Category: Business Agility

The average Millennial might not be aware of this, but the need for many of the resources we take for granted in the workplace was perceived by futurists and executives as early as the late 1970s. At that time, the globalization of business began in earnest, with overseas outsourcing occurring at an increasing rate, and multinational corporations growing in power and influence. According to Global Workplace Analytics, 50% of the U.S. workforce is currently working in some sort of telecommuting role, with a staggering 80% to 90% of all employees saying they would like to work remotely at least part of the time. With increased globalization and changes in many workers’ lifestyle dynamics over the last couple of decades, offering remote opportunities has become an attractive way to gain productive workers. Then, the COVID-19 pandemic struck, and millions of workers, from executive suites to mailroom workers, were forced into remote roles. While the circumstances were far from ideal, the upshot has been that many companies and workers alike have benefited in numerous ways from working in this modality.  Working remotely may be a dream-come-true for many workers, but managing a remote team has proven to be a thorny issue for many managers. Finding workers who perform well in this capacity (as opposed to someone needing direct oversight) can be a process unto itself, and managers who’ve been working in a traditional setting often find that cultivating trust with remote teams can be a challenge.  Remote teams are here to stay. Business owners and managers will need to adapt for their organizations, their workers, and their own peace of mind.   The Evolution of Remote Teams Over the last 15 years, there have been many changes in the way we work, leading more workers to seek remote opportunities. While a lot of these employees are younger, many older workers have relished the chance to move into remote roles, which they would have done years ago had the opportunity presented itself.  Not only have virtual companies come into their own in recent years, but many established organizations have seen cost-cutting initiatives realized through engaging remote teams. This has been underscored by measures companies have had to take during the coronavirus pandemic.   Timely Solutions for an Evolving Culture Technology improvements have allowed for the development of far more powerful business tools for remote works. While some utilities have positioned themselves for market dominance, the most popular “go-to” suite or solution may not necessarily be the right one for your organization. There are, however, companies that have developed applications and business solutions with remote teams in mind.  Here, we decided to feature one vibrant, comprehensive platform that will help you manage your remote team.   Quickbase: The Foundation for Your Business Quickbase is a business solution for application development that specializes in aiding business flexibility, efficiency, and communication. It is easily scalable and perfect for businesses of all sizes and industries. Customized to meet an organization’s specific needs, Quickbase allows for efficient automation of workflows and convenient company collaboration. Quickbase is the perfect system to integrate applications and consolidate your data in one secure place.     What can the Quickbase platform do for your business? Quickbase reduces the frustration that chaotic, manual systems inevitably induce, and allows your organization to: Manage data and assets Centralize all information Automate time-consuming manual processes Encourage seamless collaboration Improve reporting accuracy and efficiency Connect and integrate separated systems Automate important reminders Reduce time to delivery Increase security In seeking Quickbase-compatible business app solutions, one doesn’t have to look very far. Trinity is a business software solutions company that’s been a top Quickbase Solution Provider for over 16 years. We’ve created a growing set of solutions with the business user in mind that are all fully integrated with Quickbase. Below are some of our most popular solutions.   TrinityCalendar TrinityCalendar is a powerful online resource management tool that managers can use to seamlessly schedule meetings, tasks, and appointments. It includes drag & drop functionality, filters to view key information, pop-up modals to display additional details, links & buttons to go directly to the records in Quickbase, month, week, and day views, and a host of other features.   TrinityScan TrinityScan is a Quickbase barcode scanning system with extensive capabilities in working with barcodes and RFID in many types of processes and applications. It can be integrated into your Quickbase apps for barcode scanning, including asset management, inventory management, and many other processes that benefit from barcodes.   TrinityMobile TrinityMobile Trinity develops custom Android and iOS mobile solutions that dramatically improve a team’s productivity by accommodating the client’s unique workflows and processes. It offers the ability to define custom workflows and processes, barcode scanning using the device camera, GPS functions, and an optimized, branded UX with true mobile workflows and easy to read buttons for navigation.   TrinitySurvey Whether doing surveys, audits, or questionnaires, with TrinitySurvey, businesses can design their own surveys and have the ability to collect and report on the exact data needed. It’s a flexible tool that enables teams to design custom surveys, checklists, questionnaires, and audits, assign surveys to individuals, efficiently complete surveys, add notes, measure survey results, and easily customize survey response options.   