After working remotely during the pandemic, many teams—and their leaders—noted a boost in productivity and greater employee satisfaction. Still, some of the natural collaborations that happen in person have been lost, and some workers miss the camaraderie of the office. Is a hybrid workplace the answer? Here’s what business leaders are saying.

How do you feel about hybrid teams?

“Modern employees expect an element of flexibility in their role. Hybrid working models serve as a great middle ground that provides the ease and flexibility of remote work combined with the innate benefits of in-office collaboration. Adopting a hybrid model also allows a business to retain space to meet clients, conduct training sessions, socialize outside of working hours and collaborate on important projects. However, hybrid teams can struggle to retain the culture and cohesion of fully in-office teams, especially as businesses are still coming to grips with the concept. Additionally, hybrid environments have the potential of creating a divide between those who choose to remain in-office and those who work remotely, resulting in reduced collaboration and feelings of bitterness.”
—Teresha Aird, co-founder and chief marketing officer, Offices.net

“The biggest downside of your team being fully remote or fully in-office is that your business might not have the same adaptability [as others] to the needs of a market or industry. Hybrid workplaces are, by far, the most flexible approach.”
—Joe Coletta, founder and CEO, 180 Engineering

“Employers are finding themselves in need of less office space as the number of people in the office decreases. Not only can a hybrid model save you money on rent, but it can also save you money on office supplies. Refilling the water dispenser, for example, is no longer a ‘typical’ need. Also, employees spend less time and money commuting thanks to the hybrid model, which is wonderful news for people who can’t find inexpensive housing near the office. But the relationship and camaraderie formed at the office may be damaged if employees spend long periods of time apart focusing on their respective jobs. It is even more difficult for marginalized groups in the workplace, such as women and people of color, to have their voices heard. This may result in poor decision-making and the need to alter work methods.”
—Tanner Arnold, president and CEO, Revelation Machinery

“Post-pandemic, hybrid work will be the predominant workplace model. Because there isn’t a standard operating method for businesses to follow, trial and error are unavoidable. Companies will need to understand the benefits and drawbacks of hybrid work arrangements to achieve a successful back-to-work transition. Some of the pros of hybrid working include no commute, fewer distractions, flexibility in terms of when and where you work, better work/life balance, reduced employee apprehension about returning to a public setting, and a fairer workplace for employees who care for family members or individuals with immune weaknesses. However, because they are concerned that their colleagues would see them as deficient since they’re not visible, employees who work from home put in longer hours. This resulted in increased production, but an overburdened culture may pervade the hybrid workplace paradigm if left unchecked.”
—Marques Thomas, owner, QuerySprout.com

“Eliminate the idea that successful enterprises require a brick-and-mortar storefront. Many modern-day companies thrive by working with a mix of hybrid and in-office employees. Several factors contribute to a successful hybrid team, but from what I’ve seen, your team’s purpose has to align with your business goals. Do not strive for survival. Instead, train your hybrid workers to help you reach new heights.”
—Nick Drewe, founder and CEO, Wethrift

“It makes a world of difference to work in an environment where everyone is comfortable enough to achieve optimum productivity. Our culture banks on this. We understood that some of us are comfortable in the discipline and culture of an office environment and others aren’t; thus, we decided to make work simpler by going for the split.”
—Kathy Bennett, CEO and founder, Bennett Packaging

“There are more pros than cons. We have noticed an increase in productivity because flexible workers can use their time better. They can choose to avoid commuting during busy times or focus entirely on tasks without the noise and interruptions of the traditional office environment. Best of all, they can choose to work during the time when they feel most productive, whether it’s in the middle of the night or first thing in the morning. When employees are happier, better rested and less stressed, they work better.”
—Tomek Mlodzki, CEO and co-founder, PhotoAiD

“A hybrid work environment lowers your overall business costs, puts emphasis on autonomy and overall well-being, and fosters collaboration. On the negative side, it is much more difficult to foster strong workplace culture, because there is inherently going to be a divide between in-person workers and remote workers. There is also the greater possibility of cyberattacks or data breaches. Insecure Wi-Fi networks can put your employees at risk of all kinds of cybercrimes, and it’s much harder to regulate cybersecurity practices with remote work.”
—Kristen Bolig, founder, SecurityNerd

“A hybrid workplace allows employees to have more flexibility. It allows people to stay home if they feel sick without stopping their work—or their team. It also allows for in-person meetings or projects, helping workers feel less isolated than when fully remote.”
—Kyle MacDonald, VP of marketing and business development, Force by Mojio

“Hybrid allows workers to plan their schedule around what works best for them and generally leads to more satisfied employees. They don’t feel that they’re being micromanaged, and it automatically instills a sense of trust. On the other hand, there are elements of community and collaboration that will always work best in person. Developing a hybrid working model requires creative solutions and an understanding that no situation is perfect.”
—Sara Bandurian, operations coordinator, Online Optimism

Should you let some job roles work remotely and not others?

“All roles should have the option to work remotely for at least a portion of the job. There are some days where deep work needs to be done . . . in a quiet space like your home, where interruptions are less likely.”
—Zachary O’Dell, founder and CEO, Cooldown

“It’s important to offer all employees the same options regarding remote work. However, the realities of business mean that some roles might require special equipment that can’t be taken home (e.g., manufacturing devices and machinery). Discounting these special circumstances, businesses would be wise to adopt a blanket policy regarding remote working, one that provides each employee with a choice based on personal preference. In the instances where remote working isn’t feasible, offering sweeteners such as flexible working hours and in-office perks can mitigate any bad feelings.”
—Teresha Aird

“Outright banning remote work for some roles could feel punitive. If you’re offering remote work opportunities to some, it makes sense to allow a degree of flexibility for all. Our hybrid work model outlines a schedule that is specific to the work we do.”
—Sara Bandurian

“The pandemic respects no one. Thus, everyone suffers from the consequences of the health crisis in a way or another. It is only just that you allow employees in any role to work in a remote setup.”
—Marques Thomas

“On-site work is only required for roles that require physical presence, such as operating machines or moving items. All other professions can work remotely. Since the most significant obstacle—team communication—can be solved by web tools such as Slack and Zoom, nothing is impossible.”
—Rafal Mlodzki, CEO and co-founder, Passport-Photo Online

What skills do you need to manage a hybrid team?

“The ability to adapt quickly. When dealing with the needs of remote and in-person employees, you need to navigate a world of different and often unpredictable circumstances that can quickly derail even the best strategies. To succeed, you need to be able to pivot your strategy quickly in response to feedback, changes in circumstance, and signs that things simply aren’t working.”
—Joe Coletta

“Effective hybrid managers must possess the ability to trust and develop people, both virtually and in person. While it may be difficult, at least initially, to adopt a hands-off approach to managing remote employees, it’s important to not fall into the trap of micromanaging once systems have been put in place. Instead, make time for one-on-ones to answer questions or to address concerns regarding productivity. Making employees feel seen, valued and heard is particularly important. The best hybrid managers do a great job of outlining the importance of all employees, regardless of whether they’re remote or in-office. Hybrid managers should also strive to be great identifiers of burnout or stress. If an employee’s productivity drops significantly with little explanation, it’s worth checking in with them. Hybrid managers should account for these struggles and offer relevant support, whether additional days off or counseling services.”
—Teresha Aird

“The most important thing is the priority and its deadline, otherwise your folks will get lost in tasks that are unimportant. And if you have someone who is consistently unable to deliver tasks on time, you have enough hard information to counsel or eliminate them if necessary. And you will know who can and can’t handle working remotely quickly.”
—Nancy Jo Seaton, president, Seaton Food Consultants

“Managing a hybrid team requires organization, communication and understanding. You don’t need to know exactly where every employee is every second of the day, but you need to have an idea so you can coordinate meetings and events. A quick daily check-in or even a weekly meeting helps you stay on top of things without micromanaging. It’s also important to understand that no one works perfectly wherever they are. Knowing that your employees are working hard and doing their best, even at home, is key to managing a hybrid team.”
—Sara Bandurian

