perform at a high level.

Informal forms of recognition are exactly that—informal. Informal recognitions are spontaneous and unplanned, and can be as simple as verbal praise, a thank you note, a celebratory team lunch, or positive feedback. These types of recognition help employees with immediate feedback and helps to build a positive company culture.

On the other hand, formal recognition is a structured program with defined processes. This type of recognition includes awards, bonuses, certificates, or promotions. It is important to note that you should save formal recognition for the most exceptional employees, and the company should clearly define—and communicate—the criteria. When employers do formal recognition correctly, it can be a powerful motivator for employees and show them that their hard work is appreciated and valued.

Look into employee recognition software such as Achievers and TINYpulse as tools to heighten employee engagement and ensure your employees are receiving the recognition they deserve. Programs like these can eliminate administrative time and effort while ensuring employees are recognized, rewarded, and heard.

Offer flex time

Flex time allows employees to work outside of the traditional 9 to 5. This can mean adjusting your day’s start and end times, or taking an extended break during the middle of the day for personal obligations. People can use flex time to accommodate different lifestyles, such as parents needing to pick up children from school, or to simply allow employees to take advantage of when they are more productive. Flex time allows employees to adapt their work schedules to their personal needs and preferences. This flexibility can help prevent burnout by enabling employees to take breaks when they need them, work when they are most productive, and manage their workloads more effectively. Clearly communicate your flex time policy in the hiring and onboarding process so that employees and potential employees can know what to expect.

Provide support

Providing support to employees can come in many forms, such as mentorship, coaching, and feedback. Mentoring programs can allow employees to develop their skills, receive guidance from experienced colleagues, and build relationships with other team members. Coaching sessions can provide more personalized support, allowing employees to discuss goals, challenges, and possible solutions in a constructive and supportive environment. Regular feedback is also important, as it enables employees to receive insights into their work performance, and gives them an opportunity to reflect on their behavior. Consider hosting virtual networking sessions within your organization or pairing new hires with current employees to establish mentorship opportunities. All these support forms can help employees feel valued, develop their skills, and contribute to a positive and productive work environment.

Invest in technology

There are many ways technology can help organizations prevent burnout. While there are obvious opportunities, such as using task management software, automating routine tasks, and streamlining processes, consider other ways your organization can use technology to improve work-life balance. Providing employees with fitness trackers or watches can remind employees to stand up, stretch, and make sure they are getting steps in throughout the day. Online wellness programs or access to virtual therapy and counseling may be another helpful resource for employees to manage stress and increase overall wellbeing.

Increase organization visibility with Frameable

We know that it can be challenging to separate your work from your personal life while working remotely. Managers must recognize burnout and make conscious efforts to ensure employees can have a work-life balance. 

Frameable Spaces takes virtual meeting software to the next level, creating a persistent virtual space where coworkers can easily see what others are working on and invite each other to collaborate outside of scheduled meetings. Our software is optimized for teams with flexible working schedules, ensuring users can communicate their availability and create a culture of shared values and mutual support. Learn more about Spaces and try it for free today.

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4 Tips for Welcoming and Engaging New Remote Team Members to Your Virtual Office

Are you doing enough to ensure remote team members are set up for success?

Quickly and effectively onboarding remote team members is a lot easier said than done. It can be hard to make sure they feel welcomed, comfortable, and ready to hit the ground running when your first meet-and-greet is through a screen. But it can be done! Here’s how our fully remote team has learned to run the most effective onboardings into our virtual office and workstyle.

Share Common Verbiage, Workflows, and Meetings

The first day of joining a new team is scary enough without the added stress of learning new phrases, workflows, products, and projects. Sharing a document with common company lingo, meeting styles, and key project names right away will set your new hire up for a successful first few days. It will also make their transition into your team smoother by eliminating the need to ask others to define every term they hear. This will also aid in their feeling of inclusion from day one.

A recent McKinsey report found that since the COVID-19 pandemic, increasing employees’ sense of inclusion in the workplace has become A recent McKinsey report found that since the COVID-19 pandemic, increasing employees’ sense of inclusion in the workplace has become more and more crucial to maintaining a productive work environment for all — especially with so many now working a remote or hybrid schedule. Giving new employees a leg up on day one by laying out as much of the shared knowledge as possible is one of the most straightforward ways to ensure all new hires, regardless of location, feel included in their new team.

Initiate Relationship Building on Day 1

Make a point to have your new team member meet 1-on-1 with colleagues they will be working closely with. For smaller organizations, schedule time with all the employees! These meetings will be key to helping new team members get to know their coworkers and understand how their role fits into the bigger picture of your organization. Pre-scheduling these conversations makes joining a new team less daunting in addition to encouraging a culture of relationship building throughout your entire organization.

While using a virtual office for your hybrid or remote team comes with many benefits, oftentimes, teammates will navigate and use a virtual office differently. Having your team reach out to set up 10-15 minute meetings will provide the new hire with greater context to workflows and help them get acquainted with their new role. These quick meetings will also be a great introduction to how different hybrid or remote employees use your remote office and tools.

