Latest news from Rock

Invite people and get PRO and TEAMS features for free! The referral & credit program allows you to access paid functionality including automations, larger workspaces, advanced task management functionality and so much more!

This release also includes import from WhatsApp to quickly migrate chats and team members. Additionally, the Files mini-app now also supports a Miro integration: add your retrospectives, diagrams and brainstorming boards to any task, note or topic.

Check out this product release webinar where Nico and Greta from the Rock team go over all of the latest features.

Referral & Credit Program

Invite people to Rock and upgrade to PRO starter or TEAMS starter for free! Earn new credits for every successful invite and quickly upgrade to access premium functionality. Check out this announcement for more information on the referral program.

You can extend your rewards if you have enough credits. This means that you can continue using the PRO starter or TEAMS starter plan for free if you have enough credits saved up on your profile.

Referral & credit program details

We’ve made it easy to quickly earn points with the credit program. Here are three quick ways to earn credits:

1. Invite new users and domains: Send your quick connect or invite link anywhere for people to join you on Rock. You can quickly earn a lot of credits with +1 credit for every new signup and +10 credits for every new corporate domain.
2. Import chats from other tools: The chat import feature rewards you with +10 credits and allows you to directly invite your whole team. Receive +1 credits for every invited user during your import and +10 credits for every new domain that signs up to Rock.
3. Master Rock and Integrate your tool stack: Integrate videoconferencing, file management, or import tasks to earn credits. You can also increase your credit count by starting to use tasks, notes, Tap to Organize, and other features.

Learn more about each activity in this help guide!

Referral program rewards

There are three available rewards in the referral program. Here’s what’s included in each plan:

• PRO starter plan: 5 free PRO spaces and two workspaces with up to 20 spaces each for 1 month.
• TEAMS starter plan: 10 PRO spaces, 3 workspaces with up to 50 spaces. Team management functionality, 2 managers (user + someone else in your team) for 1 month.
• Extend the PRO plan If you are currently under the PRO plan, you can extend your plan for free by 1 month.

Reward availability for the Rock credit and referral program depends on your current plan:

• PRO starter plan/extension [20 credits] -> This reward is available to free users and those who want to continue using PRO starter
• TEAMS starter plan/extension [150 credits] -> This reward is available to free users, those on PRO & TEAMS starter and PRO purchasers.
• Extend full PRO plan for an additional month [120 credits] -> Available to paid PRO purchasers.

There are currently no rewards for TEAMS purchasers, but we will be adding those very soon! You can learn more about the overall credit program in this dedicated product guide.

Import from WhatsApp

Keep discussions going without friction by importing your different 1:1 and group chats from WhatsApp to Rock. Import from WhatsApp is a handy feature to migrate a complete chat while directly inviting and assigning users to messages.

When importing information, Rock allows you to map WhatsApp user names with existing or new Rock users. This way everyone can keep ownership over their own messages.

Check out the import from WhatsApp product guide to seamlessly move over your WhatsApp chats to Rock.

Miro integration

Integrate Miro for free in the Files mini-app of every 1:1 or group space! Access collaborative whiteboards right from within Rock and attach them to any note, task, or topic.

This makes it easier to access your team retrospective, brainstorming docs, diagramming or meeting discussions.

You can also start new drawings right from within Rock. No more link sharing or endless folder searching!You can learn more about the Miro integration in the dedicated product guide.

Mobile updates ?

We have added a bunch of improvements to the mobile experience. This product release includes the following changes and fixes to mobile apps:

• Referral program: Invite people and upgrade for free in return! You now receive credits for every new user you invite (+1 credit) with additional credits for new domains (+10 credits). There are also some rewards unique to mobile: download the app (+5 credits) and import contact book (+10 credits)
• Import from WhatsApp: Import chats from WhatsApp and directly invite users while importing their messages. Continue the conversation without losing any of your documentation.
• Miro integration: Add your collaborative whiteboards to the Files mini-app of any Rock space! Access your brainstorming docs, meeting discussions or creative whiteboards right from within your Rock space.
• Bug fixes and smaller improvements: Specifically, we have been working on improvements for notifications on web and mobile throughout this and the upcoming release.

Download the mobile app

Questions about this release? Feel free to send us a message in the Rock Support & Updates space or open a space with us.

Meetings consume a large portion of an employee's day and are often the primary mechanism for workplace communication. Sometimes, the outcome of a meeting is not truly reflective of the number of resources pooled to conduct the meeting.

A Forbes article suggested that more than 34% of professionals waste between two and five hours per week on unproductive calls or meetings. Additionally, 67% of the professionals surveyed claimed that spending too much time in meetings distracted them from making an impact at work.

This meeting productivity problem costs US companies $37 billion annually.Many organizations do not see the benefits of investing in their meeting culture. Some reasons why you should invest into more productive meetings include:

1. Increased workplace productivity: employees are motivated after a productive meeting to work more efficiently, and their work quality and turnaround time increase.
2. Increased company-wide organization: by removing inefficient meetings, the improved communication between employees will foster more vital and healthier meeting habits. These habits can include action item tracking or always preparing a meeting agenda.
3. Increase employee engagement: meetings do not need to be a draining activity that the entire company dreads. When done correctly, they can be an engaging and pleasant experience that employees look forward to.

This blog post will explain how to overcome inefficient meetings and turn your organization's meeting culture from draining to engaging. This post was written by Carolina Lopez from Fellow.app who frequently writes about meeting management.

How to Overcome Inefficient Meetings

An efficient meeting starts on time, is well managed, includes only relevant attendees, and is well documented to stay on track with goals, objectives, and action items. Attendees should be thoughtfully selected for a specific purpose.

For example, the entire marketing team is meeting to brainstorm a new campaign after writing down their thoughts on a doc beforehand.

When done correctly, meetings can provide an open discussion, and deliver actionable results. Attendees should leave the meeting clear-headed and empowered to take the following steps.

1. Calculate the Cost of Your Meetings

Quantifying the cost of a meeting is the first step in overcoming inefficient meetings. But before explaining how to calculate the cost of your meeting, it is essential to understand why this is an important metric to qualify. As mentioned above, many organizations are not aware of their meeting problem.

However, when the cost of a meeting is quantified, it is easier to visualize the depth and urgency of the inefficient use of time. Ultimately, calculating the cost of your meetings will allow:

• Increase meeting productivity: teams might reach conclusions faster and send important information in advance if they want to reduce meeting time, increasing productivity.
• Visualize the value of your team's time: knowing the cost of time might create a more straightforward assessment of whether you should hold the meeting.
• Find alternate meeting strategies, such as asynchronous meetings: Maybe not everyone needs to be present, record the overall meeting or share an asynchronous video for everyone to watch in their own time.

There are different ways to calculate the cost of a meeting, the fastest being to use a meeting cost calculator. This tool will consider the number of participants and their salary, the duration of the meeting, and its cadence to provide the total cost of a meeting.

2. Use the Right Tech Stack

Different software can solve certain aspects of inefficient meetings. For example, if your meetings rarely have prepared notes, a meeting agenda software that notifies attendees to add talking points to the agenda before the meeting could be a good idea.

The core is to leverage tools and workflows for your meetings to run smoothly. Managing effective communication, especially cross-departmental communication, can become increasingly challenging with remote and hybrid work.

Tools to include in your tech stack include a video conferencing app, note-taking software, and a calendar management app to schedule the meeting. These three types of tools are the baseline: after successfully integrating those, you can choose to add additional software to your workflow.

Think of scheduling apps, 1:1 meeting tools, meeting transcription tools, anonymous feedback tools, or even task management tools like Rock.

For meetings in particular, tools like Fellow.app help managers and their teams build effective meeting habits.

Teams can create collaborative agendas, action item tracking, and leverage a library of expert-approved meeting templates.

3. Prepare an agenda

Before attending any meeting, it is imperative to prepare a meeting agenda.. You can lose valuable time or easily go off-track if you don’t have a pre-made agenda outlining different talking points alongside relevant support documents.

Coming prepared for meetings should be instilled in your company culture. Different meetings require different agendas. For example, an agile meeting check-in meeting will not include the same talking points as a sales stand-up meeting or an onboarding training meeting.

As there are so many kinds of meetings, a best practice is to review different meeting agenda examples. This can help all attendees identify which topics are relevant to cover. Note that sending the agenda out as early as possible is best, try to always release one at least 24 to 48 hours before the meeting.

4. Set Rules

Establishing guidelines and meeting rules to create a safe and productive meeting environment is essential. These guidelines can be set in the meeting agenda or as part of your onboarding if they apply to all meetings in your company.Participants should feel respected and comfortable speaking and sharing ideas.

Rules also include a mechanism to manage the conversation in case it gets too off-topic. A round table approach is an excellent strategy to balance the conversation.  Examples of meeting rules can include:

• Turn your phone to silent to minimize distractions
• Do not speak while others are speaking
• Arrive on time to be respectful of everyone’s time
• Add your talking points to the agenda before the meeting
• Discuss topics that concern the entire team
• Keep your video on during the meeting
• Attendees that are not present must follow up by reading the meeting minutes

5. Only Invite Essential Participants

Attendees should not feel shy to decline an invitation to a meeting if the issue does not concern them. Part of efficient meetings includes keeping the list of attendees lean: only those connected to the topic or looking to contribute should attend the meeting.

Many organizers tend to invite everyone in their contact list to meetings as they believe it is a best practice. In reality, this reduces engagement. To find out if someone should attend a meeting, ask yourself:

• To achieve the ideal outcome of this meeting, who needs to be present?
• Whose perspective is required to have a productive conversation in the meeting?
• Who can just listen to a meeting recording or simply review the post-meeting notes instead of attending?

The answers to these questions should reflect your invite list.

Finally, as habits, routines, and workflows change, it is crucial to continuously gather feedback through a feedback app. The insights from either positive feedback or negative feedback will help managers understand how their team is adapting and if they appreciate the change.

This will help inform if the desired impact is happening and its benefits.

Highly successful people are known for having intricate productive morning routines. From Naomi Osaka to Jeff Bezos, the most successful people on earth maintain good morning habits.A productive morning routine can help you optimize your day for success.

How you start your morning impacts your productivity throughout the day. But developing healthy morning habits are easier said than done. Are you exhausted from the quality of sleep or feeling overloaded with work?

Maybe your current morning routine is scrolling through social media and then hurrying to your laptop in your pajamas. If this is your case, don't despair.

Let's look at ten tips to help you figure out how to improve work performance with a morning routine that boosts productivity.

1. Strive for a good night's sleep

A productive morning routine starts the night before. A study by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine found that sleep massively impacts productivity. Compared to those who get 7 to 8 hours of sleep, those getting 5 to 6 experience a 19% productivity loss.

People sleeping less than 5 hours report a 29% productivity loss compared to those getting enough sleep. If you're a night owl, don’t worry. You do not need to be an early bird to increase your productivity. You need to respect your sleep pattern.

If you are not productive at 8 am and need to sleep in later, you can still have a productive morning. Try moving your work schedule by starting work at 10 or 11 am to just make sure you are getting 7 hours of sleep.

Alternatively, you could put less creative or challenging work in your morning task list and move to more challenging tasks as the day progresses. However, you might find that becoming an early bird could improve your overall quality of life and productivity.‍

Productive Morning Routine List: How to Wake Up Earlier

The 5AM Club's bestselling author Robin Sharma told Forbes about the five ways business leaders wake up early. If waking up early is one of your goals, let's look at some tips directly from the horse's mouth.

• Make it a habit. Sharma argues that you must make waking up early a habit and then "allow neuroplasticity to work its magic".
• Community. Taking on this challenge with others is helpful, particularly someone living with you. Think of it as having an accountability partner.
• Log victories. Keep a visual log where you check off your daily goal of waking up early. One day it will become natural to check it off as it becomes part of your routine.
• Failure is natural. Do not beat yourself up for failing on a particular day. Instead, pick up where you finished the next day.
• Old-school clock. Carry an old-school analog clock and set it ahead to trick your brain into thinking it's a different time. By putting it an hour forward, you will be pleasantly surprised to learn it's earlier in the day.

2. Take your time in the morning

Have you heard of the miracle morning? Developed by Hal Elrod, this method has helped many successful business owners maximize productivity.

The method includes six steps called S.A.V.E.R.S: silence, affirmation, visualization, exercise, reading, and scribing (writing).

But waking up at 5 am and taking on these six challenges might not fit your lifestyle. Maybe you are a single parent working from home and don't have the time. Still, the main takeaway of the miracle morning is taking time to yourself before the work day starts.

Go for a walk or read a book, but do not start your day immediately with work. Whether you conquer a challenge or meditate to find some peace, it will make productivity and staying organized at work a much easier task.

3. Implement mindfulness in your morning routines

Forbes reports that just 10 minutes of daily mindfulness practice can improve one's productivity.

Mindfulness entails focusing on the present. Being mindful is having acceptance, curiosity, and openness toward thoughts and feelings rather than judgment. You can implement this in practice through meditation, yoga, breathing exercises or positive affirmations.

Implementing mindfulness is key to a productive morning routine as it fights what psychologists call negativity bias.

Negativity bias refers to how as humans, people focus on things of a more negative nature rather than positives. Even if there are two possible outcomes of equal intensity: a positive and a negative, we focus on the negative.