“While some may believe that emotion has no place in the workplace and that logic should rule, the finest leaders pay attention to how their employees are feeling and engage with them on an emotional level. It’s easy to overlook your team members’ emotions in the hybrid work paradigm, with associates out of the office for up to half the week. Remind your associates that you care about their feelings in one-on-one meetings and at team meetings, and invite them to share their thoughts as a group or privately with you. Emotional intelligence can be difficult to develop because it isn’t a hard talent like generating an Excel spreadsheet, but if you can cultivate your emotional IQ, you’ll be far better prepared to help your team navigate the speed bumps on the hybrid road ahead.”
—Lee Grant, CEO, Wrangu

“There is an element of creativity that needs to be present in all hybrid work managers. This is unprecedented territory, so managers need to be able to come up with new, exciting ways to keep their workforce engaged and on task. It is also critical that you provide comprehensive cybersecurity training for all members of staff, especially for those who are working remotely. The digital threat landscape from cybercrimes and cyberattacks has become much larger over the past couple years, due in huge part to the amount of remote work that’s happening. Managers need to start by understanding the threat, and then investing the time to train staff on how to spot vulnerabilities and suspicious behavior.”
—Kristen Bolig

“In a hybrid team, a manager should set productivity goals—feature X must be completed by the end of the month—and trust their team to accomplish them. Don’t worry about the hours or constantly having employees available for set hours. Harness the flexibility of remote work to allow employees to work the hours that suit them to increase productivity.”
—Scott Hirsch, CTO and Co-founder of TalentMarketplace

“Strong in-person communication skills and organization are must-haves for hybrid teams. You need the ability to effectively communicate with your in-person teams and relay that information to your remote workforce without losing any of the information along the way.”
—Zachary O’Dell

“Managing a hybrid team requires good communication and delegation skills. There is a fine line between under-communicating and micromanaging, and managers need to find that balance. They also need to be able to delegate tasks and projects to people while not favoring/giving opportunities to certain workers over others.”
—Kyle MacDonald

How do you keep culture and collaboration strong when you’re in a hybrid environment?

“We put extra effort into building solid relationships. Our favorite tool is Donut, the app that matches people randomly for off-topic chats. I believe it fulfills our fundamental desire as human beings to meet and socialize.”
—Rafal Mlodzki

“The best ways to keep culture and collaboration strong in a hybrid environment are to promote team building through virtual events, to be consistent when it comes to the communication channels, to continue promoting the company’s values and mission statement, and to make sure remote workers are not treated with any kind of negative bias that could lead to resentment.”
—Joe Coletta

“As leaders, we must be more inspiring and less hierarchical. Companies thrive and grow through a sense of belonging and shared purpose that can fade when employees don’t feel treated equally. For them, it is important that every member feel represented. One of the research studies we conducted showed that 80 percent of millennials and centennials feel less connected to their peers and leaders since working from home, which means remote teams could struggle to connect and engage in the same way as face-to-face teams. To avoid this, leaders must turn to more inspirational forms of leadership that compensate for the lack of social encounters and face-to-face interactions.”
—Tomek Mlodzki

“Have a weekly knowledge-sharing discussion. I have seen wonderful results from creating a set weekly time when my team and employees from other departments are encouraged to come together in a physical or virtual space to discuss challenges/wins that occurred during the week. It’s a popcorn-style informal chat, but it leads to great results including sharing of techniques, lifted spirits and strengthening of interdepartmental relationships.”
—Jessica Zhao, chief marketing director, Spacewhite

“Implement a tool such as Cooldown to recreate those informal conversations that provide such great value no matter where you are. These programs make colleagues feel connected, help them find new ideas and help them solve roadblocks in creative ways.”
—Zachary O’Dell

“One of our key goals when switching to a hybrid working model was to ensure that remote employees never felt isolated and disconnected from the company. In addition to meetings, we hold frequent virtual activities such as online painting classes, movie watch-alongs, murder mystery nights and training sessions. These activities help to maintain a sense of collaboration by providing an informal setting for our employees to work together in a fun and stress-free way. I believe that these activities, coupled with our daily meetings and frequent interactions over chat, have immensely helped with this goal.”
—Teresha Aird

“It’s not impossible if you get creative. Virtual happy hours are a simple way to have people gather. Dividing employees into cross-departmental groups of five to seven people to gather and chat and play virtual games boosts morale and provides an opportunity to de-stress at the end of the week.”
—Sara Bandurian

“Communication is key to a positive culture. Letting your workers know you can’t do it without them is critical. Whether you tell them a client was pleased with their work or that they solved a problem—whatever it is, make sure they understand that the work they perform is critical to the business.”
—Nancy Jo Seaton

“Fostering a good work/life balance for hybrid and remote employees across time zones comes down to managers and each team member being mindful of their designated hours. As projects require a significant amount of interaction, workers must be conscientious of when and how they contact their teammates to avoid a constant sense of urgency. Being considerate of time zones will help keep stress levels low and reduce the chances of human error. For this reason, outlining project tasks with realistic timelines from the outset is essential to a healthy work/life balance in remote work. Setting a clear direction and an even-keeled communication process will help keep your remote workers rowing in the same direction, increase their productivity and give them time to enjoy their personal lives, too.”
—Shaunak Amin, co-founder and CEO, SnackMagic

“One of the best ways to make sure that collaboration continues to be prioritized in a hybrid workplace is to introduce a buddy system. This helps ensure a solid social connection. For a hybrid workplace, a buddy system between a remote and in-office employee would be especially beneficial to help bridge the gap between these two working modes. Make sure also to prioritize one-on-one mentorship between department managers and their direct employees and create a virtual learning community—Slack is a great option—for employees to connect, collaborate and share ideas.”
—Jessica Zhao

“To maintain a happy, productive team, leaders should do the following: Listen like they never have before, and hear not only the words their employees are saying, but also their tone of voice, their energy and what they’re not saying. Show up with empathy: The world is changing at a fast pace, and each person is going through different events. So having personalized communication is important as well. Offer psychological safety—Google’s research on the highest-performing teams showed that when teams have psychological safety and when people feel like they can show up as their true selves and say what they’re really thinking, the team is able to pivot, innovate and grow in today’s dynamic environment. Be optimistic. Leaders need to bring that energy because energy and emotions are contagious. It’s not about negating or ignoring what is happening, but about telling the teams and employees the positive things that are occurring in the company, in the world, in the community.”
—Tia Graham, chief happiness officer and founder, Arrive at Happy

Should you adjust pay for remote workers?

“No. It’s important to maintain parity between in-office and remote workers. Any form of preferential treatment given to in-office employees has the potential to cause major cultural divides within a team, resulting in increased turnover and limited collaboration. Instead, clearly outline to employees that pay will remain linked to productivity and results.”
—Teresha Aird

“Some people may see remote work as a perk, but salary should be standard across roles. The only exception would be if the person was fully remote and living in an area with a radically different cost of living. Mark Zuckerberg used this method when allowing people to remain fully remote. He did so by adjust their salary if their cost of living was lower compared to a competitive city like San Francisco.”
—Zachary O’Dell

“Most workers have made the same salary over the past year while working remotely. Changing that now will cause major problems. Remote workers may feel like they are being discriminated against.”
—Kyle MacDonald

“Adjusting the salary can be cost-effective and sensible, but it can also make employers look selfish, unfair and prejudiced. As a result, employers may experience poor staff morale, poor performance and poor honesty.”
—Katherine Brown, founder and marketing director, Spyic

“No. Remote work only implies a change of the place of work, and not a difference in the scope of the employee’s duties, for the performance of which the employee is entitled to remuneration resulting from the content of the employment contract. Reducing the wages of employees could have a demotivating effect, and dissatisfied employees may start looking for a new job.”
—Tomek Mlodzki

“Paying employees less for working from home is a punishment. If you trust your employees to work from home in the first place, you should trust that they are performing their job to the same standards of someone working in the office.”
—Sara Bandurian

“Continue to pay remote workers the same salary you would pay them if they lived in the city where you are hiring. Companies are saving costs with real estate and can pass those savings on to employees.”
—Graham Ralston, operations, Spot

Notes from a health advisor and employee-manager liaison

I was hired during the pandemic as a holistic alternative to an organizational psychologist. Given that Covid was a particularly stressful time for our staffers, I “saw” (Zoomed with) many of them multiple times over this past year. In so doing, I’ve come to understand staff struggles regarding transitioning to remote work, work/life balance, pandemic fears, and intra-office stressors. I feel fortunate to have had that experience, as it’s helping me to retransition them back into the office or into hybrid work. There has been quite a bit of fallout over this—between both staff and management.