Encourage Engagement Throughout the Virtual Office

On a recent episode of McKinsey Global Institute’s Forward Thinking podcast, Nicholas Bloom discussed how integral a sense of connection with colleagues is to creating a successful remote or hybrid work environment. It can be difficult for hybrid and remote new hires to know how to go about engaging with their new colleagues within a virtual office space. Modeling how your team uses your virtual office before sending off your new hire to do so on their own can accelerate their learning curve and invite more opportunities for them to engage with their new colleagues.

One of the main benefits of a virtual office is the visibility and reachability of your teammates. Encourage new hires to occupy a virtual office or desk, venture to different virtual “locations”, and use statuses to convey their availability. Share how different team members use the space’s functionalities and tools and encourage new colleagues to try out the various aspects of your virtual workspace to identify their preferences.

Pair Your New Hire With A Buddy for a Day

The first few days of a new job are typically filled with onboarding and administrative tasks. Once your new hire has completed these, pair them up with another colleague who shares similar responsibilities for a day. Encourage the pair to attend the same meetings, discuss their tasks, and frequently debrief throughout the day. Depending on the size of your organization, this can help speed up collaboration between two crucial team members, or give your new hire an established team member to reference when it comes to producing great work within your organization.

Boost remote employee engagement with our free Virtual Office Manager e-book! Click to download now.

Setting your remote team members up for success does not have to be overly complicated. Learn how upgrading to Frameable Spaces can transform your virtual office and employee experience.

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9 Future of Work Conferences to Attend in 2023

Explore our 2024 roundup here.

This post was updated on July 21, 2023 to include more conferences leading into 2024.

As technology continues to evolve and shape the way we work, it’s essential to stay informed on the latest trends and advancements in the world of work. Attending conferences on the future of work can be a valuable investment to meet talented leaders, identify innovative solutions, and in some cases, even showcasing your own! With so many options to choose from in 2023, we are helping you stay ahead of the curve by identifying the top nine future of work conferences you should attend.

Future of Work Expo

February 14-17, 2023 in Ft. Lauderdale, FL

The Future of Work Expo 2023 in Fort Lauderdale is a conference program dedicated to helping companies navigate today’s hybrid workplace. The program will explore the intersection of technology and the human element, providing guidance on how to strike a balance between automation of work and processes and maintaining employee engagement. The conference’s goal is to help attendees reimagine their company’s workplace transformation, including implementing powerful new technologies.

Featuring keynote speakers from top companies such as Dell and EY, attendees will gain insight into how to develop and manage a successful hybrid workplace. At a lower cost than many other conferences, the Future of Work Expo is a great choice for those looking to improve productivity in the ever-evolving workforce and provide a better customer experience.

WorkX

February 21 – 23, 2023 in NYC and August 8-11, San Diego, CA

Formally known as Future Offices, the WorkX Conference brings together all things related to work experience. The 2023 conference will specifically explore the intersection of the future of work and workplace transformation. By offering two different tracks, attendees can explore content and presentations that are most meaningful to them. While the Future of Work track will examine challenges and issues related to most of the “people” issues, the Workplace Transformation track will look at how organizations are repurposing or utilizing their space to provide the best employee experience.

If you are looking for a multi-track conference opportunity with options to attend on each coast, this could be a great choice for you!

SHRMTech 2023

March 7-8, 2023 in San Francisco, CA

SHRM is a leading voice in the HR professional community and continues to shape how employers and employees work together. At SHRMTech, attendees will learn from and engage with HR pioneers and tech innovators who are transforming the world of work. Topics include workplace innovation, future-ready HR, disruptive technologies, ethical AI, and more.

For professionals looking to expand their HR tech knowledge and stay ahead of the curve, this conference will provide learnings, networking opportunities, and outcome-focused practices and solutions. Attendance is expected to be high as this is SHRMTech’s first U.S. event! If you are currently a SHRM credential holder, this event is also a valuable opportunity to earn Professional Development Credits towards your renewal. 

IDC Future of Work Conference

March 15, 2023 in London

International Data Corporation (IDC) is a global provider of analysis and insights, helping professionals take a data-driven approach to selecting technologies and formulating business plans. The conference aims to provide attendees with industry insights, recommendations, and valuable experiences from speakers, complete with networking opportunities. The main topics discussed will include ESG targets, democratized innovation, employee performance, and employee retention.

With a focus on data gathered from IDC’s Future of Work European Employee Survey, this conference focuses on why work is changing, from a data-driven perspective, highly focused on European trends.

WSJ Future of Everything

May 2-4, 2023 in NYC

Each year, the newsroom at the Wall Street Journal identifies who and what is changing the future to compile their Future of Everything conference. While the conference isn’t solely focused on the future of work, given the influx of news on the topic, there are dedicated sections for both technology and work. 

Hear from featured speaker T.S. Anil, CEO of Monzo, a British online bank, as he breaks down why company culture matters as much as the bottom line and what Monzo’s recent U.S. launch means for the future of online banking.

With a broader focus than other conferences listed, attendees will be able to receive a birds-eye view of, quite literally, the future of everything. 

Reworked CONNECT

May 10-12, 2023 in Austin, TX

The Reworked CONNECT conference is produced by Simpler Media Group, the parent brand of the Reworked and CMSWire professional communities. As a result, this conference is highly focused on employee experience and workplace leadership. Attendees will have the opportunity to see inside today’s most productive workplaces and make new connections within the Reworked community. 