Mindfulness is helpful in a work environment where possible outcomes could entail the success or failure of a project or task. Recondition negative default thinking into a more positive one with breathing, meditation and positive affirmation practices.

With a positive attitude, you are likely to be more productive. It is true that mindfulness has become a buzzword in recent years. If you have ventured out into the world of meditation, you will find that it can be challenging at first. While traditional meditation increases productivity, it's not the only way to practice mindfulness.

Morning Mindfulness Practices

Here are some mindfulness practices to add to your morning routine list:

• Mindful shower: While taking a shower, focus on the smell of your body wash or the warmth of the water. Take deep breaths and imagine the water washing away your stress.
• Mindful walk: Take a 10-minute walk where you focus on your feet touching the ground as you take each step. Pay attention to the noises around you.
• Mindful affirmations: Stand in front of the mirror and say positive affirmations, such as "I am productive" and "I am calm." You can write these down on paper and place them on your mirror. Read them every morning while you brush your teeth.
• Any activity: You can make any activity a part of mindful practice. From coloring to washing the dishes and making breakfast, focus your full attention on these activities. Whenever your mind starts to wander, bring your attention back to the present moment.

4. Fuel is key in a productive morning routine

An essential part of a healthy morning routine is a balanced breakfast. A study with 20,000 American employees found that those with an unhealthy diet were more likely to experience a loss in productivity. What breakfast should you be eating to increase productivity?

Certified health coach Isadora Baum told Bustle that a breakfast "filled with protein, vitamins, and minerals can boost productivity."

Here are some ingredients to include in your breakfast to sharpen the brain:

• Cottage cheese
• Berries
• Green leafy vegetables
• Beans
• Dark chocolate
• Salmon
• Avocados
• Nuts and seeds

Also, never forget to drink water in the morning. Even mild dehydration can cause tiredness due to insufficient electrolytes and fluid, leading to unproductiveness.

5. Set yourself up for a productive morning by preparing the day before

Preparation is vital if you're wondering how to have a productive morning. Create a task list the day before; your future self will thank you. It's known that people perform better when they have written down what they need to do.

Maybe pick tasks from a weekly to do list template, or check your backlog for urgent work that still needs to be completed or upcoming deadlines. Psychologist Dr. David Cohen told the Guardian that to-do lists help increase productivity.

A structured to-do list offers a plan you can stick to and provides proof of complete achievements. Is there anything more satisfying than ticking a task out of your to-do list? Starting the day with a set of tasks organized will also decrease your anxiety about getting work done.

6. Get more out of mornings with fewer meetings

What if we told you reducing work meetings increases productivity? An MIT study found that by eliminating meetings, companies increased productivity by up to 73%. Worker stress fell by 57%.

To foster a productive morning routine, try to reduce meetings before lunch. We recommend having fewer meetings altogether. Many just lead to wasted time which employees could have spent on more critical tasks.

If you decide a meeting is necessary, take a look at our best practices for virtual meetings.

7. Work asynchronously by default, synchronous when really needed

Asynchronous work is more relevant than ever in a remote environment. This way of work allows employees to organize their tasks in alignment with their schedules. Communication does not have to be immediate, reducing the pressure of a fast-paced environment.

This practice allows employees to focus on the task at hand without the constant interruptions of the traditional synchronous methodology. You are not regularly distracted by co-workers with questions and meetings.

By reducing the noise around you, you feel no pressure to address these immediately and can focus on your tasks. This work methodology fosters flexibility where employees do not have to follow rigid schedules and set office hours.

Asynchronous work thus allows you to work when you feel most productive. Are you a night owl who gets the most work done at night? You might be looking at how to create a morning routine, but maybe you need to sleep late. Asynchronous work permits this.

8. Reattach to work

As work life and home life become blurred, we strive to detach from work at the end of the day. The moment the clock hits 5 o'clock, you're supposed to forget all about work. Only when you start the first task of the day are you allowed to "reattach."

What if we told you that a UC Berkeley study found that completely detaching from work worsens productivity? People who have mentally prepared and thought about the upcoming workday are more productive. By "reattaching" to work, they can start their day more aligned with their goals.

This doesn't mean you are more productive if you obsess about projects and send emails after work, that just nurtures a toxic work culture. Instead, you are more energized to focus by taking the time to reattach to work before the day starts.

Take 5 minutes before you start your tasks to "reattach" to work. Here are some questions to ask yourself:

• Why does this work matter to me? Why is it meaningful?
• What will I focus on today?
• What will I accomplish today?

9. Set realistic goals

We're bombarded with morning routines consisting of perfectly foamed matcha lattes, HIIT workouts, and 40-minute meditations on social media. Your healthy morning routine does not need to look a certain way to be effective.

It will never feel like a productive morning routine if you set unrealistic goals. Did you know that most New Year's resolutions fail because we set unattainable goals? While goal-setting is essential for self-motivation, failing to complete unattainable ones can lead to self-criticism and negative thinking.

Therefore, the most important thing is that your morning routine is realistic. Only then you will stick to it and make it a habit.

10. Don't be too hard on yourself

So you woke up feeling drained, and your brain can't seem to focus. Unlike what society tells us, this is not a failure on your part. You won't have a highly productive morning every single day. This is part of being human.

While productivity is important in the workplace, it is not an indicator of your self-worth. If you become too caught up in this negative thinking, your mental well-being is bound to suffer. This is where your productivity could take a hit in the long term.

‍Do yourself a favor and tweak your schedule to match your productivity levels. Maybe take on more straightforward tasks in the morning and address the challenging ones later in the day. Burning yourself out won’t help improve productivity in an organization.

Reducing the noise with Rock

While building healthy morning habits comes down to you, Rock can facilitate your morning productivity in a remote setting. As an all-in-one tool that promotes an asynchronous way of working, Rock allows you to focus on the essential tasks.

No more distractions such as unnecessary messages, calls, and meetings. Organizing your tasks beforehand helps you have a productive morning. To make your task management time-efficient, use the Set Aside feature on Rock.

Rock keeps tasks, messages, and other objects that you need to work on at hand by putting these in a to-do list panel. The Set Aside feature maintains your to-do list organized and allows you to prioritize the most urgent tasks. If you get a message from a co-worker which you want to come back to later, you can slide it to the list.

As such a task-focused tool, Rock makes messaging and communication more intentional. Team members can easily manage their work without having to set an unnecessary morning meeting. The Tasks mini-app allows you to replace unnecessary meetings with tasks.

You can also adopt all-in-one communication strategies through built-in messaging. With audio messages, files, and notes accessible to all, you can nurture a productive environment. These features allow teams to work without depending on others too much.

Employees can communicate through updates without needing a direct response straight away. This leaves more space for deep work and enhances productivity.

Productive remote mornings

During the Covid-19 pandemic, many found building a solid morning routine critical to their overall well-being and productivity.

A lot of us had to adapt our morning routines instead of sticking to old traditions. Whether you biked to work or grabbed coffee with colleagues, remote work required a shift in our morning habits. Implementing these tips can be useful if you want to make sure you’re achieving company goals and objectives set for you.

However, despite its challenges, remote work gives employees the flexibility to focus on their morning routine rather than having to commute to work. With the right remote work tools, such as Rock, your morning routine is even more efficient remotely.

A productive morning routine is the cornerstone of a successful day. It allows us to invest in ourselves by taking time to unwind before a busy day. With an energized and clear mind, you are more likely to maximize the quality of your work.

There’s an interesting concept in business and economics called the Pareto Principle, have you heard of it?

The Pareto Principle states that 80% of a business’s output (sales) come from 20% of its input (customers). More frequently, this has become known as the 80/20 rule. This article explains how key account manager skills use this principle to improve company profits.

Why is the Pareto Principle important in this situation? Successful businesses find profitable strategies and concentrate on what works. This means that if 20% of a customer base drives 80% of results, the spotlight should focus on them.

This is where key account managers come into the picture. Key account managers differ from normal account managers in a couple of areas. These areas mainly focus around the size, potential, and strategic importance of the accounts that they manage.

A key account manager works with a business’s most important clients to nurture the relationship and make sure all parties are happy.

Because of this, a key account manager is a highly important for achieving company goals and objectives. They leverage cross departmental communication with marketing, sales, business development, and finance, amongst others.

This all whilst keeping the client’s best interests and goals at the top of the priority list. Read on below to find out more about key account manager skills.

What does a key account manager do?

This section will answer the question: what is a key account manager?

A key account manager focuses on the company’s most valued clients. A traditional account management plan would consider every customer relationship roughly equal. However, with key account management, the focus shifts to clients that are:

• The biggest
• Have high strategic importance
• Have large income potential

For example, a small company could land a deal, where a department of a multinational signs up to their service. There is then a strategic and potential income opportunity for the key account manager that works with the small company. There is the chance to bring in more departments of that multinational.

With this in mind, a key account manager will develop long-term relationships with their accounts. Two of the biggest reasons are:

• Retention: The first is that this one client account makes up a large amount of a business's profits. By losing a key account, the business could enter into a bad financial position. This means that the bottom line could drop and, potentially, the long-term viability of the company could come into question.
• New products or services: The second consideration is the other side of the coin to the previous point. There is potential to get more revenue from these clients. Opportunities for upselling and expanding services should always be in the mind of a key account manager.

The role of a key account manager is to keep the biggest clients happy and develop those relationships over the long term. In a perfect situation, the key account manager would position their business as a strategic partner. This means that the advice they give could lead to more business for both parties.

Account Manager Goals: Think Long Term

When managing key accounts, the strategy is long-term. Other colleagues can focus on short-term gains. The importance of a key account requires a considered, future-proof, approach. If properly executed, this plan can draw in more business than a direct sales department. This is because:

• Customers who already have a business relationship usually spend more and buy more than new customers.
• The insights gained can inform sales teams to streamline processes.
• A satisfied customer is more likely to recommend a business, resulting in more qualified leads.

But what are some day-to-day activities a key account manager will take on? Below, 5 of the most important key account manager responsibilities are outlined. These should all be present in a key manager job description.

1. Reporting

Business performance should be the base of a relationship with a client. It’s important to report clearly and effectively how work progresses, what works, what doesn’t, and what the plan is to move forwards. This is all done through regular reporting.

Reporting includes good documentation practices, planning in meetings on a regular basis where needed, and following up on information if required.

2. Managing

A key account manager is the touch point for an entire business. This means that entire teams’ activities go through the key account manager to the client. However, this also works in reverse. The needs of the client pass via the account manager to the correct departments to implement the work.

Managing and prioritizing this workload is essential for account managers.

3. Analyzing

In business, sometimes things work, and sometimes they don't. A great key account manager is able to analyze the information and data at hand to work out and learn from wins and losses.

4. Planning

This follows on from the previous point. Understanding the successes and failures is the start. The learnings must then apply to plans for the future, to create a strategy that succeeds.

5. Communicating

The key account manager is the central point between the two businesses. This means a key account manager has to constantly communicate with the client, their colleagues, and their seniors.

Account Manager Skills

The skills of an account manager can be divided into two categories: technical skills and interpersonal skills. With this in mind, key account manager job descriptions should define each of these.

6 Technical Skills every account manager should have

Technical skills refer to specific knowledge of a subject. This could be knowledge of a tool, a program, or a strategy.

1. Strategic Thinking

A big difference between normal account managers and key account managers is the amount of strategy that needs deploying. A key account manager has to create a long-term strategy that looks past the immediate position.

This involves balancing multiple stakeholders and ensuring the relationship remains beneficial to everyone.

2. Selling Based On Value

Value-based selling presents a product to highlight the benefits a client will get. At every step, an account manager will highlight the value their service offers clients. This is because success over the long term requires a client to understand the value given to them.

Milind Katti, co-founder and COO of DemandFarm, writes on Forbes, ‘The representatives for key customers are looking for a partner who can empathize and help them succeed in their business roles, not a cog who provides what is necessary for the supply chain. When organizations treat their key accounts as strategic partners, the real value of relationships can be seen.’

Here, Katti explains that the more value provided to a client, the higher the chance of getting value in return. This is a win-win situation for both companies in the partnership.

3. Balancing and Coordinating Complex Operations

Successfully run accounts have a huge amount of input from a number of areas. An expert account manager has to stay on top of all the different elements.

This is very similar to how a project manager has to stay on top of multiple tasks. They must balance short and long-term demands, the ability of their team, and a client's needs.

4. A Mind For Business

Key accounts are vital to a business. A key account manager should understand how businesses create profit.

This is for two reasons. Firstly, to identify opportunities to develop their own business’s interests. Secondly, to provide real value and insightful advice to clients.

5. Think Analytically

Alongside an understanding of business operations, an analytical mind is vital to success for a key account manager.

Data is essential in creating a strong strategy that succeeds. Without an analytical mind, the learnings from projects are potentially wasted.

Evaluating data offers an understanding of businesses across a range of industries. This is is important when nurturing relationships.

6. Remote Work Tools and Tech Toolstack

Every business uses a software tool stack to manage clients. These can be remote work tools such as salesforce and Hubspot for CRM, Microsoft office or Google Drive for documentation, and Rock for communication. Already outlining this can help define what practical know-how a job needs.

3 interpersonal skills that every key accounts manager should leverage

To have a well-rounded set of account management skills, interpersonal elements are essential. These are the techniques and ability of a person to interact effectively with other people.

Mastering interpersonal skills is crucial if you're looking into how to improve work performance as a key account manager.