TrinityDashboards+ This dynamic business solution revolutionizes the way reports are viewed on Quickbase dashboards by allowing the filtering of multiple reports simultaneously.  TrinityDashboards+ incorporates extended reporting functionality into Quickbase with features that include dynamic filters that change all the reports on a dashboard, multiple page dashboards, and dashboard filters driven by the current user. This gives managers the ability to make faster and more educated business decisions.   TrinitySync TrinitySync allows for integrating Quickbase with legacy solutions that still need to exist.  Operational Efficiency – Streamline your core processes effectively and respond to changing market forces in a cost-efficient approach. Multi-App Integration – Businesses with multiple applications can easily deliver information required by your business teams, insurers, auditors, finance executives, or others for simplified reporting. These are just […]

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Changes in the workplace and the development of technologies like remote communications platforms and project management applications have facilitated the rise of virtual companies that don’t require brick-and-mortar facilities.  Recently, Twitter, SquareSpace, and several others have transitioned to a permanent remote work model. It wasn’t just the COVID-19 pandemic that led to this shift, however, but it did accelerate it. Concern over employees’ work-life balance created a greater number of remote workers in organizations that once exclusively depended on the traditional office workplace. Remote workers schedule their working and non-working hours strategically throughout the day. This flexibility allows them to attend children, appointments, tasks, and even recreational activities that would be disruptive if they had to address them in a traditional workplace.  Remote work flexibility, however, can come with increased responsibility . . . and more pressure. In most cases, remote workers are required to become self-starters, a skill set with which they have little experience.  Even the best entrepreneurs and freelancers can admit to being their own worst employee. The internal discipline of remote work can be a difficult part of the remote work learning curve. Then, too, some remote workers can swing the other way, failing to take the lunches and breaks required to avoid burnout. And, many work well into the evening because the office is always there at home. An Unexpected Development With the advent of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, lockdowns and quarantines took much of the choice out of the hands of organizations and workers. To keep their businesses running, they had to work from home.  Companies discovered that the only way they’d survive was to allow employees to work remotely. Companies resistant to the remote work paradigm feared it might provide workers too much autonomy, and they were surprised when it worked well.  It is undeniable that coronavirus has changed the way we work, and that it has placed substantial stresses on everyone, in and out of the workplace. In addition to concerns over avoiding infection, the potential for infecting others, and the pressure to stay on top of government mandates, the new remote worker is faced with radically changing the way they work.  History and Remote Workers Workplaces changed in a number of significant ways from the 1970s on. With more single-parent families and professional women with children entering the workplace, many companies began to make provisions for less traditional lifestyles. Some began to work remotely.  Increasing globalization, too, required certain workers to be available for conference calls (and later, video conferencing) with colleagues at varying time zones. Remote work made the most sense for those taking calls at 4:00 a.m. or 11:00 p.m.  Another thing that came out of that period was an increasing acknowledgment by scientists and the medical community of the subtle interplay of mind-body dynamics, and the effects of stress on health. People became familiar with terms like “workaholic” and “karoshi,” the Japanese term for “death from overwork,” which is actually a significant problem in Japan. As a result, employers and primary care physicians alike began to concern themselves with the work-related stresses employees face, and the imperative for maintaining a work-life balance. Workers can’t produce when they are sick or have a reduced capacity when they are tired or stressed.  6 Guidelines for Remote Work So, just how does the remote worker go about maintaining work-life balance—or, more importantly, how does the employer go about encouraging workers to do so? With increased autonomy, it’s not as easy as implementing a new workplace dress code or time-off policy—so just what can the conscientious employer do to help their workers help themselves in this area? Here are six guidelines for remote work that can provide a road map for workers and employers who may be new to the remote work protocol: 1. Craft a Policy In the wake of the pandemic, many organizations found themselves having to quickly formulate policies and procedures for remote workers. These policies protect both employees and the company.  For employees who tend to overlook issues of work-life balance, including clear break time mandates, employers must give them permission to take critical relaxation time. Scientists insist these breaks keep workers functioning. Break time mandates also instill the idea that the organization is concerned with their well-being, and is dedicated to employee psychological, emotional, and physical health.  