The conference features five different tracks: 

  1. Leadership & the Modern Organization
  2. Employee Experience: Design, Build, Listen & Optimize
  3. The Digital Workplace: Intranets, Collaboration & Killer Apps
  4. Future of Work: Intelligence, Automation & Virtual
  5. Talent Development & Enterprise Learning 

The array of tracks is perfect for mid-to-senior level employees to learn how to better adapt employee experiences within their organization. 

Gartner Digital Workplace Summit

May 15-16, 2023 in London, June 12-13, 2023 in San Diego, CA, and August 29-30, 2023 in Tokyo, Japan

The Gartner Digital Workplace Summit focuses on two digital workplace trends: distributing work and enhancing the digital employee experience. The conference provides an ideal mix of insights and research-based talks to allow participants to better understand these topics and find strategies to improve their outcomes.

Attendees have the options to choose from four different tracks:

  1. Lead and Execute a Digital Workplace Strategy
  2. Optimize Technology to Get Work Done
  3. Construct Solid Infrastructure and Operations Foundations
  4. Power a Connected Digital Employee Experience

If you are an IT executive or digital workplace leader, this conference is for you! With three locations and multiple tracks to choose from, this summit will allow attendees to join peers to build their network, learn, and meet experts in the digital workplace.

Future of Work USA

June 6-7, 2023 in Chicago, IL

The Future of Work USA event launched in 2019 with the goal of focusing on the latest trends and strategies surrounding senior executives. With a smaller focus on tech, the Future of Work conference is perfect for those within the HR, communication, or employee experience realm of business. Future of Work will also host conferences in Canada, APAC, Europe throughout 2023. Attendees will have the opportunity to view panels and presentations, network, and participate in discussion groups. 

Attendees of Future of Work USA will receive great value at a competitive price, with speakers from top companies such as Coca-Cola, BP, Starbucks, and Walmart.

Forbes Future Of Work Summit

June 8, 2023 in NYC

The Forbes Future of Work Summit, hosted both in-person and virtually, centers around how to manage an increasingly distributed workforce, offering solutions for a more sustainable, profitable, and inclusive way of working.

Recently, Forbes has begun to highlight executives, organizations, and thought leaders shaping the office of tomorrow in an annual Forbes Future of Work 50 list. Expect some of these top contributors to be involved in this year’s summit.

While the agenda and speakers have not yet been announced for the 2023 summit, interested attendees can take a look at the 2022 agenda, speakers, and sponsors to get a better idea of the conference offerings and key findings.

Whether you have already embraced flexible workplaces, or you need a bit more convincing, these nine conferences are sure to provide expert insight on the future of work and help you stay ahead of the competition.

CIO’s Future of Work Summit

September 30, 2023 – Virtual

CIO’s Future of Work Summit will focus on sharing expert tips for managing a remote workforce and maintaining top talent amid a rapidly changing landscape.

Previous topics from their February summit touched on:

  • How to retain valuable team members is the face of rising inflation
  • How to approach and discuss employee monitoring
  • Ways to maximize the benefits of in-office collaboration time
  • The best and latest collaboration tools

If you are a CIO or innovative leader, you won’t be disappointed by joining this virtual summit. Previous summits have featured top leaders from Forbes, Adobe, Qualtrics, Zscaler, and more.

Future of Work Expo

February 14-15, 2024 in Fort Lauderdale, FL

Get ready for an electrifying glimpse into the future of work! The Future of Work Expo is where cutting-edge technologies, employee experiences, and ground-breaking ideas collide. This Future of Work Expo is all about empowering technology leaders, influencers, and decision-makers with game-changing strategies to maximize workplace productivity and help them to keep delivering an amazing customer experiences.

With networking events, giveaways, and an onsite start up pitch showcase, there is no shortage of exciting opportunities to interact with the leaders and future change-makers across the technology industry.

Gartner Digital Workplace Summit

March 18-19 2024 in Grapevine, TX

The Gartner Digital Workplace Summit is centered around the new and significant challenges that have evolved out of the changing work landscape. The summit’s goal is to provide workplace leaders with the tools and support as they navigate redefining their workplace culture, connectivity, and creativity in the here-to-stay world of hybrid and remote work.

At their previous summit these were the top discussion and presentation points where leaders learned how to:

  • Create a Digital Employee Experience
  • Champion Digital Skills
  • Connect Everything to Value
  • Develop Workforce Digital Dexterity
  • Focus on talent to drive the Future of Work

Previously, the conference has offered a variety of different tracks based on attendee interests and roles in their respective organizations.

The Future of Software in the Evolving Workplace

The flexible workspace will continue to be an important driver of employee satisfaction and productivity. In order to ensure success, it is essential that the software organizations use enables both remote and hybrid models.

While some executives are set on returning to the office, the reasons they’ve given for their push may not be backed by data. Developed to help with the needs of modern remote work, MultiShare offers remote and distributed teams the long-desired ability to share their screens simultaneously in a Microsoft Teams call. Discover more about what your team can do in Frameable Spaces and advance into the future of work today.

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Countering 7 Return to the Physical Office Benefits Myths

modern office conference room with computers and cups on the work table, but no people

Every few days, there seems to be a media frenzy around another large company’s CEO calling their workers back to their physical offices. The reasons they’ve cited include everything from productivity losses to remote work being unsuitable for inspiring creativity and innovation. 