1. Communication

Communication is the most important skill that a key account manager can have.

Understanding what every stakeholder requires and balancing these against other interests is vital. So is explaining situations clearly and respectfully. This communication is in multiple forms, including in-person, phone, video presentation, email, and chat or documents.

An account manager must tailor their communication strategies to the people they interact with. From top-level directors, managers, sales reps, and everything in between. A key account manager must get the correct message across, at the right time and learn to effectively interact with different types of communication styles.

Sometimes teams can work in different patterns. One colleague could have an asynchronous work schedule, another synchronous. An account manager must balance these work schedules, so everyone gets the correct message at the right time.

The final point in this section about communication is very important. Communication is a two-way street. It is about listening to the other side and working towards a solution. This is crucial to keep all parties happy and develop long-term relationships.

2. Understanding of Company and Customer

To properly work with a client over a long-term period, a key account manager has to understand their client’s business in detail. This means having knowledge of how the client operates.

For example, their target customer, current and past strategy, budget, goals, and position within the market. With this level of understanding, it is so much easier to find business opportunities. Both the client and the account manager's company can benefit from this.

This is particularly important because key accounts have to receive a tailored service. A key account manager cannot offer their client a set of pre-built services, they customize the product. To properly create a tailored solution, the key account manager must have an in-depth knowledge of their client.

3. Negotiation

This could have gone underneath the communication header. However, it deserves a dedicated section because it’s so important.

Negotiation skills are crucial to make sure all the people and businesses involved with the project are happy. Sometimes, a client can have unrealistic expectations. It is important to understand a client's needs and effectively negotiate a more reasonable solution.

To do this properly requires confidence in oneself, timing, and presentation skills.

The Best Platforms For Key Account Managers To Use

So the saying goes: you need the right tools for the right job. This particularly applies to the work of a key account manager. The platforms that they use are vital to delivering an exceptional job.

Below are some of the platforms that a key account manager should use every day.

1. Social media: LinkedIn

LinkedIn is very important to communicate with work colleagues, clients, and potential leads. Furthermore, people with established followings on LinkedIn command a lot of respect. Clients look at thought leadership and understand the value the writer can provide to their business.

LinkedIn also has a Sales Navigator that provides sales intelligence. This is useful for key account managers because it develops new relationships with prospects and clients. With the sales navigator, it is possible to keep up to date with organizations and connect to stakeholders.

2. CRM Tools

CRM stands for Customer Relationship Management. A CRM platform manages, tracks, and improves interactions with clients, potential clients, and qualified leads.

A CRM tool will brings together different elements in the customer experience for analysis. These include:  

• Sales Data
• Customer Feedback
• Calls
• Emails
• Texts
• Meetings
• Documents
• Quotes
• Purchases.

This is all compiled to give a detailed understanding of how a business operates and generates leads. You can use tools such as Rock, Hubspot, Airtable or Salesforce to manage client information from a single place.

3. Communications Tools: Rock

As already established earlier in this article, communication is at the heart of success. There are a number of tools to use to improve responsiveness and make communicating with clients and team members much easier.

A key account manager must balance different communication channels such as email, messaging, notes, tasks and files while interacting with stakeholders. Alongside these foundations, apps like Rock, Google Docs and Sheets will help to communicate on specific tasks - both internally and externally.

White glove key accounts management with Rock

There are so many elements involved in delivering a successful project, it is essential to stay on top of them and staying organized at work. This is particularly the case with asynchronous work. Rock is a great way to manage activity on a project.

Break tasks down into clear lists and group them together within related projects. This gives an account manager a clear overview of progress and feedback.Sales teams and key account managers are able to engage with each other directly, with all vital information stored in one place.

Tasks also make it easy to share KPI’s and urgent activities. Rock can bring all stakeholders together in one area to work effectively as a team.

How to Change Client Communication With Rock

Rock doesn’t only cater to internal operations. A key account manager can create spaces on Rock and communicate with clients. This means that internal work and client management are all in one place. Rocks lets you share information, follow-up activities, and performance metrics.

This helps minimize ignored emails and missed calls.

Use Rock To Keep Key Accounts Growing

To return to the Pareto Principle, if 80% of work is completed in 20% of work time, then how can focus shift to make that 20% of effective work time even better?

Every day is different for an account manager. There can be a huge amount going on, including meetings, reports, analysis, planning, and execution.

The variety of account manager skills needed is huge but vital to delivering outstanding work. Both technical and interpersonal skills must be finely tuned. This is to deal with in-depth planning, strategy, and to overcome communication problems.

Rock streamlines collaborating with colleagues and clients by bringing everybody to one place. Client communication can reach the next level by sharing spaces and project overview is a revolution for task management.

To find out more about how Rock can improve the day-to-day of account managers, sign up for free today and focus on that 20%.

When COVID-imposed lockdowns first happened in early 2020, a lot of businesses and brands were worried. There were several questions they had to answer regarding their operations – how could their business weather the pandemic? What were the best ways to keep employees safe? How to engage remote employees?

Soon after that, companies had to adopt a hybrid or remote work setup in order to prioritize everyone’s health. And though there was an adjustment period from working in an office to working from home, it slowly became the norm.

Now, employees around the world have gotten used to remote work, especially with the advantages it presents. Companies have also recognized that the needs of remote employees differ from those of on-site workers.

This has created more conversations about the importance of engaging remote employees, as well as the different ways to go about it.

The advantages of remote work

One of the main things that makes remote work favorable is that it provides flexibility. Aside from being able to work from home, employees also get to save time and money that would usually be allocated for commutes to the office.

Implementing a remote work setup can also help employees have more time for themselves and create a better work-life balance. Companies, in turn, get to save on costs from office space rentals and amenities. This gives them the opportunity to invest more into their employees.

For example, providing them with tools that they need for remote work. And when employees see that the company they work for cares about them, they are more likely to perform well at their tasks.

Remote work has also paved the way for asynchronous work, which helps team members complete projects during their own set work times.

This is especially helpful for teams with members all over the world. Also, teams which don’t work in the same time zones.With these benefits, it’s easy to see why a big chunk of the working force prefer the remote setup. With this being said, another question arises: how to engage remote employees?

Importance of engaging remote employees

Before delving into how you can engage with your employees, it’s crucial to understand why it’s important. For one, keeping employees happy and engaged is linked to better performance and increased productivity. So keep on reading if you also looking into how to improve work performance within your team.

A Forbes article shared that teams which work from home struggle less with staying organized at work and are 35-40% more productive than their office counterparts.

Furthermore, they produced better quality output. Remote employee engagement also ensures that even without being physically together, teams can preserve their company culture and still get the support they need, preventing a toxic work culture. This ultimately increases their motivation and keeps the team's morale high.

After pointing out why it’s important to engage with employees, it’s time to learn about effective ways to do so. If you need tips on ways to engage remote employees, then you’ve come to the right place! Read on to learn more about it.

10 ways you can improve remote employee engagement

There are many ways you can engage remote employees, especially if you’re a team manager or supervisor. Some are easy to do, while others may involve tweaking some company processes.

Here are a few ideas you can start with:

1. Be transparent with company plans and goals

If you want to know how to engage remote employees, you should first start by making sure that you have clear company plans and goals. It would also be best to discuss these with your team, be it during your company’s Town Hall or cascaded through different managers.

It’s important that your employees have a clear grasp of the direction your company is taking for several reasons. For one, it helps them better understand why they do the work they do. They see the end goal of their day to day tasks, or at least how it contributes to what everyone is collectively trying to achieve.

Another reason is that transparency helps remove any unnecessary anxieties. If you’re honest with your employees about the company’s goals and what it means for them, they can perform optimally.

2. Practice effective communication

A big factor for a successful remote engagement is effective communication. You should make sure that your channels for communication help your team be more productive. You should also encourage your team to be open in communicating, whether it’s about something positive or negative.

This breeds trust and teamwork, and can help improve the team’s overall dynamic. It’s good to also be aware of best practices for remote communication, especially since it’s vastly different from traditional in-office communication.

To help you out, here’s a list of communication strategies you can use at your workplace. If you are looking for something more specific to the work-from-home setup, here’s how you can promote effective communication with your remote team!

3. Don’t micromanage

No one wants to feel like their manager is breathing down their neck. Don’t fall into the trap of trying to control every aspect of what your team does. Just because you can’t see what your employees are up to all the time, doesn’t mean you should bombard them with messages and update requests.

What you can do instead is use a project management tool that can give you an overview of each team member’s tasks. This way, you’re always updated on their progress, and can avoid making them feel like they have no autonomy on their work.

4. Minimize meetings

Don’t you hate it when you attend a meeting with a topic that could have been easily discussed asynchronously? Avoid this situation by only setting meetings when necessary. This will help your remote team focus on their tasks more, and will save everyone valuable time.

Set meetings for creative discussions, 1:1's or coffee chats with team members you don't see often. In a traditional office setup, it’s easier to quickly check on who’s working on what. But in a remote setting, managers or supervisors should take the initiative to check with team members, for example, once a week.

For more formal meetings, try one of these meeting agenda examples, whereas for coffee chats showing up is enough.This shows your employees that you care, and is a great way to promote remote worker engagement.

Pro-tip: You can better stay in tune with your employees by using effective check-in questions for meetings!

5. Adjust mental health policies

If you want to know how to engage remote employees effectively, you have to put yourself in their shoes. This includes thinking about their mental health. Working at home comes with its own challenges, like setting home life and work boundaries.

Since you can’t physically see your team, adjust your mental health policies to accommodate the remote setup. Find ways to understand how they’re feeling, and be empathetic when they do talk about their mental health.

It would also be beneficial if your company can offer wellness programs, free mental health services, or even a mental health day off.

6. Create space for social interactions

Just because you have a remote team, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t make time for socializing.

Try creating social hours or virtual team building activities. You can also look into digital virtual cooler spaces, digital co-working spaces and pop ups to celebrate different holidays. This is a good way to boost remote team engagement and get to know your team better.

Just remember to keep these activities diverse so that it can cater to different personalities in the company. Another thing to note is that you should keep these virtual social gatherings voluntary. Making them mandatory may just backfire, and have the opposite effect of what you intended.

7. Have a place to share feedback

If you’re looking for ways on how to keep remote employees engaged, getting frequent feedback is something you should consider. That’s because engaging remote employees also entails listening to them.

Always provide platforms and channels for feedback – whether it’s on company processes or the dynamics of the team. This can be done through polls, anonymous surveys or other features.

To make sure that employees feel that your feedback channels are safe spaces, you can even opt for anonymous submissions. This way, they will not see the need to sugarcoat their thoughts.

Getting honest feedback can greatly help your company optimize its processes. You may even get ideas for improvement that you wouldn’t have otherwise thought of!

8. Engage remote employees by celebrating wins

Working remotely has its perks, but it can also get tiring. That’s why it’s important to always celebrate your team’s wins – both big and small. If you’re looking at how to engage employees virtually, this is one of the best ways to do so!

Celebrating wins and recognizing the efforts of your team can be a big boost to company’s morale. This is especially true when everyone is adjusting to a relatively new work setup. Be intentional in celebrating your team, whether it’s for hitting a target, winning a pitch, or just powering through a tough week.

By showing your team that you care about them and their milestones, you create a pleasant, healthy, and productive work environment.

9. Improve your onboarding process

Starting a new job can be intimidating, especially if an employee is coming into a company with a remote setup. Make your new employees feel welcomed from the start by improving your onboarding process.

Things like walking through your communication channels and giving tips for getting to know the team remotely can make a big impact. Setting up a complete 90 day plan for new hires can make joining the team a much smoother process, especially when working remotely.

Give your new employees proper time and space to familiarize themselves with your work-from-home processes. Because onboardings are usually done via video call, take note of these virtual meeting best practices to ensure a pleasant and efficient meeting.

Doing these little things can boost the remote engagement of your new employees, and encourage them to be more invested in the company throughout their stay.

10. Reduce context switching by keeping communication in one place

Having scattered and complex channels for communication can make remote work more difficult. Furthermore, it can hinder proper communication and discourage employees from engaging with other team members.

After all, having to juggle a messaging app, your email, a video call app, and a task management app can get hectic. A solution for this would be to keep all your communications in one place.

Thankfully, there are all-in-one platforms like Rock that make this possible. With Rock, teams can find chat, tasks, notes, topics and files functionalities under one application. This makes everything more convenient, and promotes easy and seamless cross functional collaboration.

Keep your weekly to do list template, meeting agendas, conversations, tasks and so much more on one platform with all-in-one functionality.

Invest in keeping remote employees engaged

Those are just some of our tips on how to engage remote employees. Keeping employees happy and involved even while working from home creates a win-win situation. When both company productivity and morale are high, your business operates as efficiently as it can.

Keep in mind that what works in the traditional office setup may not be as effective when working remotely. You might need to make some adjustments while your team works from home, but it will all be worth it in the long run.

To make sure you have a solid foundation for remote work, start by choosing Rock which is an all-in-one task management and communication tool. Easily keep track of tasks, connect with team members, and work asynchronously with ease. Interested in using Rock? Get started today for free!

As businesses become more employee-centric, we see them investing in a free-flowing work culture promoting cross departmental communication.

According to Economist Andre Chamberlain, "a new wave of culture-first thinking among business leaders [is] elevating employee engagement to the core business focus for a growing number of companies."

Many business leaders agree that departmental silos (caused by a lack of cross departmental communication) can be detrimental to every aspect of a firm's health.