The major concerns I’m hearing are that some enjoyed the flexibility of working from home and are worried about the office being a super-spreader environment should there be another pandemic flare-up. We also have some vocal staffers who feel we should have mandated vaccines. Managers seem to lean toward wanting most if not all employees back in the office for at least half the week. In general, most staffers prefer to stay at home and don’t really see the reasoning in returning to work.

I’ve been the buffer between management and staff in terms of easing these concerns, making sure they are heard and then compromising between parties. We’ve decided to go with a hybrid work structure and have not mandated vaccinations. However, we have asked everyone to file whether they have been vaccinated, when, and with which vaccine (in case there is a variant flare-up). As you can probably read between the lines, Covid is the backdrop for “flexibility” rhetoric. Staff want agility regardless of the pandemic. Management is continuing to struggle to push the envelope of their understanding of a flex schedule.
—Nadia Charif, Coffeeble

Key performance indicators, or KPIs, are metrics that tell us how well we’re progressing toward a goal. By setting, reviewing, reporting and periodically updating them, businesses can make smarter decisions. But which KPIs should you track? And how should you communicate them to your team? To investors? We asked our network for tips.

What KPIs should startups track?  

“Every business and every team are different, so you’ll have to decide which KPIs are the most relevant to you. As a tech officer, I put a great deal of importance on process KPIs like on-time delivery, ticket resolution time and margins. I track, analyze and plan around these to build the best platform for our users and customers. Focus on important areas where you can make the biggest impact through decision-making.”
—Akram Assaf, co-founder and chief technology officer, Bayt.com

“KPIs are hard. Like any skill, [setting and using them] takes practice. There are two reasons: (1) KPIs force you to think precisely about the outcomes you want to create. (2) Measurement in general is intellectually difficult (though slightly easier with the right framework). KPIs are also a muscle that organizations develop over time. If the organization is new to the practice, or just not yet as disciplined as it could be, it should start with first principles and make sure everyone’s aligned on what good KPIs look like. I use these guidelines as a starting point.”
—Eli Holder, founder, principal, 3iap

“The best KPIs for tech entrepreneurs are activation rate, burn rate, cash runway and customer acquisition cost. Activation rate helps track the percentage of users who finish a definite milestone; it’s my best KPI-setting tip. Burn rate showcases how fast a startup is spending money and allows [you] to calculate cash runway and ascertain whether to cut budget or invest more in the business. Lastly, the CAC is the total amount you will spend to achieve one new customer.”
—Eden Cheng, founder, WeInvoice

“Gross margin, specifically for tech entrepreneurs, is a vital KPI. It examines the total cost you incur creating your product and the total revenue generated by its sale. Higher gross margins mean the production costs are relatively lower than the revenue generated.”
—William Cannon, CEO, Signaturely

“As a SaaS startup, we focus a lot on KPIs but we try to narrow them down to a few important ones rather than tracking everything. These are three we track:

• PQLs (product-qualified leads)—potential clients who have been close to purchasing and have a strong urge to try our product
• Organic traffic—this is one we work hard to increase each month
• Conversion rate on marketing materials—this tells us if our marketing strategy is working and whether people are converting from our calls-to-action. If our organic traffic is high (and increasing), are we getting more customers? If not, why?

“[These KPIs don’t] seem like much, but they tell me a lot about my company’s growth month over month and year over year.”
—Lindsey Allard, CEO and co-founder, PlaybookUX 

“The list of KPIs a business should track depends on the operation and the end goals. Some of the more important indicators include conversion rate, gross margin ratio, customer acquisition costs, net profit, days sales outstanding and various levels of traffic, especially website traffic.”
—Karl Hughes, founder, Draft.dev

“The majority of KPI conversations begin with someone asking, ‘So, what might we measure?’ This is the wrong question. Hurrying to implement quick-fix KPIs leads us down a rabbit hole. We end up developing incorrect KPIs or we wind up with minor measurements that don’t help us make better judgments. Meaningful performance measurements begin with quantifiable objectives. Your objective must be stated clearly and precisely enough that you can see how you would recognize it when it becomes a reality. Determine if your present objectives are quantifiable, and then apply this formula to create measurable objectives.”
—Mike Chappell, founder, FormsPal

“The best marketing KPIs are based around demand generation instead of lead generation, because they allow you to better assess how well your marketing, content, website and social media are generating click-throughs and customers. The number of sales-qualified opportunities and their cost allow you to easily report (1) which prospective buyers have the highest chance of becoming new customers, (2) how much it costs to generate them. Those are two numbers any investor should be interested in.”
—Bryan Philips, head of marketing, In Motion Marketing

“We focus extensively on customer satisfaction, and hence we track KPIs regarding the same. Some we track are:

• Customer response times—the average time spent responding to a customer. This is particularly useful if you are segmenting customers according to value.
• New conversations—checking spikes in customer inquiries during specific times of day (especially over longer periods of time) helps you anticipate crunch times. This not only is helpful during the holiday rush, but also helps massively in planning vacations or working disruptions.
• Changes in ticket quantity. Just like for new conversations, the trends in ticket quantity can help anticipate and plan operations.
• Most-used workflow. Review workflows such as saved replies, SLA or automations to help eliminate trouble areas. When a certain command or task is used much more than others, it may be a bottleneck, an overused function or just a useful function that might open further opportunities.”

—Saurabh Jindal, CEO, Talk Travel

“Track your customer acquisition cost; it’s one of the most important metrics you should worry about. Make sure you also track the lifetime value of a customer, because it can help you decide how much you can spend on your sales and marketing efforts. Another great KPI to track is your net profit. It helps you figure out if your company is getting more or less profitable over the years.”
—Matt Barnett, founder and CEO, Bonjoro

“Business leaders should pay close attention to efficiency ratios, also known as cost-to-revenue ratios. There are a few different ratios out there; sales-to-inventory is perhaps the most basic. That’s a good place to start if you want a quick look into how your business is doing. Where you should look to forecast future growth is your sales-to-net-working-capital ratio. If you’re not increasing your sales while your cash and accounts increase or stay the same, you’re leaving money on the table and need to reallocate.”
—Nate Tsang, founder and CEO, Wall Street Zen

What are some KPI best practices?

“Pick one or two measurements that relate directly to each of your goals. While your company has numerous moving elements that are critical to its operations and profitability, keeping track of everything is impossible and inefficient. For one thing, not all metrics are worth keeping track of. Furthermore, measuring too many metrics produces extra effort that is ultimately ineffective.”
—Olivia Tan, co-founder, CocoFax

“Follow the SMART philosophy—KPIs should be specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound. Define trackable KPIs and focus only on them to avoid data overload.”
—Cannon

“Select KPIs carefully and avoid having an excessive number. What appears to work is the fewer the items, the better. I know people who operate businesses solely on the basis of two or three critical pieces of information.”
—Clark

“Some best practices include making sure KPI goals are realistic; sharing KPIs with colleagues, peers and subordinates; incentivizing your team for hitting KPI milestones and achievements, and continually assessing KPIs and looking for improvements. Don’t forget to update and evolve KPIs with your business.”
—Hughes

“Assign accountability for each KPI. KPIs are a crucial tool for tracking success, but if someone is accountable for tracking and reporting on them, they are more likely to be implemented. An extra benefit is that the responsible party is more likely to want the action to succeed rather than tolerate poor results.”
—Tan

“The best time to communicate your KPIs to your investors and your board is before you start tracking them. By doing it from the start, you ensure that everything is transparent, and you make it easier to see how you are progressing toward each of your goals.”
—Barnett

“Three tips: (1) Set up KPIs the team implementing and measuring them can easily understand. Difficult-to-measure KPIs or consistent modification of KPIs can cause frustration and lead to a lack of end results. (2) Set up a timeframe that is neither too small nor too large. If measured in smaller intervals, KPIs can lead to incomplete pictures, whereas too-long measurement intervals can lead to your missing out on trend changes. (3) Make it easy to understand the results through single dashboards, instead of moving between different screens. This makes it easy to consume and correlate the KPIs.”
—Jindal

“Involve your team, board and investors as early in the process as possible. KPIs are more effective when they’re co-created, [with] both top-down and bottom up [involvement]. Co-creation has two benefits: (a) more input leads to more robust, effective metrics, and (b) it’s much easier for your team, board and investors to buy in to KPIs when they helped define them.”
—Holder

Which KPIs should you include in an investor pitch?