But as someone who has worked fully remotely for the past six years—and worked from home weekly in my decade at a Fortune 500 company—something didn’t ring true. So I took a look at the data. And guess what? The data tells a different story about some of the most commonly cited reasons about the benefits of working in the physical office.

Read on for some of the most frequent reasons companies are recalling their workforce into the office and recent research that provides a different perspective.

Myth 1: Working in the office is necessary to enable collaboration and foster teamwork.

Scientific American’s review of research found that the larger the in-person group, the fewer novel ideas each person has—but the opposite is the case for electronic brainstorming. The more people included in your virtual brainstorming session, the larger number of novel ideas per person. Now that the majority of workers have access to digital collaboration tools, according to the Gartner, Inc. Digital Worker Experience Survey, there’s little reason to get the team together in person for many collaborative tasks. Still not convinced? Consider the sustained success of fully remote companies such as GitLab, Automattic, and InVision.

Myth 2: You can’t build a cohesive company culture without everyone in the office together.

SHRM’s Organizational Culture toolkit mentions numerous factors that go into creating a cohesive culture, but—spoiler alert—having your entire workforce in the same physical space isn’t one of them. Similarly, McKinsey’s research into the factors influencing last year’s Great Resignation found employees seek greater connection with leaders and aspire to be part of a cohesive team. But that didn’t mean they wanted to come into the office. To retain employees, organizations need to evolve their approach to building community, cohesion, and a sense of belonging at work. 

Myth 3: Workers are more productive in the physical office than working remotely.

Gallup research indicates that remote workers are more productive than on-site workers. That’s because workers with the opportunity to work from home are more engaged, which has been shown to improve productivity and lead to the best business outcomes. The WFH project’s ongoing research similarly found that nearly six out of 10 workers reported being more productive working from home than they expected to be, compared with 14 percent who said they got less done. On average, respondents’ productivity at home was 7 percent higher than they expected.

Myth 4: Remote workers have low morale and feel isolated.

A survey by the mental health research website Tracking Happiness found that the ability to work remotely is positively correlated with employee happiness. Those fully remote workers reported a happiness level about  20% higher than full-time office workers. A study from the ADP Research Institute — titled People at Work 2022: A Global Workforce View — agreed with those findings, finding remote employees to be more optimistic (89%) than their on-premises coworkers (77%) and have more job satisfaction (90%) compared to those that commute to the office (82%). Additionally, a mid-2020 McKinsey study found a 55% increase in job satisfaction for remote workers. So while some employees may have felt isolated or had low morale in the early days of the pandemic when Covid restrictions replaced much of their daily routines with being stuck in their homes 24/7, that doesn’t appear to have persisted.

Myth 5: Workers need to be in the office to access specific resources and equipment that is only available in the office.

Not every job lends itself to working from home. For example, if you are a machinist, you need to be on the shop floor where the machine you’re employed to run is physically located.  But many jobs—even blue-collar jobs typically associated with being on-site only—have found ways to be remote-friendly. McKinsey’s American Opportunity Survey found 58 percent of Americans who have the opportunity to work from home do so at least one day a week. Further, 35 percent of respondents report having the option to work from home five days a week. If you’re thinking they must have just surveyed coastal knowledge workers, think again. Their respondents work in a wide range of jobs across the country and include workers in jobs commonly thought of as “blue collar” positions requiring on-site work.

Myth 6: Digital work makes it harder to protect sensitive information and data.

A recent article in CPO magazine suggests that a home office might be as safe, if not more secure, than an office cubicle. Why? They hypothesized that perceived trust in physical office settings makes them less secure than many remote working environments. For example, unencrypted network protocols are extremely common on a corporate network, while most home networks have firewalls and password encryption. Then there’s the physical data theft aspect. While someone can easily tailgate employees into the company HQ and access computers or data on thumb drives, that’s pretty unlikely to happen at someone’s home office. And, if working from home was truly more of a security risk than being in the office, you’d expect to see at least one of the most significant data security incidents from 2022 in this report to have mentioned being caused by a remote worker.

Myth 7: It costs businesses more to subsidize workers working at home.

Some company leaders have said it’s costly to support allowing people to work remotely. But, in most cases, few employers are paying for much, if any, of the home office costs. So that argument may not hold much water. Also, starting in 2021, The WSJ reported companies expect to reap millions of dollars in savings in the years ahead as they scale back on office space. Global Workplace Analytics estimates companies could save over $500 billion a year in real estate, electricity, absenteeism, turnover, and productivity. And let’s not forget that those huge physical company HQs also required that companies pay for utilities, janitorial services, security, maintenance, office supplies, coffee and water service, parking spaces, transit subsidies, ADA compliance, and furniture, to name a few recurring expenses.

It doesn’t take a physical office to give your people a sense of being part of a cohesive team. But it is important to bring your remote workers together in a virtual space that inspires collaboration and interaction. See how Frameable Spaces can give your distributed teams all the benefits of working together, no matter where they are.

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How A Virtual Office Manager Can Support Your Remote or Hybrid Team

black woman working on laptop in a modern office

After three years of remote work, more than 80% of employees agree that their overall wellbeing has improved because of remote and hybrid working arrangements, and 64% would even look for a new job if their employer made it mandatory to return to the workplace full-time. 

