AnswerConnect: Managing a Distributed Workforce
0 comments | Posted by: Terri on February 16, 2012 | Categories:
AnswerConnect leads are in a unique position: They’re in charge of several hundred remote workers. Some managers may quail slightly at the thought of managing a distributed workforce. After all, how do you manage a team you don’t see on a regular basis? How would you know what they’re doing? How is a team even a team if they’re scattered far and wide?
Though it seems counterintuitive, studies show working remotely does not have a negative impact on teamwork. Quite the opposite. Eighty-three percent of Cisco’s teleworkers reported “their ability to communicate and collaborate with co-workers was the same as, if not better than, it was when working on-site.”
Lead Business Support Associates Brandy Fox, Steve Riehle and Geneva Lieser share how they use modern-day tools and classic managing strategies to ensure telecommuters work smoothly together, as a team.
Since you’re not exactly running into each other at the coffee pot, how do you find ways to create a sense of community between team members?
Brandy: I’ve created a buzz category that I do each day to get the team talking [in chat]. I will pick a category–maybe female Academy Award winners. My team cannot just list out names; they have to make it into a conversation. Whoever says the name I’ve chosen wins! I also recently made a home visit to meet one of my associates, and I’m planning a get-together with my associates in March so everyone can meet. I also do theme days with my team, put pictures on our team website and run team competitions that include reaching out to other team members to learn new things about them.
What are ways you keep your team members motivated?
Steve: We do team games and post stats with goals. Also, speaking with them on an individual basis when they are not motivated helps them get a purpose for doing something again.
What are some of your favorite tools that make remote work easier?
Geneva: Google Docs is a great way to share information easily. Skype is an instant communication tool that can provide help from many directions at once.
What are some of the obstacles you find you have to overcome in remote work, and how do you deal with them?
Geneva: Some associates seem to think they need not be as accountable as they would be in an office, which is not quite accurate. Distractions outside of work can be difficult to minimize. I generally start by pulling a time log of a recent challenging day for them. Ultimately, I think the more aware an associate is of how closely their day can be monitored, the more likely they are to stay on task. The key is to find the right way to share positive reminders that motivate rather than frustrate.
What are some benefits to managing a remote team?
Steve: Working from home. This makes it very convenient and saves gas money. It also makes it easy to not deal with in-office arguments. For example, I remember when working in-office, people would each have a different opinion of how loud the phone should ring. It’s nice not having to deal with that stress.
Thanks Brandy, Geneva and Steve, for your excellent insight and helping our company provide stellar service to our clients!
Client Spotlight: The Glass Guru
0 comments | Posted by: Terri on February 10, 2012 | Categories:
Before The Glass Guru, a failed dual-pane window meant one thing: a costly glass replacement. In 2004, their CEO and founder, Dan Frey, developed a less wasteful, more cost-effective solution. Rather than replacing the glass, Frey cleans the window between the panes and installs a patent-pending micro-vent, letting the window pump itself dry and stay that way permanently.
Since then, the Glass Guru has been named one of Entrepreneur Magazine’s annual Franchise 500 companies and has kept tens of thousands of windows across North America from landfills, saving home- and business-owners millions of dollars.
AnswerConnect has been The Glass Guru’s answering service since May of 2011, fielding their overflow, after-hours and weekend calls. Before partnering with us, weekend and after-hours calls went straight to voicemail. “Which led to a lot of hangups,” Frey says. “Having a live person answer the phone has made a huge difference in our ability to capture those customers. We get an e-mail immediately after each message is taken, so we can address any urgent requests right away, instead of waiting to get back into the office.”
The most beneficial feature of our services? “AnswerConnect has led to an increase in lead-retention during non-office hours, and it pays for itself very quickly. The company has been a pleasure to work with and the rates very competitive. I highly recommend the service to anyone serious about maximizing their business potential.”
Maximizing business potential is what we’re all about. We love that The Glass Guru’s customers prefer our business support associates to voicemail, and we’re proud to serve a company that employs an energy-efficient solution to a common problem.
AnswerConnect’s Distributed Workforce Saves Time
Do you have one of those change jars for your end-of-the-day pocket change? There’s one on my kitchen counter. When it fills up, we’ll take it to a coin-counting machine, see how much we have and splurge on something fun.
What if you could do that with time? What if you could save up 55 minutes each work day—the average amount of time each U.S. worker spends commuting to and from work, 260 days out of the year? To that, add 45 minutes spent getting ready each weekday morning, and you’ll end up with approximately 18 days’ worth of saved time. That’s a generous vacation’s worth.
In his book Future Shock, Alvin Toffler points out that “In a country that has been moaning about low productivity and searching for new ways to increase it, the single most anti-productive thing we can do is ship millions of workers back and forth across the landscape every morning and evening.”