2. Create a Schedule As many remote workers, freelancers and self-employed persons have learned, scheduling work activities as they would if they were traditionally employed is critical. The new remote worker often takes a while to figure this out, which leads to undue stress and frustration during the adjustment to remote work.  Including scheduling protocol or expectations in your remote working policy will help employees hit the ground running. It provides a solid foundation for structuring their time in a new paradigm. It also delivers the message that their well-being makes them a valued employee. Digital solutions, including online calendars, help to keep managers and teams apprised of workers’ schedules, vacations, and other pertinent information.  3. Organize that Workspace! This may seem self-evident, but let’s be mindful that remote workers do not have the same sense of urgency about keeping an orderly workplace that they might have in a traditional setting. There are many office workers whose cubicles are immaculate no matter how heavy their workload is, yet their living rooms are haphazard.  Let workers know that it’s OK to set aside some of their scheduled time for housekeeping, or office keeping. After all, good organization contributes to better efficiency. Encouraging workers to go as paperless as possible—as many traditional workplaces are increasingly doing—also helps to increase efficiency and reduce distractions. 4. Planning and Preparation This section might also be called “Getting ready for work.”  While the culture of remote work lends itself to rolling out of bed and shuffling directly to the home workstation (and some do just that), many have found benefits in retaining a pre-work routine that is nearly identical to the one used when they were working […]

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In these strange times, companies around the world are learning how to balance their workforce and workflow either remotely or with social distancing measures in place. Many of our clients are approaching us to identify tools or techniques that can increase their company’s efficiency and effectiveness. This is why it’s more important than ever to have a project communication plan to keep everything on track. An Introduction to Project Management While no project is identical, we have identified tried-and-tested practices that ensure much greater project success. Let’s consider the definition of project management:  Planning and executing a project to achieve specific goals over a certain period of time There are many roadblocks that project managers face, such as poor communication, over-planning, tight timelines, and inadequate monitoring, to name a few. Not to mention the new hurdles of managing a remote workforce for the first time due to COVID-19.  We always keep clients up to date on project management trends to ensure that they’re 100% optimized for success. Can you guess the #1 technique that we recommend for more reliable project management?  A Project Communication Plan for Effective Management Successful plans should have a project communication plan that is rooted in project management best practices. These steps help create clear-cut guidelines for how information should be shared, who is responsible for what, and who needs to be privy to each type of communication over the project.   A good project management communication plan will determine how critical information is delivered to stakeholders throughout the project timeline. This helps with crucial details, including who receives the information, how people receive it, when they get it, and how often they get it.  We’ve all had to deal with communication breakdown at some point during a project (or during regular business communication for that matter). If you have already forecasted every task, deliverable, and scope for a project, it makes perfect sense to do the same for communication.  Famed composer John Powell noted that “Communication works for those who work at it.” We all know he has a point. Let’s quantify how: Creating a project management communication plan will ensure that the entire team has access to the rules as a reference point. First, create a physical or virtual document with the project management communication plan. Then, make sure to send it to the entire team to have it on hand for reference. Ensure that expectations and procedures are set. You will rest easier at night knowing that everyone is versed on your project framework for communication. It should be easy for everyone to identify how issues, queries, or updates are shared. Once everything has been systemized, your team will be more productive and focused. Enjoy more effective, direct, and precise communication.  How to Create a Project Management Communication Plan Okay, so we understand that project management communication plans are a reliable tactic to stay on track. Now, here are three steps for creating one. List the types of communication needed for the project and who will be involved. It’s also useful to identify what type of communication is a no-go. Rid yourselves of extra meetings, emails, and nonsense that may slow down the project. Establish communication guidelines to set the timing and pace of communication throughout the project. These guidelines help set expectations for updates, schedules, meetings, and reports. Determine the stakeholders and owners of each communication funnel. This creates accountability to help everyone understand their role and the preferred way to communicate over the project timeline. Finally, the ultimate step is to pick a format or platform for the project communication plan. Sometimes project managers merely use a Word document or an Excel spreadsheet. Others use a timeline, flowchart, or a dashboard with extended reporting capabilities. There are many examples of a project communication plan. Below is a high-level Excel spreadsheet that could serve as an initial outline for a team to measure their process. Taking the time to plan your project communication protocols allows for a clear and effective project that benefits from full team synergy. Your team can benefit from tools such as project dashboards to streamline your process and create efficiencies.  