But as many teams have learned the hard way, simply allowing employees to work remotely does not mean you are providing a great work experience. Just as with the physical office, your virtual workspace needs someone charged with making your company a great place to work. 

In this blog post, we explore a new essential company role: the virtual office manager. Read on to learn about which organizations may benefit from hiring this position, what a virtual office manager’s day-to-day job entails, and what to include in your job description to attract the right candidate to your remote team.

Who Needs A Virtual Office Manager

If you are a team of two or three, a virtual assistant may be a better role to add than a virtual office manager. But, if you have five or more remote workers using one or more digital technologies to collaborate, it’s worth evaluating if a virtual office manager makes sense. Ask yourself these questions to decide if a virtual office manager is a good fit for your team:

  • Do our executives spend significant portions of their day on administrative tasks? 
  • Is our company growing quickly? 
  • Are we disorganized in our processes and systems?
  • Do we make it a priority to address our employees’ needs quickly and effectively?
  • Is our general company email inbox overflowing?
  • Can we bring on a new team member, given our financial situation?

If you answered no to any of these, it might be beneficial to spend some time developing your remote work policy—we share five steps to get you started here. On the other hand, if you answered yes to all the above questions, read on to uncover your path to hiring the right virtual office manager. 

What Does a Virtual Office Manager Job Entail?

Virtual office managers can complete many tasks to free up your executive team’s time and support your remote employee needs.

A virtual office manager job will greatly vary company by company. But a few things a virtual office manager can do include:

  • Handle all internal communications
  • Plan and manage company events
  • Support finance teams with billing and payroll 
  • Onboard new employees
  • Assist with tech setup and support
  • Research new office software tools and solutions
  • Coordinate the use of software tools across teams
  • Arrange executive travel
  • Book appointments and meeting spaces
  • Field and manage any inbound emails from prospective clients
  • Create guides and how-to docs to improve the employee experience

An office manager was previously seen as a luxury for smaller offices. However, one of the many benefits of remote work is it allows companies to find the right full or part-time office manager, without any geographic restrictions, to fit their budget. This makes it significantly easier to justify adding this much-needed support to your team. 

Before you bring on a virtual office manager, you need to understand how they will help your team. Align your cross-departmental leadership to understand what you’re looking for in a virtual office manager. What is your goal for hiring a virtual office manager? Will they support your executive, HR, and finance teams? What specific tasks does the team need them to handle?

Document the various responsibilities you envision for your virtual office manager and identify who they will report to. This background will help you to prepare your job posting. 

Key Elements of a Virtual Office Manager Job Description

Most of the current virtual office manager job openings are positioned as an office manager that works remotely. That works, but there’s room for the job to evolve and reflect its unique role in the future of work.

We recommend you include these elements in your virtual office manager job description: 

  • Your company description: What does your brand do, and what do you seek to accomplish? A compelling company description can help candidates understand if they connect with your company’s mission and purpose. 
  • Time commitment: Is this position full-time or part-time? When will your office manager be expected to work, and in what time zone? Be specific in this section so candidates can decide whether the time requirements are right for them. 
  • Key responsibilities: What do you expect the office manager to do? Provide as many details as possible, including possible day-to-day and recurring duties. For example, if several departments will share your virtual office manager, it could help to disclose what portion of their job will be spent on specific needs (such as 25% on executive support, 25% on HR administrative tasks, and 50% on general office management). 
  • Soft and hard skills: What are the required skills for the job? Consider both hard and soft skills, such as prior experience in your field or familiarity with specific programs, as well as ideal behavioral traits like an eagerness to learn and being a problem solver. 
  • Virtual office tools: What tools power your remote office? List any platforms the virtual office manager will need to use or champion—but remember that an ideal candidate can quickly learn how to use your tools, regardless of prior experience. 
  • Expected salary or pay rate: Some states require you to post a salary range with any published job listing. Even if a state does not require this, your candidates will appreciate it, and it can help filter out candidates seeking higher compensation. 

Give Your Team a More Engaging Virtual Workspace

The virtual and hybrid remote experience will increasingly become a competitive differentiator for brands, but there’s one team hire that could give you a serious advantage—a virtual office manager.

Virtual office managers play an integral role in orchestrating your remote work experience and ensuring your employees can thrive. The job varies across companies, and a virtual office manager can help with everything from administrative work to key culture activities that strengthen your team morale.

Having the right team for remote work is essential for protecting your business, but you can’t forget about the tools you use to connect.

We’ve built Frameable Spaces to provide online spaces for modern remote work, empowering teams to self-organize and interact just as they would in the physical office. Learn more about what your team can do in Frameable Spaces and try it for free today: https://frameable.com/spaces

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Cutting Through the Metaverse Hype to Find the Real Future of Work

white desk with hands all around it holding various work tools including notebooks and laptops

Over the past few months, I’ve watched the business press come full circle on the Metaverse. First, there was the hype about how virtual reality and augmented reality were the future of everything. Now, it’s a ballad of disappointment about how lackluster Mark Zuckerberg’s vision of the Metaverse is turning out to be so far.