“Customer acquisition cost, customer lifetime value and profit.”
—Barnett

“Customer lifetime value is important to include. Highlighting how you’ll build loyalty to earn repeat business on the individual customer level helps show your business’s unique selling points. It can be difficult to establish this KPI early on, but the challenge is why it’s so essential. The more you strive to create a detailed CLV picture across buyer personas and the lifetime of your business, the more prepared you are to succeed.”
—Reuben Yonatan, founder and CEO, GetVoIP

“Customer acquisition cost, lifetime value, churn, annual recurring revenue, cost of goods sold, gross margin.”
—Tan

“In an investor pitch you want to include KPIs that show the growth and potential of your company, and leave out any that are trailing, within reason. If you leave out something like your net profit, investors’ alarm bells will be going off. Customer acquisition costs, however, especially for an early-stage startup, might be inordinately high and worth leaving out of a pitch. You will get investors who want to dig deep and ask lots of questions, so if you omit something, you’d better be prepared with a response.”
—Hughes

Customer surveys are a powerful tool. When conducted properly, they give you a better understanding of what drives your prospects’ and customers’ behavior, and you can use that information to improve virtually every aspect of your business. But surveys are difficult to pull off. So we asked Kevin Jenné, a research director for ChannelHarvest Research and Aartrijk, for advice. Before his current gigs, Jenné led research and insights teams at Liberty Mutual/Safeco Insurance and Washington Mutual Bank. He also holds the Insights Professional Certification (master level) from the Insights Association. Let’s dive in.

Connecticut Innovations: Great to talk with you, Kevin. Let’s clear something up: Market research is not a marketing discipline, correct?

Kevin Jenné: Correct. It’s more of a social science discipline. It has a lot more in common with behavioral psychology or sociology, and that’s the kind of academic background we find in a lot of research professionals. Whether we’re talking about qualitative or quantitative research, practitioners approach the work from a scientific perspective, very often developing hypotheses, generating data to support or refute those hypotheses, and drawing conclusions (and, we hope, insights) that enable businesses to make better decisions. When someone says to me, “Oh, you’re in marketing,” l like to say, “No, we’re the boring number crunchers. The marketing people are the cool kids, but they do invite us to their parties.” They invite us because when we’re good at what we do, we provide factual, supportable findings, conclusions and recommendations for how our stakeholders can succeed better. And we do have many stakeholders beyond marketing. These include product development, operations, distribution planning, customer service, strategy leaders, human resources—really, anyone who needs to understand how people think and make choices.

CI: You’ve said that a great survey starts with the end in mind. Can you explain?

KJ: Very often we’re asked, “Can you help us run a survey?” That’s really step three. Step one is to understand what decision you need to make. Without knowing what you want to do with what you learn, it’s very easy to run a survey, look at the results and ask yourself, “Okay, now what do we do?” So, it’s super important to know what you’re trying to accomplish with any kind of research—whether that’s choosing among products to develop, figuring out what your most valuable customers want, deciding how to price your offering, picking the best ad copy, or whatever. Then, you need to determine what information you need to make that decision. Often your customers or potential prospects have that information, and that’s where research comes in. Then, it’s figuring out how you get the information you need.

CI: How do you go about market research? Are there different types? 

KJ: It might be best to have open-ended conversations with a variety of people—generally at least 10 and more likely 20. Set aside your beliefs and biases and really listen to what people have to say. Don’t try to analyze along the way—keep good notes, keep listening and keep an open mind. When you’re done listening, go back over what you heard and look for the patterns—see what several people said, not just the one-off comments that caught your attention.

So that’s qualitative. Quantitative research is what we’re talking about with surveys of sufficiently large, randomly selected samples of the population you want to understand.  What’s sufficient? The more you get, the more confident you can be in the responses, but generally you probably want at least 200. Survey research is a serious scientific discipline, and entire books have been written on it, but probably the most important thing I can tell you is, try to set aside your biases as best you can and seek the truth with your questions. Ask questions that your respondents can reasonably answer. For example, don’t ask how much they’d be willing to pay for your new cool thing, because, while they will try to give you a guess, they really have no idea. Ask how likely they’d be to pay $X for it. Then, they can answer with some grounding in reality.

CI: Too many companies assume the loudest voices in the room speak for everyone or that a one-off conversation means you have a problem. How can you avoid taking this feedback as gospel?

KJ: Excellent question. As a researcher, I like asking questions, so that’s what I do in this conversation. “That’s an interesting perspective that you heard this person say X. I wonder how common that is? Do most people feel that way, or only a few?” An honest response would be, “I don’t really know.” That can be the cue to go find out. Of course, honest responses are less common than we’d like. We often get: “Oh, I hear this all the time.” A good response might be, “What if we take action on that, and it’s not really the majority view? What might we be leaving out, or missing out on? What other opportunities might there be? How common are they? How expensive is it to solve that problem you just raised, and are there other things we can pursue that are less expensive, or less risky?” Try to get some different possibilities on the table, and then see if good research can help you choose among those possibilities.

CI: Excellent advice. How about demographic data—how much is too much to ask for?

KJ: Generally speaking, ask what you think makes sense to slice your data by, but no more than that. The more questions you ask, the longer your survey will be, which means people will be less likely to stick with it. Also, you never want to start with really personal questions; people are very sensitive to privacy concerns today. Questions about their income, ethnic background and (nowadays) gender and orientation are best addressed, if they’re truly needed, after your main questions, when you’ve established in their minds that you really are conducting meaningful research and care about their responses. For sensitive questions, always include a “prefer not to answer” choice. If you don’t, they won’t answer anyway—by exiting your survey.

CI: Do you get better results if people don’t know who’s behind the survey?  

KJ: This is really a two-edged sword. It’s generally known that people tend to give better-quality answers if they don’t know who’s asking; even unconsciously, respondents can bias their answers based on their experience with you if they know who’s asking. The other edge, though, is that people are more likely to choose to participate when they know who’s asking. Anonymous surveys generally get perhaps 80 percent fewer responses than those where the sponsor is identified, because people have no good reason to give their opinions. Usually, I think it’s best to identify yourself, and in the invitation, include language like “We really are looking for your honest, candid feedback. Your responses are confidential (or anonymous) so we can hear what you really think.”

CI: Survey fatigue is real. What are your best tips for getting people to cross the finish line?

KJ: There are some pretty straightforward tips for this. First, keep it brief. We used to say that 15 minutes was as long as you could go, but it’s now more like 5–8 minutes. Be ruthless with your content. Ask what you need to know to make the decisions in front of you, and avoid the temptation to ask other stuff “as long as we’ve got them.”

Second, avoid long grids of questions. It’s easy with most survey software to put in a grid of questions using the same scale (very important, somewhat important, etc.). The temptation there is to keep adding different things to the list, but long-grid questions are daunting, and they make people quit. They also don’t display well on mobile devices, which is where most consumer surveys are completed. Mobile devices also don’t show anything with more than four or five scale points well, so skip the 10-point scales. They have worse predictive value than four- or five-point scales anyway, and they look terrible.

Have reasonable organization to the survey so that things flow well. You might have sections that deal with your product, your service and an “About You” section. Breaking things up in an intuitive way helps give people a sense of accomplishment and helps them want to finish the next sections until they’re done.

Short questions are better than long ones. You may be thinking about all the aspects of your product or problem, but your survey respondents are not nearly as interested as you are. Put yourself in their shoes and ask questions as simply as possible. Test them with someone who isn’t as engaged as you are (like a relative) and see if they’re understanding the questions the way you meant them.

CI: What is scale bias, and how do you overcome it?

KJ: There is just no way I can address this broadly; it’s a big subject and one I struggle with today. I addressed a bit of it, regarding NPS, in this post in the paragraphs “Apples to apricots?” and “Bias is practically guaranteed.”

CI: Okay, it’s pretty clear that surveys are hard to pull off. When should we call in an expert?

KJ: This is largely about the consequences of getting it wrong. If the results are really flawed because of things you don’t know about research, what’s the outcome? If it’s “aw shucks, we can’t use these findings, guess we’ll try again,” then no real harm. If it puts your business or your next round of financing or your own job at risk, it might be time to call in a professional.