Before discussing ways to encourage cross departmental interactions, let's look at what departmental silos are and how big of a problem they pose.

What are departmental silos and why are they toxic to your company?

Business leaders and economists alike have realized that while organizational units hold merit in some functional areas of the company, they can ultimately lead to plummeting productivity.

While these specialized components are designed to meet business goals as efficiently as possible, they inevitably grow to the point where they can function independently from the whole. This sort of independence can lead to fragmentation.

It disrupts organizational synergy, wastes resources and chokes the company's flow of information. This can occur to teams of different sizes, from small business to scale-up or multinational.

Think about it. How can there be a healthy flow of information if there is zero cross communication between departments?

How to promote communication between departments

The Workfront 2020 State of Work Report found that nearly 87% of employees think leaders should revisit how they think about communication technologies at work. Approximately 84% think businesses are missing out on opportunities by refusing to adopt modern opportunities.

Now that we know that departmental silos are a double-edged sword, the next thing we need to consider is how to bridge the gap and encourage more cross departmental communication. In this section, we'll be discussing some highly effective communication strategies.

These actionable steps can revitalize your work culture and help departmental teams get to know each other. Ultimately, better communication and types of communication styles help you boost productivity and employee satisfaction.

1. Avoid working In silos

As we've already seen, silos can create a toxic work culture and snuff out any interdepartmental communication. When left unchecked, silos can easily fall into toxic herd mentality or groupthink.

Team members can begin to discourage each other from collaborating with others outside of their immediate circle. Silos can even take place within the group harming cross functional collaboration.

Without checks and balances against this, it could seriously harm your business's goals—mainly in information bottlenecks. Here's how you can combat this issue:

• Have members of different teams engage in one-on-one coffee chats over Zoom or Microsoft teams. These interactions help the different teams understand the structures outside of their team and promote a healthy discourse. Perhaps members of the marketing team could give helpful consumer insights to the sales team— helping close more deals.
• Look into renovating your workspace in a way that helps promote collaboration between different teams. For example, an online workspace like Gather Town or a virtual water cooler can provide the space for employees to interact. Collaborative workspaces help open dialogue between different teams and help.

2. Spaces that nurture interaction

We briefly spoke about renovating your office to create a more collaborative workspace. Employees might shy away from cross departmental communication out of the blue. Think about it: they've already formed a comfort zone in their teams— it can be challenging to begin talking to new people suddenly.

Create virtual spaces that encourage workplace communication to make this a more organic transition. Motivating remote employees to be more social with their colleagues requires different solutions compared to in-person teams.

You can do this successfully by creating a new space on Rock. You could name this space "The Water Cooler", and it could serve as a place where all your employees can get together to talk about non-work-related things. This space is essential because your employees need to find common interests that aren't work-related.

Another idea could be scheduling regular one-on-one coffee chats with the team. Encourage them to have their cameras on to feel more connected with their peers.

You can start these meetings by having your employees share the weekly personal and professional good news with their peers. These chats can also give the team members an insight into each other's lives and nurture better interactions between team members.

Here are some other ideas:

• Allow for daily syncing with messages, tasks, notes files and meetings through a communication platform like Rock.
• Have an open anonymous survey to send feedback and discuss common problems.
• Establish new clubs in your workplace to help teams discover shared interests that aren't related to work.

3. Create common goals

While different departments have different goals they need to work on to contribute to the whole. It's helpful to set shared metrics. In other words, you need to establish companywide and high-level tasks that multiple teams must work towards as a company leader.

The back-and-forth communication should eventually help them hone interpersonal relations and unite disparate teams. Here's what you need to remember:

• Be sure to announce good news or "wins" to keep your department in high spirits. They'll feel like the collaboration is worth it and will be eager to work with each other in the future
• Encourage ways for department heads to support each other. They shouldn't compete with each other. Instead, they should lead by example
• You can start an internal company newsletter to reinforce these common goals. Instead of email, you can share a note or topic in a space with your whole team to further encourage responses and interactions between team members.

4. Clear documentation and task management protocols

To be successful at cross departmental communication, especially when working remotely, you need to use tools that create synergy. As is the case with many companies, different teams in your firm may prefer to work on different platforms. These could be WhatsApp, Asana, Trello, or Slack.

However, when collaborating with different departments, use a single platform to reduce context switching and learning new platforms. Even if different platforms have different ways to annotate or label something, this knowledge should be given to the other team as a heads up.

Here's how you get different teams to streamline inter-departmental communication:

• Go for tools that are easy to use and don't have a huge learning curve. This way, you can help get all your teams on the same page as soon as possible.
• Use task management functionality to assign work more efficiently. This way, you can inform everyone what they'll be working on, thus avoiding confusion.
• Encourage teams to use tools such as Zoom or Rock to keep an open communication channel.
• Succeed at team collaboration by using all-in-one tools. This way you can reduce your tech stack and keep communications in one place.

5. Pick easy-to-use collaboration tools to maximize cross departmental communication

Before you get different remote teams to work with each other, go over the process and streamline it. You don't want to face issues when the team is halfway through a project. Look for a reliable remote work tools that aren't too complex but get the work done. Not every employee will be up to date on remote communication best practices.

Running into issues with the system can lead to confusion and frustration and break down the collaborative effort's fabric. The consequences could end up causing irreparable harm to your work culture and cause resentment amongst employees.

At this point, Rock comes in. The communication platform is easy to use and reliable and helps you in different areas of your cross departmental communication. Check out some tips you can employ when introducing a tool like Rock to the rest of your team:

• Make sure to involve different departments to test out the new platform. They should be comfortable navigating through it.
• Offer training sessions to your employees to get the most out of the collaboration platform. You can use tools like loom to do this asynchronously and create a dedicated onboarding space in Rock where you upload all the footage.
• Analyze how to improve work performance metrics when reviewing how well the collaborative effort is going. This review should give you a sound idea of how well the teams respond to the platform.

6. Find natural synergies

To avoid distance between teams, consider where working across teams makes sense, and try to assign joint projects where natural synergies exist. Sales and marketing seem to work together very well, and so do accounting and operations. That's because there is a significant overlap in these departments.

The collaboration would be forced if you switched them around and put marketing and accounting together. Alternatively, you can also select individuals from different teams to work on their behalf. These tasks can include working on companywide objectives like equity, inclusion, and diversity.

The 3 biggest challenges of cross departmental communication

As effective as cross communication can be, it does come with its own set of hardships. Here are some of the most challenging parts of getting your cross departmental communication going while working remotely and how Rock can help you overcome these problems.

1. Social loafing

Social loafing is when certain team members deliberately slack off or delay tasks that are much simpler to perform. Consequently, loafing can cause a rift between the collaborating team as they'll feel taken advantage of.

Sometimes, especially when remote teams first begin collaborating, it's easy to assume that this "social loafing" is just an adjustment period. But as a leader, it's your job to keep an eye on this behavior if you are looking into how to improve productivity in an organization.

Controlling this behavior gets a little easier to track with Rock’s features. You can keep track of each team member's tasks to see what they've been doing. With the "mention" and "comment" features, you can reach out to any employee in a task, chat or 1:1 space and follow up with them.

2. Different goals and priorities

Teams with different goals and priorities are more challenging to get on the same page. Even though your departments may be collaborating on a specific project, they still have standalone tasks they need to be accomplishing.

These tasks could take time away from team collaboration. In Rock, you can use labels that align with goals and priorities on every task. This way, you know people are staying organized at work and spending time on tasks that will make an impact.

If they consistently fail to do so, perhaps they've been occupied by other tasks. Then, you can reach out and have a conversation about solving this issue.

3. Teams In different time zones

Do you need a specific meeting with someone in a different time zone, or can you also discuss through chat, tasks, or notes instead? Asynchronous work saves both people time and provides better communication sharing streams.

Scheduling meetings can be tricky when some members are in different time zones. Make sure to upkeep virtual meetings best practices so everyone is included while not wasting time. A good workaround for this is trying to rotate the times so no one has a chance to complain. It'd be best to pick a suitable time for most attendees.

This solution is the fairest since there isn't just one employee who must always meet outside their work hours. Since there isn't any software that can put everyone in a meeting simultaneously, regardless of where they are in the world, there is something Rock can do to help.

Many have found that using communication platforms with mobile integrations makes it easier to take meetings. Instead of canceling their plans for that day, they can take a meeting call anywhere that's quiet— a café or even a car works well.

How to promote cross departmental communication: conclusion

It's easy to recognize that cross collaboration is the key to achieving company goals and objectives. However, it's tough to implement policies that help promote and implement in the workplace.

Figuring out how to improve interdepartmental communication at your place of work is an uphill battle. It involves trial and error. However, what helps a lot throughout the process is having a communication platform you can fall back on.

Enter: Rock. Our all-in-one messaging platform combines the best of WhatsApp, Slack, Asana, Trello, and Discord. To find out more, sign up today for free.

There are so many factors to consider when it comes to successfully completing a project with Agile vs Waterfall. There’s the project timeline, the deliverables that you need to accomplish, and the key players of the project.

However, before thinking of all of this, project managers must first decide on the best project management framework that they want to apply for managing their project. That’s where the discussion on Agile vs. Waterfall comes in.

An introduction to Agile and Waterfall

If you’re not familiar with the Agile and Waterfall methodologies, there are key ways you can differentiate the two.

For starters, the Waterfall methodology vs. the Agile methodology can be considered the more straightforward way of completing a project. That’s because it follows a linear approach with different phases – with each phase having to be completed before moving onto the next.

Agile, on the other hand, is a very team-based approach. It provides more flexibility in terms of reviewing and possibly revisiting deliverables. Instead of phases, this methodology implements ‘sprints,’ which are set periods of time to accomplish different project tasks.

Agile or Waterfall: why it’s important to know which to use

Choosing the right methodology can prove to be greatly beneficial for your project.

Firstly, it provides a framework for your team – one that gives the project an overall structure that people can refer to. Additionally, choosing the right methodology can boost the productivity of your team and help them go about their tasks as efficiently as possible. It also helps you make the most of what you have - whether in terms of your team structure, your timings, or your resources.

This is why you should know the differences of the Waterfall vs. the Agile methodologies. Read on for a more in depth look at the two!

The Waterfall Methodology

The Waterfall Methodology deals with sequential phases. Before moving onto another part of the project, there must first be a sign-off on the current phase that the team is on. This is because each phase is dependent on the previous one.

The Waterfall methodology clearly defines the start, middle, and end of each project. The process for it is quite simple: it usually starts with gathering all the requirements and resources needed for the project. Next, the team aligns on the project goals and tasks.

Once this is done, they go through the different phases and complete each one.

Advantages of the Waterfall Methodology

This methodology has a number of advantages:

• Easy to understand: The process of the Waterfall methodology is very straightforward.. Additionally, it can be easier to bring members of the team up to speed on the deliverables since everything is laid out from the start. This is especially true when there is proper and thorough documentation of every phase.
• Clear agreement on deliverables: When it comes to using the Waterfall methodology, the goals and deliverables of projects are well defined. They remain the same all throughout. The project development also doesn’t begin until its requirements are clearly stated. This makes planning less stressful for everyone. Also, it’s easier to track where the team is in terms of progress because there is no room for surprises.
• No overlapping phases: Following the Waterfall approach means that you must first complete each phase before proceeding to the next one. This makes both tracking the project’s progress and aligning the team members less of a hassle. It also creates a clear understanding throughout the team regarding their progress.

Disadvantages of the waterfall methodology

Similarly, it also has a number of disadvantages:

• Lack of flexibility: There is not much room for change or different iterations when it comes to this methodology. When we compare the Waterfall model vs. the Agile model, the former makes it difficult to implement changes in the project details or deliverables. Once you complete a phase, it’s also difficult to make revisions to activities in it if you already moved to the next phase..
• Long planning duration: Since you need to iron out all the details before starting a new project, the Waterfall methodology can often take a long time in the planning phase. In the worst case scenario, this may cause delays in the project’s execution. In turn, it may affect the timelines for other projects.
• The testing phase comes later on: Since this methodology is linear, testing whether or not a product works usually happens in the latter phases. This sometimes creates a dissonance between one’s expectations and the result of the project itself. Additionally, revisions often include a lot of new functionality or products which can be hard to test.

The Agile Methodology

The Agile methodology puts emphasis on speed and constant collaboration. It doesn’t focus on having everything mapped out at the beginning. Instead, the focus is on identifying the problem and breaking down the different ways it can be solved.

From there, the team creates various ‘sprints.’ Sprints can be understood as the agile equivalents to Waterfall phases. In project management, these sprints are used to create iterations of the project’s end goal. Teams conclude a sprint with a retrospective and set a new list of items that need to be completed.

This approach promotes adaptability. Plus, unlike Waterfall, Agile doesn’t follow a linear path. Constant cycles of feedback and approvals happen when using this methodology. Usually, this involves a lot of refining and changes if necessary.