Computer networking giant Cisco reached the same conclusion in their 2009 Teleworker Survey, a study of company telecommuters. Of the 2,000 employees surveyed, “69% reported higher productivity when working remote, and 75% said the timeliness of their work improved.” Cisco reported an overall increase in efficiency just by giving employees the option of working from home.
Pinpointing areas of increased productivity in a distributed workforce is easy. Conversations at the water cooler, for instance, take a surprising toll on time. The average worker admits to wasting two hours out of every eight-hour workday. Twenty-three percent of 10,000 people surveyed blamed socializing with co-workers.
Telecommuters work alone, in theory, but not in isolation. Free or inexpensive web-based tools–Skype is just one example–fosters collaboration between workers. Employees gain the focus of solitude and the flexibility of instant communication, and they’re less tempted to share workplace gossip or fantasy football stats.
This flexibility extends to scheduling too. On-site employees are constrained by office hours. Working outside the office, they’re able to maximize their time by choosing to work their most productive hours, regardless of the stereotypical 9-to-5 daytime work shift.
This may seem like incremental savings, but they’re all minutes in the time-jar. Just as my family is always surprised when we cash in our spare change, I’m sure Cisco was surprised to discover that telecommuting saved them $277 million annually in productivity.
To many workers, their commute may seem like a necessary inconvenience. In fact, given the efficiency of distributed work (and the availability of tools enabling it), a commute is becoming a distinctly unnecessary inconvenience–one that adds up.
Client Spotlight: Service Matters to Handyman Matters
0 comments | Posted by: Terri on January 26, 2012 | Categories:
Ever have one of those household problems you’re positive you can fix yourself but quickly realize you’re in over your head? (A particularly damp and traumatic episode of unclogging my garbage disposal comes to mind.)
That’s where our Spokane-based client Handyman Matters comes in.
Handyman Matters employ a host of licensed craftsmen experienced in pretty much any household task you can think of, from installing a new fence to childproofing a home. Their website boasts over 1,162 projects.
AnswerConnect has served as a messaging center for Handyman Matters for a little over a year. Owner Dave Schmitt was kind of enough to allow me to ask him a few questions about his experience with our service:
With this type of home-repair work, I imagine you’re out in the field quite a bit. How does AnswerConnect help you handle that?
AnswerConnect is awesome! Our goal is to make it as seamless as possible for customers when they call. I take pride in saying we have a live person answer our phone 24/7. If I am out of the office it allows me to be able to make a return call to a customer quickly.
What did you do with your calls before you had AnswerConnect?
We used another company before AnswerConnect. We found customers were often put on hold for long periods of time and there was not a strong commitment to providing our customers a good experience when they called our office.
I see you sponsor local events. What sort of events have you sponsored?
Most recently we did a project for Meals On Wheels and donated our services to help them get a new location opened to serve free and low-priced meals.
I love that you post home-improvement tips on your company blog. Are you worried about giving away trade secrets?
No, helping to educate the consumer helps everyone do a better job.
Anything else you’d like to add?
AnswerConnect has been a huge business partner for us!
Exactly what we love to hear. We pride ourselves in being not just an answering service, but a business partner. Thank you, Dave, for your kind words!
Stacey Celebrates Six Years With AnswerConnect
Stacey McLeod just celebrated an anniversary. As of last month, she’s been with us six years.
Stacey started out as a Business Support Associate and moved steadily through the ranks, from Lead to Senior Lead to Business Support Manager. Finally, she took the skills acquired in her various roles and applied them to Sales.
I asked Stacey a few questions about her time with us and learned a little bit about our account executive along the way.
First, tell us about yourself. What do you do in your free time?
Free time? What is that? When I’m not working, I’m planning my wedding, playing with my two Siberian Huskies, training for a marathon or spending time with friends.
How many marathons have you run? Which are you most proud of?
I trained for Fueled by Fine Wine Half last summer, but this summer is a big one for me. I’m getting married and turning 30. I would like to enter the next chapter of my life by completing a big goal of running three half-marathons, or one full and the Pindale Half. The one I’m most excited about is the Pindale, WY, half marathon.
Tell us about your journey, from where you began to where you are now.
When I started, I was told that personnel should know more when they leave the company than they did when they started. My journey has not been easy, but I’ve grown a lot as a person. The skills I’ve learned have helped me in my professional and personal life.
How different is the company now from when your first started?
It’s a lot different! When I started, there were maybe 50 associates working in an office building. Only three people worked the graveyard shift.
What’s your favorite thing about the company?
It is constantly evolving.
Any words of wisdom you’d like to share with those first starting out?
Don’t live to work, work to live!
Stacey is a prime example of AnswerConnect’s firm belief in investing in its people. As AnswerConnect continues to evolve, we look forward to many more years of watching her grow with the company.