It’s important to note, however, these articles aren’t saying that workers don’t want to work remotely and don’t need a virtual environment — just that Meta’s version of the Metaverse isn’t the virtual workspace anyone’s looking for. So let’s take a look at the most shared and commented-on articles to gain insight into what people actually want in a virtual workspace.

The Metaverse in 2040 (Pew Research)

As with the rest of Pew’s research portfolio, this research provides a balanced view of the Metaverse and its pros and cons. The 624 technology experts they interviewed expect to see ‘extended’ reality become part of our daily lives by 2040. But they also foresee augmented-reality and mixed-reality tools gaining traction, vs. the more-fully-immersive virtual reality worlds currently synonymous for many with the Metaverse.

This article also has some pretty on-the-nose criticisms, including this one, which delves into the motivations behind some of our biggest ad-tech companies being the pioneers of the Metaverse:

“The term metaverse was coined to describe a corporate, dystopian hellscape where a completely financialized world is stripped of any culture and value. Advocates of the metaverse are currently trying to bring that vision into reality in the hopes of creating new digital surfaces that can be covered in new advertising and made as addictive as possible. As the physical world encounters saturation of existing advertising surfaces and data collection, augmented reality is the new frontier of surveillance capitalism. If it does come to fruition, it will be as terrible as social media is today.”
— Justin Reich, associate professor of digital media at MIT and director of the Teaching Systems Lab.

Reich has a good point, even if you aren’t a social media naysayer. We’ve seen the unintended negative consequences of how platforms like Facebook have monetized their users’ data for the benefit of advertisers. Imagine what could happen if those companies who couldn’t handle your personal data already had access to your workplace’s intellectual property and private information.

Meta Quest Pro: A $1,500 Virtual-Reality Headset for Working in the Metaverse (WSJ)

While Google Cardboard is an affordable way of accessing the Metaverse’s VR worlds, no one wants to strap cardboard against their face for hours of meetings. It’s designed for occasional use for a leisure activity—not for wearing all day in a work environment.

While Facebook already had a $400 headset in the market, it wasn’t meant for prolonged use at the office. So they introduced a $1,500 virtual reality headset that’s more comfortable, has improved controls, and can track your eye and facial movements and sync them with your Metaverse avatar. Presumably, the buyers of this state-of-the-art headset are, as the WSJ surmises, architects, engineers, and designers, plus tech early adopters.

Unfortunately, the article notes, the new headset’s charge only lasts for 1-2 hours, depending on what you’re doing while wearing it. It then needs to recharge for two hours before you’re ready for your next meeting. I guess that could work for those who have chosen the 4-hour workday. But for busy professionals who can have days of back-to-back meetings and collaboration sessions, it’s problematic on many levels.

As the author quips in closing, “I just think we’re going to need something a little cooler than avatars gathered around three-dimensional Excel sheets for this whole metaverse thing to take off.”

The Metaverse Doesn’t have a Leg to Stand on (Literally)

While there were dozens—if not hundreds—of articles making fun of the floating bottomless avatars populating the Metaverse, these two stood out for their approach to covering the announcement from the Meta team that legs were in the works for their floating avatars.

Presumably, the developers who are surprised by the general public’s lack of enthusiasm for this news may also be unaware that MMORPGs like the World of Warcraft have had 3-D avatars with legs for almost two decades. And to be fair—we’re not controlling those avatars with our body movements. But the fact is—no one cares if it’s going to be hard to do. The current offering just doesn’t meet modern consumers’ expectations.

Legs are finally coming to Mark Zuckerberg’s metaverse, Vox

“The fact that now Zuckerberg is prioritizing legs in the metaverse shows how much public perception of the metaverse matters, and that the toughest challenge to Meta succeeding may be solving the technology’s seemingly simple (although technically complex) visual problems. Meta needs to show that it’s in touch with reality, even as it builds an alternate universe.”

(Vox)

Legs are coming to the Metaverse and everyone is…underwhelmed, Mashable

This Mashable article rounds up Tweeted reactions to the addition of legs to the Metaverse, including these:

“Unsurprisingly, people are underwhelmed by the update, just as they seem to be about the metaverse. The same can be said for Meta’s employees, apparently.”

(Mashable)

So What Do People Want From a Virtual Office?

One recurring theme across these pieces, and other metaverse coverage, is people want a reason to log in to these virtual spaces to work. Not a mandate from the C-suite that they have to use these tools. They want these spaces to have unique persistent tools, resources, and frameworks that help them work better together.  Novelty is not enough!

While remote work has freed many people from the office, it hasn’t changed their desire or need to collaborate and have face-to-face time with their colleagues and managers—even if it is virtual. It’s our job to do our best work, and that means working together in many cases.  As one of the companies committed to making these virtual worlds of work inclusive and accessible to all, we know that in the end, the work is only as good as the people who can and do put their shoulders into it. VR headsets should not be required.

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remote work

Frameable Launches ‘Spaces’ Virtual Office Platform, Commits to Accessibility and Sustainability Initiatives

Frameable Spaces logo

Frameable launched our virtual office platform Spaces to the public yesterday at the conference Engaged @Work: Employee Experience & Talent Acquisition in New York City. As part of the launch, we have committed to an enhanced focus on accessibility and environmental sustainability throughout our product offerings.