Advantages of the agile methodology

Just like the Waterfall method, Agile also has distinct advantages:

• Ease in making project changes: If we compare the Waterfall vs. Agile approaches based solely on flexibility, the Agile approach is the clear winner. That’s because its sprints make the creation of different iterations very easy. Additionally, if any changes need to be done throughout the project, it can easily be implemented. Similarly, the project’s end goal can be better defined in the process as more data comes up from the different sprints.
• Faster turn-around time: Because this methodology doesn’t put as much emphasis on structure as Waterfall, turn-around times are much faster. That’s because it focuses on completing iterations rather than getting the perfect product from the first time. This also means that there’s less stress when it comes to chasing deadlines.
• Improved product quality: The Agile method is all about going through cycles to see how a team can improve on something. Instead of focusing on timings, this approach focuses on quality control. For example, an Agile approach to a product release would be producing an initial version. Then, the team can slowly build a better one after each sprint.

Disadvantages of the agile methodology

You’re now wondering what this methodology’s disadvantages are. Here are a few:

• Unpredictability of project factors: When we compare the Waterfall method vs. the Agile method, Agile has less defined project terms. For instance, an overall completion date for the project may be harder to pin down, and several sprints may be added throughout the process. Changes like these can affect your resources.
• Requires full commitment: The Agile methodology works best if your team members can fully focus on the project at hand. That’s because constant collaboration and being quick on their feet is crucial. Under Agile, you need a whole umbrella of expertise constantly. Fast iteration and testing means more team members need to be available at every stage of the project.
• Possibility of fragmented output: Because this methodology focuses more on completing sprints quickly, it can be easy to lose sight of the bigger picture. This may result in a product that feels incohesive and almost detached from the original one.

These are only some of the advantages and disadvantages you should take note of in terms of Agile vs. Waterfall methodologies. Both have the same end goal – producing a high-quality product. However, their similarities are undeniable.

Waterfall takes its time in the planning phase and creates a linear plan to follow. Agile focuses more on constant improvement even if it means making changes along the way.

Ultimately when it comes to the Waterfall approach vs. the Agile approach, you should choose one that fits your project needs and goals. You should also consider which one can bring out the most desirable results for your project based on resources, team availability and timeline.

Project Management tools for Waterfall and Agile Methodologies

The beauty of technology is that it makes everything faster, easier, and more efficient. To better illustrate how you can use tech tools to optimize whatever methodology you choose, let’s demonstrate it using Rock.

Rock is an all-in-one tool which allows you to enhance your task management skills, no matter which project management methodology you choose. For the Waterfall methodology, you can use a calendar to keep track of your progress.

If you go to Rock’s calendar view in the Tasks mini-app, you see an overview of your tasks displayed in a calendar. This way you can easily keep an eye on the different phases of your projects.

Rock also has Sprints, if you are more keen on using the Agile methodology. You can create Sprints using the Tasks mini-app. After you define your sprints, you can easily add tasks and assign people who should work on them.

No matter what side you are on when it comes to team Agile vs. team Waterfall, an effective project management tool can help things be more seamless and efficient. Rock has the ability to streamline your tasks and messaging for either methodology.

With the help of Rock, you can make sure that you’re well connected to your team by housing everything you’ll need for the project. This includes messaging, task creation, file sharing, and collaboration with members inside and outside of your organization.

Make project management as easy as it can be with Rock!Interested in using Rock? Download the app today!

A retrospective is an integral part of product management. It’s a dedicated timeframe where teams reflect on what has happened and learn how to do better. They are a place to celebrate success and understand failure. Only then can teams work towards continuous improvement.

However, many still do not know how to run a retrospective successfully.

Retrospectives promote knowledge and value sharing while working together towards a common solution. Employees can express concerns freely through a sense of trust and open communication.

They are also a form of risk mitigation. By evaluating tasks on a recurring basis, employees are able to spot issues early on. They can solve them before they become detrimental. At the end of a retrospective, teams are left with a clean slate, ready to take on the next sprint.

Retrospectives speak to the wider advantage of running agile projects that break a large output into smaller tasks. If you’re adopting an Agile project management framework, consider implementing these meetings.

‍According to PwC, agile projects are 28% more successful than traditional projects. It is no surprise that agile methodology is used by companies such as Apple, IBM, Microsoft, and Procter & Gamble. Agile practices are not only an effective strategy to make sure that a team is effective. They also make sure everyone feels listened to and valued.

If you are looking to foster agile practices in a remote setting, knowing how to run a retrospective is paramount.

What is a remote retrospective?

A remote retrospective is a virtual team meeting that occurs at the end of a project or sprint. Team members can think about and discuss how they can improve their future performance and what went wrong. The positives are also included and successful work is celebrated.

Keep in mind that a retrospective differs from a mere review meeting. A review meeting would entail team members presenting their completed work. However, a retrospective has a specific goal: to make sure work is continuously improved by identifying strengths and weaknesses.

A remote retrospective addresses specific questions:

• Which tasks have carried over?
• What are the completed tasks in a sprint?
• Which tasks are no longer necessary?
• How can we improve the project in the future?

How to run a retrospective: Agile methodology in remote settings

A remote retrospective is part of the wider frame of agile methodology in project management. Agile methodology is a way to manage a project by breaking it into smaller tasks and phases - sprints.

A sprint is a timeframe with a clear start and due dates where a team completes a set amount of tasks. You are breaking down large and complex projects into bite-sized pieces to improve productivity.

Remote retrospectives promote continuous improvement as work is regularly evaluated and then enhanced.

Benefits of a remote retrospective

Remote retrospectives are an integral part of ensuring project management is effective and the workflow runs successfully. Let’s take a look at some of the benefits of running a remote sprint retrospective.

• Continuous improvement: By reflecting on what went wrong and what went right, a retrospective fosters continuous improvement throughout a whole project.
• Team empowerment: Team members have a voice in the retrospective and the ability to change the way they work. This makes a team feel empowered as if they are taking charge together.
• Increased productivity: The agile methodology increases productivity. A DeltaMatrix study found that agile teams are 25% more productive and 50% faster to market than other teams.
• Highly documented: Conducting a retrospective remotely facilitates the documentation process, making task management easier afterward. Managers can assign tasks, track progress, and access files without having to rely on meetings or chat messages.
• Open communication: Speaking freely (albeit politely) is key to team relations. Retrospectives allow team members to evaluate their work and the work of others in a safe and honest space. Many feel more comfortable speaking up in a virtual setting, rather than in person, according to Indeed.
• Risk mitigation: Retrospectives allow you to fix issues early on in the process, rather than after completing an entire project. By evaluating each sprint, team members can fix the small issues before they become large ones.

5 Steps to Follow Before a Remote Retrospective

If you are wondering how to run a sprint retrospective, make sure to prepare before it even happens. Let’s take a look at the 5 steps to follow before a remote retrospective.

1. Document information

Team members should document all the materials and information throughout their sprint. This is essential in making sure a remote retro runs smoothly. Team members can prepare any questions they might have beforehand. They can also understand beforehand what each team member has been working on.

This will reduce any time-wasting during the meeting. You do not want to spend the meeting discussing completed work. It is not a sprint review where you present your tasks. Rather, you want to evaluate its quality and discuss how to keep improving it.

However, having the right remote work tools is crucial to ensuring this is possible. With Rock, you can document every step taken to complete a sprint, from individual tasks, notes, feedback, and more.

2. Set clear agenda with discussion points

Managers should set discussion points in advance. It's important to establish a clear blueprint that you can use to stay on topic during the retrospective. Managers do not need to be too strict to make the retrospective feel too cold and formal.

However, it’s helpful to have these guidelines. If you’re looking for some retrospective template questions, here are some useful ones:

• Where and when did it go wrong in this sprint?
• What went better than expected in this sprint?
• What do you expect and from whom?
• What helps you be successful as a team?
• What did you learn during this sprint?
• What was your biggest challenge?
• What problems came up most often?
• Would we have benefited from a different approach?
• What should we do differently next time?
• How can we improve this entire process?
• What don’t we want to change?
• What are we still unsure about?

You can also check our meeting agenda examples to further structure your meetings and make sure they are productive and relevant.

3. Share remote retro notes at least 48 hours before

Whoever is organizing the remote retrospective should share any important information at least 48 hours prior. This includes the decided-upon discussion points and any other necessary materials. This reduces time wasting and allows team members to clarify any questions before coming into the retrospective.

Managers can easily send these through Rock. They can also send a quick Loom where they explain all the discussion points and answer any questions. By leveraging asynchronous work through tasks, notes and files, teams can get a lot of the work done in advance.

This way the retrospective meeting can focus on the most important points.

4. Be mindful of invitees

Do not invite people to the remote retrospective that do not need to be there. Be mindful of everyone’s time. If someone only worked on a small task in a sprint, chances are they do not need to be there.A retrospective can also get messy if there are too many people involved.

While cross functional collaboration is valuable, a certain department might not need to be present. In fact, you want to foster a safe environment where everyone feels comfortable speaking out. A smaller team might not feel safe doing so in the presence of “outsiders”.

5. Introduce fun retrospective ideas for remote teams

Running a remote retrospective might sound challenging, but you can be creative and make it a unique experience. There are plenty of creative virtual retrospective ideas to use. A fun one could be having interesting virtual backgrounds. Set a theme beforehand, maybe it's your team's favorite movie or favorite color.

While sticking to the agenda is important, think about some check-in questions for meetings or quick icebreakers.

For example, ask your team members to go around the room and say one thing they would bring to a deserted island. Fun retrospectives will keep your team members engaged. We also recommend running virtual retro ideas by your team members and giving them a chance to get creative.

5 Steps to Follow During a Remote Retrospective

To make sure your sprint retrospective runs as planned, here are 5 steps to follow during a remote retrospective.

1. Designate a leader

Everyone should have their voice valued in a retrospective and a chance to express their concerns. A designated leader makes sure everyone gets the chance to speak, nurturing a fair environment.

The leader does not need to be a manager. Switching up the leader after every sprint is a great way of making sure every team member feels valued.

2. Nurture creativity

A remote retrospective is not too heavy or formal. While structure is important, fostering a creative environment is equally necessary. Every team member needs to feel like they can express a diversity of opinions and feedback.

Only then will they produce innovative outputs going forward.Being open to creativity will boost your team’s engagement, making them feel more connected to other employees and the company.

According to a Gallup report, companies with a highly engaged workforce have 21% higher profitability and 17% higher productivity.

3. Stay on topic

While creative strategies have their place in a retrospective, staying on topic is important. This is not the time for informal conversations about the weather. You can set time aside for these.

The leader is key here. They must guide the discussion within the designated guidelines and every main point addressed.

Whenever the conversation is going too off-topic, they should bring the team back to the discussion points at hand. However, without the prior preparation of a clear agenda, this will be hard to do.

4. Recognition matters

A retrospective is not just about righting wrongs. Managers should ensure they recognize their employees and make them feel valued. A study found that 37% of employees feel most encouraged by personal recognition.

Show your appreciation for what went right during the sprint and recognize those individuals publicly. By highlighting what did go right, improvement becomes continuous and natural. You will also be paving the way for better performance and driving team members to become more productive.

5. How to run a retrospective: Set next steps

A successful retrospective entails setting up actionable next steps. Ideas are great, but how will you implement them?

Too often, those leading retrospectives forget to actually set a framework to execute new ideas.  Make sure to figure out how tasks will progress to put these ideas into practice. Who will take on what tasks and in what timeframe?

The next steps should also be realistic so as to not overwhelm your whole team. Again, this is where everyone’s input should be equally respected.

5 Actions to Take After a Remote Retrospective

Now that you know how to run a retrospective, what comes next? A remote retrospective is important in itself. However, the actions that come after are perhaps even more impactful.

Here are 5 actions to take after a remote retrospective.

1. Set tasks & deadlines with online retrospective tools

During the retrospective, you will loosely discuss your next steps or whether you are starting a new project. After the meeting, it’s time to get these down on “paper” and set those deadlines. Make sure these are reasonable and respect the decisions discussed in the retrospective.

Aligned with agile methodology, set up another sprint where your team will work to complete a set of smaller tasks. Rock simplifies such task management. You can update the task board with new tasks, choose your time frames, and assign various assignees.

You can then view your tasks in a calendar, list, board, or compact view for better organization.

2. Gather feedback

A post-meeting feedback survey is a great way to measure your retrospective’s success.

As a leader, you won’t always know what was on your team members’ minds. Through an anonymous survey, they can be as honest as possible without the fear of judgment.

You can also have 1-1 meetings with each of your team members if you want more extensive feedback. For many, this is a safer environment that makes employees more comfortable communicating honestly.Whatever tool you decide to use to gather feedback, make sure to act upon it.

If there were issues expressed, brainstorm how you can improve your next retrospective. A retrospective does not just lead to the improvement of projects, but also of your management skills.

3. Share retrospective materials

The recording of the retrospective should be easily accessible for those who want to refer back to it. It could very well be that team members forget all the previously discussed details. This way, everything is right where you need it.

With Rock, you can share a video attachment in the notes feature with a list of the next steps to take. The comment section allows employees to ask any questions about the attachment or even provide more feedback.

Having such organized documentation will make the sprint workflow run smoother. It could also be beneficial for the next retrospective to look back at the progress made.

4. Follow up with the team

Agile methodology is all about continuous progress and improvement. After a retrospective, you’re not done and dusted. It’s necessary that managers follow up with their team so that they can continue to produce high-quality work.

A remote team meeting could be a way to follow up. However, if you see that an individual has a more complicated task, a 1-1 is always a good idea.According to Forbes, one-on-ones are one of the most important productivity tools that managers can use.

When conducted properly, a 1-1 is a valuable way to build trust and make an employee feel supported.