CI: What should you look for in an expert? And what should you expect to pay?

KJ: Research professionals generally tend to have expertise in one or a few industries; it’s hard to be conversant in customer needs and choice factors in accounting software, SUVs and kitty litter. If a research agency’s website says, “we can do it all,” it’s probably a huge company, and you’ll never matter more to them than what you can pay. Consider a smaller agency with category knowledge appropriate for your business.

Recognize that a good researcher will want to really understand what you’re trying to accomplish, so they’ll ask you a lot of questions, not all of which you’re expected to know going in. If they ask three questions and promise you a bid, they probably don’t know enough about your business to give you truly useful information. You’re looking for curiosity and competence in a research agency—this is a consultant, not a mechanic.

If you’re serious about a given research agency and want to be sure, ask them to give you a de-branded example of their work. This will help you know what they can do for you, and what you’re paying for.

Research projects vary widely, of course, but to give you an idea: For a focus group, you’re probably looking at about $8,000–10,000 per pair of groups (and you always want groups conducted in pairs of similar makeup). For one-on-one interviews (we call them in-depth interviews, or IDIs), for consumers they’re going to be $200–$300 each, ranging up to $500 for business customers. As mentioned before, probably at least 10 and more likely 20 are needed. For surveys, there are many factors affecting the costs, but you’re probably looking at $15,000–$25,000 for a consumer survey. For any of these, those prices will include figuring out the line of questioning, developing the actual moderator’s guide or survey questionnaire, getting the people to participate (which often involves incentives), analyzing the data and giving you a solid interpretation of the results and what they mean for your business.

HERE’S HOW TO STAY HEALTHY WHEN YOU’RE TYPING ALL DAY.

Musculoskeletal disorders, such as back pain, arthritis and tendonitis, are incredibly common in the workplace—and incredibly disruptive. The Institute of Medicine estimates the economic burden of MSDs, as measured by compensation costs, lost wages and lost productivity, is between $45 and $54 billion annually. Dr. Allen Conrad, BS, DC, CSCS, has been treating patients with back pain at Montgomery County Chiropractic Center for more than two decades. Here, he tells us how to stay healthy at the office.

CI: Thanks for talking with us, Dr. Conrad. Besides spending hours hunched over a computer, a lot of us have been working from home and are experiencing back pain and other MSDs for the first time. There’s a connection, right?

Dr. Allen Conrad: Absolutely. Prolonged sitting with improper back support can put excess strain on the spine and its muscles, which can lead to problems like headaches, whiplash and shoulder issues. Other conditions, such as tendonitis of the wrist or elbow and carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS), which is a compression of the wrist’s median nerve, may occur from prolonged typing, and can become very painful if not treated appropriately.

CI: So what can we do?

Dr. Conrad: Making ergonomic changes to your home workspace will help prevent neck and back pain, as well as injuries from repetitive typing. First, check your alignment. While you’re typing, your wrist should be slightly extended, but no more than 15 degrees from a lateral view. This neutral position with slight extension will help alleviate stress on the muscles and tendons of the wrist and elbow. Also, make sure that from a lateral view of your seating position, your arm is close to parallel to the floor. If your chair is too high or too low, it will put additional stress on the wrist and hand muscles, which can lead to additional degenerative conditions. Sitting upright in a neutral and comfortable position allows you to do your job safely.

Second, choose the right keyboard. Ergonomic keyboards are not equal, because people’s wrists and arms are different sizes. Choose an ergonomic keyboard that feels comfortable when you’re using it, and make sure it has a reinforced, cushioned wrist pad. The keyboard should have a slight elevation that angles toward you.

Third, if you’re going to be working for an extended period of time, skip the tablet. Tablets can cause stress on the wrist, elbow and shoulder since they don’t allow for the same ergonomic posture as the traditional keyboard. Reserve your tablet for occasional use.

CI: Besides an ergonomic keyboard, do you recommend other equipment for a healthy workstation?

Dr. Conrad: Yes. For good desk posture, I recommend four things besides the keyboard: (1) a chair with lumbar support, since a reinforced lumbar pad will help keep your back in proper alignment and reduce the chance of a back injury; (2) a small footstool you can rest your feet on while you’re typing so that your knees will take pressure off your low back, which will help prevent low-back injuries from prolonged sitting at the computer; (3) an elevated monitor, since keeping the monitor at eye level will help prevent excess strain on your neck and shoulders and help prevent spasms and pain, and finally, 4) shoes that lace up and have a cushioned sole. Supportive shoes can offer extra support and help prevent neck and back pain.

CI: What about stretching?

Dr. Conrad: Stretching is a good idea. Sitting all day can cause a lot of pain and stiffness in your back, neck and shoulders. It’s important to stay flexible to prevent injuries, and regular stretching can help.

Here are two stretches that counteract stiffness in the neck, back, shoulder and hips:

Neck and shoulder stretch: While sitting at your chair, slowly shrug your shoulders up toward your ears with your head looking straight. Hold that pose for 5 seconds and then roll your shoulders back as you relax down. Repeat the entire sequence for 8–10 repetitions and then again, this time rolling your shoulders forward.

Spine stretch: Sit up straight, looking straight ahead, and raise your arms above your head and clasp your hands. Hold this pose for 5 seconds, then return your arms to your side. Repeat 8–10 times.

You should be stretching daily, but go at your own pace, and seek medical attention if you have any conditions that become worse during stretching.

CI: Anything else we should know?

Dr. Conrad: Healthy habits can help prevent the exacerbation of previous injuries, but it is important to seek treatment promptly when injuries do occur. As with any injury, the quicker you get it diagnosed and treated, the better the long-term prognosis.

CI: Thanks for your time! We’ll definitely be using these tips.

Dr. Conrad: My pleasure.

Looking for more info on creating a better workstation? OSHA has a printable checklist.

Last week, I was scrolling through Facebook when a sponsored post caught my eye. It was a real estate listing for a gorgeous Connecticut beach house. With its cedar shakes, sweeping lawn and breathtaking views of Long Island Sound, the property looked like it had been lifted from the pages of Coastal Living—and, miracle of miracles, it was in my price range. Curious to see what others were saying, I clicked on the comments.

That’s when things went south.

Instead of exclaiming over the property’s location and views, as I was expecting, the commenters ripped apart the listing’s many spelling, grammar and usage mistakes. One poster pointed out that you don’t form a plural by adding an apostrophe (three bedroom’s). Another mentioned that the “newly pained deck” sounded frightening. Still another chimed in that four exclamation points was annoyingly excessive.

A dozen or so critical posts later, someone defended the listing agent and accused the “grammar police” of being pedantic. That turned into an argument about whether good writing even matters.

Considering that no one was talking about the listing, I’d say it does.

A survey by Redfin, a real estate brokerage, and Grammarly, an online editing tool, bears this out. It showed that 43 percent of buyers would be less likely to tour a home if the description contained misspellings and grammatical errors. I imagine prospective buyers of high-tech products and services are even more discerning.

Are You Guilty of Making Common Writing Errors?

As a copyeditor, I’m regularly called on by businesses to polish their marketing materials. I noticed early on in my career that, regardless of which client I was working for, I was fixing the same mistakes over and over. Address them, and you’ll go a long way toward improving your own writing—and boosting your company’s credibility.

Mistake #1: Improper capitalization. When I’m up against a tight deadline, I cringe when I see a document full of randomly capitalized words. Not because these errors drive me nuts—they do—but because they take so long to fix. And they’re everywhere. Here’s a sample:

Last Spring, Leadership, including John Williams, the Vice President, met with HR to review the Company’s policies and to ensure they were complying with Federal regulations.

The fix: You can largely avoid these mistakes if you follow a few rules: In general, capitalize the first word in a sentence; names and proper nouns; days, months and holidays; the first word after a colon if it starts a complete sentence, and the first word of a quote, unless it’s a partial quote. (Do not capitalize seasons, department names (unless they’re official), job titles (unless they directly precede a name) or random words you think are important. In the sentence above, “Spring,” “Leadership,” “Vice President,” “Company’s” and “Federal” do not take a capital letter.

Mistake #2: Using “which” when you mean “that.” The two are not interchangeable, though some people argue that they are (which they are?).

The fix: Use “that” when the information that follows is crucial to the meaning of the sentence, and “which” when the information is more of an aside. For example:

The sales proposal that I left in your office needs to be mailed to the client.