It was exciting to share our platform with the conference attendees and hear first-hand the struggles they’ve had in creating a virtual work environment that meets the same standards as the physical workplaces they spent so much time honing to meet their employees’ unique needs. 

These conversations reinforced the decision we made to ensure WCAG 2.1 AA compliance throughout our software products, creating an inclusive user-experience for both administrators and guests. In addition to this accessibility commitment, we have also pledged to offset our annual carbon emissions on behalf of users.

We understand decision makers’ current apprehensions about committing to remote or hybrid work for the long term. Our ways of working have evolved, but the tools we are using have primarily stayed the same. At Frameable, we provide teams with a new way to effectively work remotely, while ensuring your virtual office is professional, reflects your culture, and is on-brand. Our focus on beautiful and intuitive graphic design and interaction design creates an experience that is easy to understand for the people using our platforms and easy to set up for the workspace manager.

Communication in the workplace is essential, but overreliance on legacy tools like email, text chat, and video meeting software can actually hinder productivity due to a constant state of filtering, interruptions, and stimulation. The average user sends and receives hundreds of business emails per day, killing focus and productivity. By uniquely supporting both impactful scheduled and unscheduled collaborations as well as individual ‘deep’ work, Spaces helps employees produce their highest-quality work by making it easy to ask for and receive help.

Learn more about how Frameable Spaces is an ideal remote and hybrid work platform and try it free for 14 days to see for yourself!

Transform your virtual office with Frameable Spaces.

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Why Hybrid Work Is STILL The Best Way To Keep Your Employees Happy (2022 Data)

Woman in kitchen looking at computer.

The U.S. Labor Day holiday, or the first Monday in September, has long been seen as the imaginary line in the sand for when employers would require employees to return to the office—and brands like Apple, Prudential Financial, and BMO Financial all plan a return to office-based work this month.

But if you’re contemplating an entirely in-person work environment, you clearly haven’t been paying attention to what your employees want.

Data from recent months reinforces that employees demand workplace flexibility, and employers that mandate a full return to the office could destroy their workforce morale, likely causing a wave of departures in search of remote- and hybrid-friendly cultures.

Let’s look at data from the past few months to understand what employees want in terms of workplace flexibility and where employers may be misguided in their future of work strategies. 

The Current State of Remote and Hybrid Work — Summer 2022

The majority of U.S. employers currently offer remote or hybrid work settings, in part given rising COVID infections from new variants. Here is the most recent data available:

  • The majority of U.S. workers have hybrid work flexibility, with 35% being able to work from home full-time, and 23% working from home part-time—that reflects 92 million people (McKinsey). 
  • When employers offer some degree of remote work, 87% of employees work remotely at least one day a week, meaning just 13% reject the flexibility. The majority (58%) work from home at least three days a week (McKinsey). This data is supported by the Survey of Working Arrangements and Attitudes (SWAA). 

When looking to the future, 31.7% of U.S. employees want to work from home five days per week, and 16% want full-time office work. However, 27% of employers plan to not offer workplace flexibility post-COVID, and 22% plan to offer just one or two days per week to work from home (SWAA). 

This disconnect will continue to fuel the ‘Great Resignation’ and newly discussed trend of ‘quiet quitting,’ in which workers meet bare-minimum productivity levels. A Gallup poll found that at least 50% of U.S. workers are quiet quitters, which is caused by employers failing to provide clear job expectations and learning and growth opportunities for their team, as well as failing to prove they care about their employees.  

How To Future-Proof Your Workplace Culture

As shown by recent work-from-home data, most employees want at least a 50/50 split between time spent working from home and working from an office. Employers that fail to meet their employee needs will face waves of turbulence, including decreased employee satisfaction and productivity, and increased turnover.

So what is the best way to plan for the future of work? Ask your employees. 

It is vital to actively poll your team and understand what level of flexibility they need from their work arrangement. Managers play a key role in facilitating these conversations and reducing their team’s disengagement and burnout. 

Forcing everyone to return to the office is a radical shift from the freedom that employees have now come to accept, but you can find a middle ground that makes everyone happy—but it will also require you to redefine how you measure success. 

Building Connections in Remote Work

When looking at the commonly cited benefits of in-person work, employees value face-to-face collaboration and socializing the most. Both of these concerns can be addressed in a remote-work world—but a combination of Slack channels and Zoom rooms will hardly help your employees thrive.

We’ve built Frameable Spaces to give your hybrid and remote teams the same collaborative work experience the most productive in-office teams enjoy, enabling them to meet and collaborate in a natural and fully integrated way. Learn more about how Frameable Spaces is an ideal remote and hybrid work platform and book a demo today.

Transform your virtual office with Frameable Spaces.

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5 Ways to Support Your Employees with A Flexible Hybrid Work Plan

Is your team ready to transition to the hybrid future of work? If you haven’t documented and shared your hybrid work plan yet, it’s not.

The latest employee and employer survey data shows that most teams will introduce a hybrid working model once COVID restrictions are lifted, with a smaller percentage of companies planning for a primarily in-person workforce.

Despite the enthusiasm of many U.S. companies to return to the office this fall, growing concerns around the COVID-19 Delta variant (and any future variants) may postpone many team’s plans, as is the case for Apple.