5. Highlight new goals and metrics

This point is different from just setting deadlines and tasks, that’s more of an project management task.

Highlighting newly established goals is what will drive productivity within your team and motivate them to reach such objectives.

What metrics are you trying to reach? Perhaps you came to the conclusion that you must reevaluate some of your previous goals. Maybe you planned to have 5 websites developed, but only finished 3.

Make the necessary adaptations to goals so that you can more realistically evaluate them in the next retrospective.  

How to run a remote retrospective: common mistakes to avoid

Remote retrospectives can easily go wrong. Not because they are remote, but because they often involve various stakeholders with different outlooks. Without the right structure, a retrospective won't achieve its objectives.

Here are common mistakes to avoid in a remote retro:

• Lack of prior preparation: Without prior preparation, your retrospective will likely be a mess. To prevent any disorganization, prepare a guideline with discussion questions beforehand
• Going off-topic: Sticking to an agenda is key. Without a set goal and blueprint for the discussion, it won’t be a real retrospective. Instead, team members will go off-topic and not be able to foster improvement. This meeting is not the time for an informal conversation about your team’s personal life.
• No clear actions set after meeting: Even if your team members were able to evaluate their work successfully, don't neglect the actionable steps that follow. To ensure continuous improvement, make sure that clear actions are set and tasks are assigned.
• Too many voices: A common mistake is inviting too many people to the retrospective. Too many opinions can lead the meeting to focus on unnecessary factors. It can also be detrimental to open communication within a team as some might feel uncomfortable voicing their opinions. Make sure to invite those that need to be there only and that every voice has equal opportunity.

How to run remote retrospectives with Rock

Agile practices are all about breaking daunting and complex tasks into manageable ones. It requires organized task management where everything is documented and available for team members to review. Rock is an online retrospective tool that provides an all-in-one messaging with tasks, notes, files and so much more.

Rock is so effective that it avoids teams having to plan a retrospective altogether at times. Let’s be honest. Too many of us spend an absurd amount of time in unproductive meetings, according to the Harvard Business Review.

Stay mindful of the relevance of scheduling a retrospective. Meeting every day might be less productive compared to a retrospective every 2 weeks or once a month.

How to run a retrospective with Rock

Rock makes it so that not only the retrospective runs smoothly, but also the aftermath that follows. Employees can easily implement the goals defined in the retrospective with quick access to all the necessary materials:

• Meetings: Jump on a Zoom or Google Meet call for your retrospective.
• Tasks: Manage tasks, assign them to employees, and even start a new sprint. Managers can add labels and filters to these including their urgency.
• Notes: Attach a video of the retrospective and upload it with notes so it is easily accessible to all. Team members can also comment on any feedback and additional questions with notes or files. You can also send out a video loom where you present the discussion guidelines prior to the retrospective.
• Files: Connect cloud storage providers to your space and attach cloud files from Google Drive, Dropbox, Onedrive and more to your tasks and notes.

A retrospective with Rock is also a lot less time-consuming. Rock brings together different ways to communicate such messages, tasks, files and notes into one place. Tightly connected, you can add files to notes or mention tasks in messages.

All in all, the key to conducting a successful remote retrospective is having access to the right online retrospective tools.

As an all-in-one alternative, Rock provides full-fledged project management functionality in one place. Features allow both employees, managers and external stakeholders to prepare, conduct, and participate in retrospectives in an intuitive manner.

Workspaces have arrived! With workspaces, you can easily group and manage spaces and people together in one place. Set up a workspace for your marketing team, a specific client, or any other functional team and give everybody access to the same spaces by sharing the workspace link. Invite people to your workspace and manage their permissions and access from your workspace settings.

This release also includes a Rock bot for Slack, pinboard across devices, and reminders to make sure you don’t miss important deadlines.

Read along to learn more about this release!

Workspaces

You can now organize your team and spaces in a single place with workspaces. Once you create a workspace, everyone is directly added to it. Quickly onboard new people to Rock and have them communicate and collaborate in multiple spaces without sending separate space invites.

Everyone you invite to a workspace will have access to all selected spaces. Workspaces allow you to get your team more organized in a bunch of different ways:

• Add or remove spaces from a workspace so everyone has access to the right set of spaces.
• Quickly invite users to your workspace with a workspace link or by email. You can add a pin code to entering your workspace as an additional security measure.
• Manage user permissions for all spaces in a workspace with guest, member, or admin permissions for each user in your workspace.
• Add, manage and remove users from your workspace with a dedicated user management panel.

Workspaces can be used in a lot of different ways. Here are some suggestions from the Rock team:

1. Communicate with your team

Most teams have multiple spaces where everyone from the team should be present. Think of an All-Hands for company announcements or a watercooler/random space where your team can share memes, GIFs, or non-work related topics. Each new workspace comes with 4 spaces to get things going with your team:

• All hands: General communications, announcements and team discussions.
• Random: Your very own water cooler space. Share GIFs, memes and get to know your team better!
• Goals & Objectives: What are you trying to achieve as a team? Set milestones, goals and objectives and track them with this space.
• Resource Center: Rock is all about documentation. Connect cloud file storage providers, upload documents and define company policies in notes or topics.

You can easily manage spaces once the workspace has been created. Add more spaces, adjust the template spaces, or remove them if you don’t need them.

2. Building communities with workspaces

Want to bring everyone together in a community? Workspaces are the solution you have been looking for! Each Rock space accommodates up to 500 people and can be used for messaging, topics, notes, tasks, and so much more!

Bring together your community on Rock with your workspace’s very own Quick Connect link or manually send email invites to the users you want to add to your community. Workspace admins can quickly make sure users have guest or member permissions in all spaces. Give a new moderator admin status in all spaces or remove a user if they are no longer welcome in the community.

3. Workspaces for different business functions

If you have different business functions in your team such as marketing, engineering, customer support, or operations - workspaces can make it so much easier to get things organized. Create workspaces by business function and invite relevant people to more easily manage your different workflows.

Quickly start new projects without sending invites as everyone in the workspace is directly added. New hires or team members can also be seamlessly added to the whole workspace, so they always have access to the spaces they need to be in.

4. Client and partner workspaces

Bring client attention and support to the next level with workspaces. Use multiple spaces for different activities and make sure that clients get the care and attention they deserve. Manage the members in a client workspace to make sure that the correct account manager, support or salesperson is connected with the client across spaces.

Workspaces across the free and paid plans

Workspaces are available for both the free and paid plans. While every free user gets 1 workspace with up to 10 spaces, paid plans get a higher limit on the number of workspaces and spaces that can be added to each. Here’s how it works:

• FREE: 1 workspace with up to 10 Spaces
• PRO: 3 workspaces with up to 20 Spaces
• TEAMS5: 10 workspaces with up to 50 Spaces

TEAMS 10, 20 and 30 will have more workspaces with the same space limit. Curious to learn more about workspaces? Check out this dedicated guide.

Rock bot for Slack

Receive notifications on Slack for Rock updates. This Rock bot for Slack allows you to set up custom notifications in Slack when new tasks, notes or topics are created in Rock. You can also configure the bot to receive an update in Slack when a task, note or topic is edited on Rock.

The notification message on Slack you receive contains a direct link to Rock alongside some object details including the title, description and author of the new object. For object updates you receive a message with a direct link to the task, note or topic that was changed on Rock.

Curious to learn more about the Rock bot for Slack? Check out this dedicated product guide!

Note: Your space needs to be changed to PRO if you want to set up a Rock to Slack automation.

Pinboard across devices [PRO & TEAMS]

In addition to the pinboard feature on mobile launched with the previous release, you can now also pin items relevant to your space on web and desktop. The pinboard was added to Rock spaces to make it easier to document and centralize important communications.

You can store tasks, notes, messages, and so much more in a panel accessible to everyone in a space.

Pinboards can be a powerful tool for teams that are looking into setting up a dedicated knowledge base, releasing frequent announcements, have urgent activities that involve everyone in a space, or anything else that involves most users in a space.

You can access the feature in PRO spaces by clicking on the pin icon next to the space name. Curious to learn more about the pinboard? Check out this dedicated product guide for more information!

Reminders

Don’t leave your tasks hanging with reminders! You can now set reminders on Tasks to receive a notification in advance of the official due date. There are currently 5 different reminders you can configure:

• 5 minutes before the due date
• 10 minutes before the due date
• 30 minutes before the due date
• 1 hour before the due date
• 1 day before the due date

You can also select which user receives the reminder on a task. Note that only the assignees and the person setting the reminder will appear in the panel.If you want to select anyone else, you will have to add them as an assignee.

Mobile updates

We have added a bunch of improvements to the mobile experience.

This product release includes the following changes and fixes to the mobile apps:

• Workspaces: Collaborate in more organized ways by organizing your team and spaces in a single place.
• Reminders: Set custom reminders for tasks to never miss a deadline again!
• Rock bot for Slack: Configure a Rock bot in your Slack space to receive notifications for updates to tasks, notes and topics on Rock.
• A whole lot of bug fixes and smaller improvements.

Download the mobile app

Questions about this release? Feel free to leave us a message in the Rock Support & Updates space or open a space with us.

To be a successful project manager it’s crucial to master the implementation of project management frameworks (PMFs). The last thing you want is to jump from project to project without making important deadlines or wrap up projects with sub-quality work.

Frameworks provide different ways to organize and manage tasks and resources within a single project. Important elements include a clear-cut overview of what needs to be done, who is in charge of each activity and a timeline.

Understanding the most common PMFs, how to implement them and how to decide which one is the most suitable for you can come in handy regardless of industry. Whether you're in IT, marketing, freelance or recruiting, these frameworks can bring more structure, accountability and documentation to your projects.

What is a project management framework?

A project management framework is a set of rules and activities that organize the management of different stages of a project, from planning to execution and monitoring. Implementing such a framework provides project managers with a way to track progress and ensure that the different stages and tasks are completed on time.

Project managers often use task management software to delegate activities, keep track of work and manage the different stages of the project management framework.

Why Is Having a Project Management Framework Important?

Project management frameworks help your team complete overall projects, tasks, and timelines efficiently. However, not all project management frameworks are created equal. Each has its pros, cons, and characteristics that may or may not align with your project type.

Having a well-defined process becomes especially critical with asynchronous work. People need to follow the same steps and understand the overall framework so information can be passed between team members without too much delay.

The main goal of project management frameworks is to ensure that a final deliverable is completed on time, within budget, and without errors. Also, it keeps everyone accountable for their tasks and responsibilities while also providing easy to access documentation.

What is the Lifecycle of a Project Management Framework?

The lifecycle of a project management framework consists of four phases: initiation, planning, execution, and controlling or monitoring. These phases are interrelated and work together to ensure your project is completed on time and within budget.

Below is a brief overview of each stage of the process:

1 Initiation

Creating a plan for your project is essential because it allows you to stay on track and achieve your goal. The initiation phase is where you would define the scope of your project and discuss final deliverables with stakeholders.

Understanding the purpose behind the project and defining measurable outcomes is essential. In this phase, you define what you want to achieve with the project and identify what tools you need. Then, you can determine how much time and resources are necessary for the project to succeed.

2 Planning

The planning phase involves creating a work breakdown structure (WBS). A WBS is essentially an outline that shows how each task contributes toward achieving an objective. This WBS breaks down an overall goal into smaller, more manageable pieces you can assign to team members.

Each task should have a description detailing its deliverable(s), who is in charge of completing the activity, urgency, start and due dates, etc. During this time, you also create your resource calendar by assigning resources to tasks based on their availability (or anticipated availability).

Resources can be anything from time availability of team members, financial resources or dedicated software required to complete the activity.

Communicating your ideas and opinions to your team is essential during this stage. The input is helpful to get a more realistic take on how long certain activities might take, who should be in charge, and what to expect of the final output.

You should also identify risks involved with your project and decide how to avoid them or deal with them if they happen.

3 Execution

Execution is one of the most crucial stages in project management because it determines whether the project will be successful. A project can be completed on time and within budget if executed well. However, if executed poorly, a project may fail or require additional resources and time to complete.

The goals of the execution stage for the project manager include:

• Ensure teams have adequate resources to complete their tasks
• Identify any bottlenecks that affect project progress
• Manage the scope and schedule of task assignments so teams can complete them on time
• Check that all deliverables conform to specifications and are ready for acceptance testing

How you execute a project is especially important for remote teams. During this stage, many projects fall apart because they don't have clear roles and responsibilities. Another problem could be that individuals don't understand their deliverables.

4 Controlling and Monitoring

Once execution has begun, it's crucial to monitor progress on an ongoing basis so that adjustments can be made as needed. Project managers should also watch for problems during execution to address them quickly before they become significant problems affecting completion dates.

During control, you use metrics to gauge the success of your project so far. These metrics will be included in your sprint retrospective meetings if you're using Agile methods such as Scrum or Kanban.

Manage daily activities effectively to gain more control over your time. You need to see what each team member is doing during the day and what you want to accomplish.

Finally, you analyze your progress against your original plans, make changes, and update schedules, if necessary, to stay on track.

A project management framework template allows you to organize your projects without starting from scratch. It is a step-by-step process that helps you complete your project on time and within budget.

The 4 Most Common Project Management Frameworks

There are many different project management frameworks, but the most common ones are Waterfall, Agile, Scrum, and Kanban. Each framework has a slightly different approach to project management, but they are equally effective.

Learn more about the four project management framework examples below.