The sales proposal, which I left in your office, needs to be mailed to the client.

In the first example, “that” is correct because “in your office” is essential. It’s not just any proposal that needs to be mailed; it’s the one I left in your office. In the second example, “in your office” is more of an aside. In other words, you know which sales proposal I mean. Note that the “which” phrase is set off by commas.

Mistake #3: Dangling modifiers. Dangling modifiers, or danglers, occur when the part of the sentence that follows the introductory phrase doesn’t match the setup. For example:

Speeding down the highway, several billboards caught my attention.

Of course, the billboards weren’t speeding. I was.

The fix: Danglers are easy to miss—though now that you’ve been alerted to them, you’ll find them everywhere—so make sure to be on the lookout during your editing process. If you find one, reword it, like this:

Several billboards caught my attention while I was speeding down the highway.

Easy, right?

Mistake #4: Using “myself” when you need “I” or “me.” For example:

My team and myself are pitching a new investor first thing tomorrow.

This sentence may seem correct because it sounds formal. It’s not. Not to get too technical, but “myself” can only be a reflexive or intensive pronoun (the latter is meant to add emphasis):

I don’t feel like myself right now.

I myself am a cleantech entrepreneur.

The fix: Remember that “myself” cannot stand alone as a subject. So:

See Deanne or me if you have a question. NOT See Deanne or myself if you have a question. And NOT See Deanne or I either. Yikes.

Mistake #5: Overusing scare quotes. Quotes used to imply irony are called scare quotes. To me, they’re scary because they can easily change the meaning of a sentence if you’re not paying attention. I saw a company that used this line in its marketing:

Our agents are “experts” in personal lines insurance.

Of course, I know what they meant, but the use of scare quotes makes the reader think the agents are amateurs. Not a good look for the business.

The fix: Think about what you’re trying to convey and whether adding quotes will inadvertently change the meaning. If you’re using scare quotes to add emphasis, just capitalize the words instead. (Kidding!)

Bonus tip, because I couldn’t resist throwing it in: If a typewriter is your writing instrument of choice, go ahead and keep putting two spaces at the end of your sentences. Otherwise, please just use one. The computer spaces everything correctly, so you just end up dating yourself and annoying your copyeditor.

Pro tip: If you’re spending gobs of time removing these extra spaces because your colleague won’t stop adding them, use the search and replace function to kill them all at once. Problem solved.

Things Don’t Always Go According to Plan. Here’s What to Do When They Don’t.

When a minor incident becomes a full-blown crisis, professionals in multiple industries call John Leon. A respected attorney known for his expertise in healthcare and corporate crisis management, John answered our crisis-related questions, including how startups with limited budgets should proceed.

Connecticut Innovations: Thanks for talking to us, John. Should the CEO always be the one to respond in a crisis?

John Leon: Ideally, yes. Strong leadership starts from the top, and everyone will be looking to the CEO for clarification and guidance. A company’s investors and employees will need assurance that everything is being effectively managed. A company’s customers will need to see and hear that the business can weather the situation.

CI: At what point does the company need to consult with an attorney or public relations firm?

JL: It’s important for corporations to have a corporate lawyer who can help establish protocols that can identify potential issues before they arise. If the company is a startup, it’s really up to a competent manager or leader to recognize whether an employee, a situation, an incident or something in the operation has the potential to escalate. The ability to anticipate worst-case scenarios is vital. If a situation does progress, it might be necessary to consult legal counsel and a communications expert who know how to deal with a crisis. Big or small, many companies are not trained in how to manage a crisis, so it’s in their best interest to seek help at the earliest possible time. I get called in at the very early stages before things escalate. Part of what I do is see if all parties can reach an agreement without taking things too far.

CI: How can startups with limited budgets get the appropriate media training/legal representation?

JL: The wisest course of action is always prevention. Companies need to stay on top of their responsibilities to their employees and customers, and in how they operate. Those are the areas where most crises begin. Investing in training to prevent crises from starting is the best course of action. But when a crisis arises, unfortunately, as with all company expenditures, it may have to come down to costs in the long run: what the company can or cannot afford to spend or lose if the issue reaches the litigation stage.

CI: Are there steps you should follow when a crisis hits?

JL: Gathering information is the first step. Make sure you have all the facts and that you can see how all the components connect; also that you understand the sequence of events and the timeline of how you got to this point. That’s the best way to make an assessment of where you are and where you might be headed. The next step is to project all the scenarios from best case to worst. And then you need to make a strategic crisis management plan.

CI: Should you respond to social media comments about the crisis? Talk to every reporter?

JL: I firmly advise against immediate reactions and statements without first going through the steps I just listed, especially on social media. Early on, emotions may run high, and there is a risk that your stance will come off as defensive, deflective or even disingenuous. Wait until you’re sure of your official statement per your crisis management plan before responding.

CI: What is the biggest mistake you see startups making when it comes to crisis management?

JL: There are many ways you can make a mistake that just escalates the situation. All of them usually arise from heated reactions. It’s natural for someone to react defensively when attacked or provoked. But that’s exactly what you don’t want to do. You want to maintain a cool head so you can proceed sensibly and not resort to diminishing the event, being argumentative, deflecting blame or looking like you’re covering up.

CI: Thanks, John.

JL: My pleasure.

EMAIL REMAINS ONE OF THE MOST EFFECTIVE CHANNELS AVAILABLE TO MARKETERS. HERE’S HOW TO MAXIMIZE YOUR RESULTS.

Despite the emergence of new marketing channels that promise to deliver stellar results, email marketing continues to shine in terms of effectiveness and return on investment. Email also enables you to segment your lists to customize your message, nurture prospects and customers no matter what stage of the buying process they’re in, and measure results fairly easily. To help you make the most of your campaigns, we asked Liz Willits, an email marketing expert, for advice.

Connecticut Innovations: Thanks for talking to us, Liz. Email is such an important channel for driving sales and engagement, but first, it has to reach its intended audience. What are your tips for improving email deliverability?

Liz Willits: Email deliverability is a complex topic, but there are three powerful ways to keep deliverability high. One: Only send emails to people who ask to receive them from you. Do not buy an email list! Two: Send emails your subscribers want and expect to receive from you. Three: Clean your email list to remove disengaged subscribers.

If you’re following these three best practices, you’ll likely avoid most deliverability issues.

CI: That makes sense. It’s a pretty rotten brand experience to get email you didn’t sign up for—or messages that aren’t on topic. What about open rates? What are a few proven ways to boost those? It’s not all about the subject line, right?

LW: Your subject line is important, but it’s just one of many factors that impacts open rates. Here are a few other best practices for boosting open rates:

• Improve your email deliverability. (See above.) If your email deliverability is poor, fewer people will see your email in their inboxes, and consequently, your open rates will be low.
• Send valuable content to your subscribers. Subscribers will stop opening your emails if they’re not valuable. To make sure this doesn’t happen, send educational, humorous or helpful content to subscribers on a regular basis.
• Clean your email list. No matter how great your email marketing strategy is, there will be people on your list who don’t open your emails or engage with them. After a while, you should remove them from your list, for three reasons. First, disengaged subscribers hurt your email deliverability. Second, email marketing platforms typically charge based on how many subscribers you have, so removing disengaged ones will cut your bill. And third, removing disengaged subscribers will increase your open rates by removing people who never open.

CI: Here’s something we struggle to explain to the rest of the team: What’s a good email open rate?

LW: Aim for at least 20 percent or higher, but keep in mind that email open rates vary with different types of emails. For example, with an automated email welcome series for new subscribers, you should aim for open rates of 35 percent or higher. To maintain good email deliverability, make sure you’re hitting at least a 20 percent open rate.

Keep in mind, though, that open rates are not entirely accurate, and here’s why: Email marketing platforms can’t actually track open rates, because ISPs, like Gmail and Yahoo!, don’t share their users’ open-rate data with email marketing platforms. To get around this, email marketing platforms insert a tiny, invisible image in every email. When this image loads, it’s tracked as an “open.” However, this tends to be a somewhat inaccurate method, because many people set their inbox preferences so that images don’t automatically load. In this case, they might open every email, but your email marketing platform won’t track it as an open.

CI: Good to know. Another thing I wanted to ask about is preview text. Can you tell our readers what it is and how you set it up?