Although it’s not clear when most teams will be able to resume office-based work safely, now is the ideal time to explore your team’s concerns about the future of work and partner with them to develop your hybrid work plan. We share five ways to get started.

5 Steps to Draft a Hybrid Work Plan for Your Flexible Workforce

Charting your team’s return to the office may feel like an impossible task, given the ever-evolving set of challenges and considerations your teams face. But if you solicit executive and employee insights to guide your planning, your team will be more forgiving of any missteps or hurdles along the way. 

These five steps will get your team started in building its hybrid work culture, including how to address your team’s needs throughout this process.  

1. Survey Your Team

Kickstart your hybrid work planning by surveying your team members to understand their expectations for the future of work. Use a mix of qualitative and quantitative questions in your survey, and supplement these findings with one-on-one conversations to drill further into specifics.

Preface all surveys and conversations with an explanation of how your team will use the information. Reinforce that you welcome all ideas as you will need your team’s honest feedback to best structure your team’s future work policy. 

You need as complete a picture as possible of your employees’ current challenges with remote work. Your surveys and conversations should explore all of the following areas for your team members:

  • Preferences for how many days a week they work in-office, if any
  • What type of work or activities do they feel is best conducted in the office 
  • Personal circumstances that may affect their ability to work during certain business hours
  • Whether they need more or different tools or resources to complete their work
  • If the team’s current success metrics align to support a healthy and productive work culture

2. Adapt Your Physical Space for Virtual and Distanced In-Person Collaboration

A recent PwC report found that only 13% of executives are prepared to permanently let go of their company’s physical workspace. But that doesn’t mean the office should stay exactly as it was.

Use your team survey feedback to assess what activities will be most common in your physical office. For example, do team members want an open layout for easy mixing and mingling? An array of small, private meeting rooms for someone to take a quick call? Socially distanced personal workspaces?

Once you have a sense of how many team members may be in your office at any given time, create new solo work and collaboration spaces that can accommodate the average number of employees. Consider implementing a desk hoteling strategy to optimize your layout further. It’s also essential to optimize your physical office space for hybrid work, not just for those who return to the office. And don’t forget to give shared spaces the technology they need to integrate into your virtual team spaces.

3. Reset Your Workplace KPIs to Reflect New Hybrid Work Norms

The shift to remote-based work forced teams to assess how to support a healthy and productive working culture. For most teams, this meant a thorough look at the team’s workflow and collaboration tools, common communications practices, and other traditionally unquestioned aspects of the team’s work.

Now, teams should review whether their markers of success align with what actually drives business value. According to a Citrix survey, 86% of employees said they would prefer to work for a company that prioritizes outcomes over output, meaning they want to be measured by the impact they can deliver to the entire business, not just their direct work output.

In your employee surveys and conversations, ask your team if they feel the key performance indicators (KPIs) they are measured against accurately reflect the value of their work, and assess if a different KPI is more appropriate. Review your list of new proposed KPIs, and ensure that your team can accurately track each KPI, or if you’ll need to adopt a new practice or tool to do so. 

4. Support Your Hybrid Work Plan with Digital Communications Guidelines

Communications guidelines are a vital aspect of a healthy hybrid working culture that most teams often overlook. Many teams adopted new virtual collaboration tools during the pandemic, but it’s essential to take this one step further and document what team members should use each tool to accomplish.

Some team members may overuse their virtual communications channels, possibly because they are used to getting quick face-to-face feedback in an office environment. Create guidelines that discuss which channels should be used for workplace communications, do’s and don’ts for using these channels, and general guidelines that explain how your team can preserve a healthy working culture online. 

You can start building your workplace communication policy guidelines based on these samples from Cutting Edge and JotForm.

5. Over-Communicate About Your Hybrid Work Policy

It is understandable for leadership teams to wait until their hybrid work planning is underway or the hybrid work policy is close to final before communicating these plans with the team. However, this may not be the right approach for today’s environment.

A McKinsey survey found that nearly half of workers feel that a lack of clear vision about the future of work from their employer is causing them concern or anxiety. To address this, create a regular communications cadence to keep your team updated on your team’s planning, and regularly invite questions or create open space to discuss these plans.

Start with your employee surveys. After the initial fielding and analysis, share high-level findings in a team email, and host an optional meeting to further drill into the feedback. Update your team at least once a month on any progress your team has made and upcoming opportunities to learn more. Finally, host an optional meeting each month for employees to ask questions about the future of work and for the leadership team to gauge the early sentiment towards their plans.

If appropriate, your team can create a hybrid work planning committee composed of cross-department team members of various levels. This committee will partner with your executive and HR team to assist in various planning discussions and represent each department or team. 

Remember, it’s better to keep your team in the loop on your plans and invite their feedback earlier on. Otherwise, you may unveil a hybrid work policy that fails to meet your team’s needs and amplifies their feelings of stress or anxiety.

Help Your Hybrid Culture Thrive With Intuitive Collaboration Tools

Once your initial hybrid work policy is created, and you inform the team of your plans, continue reviewing and adjusting your policy as new concerns emerge. 

To further support your hybrid work future, learn how Frameable’s suite of team collaboration and social connection tools can help increase your team’s productivity and provide data that can help you get ahead of potential workplace culture issues. 

Give your team the Class-A virtual office they deserve with Frameable Spaces.

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