Waterfall Project Management Framework

Sequential phases of work characterize a waterfall management framework. The stages include analysis, design, and implementation. This framework is known as the "waterfall" model because it typically proceeds downward.

This project management approach is the most traditional, where all phases are completed before the next phase begins. The framework is a project management process based on the idea that each step in the process is a deliverable that needs to be wrapped up before moving on.

The waterfall project management process has a defined beginning, middle, and end. The process begins when the project manager has a clear idea of what the final output should be. At this point, the project manager defines resources, sets goals, and defines the project's scope.

The framework has five basic steps:

1. Requirement analysis – Define goals for the project and identify potential problems that may arise during its execution.
2. Design – Perform detailed planning based on the WBS created during preparation.
3. Implementation – Execute tasks based on plans, control their progress, manage changes and risks, complete quality assurance activities, etc.
4. Testing: Test whether functionality at the end of each stage aligns with the initially set goal.
5. Deployment and maintenance – This phase reflects on the benefits of implementing a solution and determines whether it is worth investing further.

Finally, if the project fails or the frame changes, you repeat the project from the beginning with the new goal.

Pros of the Waterfall Model

• The waterfall model is often effective because it focuses on the end result and what should happen after each stage is completed.
• Clear goals leave a holistic vision of what the project timeline, scope and resources look like from a very early stage.

Cons of the Waterfall Model

• The Waterfall model has been criticized for its inability to respond to changing market conditions, technical issues, or other unexpected problems.
• The model requires completing each phase before moving on to the next. This results in very little room for feedback or changes once you move to the next stage.

When to Use the Waterfall Framework

The Waterfall is popular among large companies with highly structured processes.

It's most suitable for large projects with clear start and end dates and doesn't require frequent changes during development. The waterfall model is typically for longer-term projects requiring a comprehensive plan or process to follow closely to ensure completion.

Alternatively, if you want to complete everything in one phase before progressing to the next step in a project, the Waterfall framework is a valuable plan.

Agile Project Management Framework

Agile project management frameworks are software development methodologies that focus on adapting to change rather than following a predefined plan.

It's a lightweight approach to project management that incorporates many of the best practices from Lean, Six Sigma, and other methodologies. These frameworks offer the flexibility required for business environments that are constantly changing.

This framework requires frequent collaboration between teams who work in short cycles called "iterations." Iterations help teams deliver at regular intervals (usually two weeks) to get clients' feedback throughout the process.

The Agile approach to project management comprises the following:

• Agile product vision – A product vision is not a written document but a mental picture. The product owner describes it verbally and writes it down if necessary.
• Documentation (e.g., user stories, product backlog) – File storage and information keeping processes have everyone on the same page.
• Product backlog – Product backlogs are used to forecast and plan upcoming releases of features or software development activities (called sprints).
• Sprints – Sprints are iterations that last between one and two weeks. Often, you use sprints to develop working software.

The Agile framework meets customer needs through iterative development cycles and frequent delivery of working software. This approach is more adaptive than the Waterfall framework, which means it can address changes in requirements during development without causing delays or cost overruns.

Pros of the Agile Model

• Agile projects are customer-centric.
• Agile projects are flexible because they build upon prior work rather than requiring you to start from scratch each time a new phase begins.
• You can quickly change direction as needed.

Cons of the Agile Model

• The flexibility comes with trade-offs in speed and predictability. You won't know exactly when you will be done until later in the project lifecycle.
• It can be challenging to manage stakeholders, resources and timeline for very large projects as projects can quickly grow out of control.

When to Use the Agile Framework

The Agile framework works best when a project is small or highly innovative. When you need to prioritize the customer, an Agile project framework could be one of the best options.

Agile projects are often used in software development and other industries like manufacturing and innovation.

They work well in situations where your team needs to change direction frequently or where there's uncertainty about what will happen next. There are two common Agile methodologies often user: Scrum and Kanban. We'll go over each one in more detail next.

Scrum Project Management Framework

The Scrum project management framework is a highly structured and usually time-boxed Agile methodology that uses a team of cross-functional experts to build a complex product, think of mobile app development, new SaaS applications, or other large-scale projects that require a broad skill set within a team to be completed.

The goal of using Scrum is to produce valuable deliverables in short cycles. It's best for teams of up to nine people, but you can scale it as needed. Some common activities in the Scrum methodology:

• Sprint Planning – In this stage, the team gets together and decide what they'll work on during the upcoming sprint. They often focus on one feature at a time and plan how long it will take them to complete it.
• Team Standup – In this update, everyone on the team answers three simple questions: What did you do yesterday? What will you do today? Are obstacles standing in the way? This update can be done daily or weekly depending on the relevance of the updates between team members. At any given time, you can address problems before they get out of hand.
• Sprint Review – This demo session allows stakeholders to see what the team has been working on over the past few weeks or months. Often, you'll have a live demo or presentation showing the deliverables.

Each team member can be responsible for multiple roles throughout the project. As an Agile methodology, Scrum uses smaller iterations but has more defined roles with specific responsibilities and meetings to keep project members on track.

Pros of the Scrum Model

• One of the fastest ways to complete deliverables.
• Sprints divide the project into easily manageable tasks.
• The framework is flexible, which means it can fit the type of project you are working on.

Cons of the Scrum Model

• It can be challenging to onboard a team to scrum if they’re not yet familiar with project management frameworks.
• It may be challenging to scale the project framework to larger teams across a lot of different divisions.

When to Use the Scrum Framework

As a guideline, the Scrum process might be the best method to use when your project involves a long list of tasks. The model is also suitable if you often encounter bottlenecks or when you cannot estimate the completion date.

Scrum is most effective when you have groups of people across divisions who need to collaborate, like software developers with designers and product managers.

Scrum can be useful in many industries, from manufacturing and retail to healthcare and IT services.

Kanban Project Management Framework

The Kanban framework is a project management methodology developed by Toyota in the 1950s. It's based on lean manufacturing methods and uses cards, boards, and bins to visualize workflows.

The project manager is responsible for setting up the board, defining tasks, and assigning them to team members. Kanban's primary goal is to help teams visualize work, prioritize and limit work-in-progress (WIP), and eliminate bottlenecks to improve productivity and flow.

Two critical concepts behind Kanban:

1. Work in process (WIP) limit: The maximum number of tasks executed at any given time. To increase productivity, you should reduce WIP as much as possible by limiting the number of open items on your board. The fewer items you have on your board, your focus will be better.
2. Visualization: Kanban boards are typically visualized using a card system on a task board. The card columns represent different stages of completion (to do, in progress, completed). Cards move from column to column through various stages in their workflow. As a result, teams can visualize their progress more quickly than by using lists or spreadsheets.

Kanban uses a board with columns representing different stages in the project lifecycle (e.g., concept, design, development, etc.). Cards represent tasks and move between the various columns as they pass different stages in the process.

The Kanban board can take many forms. You don't need a physical board with post-it notes. Instead, you can use remote work tools that track tasks in progress, what needs to happen next, and when each job will be completed.

As tasks move down through each column, they're checked off so everyone knows what's complete and what still needs doing before they can move on to the next stage in their workflow.

Pros of the Kanban Model

• It is an excellent framework for identifying what is essential and what is not.
• You can use the Kanban framework in many industries, from software development to manufacturing and retail.

Cons of the Kanban Model

• Can be hard to implement if your project is not easily separated into smaller tasks
• Challenging or not optimal to use if there are no predefined stages for activities in your project.

When to Use the Kanban Framework

Kanban is a simple project management framework that helps teams visualize work.

It's an excellent fit for both complex and simple projects with multiple stages of completion. The Kanban methodology was initially developed at Toyota in the 1950s as an alternative way to optimize manufacturing workflows. Since then, many industries have adopted the model.

Kanban works best when you have multiple people working on a team that needs to collaborate on tasks or projects with multiple phases or steps.

How to Deploy a Project Management Framework

The project management process can be daunting, but Rock ensures your work process is easier and more productive. By using specific features in Rock, you can organize any project according to your chosen project framework.

Below are some ways to help you manage your workflows to succeed in your project management process.

Kanban in every space with a task board

In Rock, if you go to the Tasks mini-app, you can find an option to view tasks according to the board view. This board view allows you to leverage the Kanban framework with options like:

• List - What stage of a process is a task in? E.g. to-do, doing, done.
• Assignees – Assign one or multiple team members to a task.
• Assignee status - individual status: none, in progress, blocked or completed.
• Followers - Any people that want to receive notifications but not assigned to the work.
• Comments - Discuss at the task level
• Start dates – Add a start date to your task.
• Due dates – Add a due date to your task.
• Priorities – Set the urgency for each task.
• Labels – Create labels like 'in progress,' 'reviewing,' or 'sent to the client.'
• Checklists - Are there smaller activities within a task? Add them in a check list format.
• Attachments - Add files from your device or cloud storage providers such as Dropbox, OneDrive and Figma.
• Sprints - Assign a task to a sprint.
• Custom fields - Additional fields tasks may have, including dropdown menus and large or short text fields.

Check that everyone on the team understands their role in the project and how they fit into the larger picture. You can move tasks between stages as your project progresses. Then, list how much time and resources you need for the project.

Calendar View

For frameworks like Waterfall, the calendar view is an essential feature. You can view task deadlines and set project timelines.

For example, if you have a task without deadlines, you can still indicate a timeframe during which an assignee should be working on the task by adding start and due dates.

This feature is helpful for the Waterfall framework because it allows you to see how various activities are organized by date. So, you'll easily know what date tasks are due within specific project stages.

File Integration

Rock's file management system enables you to share project-related files with the team. Add files to your tasks, notes or overall project spaces to keep documentation easily accessible. You can connect your cloud storage provider with the files mini-app.

You can include:

• Google Drive
• Dropbox
• OneDrive
• Figma
• Adobe Creative Cloud
• Smartsheet
• Miro
• Notion

Rock's Files mini-app is fully integrated with tasks and notes. You can attach important information to activities or documentation and easily access information without having to share links.

Tap to Organize

Suppose you click on a message in a space. Let's say someone leaves a chat message relevant to one of the tasks in my project. You can easily move that message into an existing task. You can also create a topic or a note if there are messages you need to discuss further. This way, you can ensure that no information goes missing.

Quickly move messages to tasks, notes or comments on Rock. You can also move messages into new tasks or add them to comments on already existing tasks. Similarly, you can drag and drop the information into comments to make discussions more actionable.

Additional Rock PRO Tools

Under the PRO and TEAMS plans, you gain the additional ability to automate tasks.

For example, suppose you receive emails or information from third-party sources. You can integrate these platforms with Rock using webhooks and unite all your data in one project management tool. You can set up bots to automatically create tasks and more.

Some integrations include:

• GitHub
• Zapier
• Rollbar

The PRO and TEAMS plan both offer a dedicated sprint feature. Add start and due dates to organize work by sprint quickly. Once you add sprints to a few different screens on your board, you can manage them in convenient ways. For example, you can filter tasks and organize your progress board using sprints.

Final Thoughts

Instead of logging in to multiple platforms daily, Rock helps you quickly bring your project information together. There's no need to sign in to the workspace whenever you want to view an update. In addition, team members can send messages and create tasks without switching between platforms.

Project management can be challenging at first. It needs you to be organized, focused, and dedicated to the project. But all these traits are not enough. You need a proper framework.

When a project has a framework, it is much easier to set up more productive communication strategies with other team members. You'll find a framework especially helpful in asynchronous work to ensure the project is completed without any delays.

Fosca Cordidonne started using Rock a little over a year ago. Rock became her go-to project management and messaging platform after an online search for alternatives.

"I find Rock to be far superior to any other tool I've tried (and I assure you I've tried pretty much all of them!)" says Fosca.

Fosca works as a UX/UI designer and low-code developer. As a digital artisan she focuses on creating digital experiences for startups, small businesses and other clients. Her projects include websites and other personalised digital products and experiences.

In her free time she enjoys retrogaming and pizza, something very typical for creative and low-code freelancers, she says!

Reliable and all-in-one functionality makes it easier for freelancers like Fosca to get work done

Fosca says that what makes Rock great for her is the combination of tasks, messaging, and files in a single tool. Many other popular tools do not have that all-in-one approach. Most tools either focus on project management or on communication but not both at once.

Quick and personal support is also a highlight of Fosca’s experience on Rock: ‘Last but not least, the best support experience I have ever had! The team continually seeks feedback from its users and is so easy to get in touch with.’

Day-to-day client management becomes a breeze with all-in-one messaging

When working with many different clients as a freelancer, collaborating through different channels can become a real challenge.

‘As soon as I started freelancing for startups, I realized that I urgently needed a platform where I could easily save documents, assign tasks and communicate with my clients.’

‍Getting work done in one place is the safest way to make sure that nothing gets missed out. It also helps keep everyone on the same page. Fosca creates a space for every client or organization she works with.

She continues all communication, collaboration, tasks, and file sharing in that dedicated space. This way everything can be accessed easily by all parties involved.

Her clients often start using Rock as well. Fosca says, I show clients how to use Rock, they become autonomous and start creating tasks, notes or topics themselves.’ Clients get used to Rock and the collaboration within the platform becomes even smoother. Because Rock is very intuitive and simple to use, clients get on board in no time!