Do you need a project management communication plan? Or perhaps you need a communication plan and a range of software tools that make your projects easy and efficient. Trinity can help you take advantage of these tools and make it simple to adapt to new processes. No matter your industry, our customizable software solutions can adapt to any industry. If your project management could use a vital boost, we’re here to help. […]

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Many employers wonder: why is employee recognition important? Today we are looking at the best ways to show employees how much your firm appreciates them. Employee recognition leads to stronger brand loyalty, higher work performance, and lower turnover.    What makes people enjoy working at a company? Employees need: A sense of purpose that aligns with the company’s mission, values, and ethos A pleasant work environment and fun perks Fair compensation If your company manages to obtain all these things: you are winning. You are both increasing employee retention and making recruitment a breeze. Word gets out quickly when people know that you are an excellent company to work for.    But this ignites an age-old debate: what is the best way to motivate employees and show them that you care? Whether your team is working in the office or remotely, agile leaders should consider new strategies to support your workforce.   4 Ways to Show Your Employees That You Care Here are five ideas about how to effectively reward your workforce:   Positive Feedback Okay – this is obvious, right? But it’s an important start and one that many managers often overlook. People enjoy getting positive feedback and are often motivated by the approval of others.   Whether we want to admit it or not, human beings are motivated by feedback from their peers and increased social status. Positive feedback could be as simple as winning an ’employee of the month’ style contest that managers highlight in weekly emails or Zoom calls. A Reward System As nice as praise and positivity can be, it’s not enough for employees to feel completely appreciated. Money, perks, and rewards all speak volumes. Often, employees are much more partial to these rewards rather than praise. Employee recognition programs that have physical perks make a huge difference in building employee satisfaction. These rewards could be cash bonuses, gift cards, raffles, or other physical perks on top of this.    Experiences Not all employees are into physical perks. Many people love having real-life experiences that go beyond simple cash bonuses. This could include extra paid time off (PTO) or team events. Experiential praise could be anything from fun experiences such as boating, outdoor activities, or sports games to a team happy hour! Ask your employees what kinds of experiences they prefer.    Perhaps your work environment doesn’t look the same as it used to. In this post-COVID-19 world, entire companies have decided to move their operations to being either entirely virtual or semi-distributed. Our goal should be to increase employee satisfaction while we optimize productivity for the company.    Consider perks that reward performance while still maintaining social distancing. While 2020 might not be the best time to take the team to an all-inclusive spa, you could combine positive feedback with perks such as cash, Amazon gift cards, or whatever else your employees would enjoy.    Virtual Rewards Given that you are probably facing a ‘business life’ that is in-and-out of quarantine, you need ways to celebrate employees while working remotely. Remotely managing your workforce is challenging, particularly while your team is getting used to it, so here are some tips on how to celebrate their achievements even if you aren’t in the office:   Giving them their choice of a subscription service. This could be anything from a meal delivery service to a prescription service to cover their healthcare needs. These are perks that can actively increase the quality of a person’s life.  Give them their choice of a reward using an online platform such as Netflix, Amazon, or Adobe. Let people choose their gift instead of forcing generic rewards on people. Employees feel appreciated when they can pick their destiny.    Whether you’re working in the office or remotely, it’s more important than ever to celebrate your employees and their achievements. Organize something small, like a video call on their birthday, or something large scale, like a team outing. But remember to always show your appreciation to foster a healthy workplace.    Do you have questions about your organization’s operations during this unprecedented time? We’re here to help! […]