LW: Sure. Preview text is the unbolded text that appears to the right of your subject line on desktop devices and below your subject line on mobile devices. It can add context to your subject line, and when used well, it can increase your open rates. Many email marketing platforms have a field where you can add preview text, but the steps to set up your preview text are different in each email marketing platform.

CI: Great. We’ll make sure to add it. Speaking of email marketing platforms, which do you recommend for startups with limited budgets?

LW: I recommend ConvertKit, AWeber or MailChimp. They’re all affordable and reliable platforms.

CI: Let’s wrap up with a tip about what not to do. What’s the biggest mistake marketers make with email marketing?

LW: The biggest mistake marketers make with email marketing is buying an email list. Not only is it rude to send emails to someone who didn’t ask for them, but it’s also a great way to permanently damage your email sender reputation and deliverability. And it’s illegal in many countries and some states. On top of that, it tends to be ineffective. Your open rates and click-through rates will likely be poor.

CI: We all know someone who has been guilty of buying lists—at least in the early days of using email as a marketing channel. Great advice, Liz. Thanks for your tips!

LW:  Any time!

As we start to think about getting back to the office and returning to some sort of normalcy in the workplace, whether we are a startup or a well-established company, we will need to understand how we can best operate in a post-COVID workplace environment. If COVID has taught us anything, it’s the realization that organizations must adapt, embrace new ways of thinking, learn from this experience and remain flexible. That’s a lot to grasp. The bottom line is, we will return to the workplace, and the workplace will be different.

Many of us have returned to the workplace in varying degrees. We may be experiencing a hybrid situation working some days in the office and some at home, a totally remote arrangement with the option to come into the workplace as needed, or even a full-time situation with all employees returning to the office.

There is no doubt that the perception of what an office should be has changed. We all know that. But what do we do to make it a more productive workplace, safer than it was before, and provide an environment that can adapt for the future? How do we create an environment that transitions from and improves upon the work-from-home (WFH) environment that the majority of us have experienced for close to a year?

Here are some thoughts.

There’s no place like home.

Many of us have gotten used to a home environment for working. Although there are obstacles to overcome, such as children engaging in remote schooling, pets barking, household members conducting business simultaneously, lack of the right tools, internet connection issues or the multiple interruptions that WHF provides, it still has some strong benefits. Home is a safe and welcoming environment. It’s comfortable, warm, light-filled and familiar. Removing the daily commute from the equation, we can spend more time working and less time traveling (along with the added benefit of helping the environment). Those attributes are good things and, in most cases, increase our productivity. It’s important that the new workplace not only embrace the benefits of working from home, but also improve upon them.

Like our homes, the post-COVID workplace needs to be perceived as warm and inviting, and the psychology of color is playing a more critical role than ever. The use of colors that create a sense of calmness and a positive outlook, while reinforcing our need to be connected to the outside environment, can only help an employee’s well-being and mindset. Color can set the “tone” for a successful workplace and support a positive and rejuvenating space.

Comfortable and inviting seating (think of working on your couch or in your favorite armchair at home) will not only connect us with our home but also provide opportunities to engage with others in a different and relaxed way. Why sit at a conference room table to meet with prospective employees or clients when a relaxing living room arrangement may foster a more open and productive conversation? This “Resimercial” approach will inspire employees and guests, creating a calming atmosphere that puts people at ease. Providing different types of furniture in different settings also reinforces wellness. Accessory furniture, materials, lighting and other design elements reinforce this relaxed environment, while reducing stress and making employees happier. Instead of rushing home when the workday ends, employees may linger at the workplace.

Safety First.

With everything we have experienced during the pandemic, employees ultimately want to feel safe in their workplace. We feel safe at home because we control that environment to a certain degree. But in the office, it’s not quite the same. We certainly don’t have the same control. So what makes an environment feel safe, and how do we reinforce that perception? How do we create an environment that will prove to be safe, post COVID, and also prepare us for a future pandemic? The best approach is to take the unknown factors out of the equation.

A “clean” environment is key, but do we know how well our workstation, door hardware, touch surfaces and countless other items we interact with daily are cleaned? OK – time to put your scientific hat on and stay with me. Post-COVID office design will incorporate materials that are self-cleaning as well as safe for the environment. Work surfaces, countertops, seating and associated fabrics for the office are taking a cue from the medical industry. Antimicrobial and self-cleaning characteristics that limit the growth of bacteria, viruses and fungi are being used in workstations and seating. MicroSilver technology is being used in surfaces that emit silver ions for the lifetime of the material without ever wearing off. It’s a good time to be a scientist, but a good time for workers, too.

Besides your workstation, it’s likely you will encounter doorhandles, elevator buttons, appliance devices and other touchpoints within the office. Let’s remember the sobering fact that 80 percent of infections are transmitted by hands. Simple hardware solutions involve hands-free devices, while touch-operated hardware may use Silver Ion wraps. These wraps, used on door hardware, reduce bacteria by 99.9 percent. Elevator buttons and other touchpoints can be covered with skins that provide a continuous self-cleaning surface. Although a rigorous cleaning protocol is still important to assure a safe work environment, these technologies make these surfaces self-cleaning and puts less emphasis on the worry that a daily cleaning protocol is not 100 percent effective.

Beyond material choices, the air quality of our post-COVID office space is critical. At home, you have the opportunity to open a window or take breaks outside at multiple intervals. That’s not as easy in an office environment. Some solutions to increase air quality, depending on the capability of the HVAC system, involve changing air filters from Merv 8 to Merv 13. More elaborate and effective upgrades involve bipolar ionization systems that work with existing HVAC systems. This technology releases ions throughout the space. Ions are naturally occurring outdoors. These ions form bonds with other particles within the space that cluster together. The larger the cluster, the more effectively your HVAC filtration system filters them out of the air. With improvements in ventilation, everyone breathes easier, both literally and figuratively.

OK – Everybody Spread Out … and Think Outside the Box.

We all have likely heard of the six-foot rule – stay at least six feet away from others who are not in your household to prevent COVID transmission. So, in an office environment, the simple thought is to spread out workstations and general seating, allowing us to be separated by at least six feet. But do we really know if that is the correct distance? And in a post-COVID environment, are we designing a workplace with less densification only to revert back to more densification if conditions change favorably? The answer lies in going beyond the six-foot rule and designing a space that is flexible and adaptable.

A space that can adapt to changes in densification without modification to the furniture or major construction is preferred. Let’s call it “futureproofing,” for lack of a better term. Fewer physical walls and more space created by flexible, lightweight and adaptable furniture or movable elements enable the user to best organize the space based on its current or future needs.

Workstations may be set up as “free-address” stations – that is, employees share workstations in lieu of having permanent ones. This setup allows for flexibility in a hybrid workforce and reduces overall real estate needs. Creative orientation and configuration of workstations will keep employees socially distant when required, and the work areas can be easily modified for greater densification when appropriate.

The reception area should no longer serve one function. A check-in station within the reception area that allows for safety temperature checks, hand sanitizer, masks and dedicated floor surfaces to remove contaminants from shoes would be beneficial. Think of the reception area as a high-tech welcome center for guests and employees.

Private, heads-down areas will remain an important component of the workplace. Many of us have enjoyed being able to concentrate at home with minimal interruptions. The post-COVID workplace will need to accommodate such private workspaces. The workplace will provide more phonebooth-type spaces than in the past. Traditional offices will be used for not only private areas to work, but also small gathering places, huddle rooms, virtual meeting rooms and other uses. All of these types of spaces will work best as more open (rather than enclosed) spaces with acoustical materials to limit sound transmission.

Technology continues to transform the workplace and improve on how we meet and communicate virtually. The post-COVID workplace will incorporate broadcast studios (small rooms for two or three people to use comfortably and remain socially distant) and open, collaborative areas that provide a more comfortable approach to connect virtually with those outside the office (or even inside the office) in an open and relaxed setting. Open, collaborative areas offer the best opportunity to meet and stay safe, providing a relaxed area for working and meeting with others. When privacy is a concern, fabric or metal curtains provide just enough privacy for concentration while being totally flexible. Technology improvements for meeting and communicating will make these areas function better and more efficiently.

