Teams | Collaboration | Customer Service | Project Management

August 2023

7 common workplace distractions and how to avoid them

Have you ever been in the middle of a task when a chat message, buzzing phone, meeting invitation or news alert broke your flow? It’s hard to get going again after a distraction. And that’s more concerning than it might seem at first. Most people come up against between 31.6 and 60 distractions in a day. Each distraction pulls our attention away for 5 to 25 minutes, which can quickly add up to an astronomical amount of unnecessary time wasted.

The true value of employee efficiency: Transforming output and savings

Running a business today is a tough gig. It’s fair to say that the combination of two global economic catastrophes in two decades, rising inflation, increasing competition and widespread employee disengagement has business leaders looking for ways to manage costs. But there’s growing evidence that shows cost-cutting is bad for productivity.

A complete guide to call center workforce management

To run a contact center that’s both efficient and cost-effective, you need to align people, processes, and resources with the company’s key business objectives. Workforce management (WFM) is crucial for the success of any call center. But building out a WFM function is often easier said than done, especially without the right tools or frameworks.

The CPR Framework for Being More Efficient at Work

He emphasizes the need for strategic planning and organization, suggesting to focus not only on individual productivity but also on team-wide time optimization. He also alludes to the hidden time costs associated with unproductive meetings, and encourages the use of tools like Fellow to run more efficient meetings..

Should you consider productivity analytics for a hybrid team?

A flexible work policy can enable your hybrid team to be their most productive while on the clock. However, managing both in-office and hybrid teams can be tricky, especially without a reliable system for overseeing teamwork, tracking time, and measuring output. In this guide to productivity analytics for hybrid teams, we cover everything you need to know about these tools.

Should you use live screen monitoring software? Pros & cons

When you manage hybrid or remote workers, tracking employee activity can sometimes be challenging. To get real-time visibility, you may have considered live screen monitoring software. However, you’ve probably found that it has more flaws than advantages. This type of software easily crosses the line into micromanagement and often serves as a surveillance tool. Should you ever use live screen monitoring, and is there a better option?

10 ways to measure employee productivity (pros & cons of each)

With a system for measuring productivity levels, you can see which employees positively impact your bottom line the most and use their methods to level up the rest of your team. That said, choosing the right productivity metrics and implementing tracking systems are often the biggest roadblocks. Should you focus on quality or quantity? Do you need productivity software, or can you measure manually?

13 best clock-in clock-out systems (manual & automated)

No matter where your team works, tracking employee time is crucial for managing costs and planning projects. If you’re exploring a new work model or growing your team, it’s worth rethinking your time tracking system or implementing one for the first time. But if you’ve tested time clock systems before, you may have discovered a few disadvantages, such as: So, what’s the most reliable method for your business structure and work model?

Mastering Operational Efficiency: Insights, Strategies, and the Journey Behind 'Come Up for Air'

Dive into an enlightening conversation with Liam Martin as he hosts Nicholas Sonnenberg, an expert on business efficiency and productivity. Nicholas delves deep into the intricacies of his recently released book, "Come Up for Air," shedding light on the nuances of writing and the art of book promotion. The duo explores the crucial role of operational efficiency, the significance of process documentation, and how modern communication tools are reshaping businesses. Moreover, Nicholas emphasizes the importance of strategic planning and organization, generously sharing wisdom from his rich experience. Gain valuable insights as he introduces the CPR (Communicate, Plan, Resource) Framework, a transformative model for achieving peak efficiency.

The 3 major challenges of scaling a BPO

The BPO industry is booming, but many outsourcers still need help growing their company. Scaling beyond 1,000 seats is something that relatively few BPOs achieve, but it’s entirely possible as long as owners are prepared to take risks and persevere with a growth-focused approach. This article will explore why BPOs find it so hard to scale.

The ultimate guide to fostering a thriving culture in your distributed team

Hello, aspiring culture builders and rockstar team leaders! So, you have a team that is dispersed across cities, nations, and possibly even continents, and your goal is to promote a thriving culture rather than merely keep things going smoothly. We understand that it’s a big task, but truly, is it worth it! A distributed team culture isn’t just about people clocking in and out from different time zones.

Untapped Potential in BPO Influencer and Affiliate Marketing

Liam Martin engages with Cody Barton, the founder of StartVirtual, a company specializing in virtual assistance services within the real estate industry. They explore StartVirtual's innovative strategy, utilizing influencers and affiliate marketing to bolster their growth. By implementing a performance-based model, influencers and affiliates are incentivized through rewards for referring customers who turn into paying clients. Furthermore, Start Virtual facilitates their promotion efforts by providing them with essential support and resources.

Self-service task creation helps employees meet unique client needs: Self-Assigned Tasks are here!

One of the most obviously useful reasons to adopt Time Doctor is how we make it simple to track and analyze the time your team dedicates to various projects, clients and tasks. Without the need for separate project management tools, this makes it possible to understand workloads, accurately bill clients and correctly pay employees/contractors. This incredibly valuable connection between time, tasks and invoicing/payments does require some work on the back-end.

Client Education and Virtual Assistance in the BPO Industry

In a detailed conversation with Liam Martin, Cody Barton, the co-founder of StartVirtual, delves into the vital necessity for enhanced client education within the BPO industry, specifically focusing on the real estate sector. Barton emphasizes how effective training and establishing clear success goals can significantly boost client satisfaction and results. StartVirtual, a company dedicated to offering virtual assistance services in the real estate field, is leading the charge in this innovative approach.

Introducing Time Doctor's Unusual Activity Report: Revolutionizing productivity and transparency with AI

At Time Doctor, we are dedicated to providing innovative solutions that empower teams to reach their full potential. We understand that accountability, transparency, and trust are crucial elements for the success of any remote workforce. That’s why we’re thrilled to announce the launch of our latest feature: the Unusual Activity Report.

Finding harmony: Achieving work-life balance in distributed teams

Let’s talk about something important for us all – work-life balance. You’ve probably heard this term a lot and for good reason. It’s all about striking that perfect harmony between our professional commitments and personal lives. Sounds simple enough, right? Well, it can get a bit complicated, especially when we’re talking about distributed teams.

Influencer Marketing in BPO Industry: An Unusual Acquisition Channel

In this interview, Cody Barton, the founder of StartVirtual, discusses the growth and challenges his company has faced in providing virtual assistance services in the real estate industry. Despite the uncertain environment caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, StartVirtual decided to fast-track their launch in March 2020. Cody shares their journey from being a real estate business owner to creating a virtual assistant company, and how they expanded their services to insurance and bookkeeping.

Understanding profit margins in the BPO industry

Over the past few decades, BPOs (Business Process Outsourcers) have become an increasingly important part of the global economy. By outsourcing activities like customer service, back-office administration, and accounting, businesses can make cost savings, improve performance, and focus on their core business. In return, BPOs earn a profit on the services they provide, just like any other business.

How to create a call center agent performance scorecard

Providing a superior customer experience is more important than ever for high-performing call centers. Customer-focused companies are 60% more profitable, and happy customers pay up to 10% more for great service. However, creating a better customer experience can be difficult when you lack the right tools. That’s why having a call center agent performance scorecard helps you efficiently measure your team’s work and take essential steps to improve.

How to master your call center forecasting and scheduling

As a call center manager, you’re constantly trying to strike a balance between scheduling enough agents to handle calls and keeping your staffing budget as tight as possible. To hit your call center KPIs (key performance indicators) reliably, getting this balance right is essential. However, you’re wasting time and money if you’re not using a proven forecasting method or still scheduling with spreadsheets (or pencil and paper).