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While no there are no shortcuts to success in business, there are ways to lower your overhead and boost your efficiency at such a level, it’s like you’ve discovered ‘life hacks’ for the business world. One of those efficiencies is going paperless. We all have a vague idea of how going paperless can save some money and be good for the environment. But most business leaders have no idea how much a digitally-connected company can boost the efficiency and productivity of their entire operation. 7 Reasons to Have a Paperless Business Let’s see the top 7 reasons for having a paperless office and how this strategy can save you time and money.   Save Money and Physical Space   Going paperless would save a shocking amount of physical office space because you don’t have to store endless filing supplies, mail, documents, printers, ink, faxes, and so on. Ideally, you’ll have everything on an easily accessible centralized database instead of on documents that are spread across different physical locations. Getting rid of physical mail saves a surprising amount of space and time delegating it. Instead, you can have every necessary document, bills, statements, and invoices all delivered online instead of via snail mail. Having all the above reduces general clutter in an office space and gives any workplace a beautifully spacious and efficient feel.   Streamline Your Organization   Having a paperless organization frees up the need for employees to spend time dealing with hard copies and endless documents. But we must keep in mind a worthy question: how can you go paperless without losing organizational efficiency?  Electronic documentation streamlines every aspect of an organization. We’ve seen clients use many techniques such as web-based form technology to collect and exchange information, or solutions that allow them to create custom documents with different outputs.  Our clients often utilize digital signatures to capture their signatures and swiftly use them for all forms and outputs. Many firms that we work with have moved to using online scheduling solutions to streamline business processes and workflows in an efficient manner. With paperless business systems, you can access cloud-based filing systems and applications that are available 24/7 and from any location, in real-time.   Boost Efficiency   We’re used to getting information at rapid speed. Between e-documents, cloud technology, and workflow automation tools, workers can produce and route documents instantly. One study by Adobe noted that staff can spend up to 36% of their time dealing with documents and administrative tasks. That’s a third of employee time taken up with paperwork and red tape!  With paperless business systems, employees have everything easily accessible at their fingertips. Digital collaboration tools make it easier to plan, work as a team, and transfer knowledge faster. This is also true with accounting, as companies can now send and receive invoices, payments, and handle all accounting needs easily from the cloud.   Save Time   Process automation is all about efficiently managing and routing information through a business process or workflow. At Trinity, we create business software solutions that are truly customized for your business. As a Quickbase Solution Provider and Quickbase Gold Partner we develop web-based or mobile-based processes to help companies manage everything from the simple to the most complex processes.  Saving time is yet another way that going paperless can help automate your business processes and speed up your operation. With process management software, you can route, distribute, store, and automate virtually any type of business process or data. Digital automation helps employees easily collaborate amongst themselves or with customers. It’s as simple as sharing documents digitally instead of dealing with that fax machine from the 1980s!   Make Compliance Easier   There’s always a plethora of bureaucratic compliance measures that should be accounted for in the business world. Companies must document their data confidentiality and with integrity. Not only this, but electronic document management solutions provide an easy way for companies to track, audit, and provide security for all compliance-related documentation.  It’s almost needless to say how much easier this system is when conducted digitally compared to managing a paper-based compliance system. We’re talking extra time, space, and money.   Benefit the Environment   Going paperless undoubtedly has an impact on environmental waste and the carbon footprint of a business. Not only does going digital help mitigate deforestation and CO2 emissions, but it’s also a worthy corporate social responsibility and PR move.  It’s estimated that mixed paper products account for up to 70% of total office waste across the world. While it might not seem like a huge difference, every office space and person adds up and counts for something. These are trees that don’t need to be cut down in a world that is already facing rapid deforestation. Being viewed as a savvy, environmentally conscious company is a necessary step to meet modern standards of what makes an ethical company. Increase Productivity   When your company chooses to go paperless, it’s a brilliant opportunity to improve your workflow and optimize productivity. You want every department to be working efficiently and effectively and evaluating how to improve their workflow. Optimization is about taking existing processes, evaluating them and subsequently adjusting the approach. This leads to improved workflow productivity. Using digital solutions enables your organization to adapt and evolve your business processes quickly and efficiently.  As an example, migrating to a new workforce automation system is infinitely easier once your business operation is cloud-based and digital. Testing new processes or systems on a digital platform makes it faster and easier for your business to evolve. If you need assistance building digital software that makes it easy to go paperless, Trinity can help. We have a number of products that help with online scheduling, digital signatures, cloud storage, and more. Going paperless is easy when you have the support you need. Contact us today to learn more. […]

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