Organizing the office into “districts” will be advantageous since it allows teams to have all the functions of the workplace grouped within their area (i.e., huddle rooms, heads-down private areas, copy areas, offices, coffee bars and other functions) while reducing the threat of entire-office contamination if a team member gets sick. Circulation paths within the neighborhood and workplace will widen to not only allow more distance between users but make the circulation path more functional for other uses.

Biophilic design will become even more important in a post-COVID workplace. The need to connect to nature through natural lighting, external views, ventilation and sustainable, earth-friendly materials will help reduce stress and enhance creativity.

Who Has the Crystal Ball?

No one can predict the future, but we can learn from the past (and present) as we move toward a post-COVID workplace. We know working from home has worked, to some degree. We know we must embrace technology. We know our workplaces need to be less static and more flexible. We know the home environment makes us feel safe and comfortable, and we like that. We know we will continue to connect virtually (both inside and outside the office), and our workplace will need to make that connection easier and more fluid than ever. We know we will need private and collaborative spaces, and those spaces are best served as open, flexible and acoustically secure areas. We know we work best when we interact with one another, so collaborative spaces and returning to the office will remain important. We know our employees and guests will want to perceive that they are in a safe environment, so everything from the materials we use to how we safeguard those entering the space will be important. We know that what we envision today will need to evolve to something different tomorrow.

So, we know a lot. And with that knowledge, we will create a workplace that meets the functional needs of the office. And we will rely on our creativity to design a destination that exceeds what we thought the post-COVID workplace could be. Our inventiveness will produce an environment that will attract talent, providing an atmosphere that is exciting, invigorating, inspiring, memorable and compelling. A place that supports the culture of the company and its mission. A place that looks different and transcends what it was before. A place that will make us leave home.

Article submitted by:
Thomas J. Quarticelli, AIA LEED AP BD+C
Principal
Amenta Emma Architects
242 Trumbull Street, Hartford, CT
860.549.4725 XT. 118

GOOD UX IS IMPORTANT. HERE’S HOW TO DELIVER IT.

A good user experience can help your company boost conversions, retain customers and reduce support costs. Ken St. Onge started the UX Writing team at The Hartford and is now director of User Experience for the investment and insurance giant. Here, he answers our questions.

Connecticut Innovations: Thanks for taking the time to talk with us, Ken. Tell us: Why is UX such an important issue for startups to address?

Ken St. Onge: Most startups deal with new products, markets, business models or brands. So they start with an uphill battle to win people over. A good user experience helps people “get it.” It makes it easy to understand the startup’s unique value. That’s especially true when a startup does things digitally. There are so many great apps and experiences out there that people have become conditioned to expect good digital experiences. So if you’re a startup, you need to get digital right. Plus, when you have a great digital experience, the market is more likely to see you as innovative. Finally, when you have a strong user-experience mindset, you make better products. Design-thinking lays the groundwork for you to reconsider some basic ideas about what you do and how you do it. You’ll make things better and make better things. Ultimately, that’s what gives you the best shot at success.

CI: Who in the organization is ideally suited to champion UX as a goal? 

KSO: Everyone. But certain roles help set the tone. For smaller startups, it’s anyone in a design role, whether they design the product, the app or the website, or other ways to access the product or its features. They need customer-centric thinking. So does anyone in a product management or product ownership role. They’re usually making regular decisions about how to evolve the product, so they need to understand a user’s point of view. The same goes for service, sales and anyone who has significant touchpoints with customers. They need to make sure they deliver an experience that meets the organization’s goals. Finally, leadership support is critical. The founders and senior leaders need to believe in the power of great experiences and make sure everyone else understands why they’re important.

CI: You’ve said that people should design the user experience holistically. What do you mean by that?

KSO: A user experience is not an isolated thing. You must look at things end-to-end. Consistency matters. If it’s delightful to buy your product, but difficult to get service, you have a lot of work to do on the experience side. That’s why a tool like a customer journey map makes a big difference. It helps you understand how every touchpoint affects a user. Emotion is a fundamental component of any product, so make sure you really understand the emotional aspects of the experience. Once you understand how users experience things, you can start improving. But be consistent with your brand and experience goals. And design in a way that lives up to your standards at every phase of the journey. That’s how to create delightful experiences and remarkable brands.

CI: Why is digital content so fundamental to user experience? 

KSO: Great writing matters now more than ever. Content intertwines with the product. It’s a major way that users experience it. So you need to look at copywriting as a key business and design function. But no matter who does it or what you call it, recognize that the way you write and say things matters.

Designers and product teams in many different industries have started to realize how important writing is to the experience. It’s a particularly hot topic for startups these days. It’s also the basis for a new field known as UX writing. UX writing basically means the buttons, help text or other guidance you read inside of apps. In our case, it would be what you read if you were to log in, pay a bill or check your policy, for instance.

I’m proud to say we were ahead of the curve at The Hartford. We created a UX writing team almost four years ago to make sure that our writing is consistently clear, compelling and easy to understand. When a user goes online to pay a bill, for instance, UX writers have already gone through every step in the process to make sure the instructions were easy to understand, and that users could do what they needed to do quickly. It’s never over. We constantly test it and try to improve based on feedback. Good design is iterative. It never ends.

CI: How do you define “plain language”? 

KSO: In general, plain language means words that everyone understands. It means communications without jargon or phrases that confuse people. It means short sentences and simple explanations. In health care, plain language has specific rules and regulations. But the basic idea is the same: It’s a way of writing that’s accessible to everyone.

To me, the most important thing is where you use plain language.

CI: Many people think it’s about dumbing down content, but that’s not it at all, right?

KSO: Plain language makes your brand approachable because it helps people understand what you’re offering and how to get it. A great experience starts with clarity. Plain language is the best tool to help you simplify things and bring that clarity.

Plain language is also important because it speeds users through the buying process. When you clearly spell out what to do and why, it helps eliminate friction in the sales process. The same is true for people who need service or help. Plain language makes it easier for users to help themselves. Phone calls and service help are a significant expense for startups, which tend to run pretty lean. Plain language can help you chip away at those costs.

One more thing: Plain language is critical in business-to-business sales, not just consumer-facing sales. Research backs this up. Business users may be savvy about a particular topic or product category, but that doesn’t mean they like technical information, run-on sentences and jargon. They’re just like you and me: They want things to be as clear as possible. No matter who you’re writing to, just write like you talk. People will get it. You’re in business to win customers. You won’t win them with confusion.

CI: A few years ago, everyone wanted to hire a content strategist, and now it’s all about content design. Why the shift? And what do you recommend that a startup, with a limited budget, focus on? 

KSO: Like anything innovative, there’s a lot of specialization in digital fields. Those roles sometimes overlap, but there is a bit of difference. I associate “strategy” roles with using content to drive awareness—finding prospects and converting them into leads. That means planning SEO or social campaigns, for instance. “Design” to me deals more with the building blocks of an experience from awareness to sales to service and so on. It’s the stuff people look at during a digital experience. The designer’s mindset is more about transparency, so they often think in plain language. The strategist’s mindset is more about winning eyeballs and breaking through the noise, so they think more in keywords. They both use words, but with different goals and in different ways.

If I were working on a digital startup right now, the first thing I’d do is look at every screen and element and really read what’s going on. Keep doing it over and over. Criticize it. Rewrite it. Ask the rest of the team how it sounds. Try to follow your own instructions and see if they make sense. There are simple tools like readability checkers that can help tell you how difficult it is to read something. Use them. Get it down to something really, really easy and see how the flow looks. Does it still make sense? Keep trying to simplify until it’s as simple as it can be. If possible, get some customers and watch how they use your application. Ask them questions about what they’re doing. Watch where they speed through things. Take note of where they get tripped up. You’ll soon start to figure out what, if anything, needs changing. Once you do that, never stop. Make it a habit.

CI: You say that user experience should progress as an evolution rather than a revolution. What do you mean by this? 

KSO: Ideas constantly get perfected. That’s the nature of design. Even if a revolutionary idea or product is great right out of the gate, there will always be room to evolve and improve. The surest path to greatness is to be deliberate and thoughtful in how you change things. As you grow, you get more users. That means more feedback and insight into what works and what doesn’t. It shows you opportunities and weaknesses, and you can evolve the design to be better. Those thoughtful evolutions compound over time and add up to big changes. So even if you were revolutionary to start, it’s your evolved design that keeps pushing toward success.

CI: Thanks for sharing your expertise with us, Ken.

KSO:  My pleasure.