Rock + Notion + Cosmos is all Fosca needs to manage her client communication and collaboration

Three online platforms are crucial for Fosca’s online communication and collaboration. She uses a combination of Rock, Notion and Cosmos to document information, give work updates and connect in-person when needed.

Cosmos is a virtual office where Fosca and her clients meet up synchronously. Often used by remote and hybrid teams, Cosmos creates personal experiences and a sense of belonging to the remote workers.

New users can create avatars, personalize their office space and mingle with others. It gives a great personal touch when communicating in remote environments!

Fosca uses Notion for file storage and documentation. Clients can quickly access relevant project information, design wiki’s and important docs in an organized manner.

Rock offers a Notion integration which allows users to add project information directly into the Files mini-app. This way freelancers like Fosca can quickly share new updates with clients, and even attach Notion files to tasks.

Rock brings everything together with integrated messaging and tasks. The combination of Cosmos + Notion + Rock allows freelancers to truly balance synchronous and asynchronous work.

This combination allows Fosca to reduce the number of apps she uses on the daily, and collaborate in a few places only!

What Rock functionality should freelancers check out?

Fosca highlights two features to check out for freelancers: the Topics mini-app and calendar view in the Tasks mini-app.The Topics mini app can be a powerful ally for freelancers.

‘It’s great to have conversations organized by topic inside a space. It gives our communication more structure.’

The Topics mini-app can be compared to threads, but more organized. It works well when you aim to discuss things asynchronously, as everyone can respond to a topic in their own time and still keep it well structured!

You can also quickly find information or discussions back as you don’t have to scroll past thousands of messages. You can learn more about the Topics mini-app here.

Fosca also recommends checking out the calendar view in the Tasks mini-app. Time management is essential for freelancers and the calendar view helps to improve it. It allows freelancers to keep track of important deadlines or show deliverable dates to clients with a timeline.

It is also possible to create, edit and filter tasks from the Calendar View which enhances your overview on projects.

How to get started with Rock as a freelancer

Fosca recommends Rock to any freelancer who is looking for a reliable and feature-rich tool: ‘Explore Rock, there are many features that you haven't even noticed yet!’

Some tips from Fosca for freelancers who are starting to transform their work via Rock:

• Read guides on the help center: Rock has a lot of helpful material on how to use different mini-apps. Also, you can find step-by-step guides on integrations or imports from other tools.
• Bring your clients to Rock: centralize your communication by creating a dedicated space for each client. You can easily do that by sharing your Quick Connect link. Bring in a personal touch in your interactions by combining Rock with tools like Cosmos.
• Help clients become autonomous: once your clients are familiar with Rock, your work becomes so much easier! Help them to get on board by setting up a short session to introduce them to Rock. Alternatively, share relevant materials on getting started.
• Make use of cloud storage integrations: file sharing is important for any freelancer! Integrate your preferred storage tool. Besides Notion, you can integrate Figma, Google Drive, ACC, Dropbox and more.

Fosca’s first-hand experience shows that freelancers can enhance their productivity and go headache-free by using the all-in-one approach on Rock. Bringing your clients to one platform saves time and allows you to focus on the results!

If you would like to get to know more about Fosca’s work or/and her experience on Rock, feel free to get in touch with her via Rock, Linkedin, Instagram or Behance.

During the first 90 days at a new job, your new hire needs to learn the ropes and figure out how to succeed. By implementing a 90-day plan, you create a foundation for a new employee to thrive by integrating seamlessly into your company’s culture.

A good onboarding program can increase employee retention rates by 50%. A 90-day plan helps with the onboarding process by giving clear direction on what new hires need to accomplish in their first few weeks. In addition, employees receive the support and resources to succeed early on.

The goal for the first 90 days is not only for the new hire to meet their objectives but also to gain confidence in their ability to bring value. This way, employees can hit the ground running by the time they wrap up their first quarter with the company.

What is a 90-day plan?

A 90-day plan is a short-term guide for a new hire. It's a low-friction way to get started and create a sense of momentum. The idea behind the 90-day plan is that it provides a framework for what the employee should be doing over the next three months.

The first 90 days are critical for new employees, so it's essential to use this time to set them up for success. One of the most important goals of your 90-day plan is to help your new hire feel at home in their new position. For a productive start, they need the right resources (hardware, remote work tools, training, or anything else). This way, they can start contributing immediately.

A well-defined onboarding process is especially important when hiring remote employees. Explaining your communicating practices is even more critical when you can't meet face-to-face. Make new hires familiar with communication best practices to avoid a toxic work culture later on. New hires should feel included in your team from the start, whether you work fully remote or not.

What to include in a 90-day plan template

Implementing the 90-day plan makes the onboarding process more straightforward and effective. A properly-organized plan is crucial for the onboarding manager, coworkers, and the new hires themselves. There are three critical stages in any effective virtual onboarding program:

1. Onboarding Plan – The first step is setting up an onboarding plan that outlines how long it will take for a new hire to get up to speed and become productive within your organization (what to achieve in 30, 60, or 90 days). The length of time for different items should be based on how much training is required for remote employees to feel comfortable with activities.
2. Communication strategies – For remote employees to feel like they are part of the team, they need to have well-defined communication practices for the company. For example, explain who to reach out to for specific queries, how to send a meeting request, when to create a task, take notes, update work, send files, etc.
3. Learning milestones – Once you know what they need to accomplish over the next three months, it's time to create an actionable path with clear milestones over the 90 days (and beyond).

Task management software is one of the most effective ways to organize a 90-day plan. Tasks streamline activity tracking for everyone involved instead of juggling documents and excel sheets. Furthermore it makes it easier to discuss, involve stakeholders, and manage activities on an individual level.

Below is a 90-day business plan template to support an optimal onboarding experience with tasks. In this example, a sales hire.

30-day plan and goals

The first 30 days are about getting your new hires up-to-speed with their roles and responsibilities.

During this time, they'll be learning how to do their job while also getting familiar with company culture and processes.You can set up formal training programs and informal conversations with managers or peers for remote employees.

After the first 30 days on the job, each new hire should have a clear idea of what their role entails. Also, new hires should know how they fit into their department and company. Some goals to include during the first 30 days include:

1. Introduce yourself to your department
2. Meet your manager and coworkers by asking them about their interests, background, career, etc.
3. Get to know your team members’ roles/responsibilities
4. Read a list of resources about your company and its products/services (e.g., training videos, manuals)
5. Understand the competitive landscape: key competitors, company positioning, differentiation, etc.
6. Learn about the company's culture and history, its vision for the future, and its values
7. Become familiar with company policies and procedures
8. Shadow a coworker or manager to become more familiar with daily tasks in a full-time position. This way, employees can fully understand what activities the role entails and ask questions about their specific responsibilities if necessary.
9. Complete at least one position related deliverable, preferably more.

For each milestone in your 30-60-90 plan, you can also include specific goals to help your employee get there. These goals should be measurable and achievable within that time frame (no vague statements like “learn all our products”).

For example, consider a 90-day plan example with realistic and specific goals like completing tutorials one through five on how to use Salesforce within the first two weeks. You can create a task, assign the new hire, and set the deadline so they know when to work on it.

Once they're finished they can move it to the done list informing the onboarding manager that they looked through it. If they have questions they can just drop a comment in the task so the manager directly gets more context.

Steps to manage the first 30-days

The hire can become his own 30 60 90 day plan leader and involve or update different stakeholders without too much struggle. With assignees and followers, you can already get everyone connected to certain activities before the new hire even joins.

Create an onboarding timeline including regular check-ins over chat, tasks, asynchronous video and in-person meetings with their manager during the first few weeks. By staying in touch, you can ensure everyone is on track with their goals and that there are no questions about what needs to be done next. It'll also allow managers to provide feedback on how things are going so far and make necessary adjustments.

You can build lists using task management software instead of putting the information on a Google sheet. Individuals can view their duties for each list during the first 30 days, 60 days, or 90 days of work.First, you would invite employees and anybody relevant to the onboarding process to a virtual onboarding space. That way, new hires can tag someone when they need to ask a question.

In addition, you can arrange assignments into individual tasks.Opening each task lets you have a conversation about the activity and clarify details. In addition, you can include any checklist items, along with start and due dates.

Finally, you can add a resources list with tasks, or you can add the resources in the notes. You can include:

• Documents that describe the new hire's roles and responsibilities
• Expectations for work during the first few weeks
• Instructions for completing specific tasks
• Other relevant information

Similarly, you can use the Files mini-app for onboarding resources and directly connect relevant cloud files to the space, tasks and notes.

60-day plan and goals

Employees should feel ready to take on some work, the goals within the first 60 days should focus on getting fully comfortable in the role. Here are some goals you can set for your employees during their first 60 days on the job:

1. Master the company's products, services, or projects and how they fit into the overall organization strategy
2. Learn to proficiently use any software tools your department needs (such as a CRM or Design tool). Make sure to enlist new hires in a remote tech course if you have no internal resources or documentation for this.
3. Get to know the company's customers (if you're working directly with them) or at least understand the market segments that your products/services serve (this can be done through interviews or by reading past case studies)
4. Learn about the key internal stakeholders (e.g., HR) and their expectations about deliverables and performance metrics
5. Start building relationships with coworkers outside of your department who could be valuable allies in the future (e.g., if you want to help with cross-department projects or initiatives)
6. Become proficient at understanding what other departments need from you, and start delivering on those requests

In addition to learning about your company's products and services, it's also essential that new hires learn about the culture of your organization. The best way to communicate company culture is by talking with people inside and outside their department.

One of the most crucial parts of onboarding is helping new hires find their voice within company chat rooms to have a sense of belonging within their team. New employees should talk to others in their department and colleagues across departments.

Setting up a virtual water cooler or digital office environment for employees can facilitate such relationships.

Steps to manage the first 60-days

Suppose you have a question concerning a specific document. With a task management approach, the employee can ask a question within the task and mention the hiring manager. Then, the hiring manager receives a notification and can provide an answer.

As a result, communication is better organized and its easier to find the person responsible. Additionally, the ability to check off completed tasks is rewarding for the new hire. Watching that onboarding to-do list go from 20 tasks to 10 can feel like a great accomplishments in the first few days. At the same time, it gives a perspective of how far along the employee is in their onboarding.

On the management side, instead of meeting continuously you can switch to more asynchronous work. Schedule a monthly meeting to review how each procedure in a 30, 60, 90-day plan is doing and keep other communications going with messages and comments.

You can adjust filters in your virtual workspace to categorize everything included in the 30-day plan. Similarly, you can separate tasks by the 30 and 60-day plans together, or only the 60-day ones. Using deadlines helps new hires stay organized during the onboarding process.

Employees can easily switch to a calendar view to visualize which tasks need completing and when.

90-Day Plan and Goals

Once your new employee has been working for a couple of months, it's time to start thinking about the 90-day goals. The next step could include more advanced training or certifications. Also, you want to ensure they're ready for whatever comes next in their career path at your company.

Maybe it's not time for new hires to take on additional responsibilities or projects, but they must know where those opportunities lie. That way, they can start preparing themselves now rather than later.Below are five goals to consider as new employees move from day 60 to 90 at your company.

1. Become fully integrated with the company culture
2. Set performance metrics for monthly, quarterly, and annual reviews
3. Start building relationships with customers and clients, if applicable
4. Set up a network with mentors and other leaders within the organization
5. Assess where the involvement of the employee for the onboarding of new team members
6. Set up a process for suggesting new ideas or projects that could improve your company long-term

The 90-day business plan should include personal development goals. For example, learning new skills or taking classes could be options. Give your new employees autonomy by handing over some responsibility and letting them take ownership of their roles.

It's crucial to regularly communicate with your new hire while getting settled into their role (and even after joining the team). The more often new hires hear from their manager and coworkers, the more engaged they'll feel during their first few weeks.

As a result, companies experience better performance and long-term retention rates.

Steps to manage the first 90-days

Instead of creating a template that nobody uses, a hands-on idea of doing a 90-day onboarding plan is more effective and engaging. In addition, you feel like your team is connected to your onboarding experience.

During the last 30 days of onboarding, employees may consider inviting a mentor or manager to the virtual space. Anyone who wants to participate can join the discussion or start conversations. At the end of 90 days, it's time to evaluate your new employee's performance and determine whether she's meeting or exceeding expectations.

Check whether every item in the original list has been moved to done and create new tasks if necessary. You might want to keep this onboarding space for performance assessment, quarterly reviews or other relevant post-onboarding activities.

Additional Tips for Onboarding New Employees

In addition to the 90-day action plan template, here are some tips for onboarding remote employees:

• Provide detailed instructions on how to use software tools. Remember to attach instructional videos or files to each task to keep them organized.
• Train everyone who will interact with new hires during onboarding. These employees could be managers or someone else in HR, IT or their new team.
• Leverage asynchronous videos with tools like Loom so new hires can connect in a personal way. This way, employees can follow virtual meetings best practices and connect with multiple team members without scheduling too many meetings. Set clear expectations around job responsibilities so there aren't any surprises down the road.

When you're growing your team, keeping up with the onboarding process can be challenging. But one of the biggest mistakes you can make is not setting up an actionable plan.

Conclusion

Virtual onboarding programs rely more on technology to get the same work done compared to face-to-face. Help make the transition easier by outlining what you expect from new employees, what they expect from you, and how you prefer to communicate.

Manage your team onboarding with Rock to quickly integrate new hires into your workspaces and day-to-day project management. Organize all your data in one place and build a positive company culture.