1

The collaborative workplace:

Improving
employee
engagement
Introduction
Today’s teams work from cities all over the world, and technology In an effort to fill this gap, we crafted this in-depth guide on how

now enables them to communicate and collaborate instantly. 2018 to build and manage an effective and collaborative remote team,

reports are showing record numbers for remote workers, with as hold more efficient meetings, scale your company culture across the

many as 52% of global employees working remote at least once per globe, and capitalize on upcoming 2020 tech trends with clarity and

week. As we enter 2020 and beyond, this number is only expected to consistency.

grow. HubSpot’s 2019 remote work report states “remote work is a

key ingredient to building a high performing and diverse company”. “38% of remote workers and 15% of remote
Remote work is no longer the future, it is the present, and employees managers received no training on how to work
and managers alike must adapt - fast. remotely”
OwlLabs, 2019 study
As Michael Dell said, “Technology now allows people to connect

anytime, anywhere, to anyone in the world, from almost any device.

This is dramatically changing the way people work, facilitating

24/7 collaboration with colleagues who are dispersed across time

zones, countries, and continents.” This explosion of endpoints and

widespread, immediate collaboration spurs the need for centralized

management and a solution that helps you capture data and feedback

instantly and inclusively. As excited as workers might be for the

transition to a primarily remote workforce, studies show that we may

be ill-equipped.
Table of contents
Section 1: Collaborate with your team
Remote team management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
In-office vs. virtual teams: key management differences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Mic drop your meetings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Section 2: Scale your company culture

Bridge the gap between remote and in-office teams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Seamless communication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Gamify employee engagement: 3 unique ways . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Redefine your People Ops strategy: why safety matters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

Section 3: 2020: A clear vision for enterprise

Top tech tools and trends . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Cybersecurity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Customer collaboration: the benefits of interactive SKOs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Section 1:

Collaborate with
your team
 1

Remote
management
We live in the information economy Managing a remote team comes

where today’s top businesses with its own unique strategies and

increasingly rely on sophisticated considerations. Virtual team members

teams of employees rather than the often have different schedules,

output of sequestered individuals. roles, and communication styles,

Today’s complex work environments making team management a bit more

require the multi-layered perspectives, challenging. It’s important to know

experience, creativity, and talent of a that team members are available,

team. Businesses need to build better, completing tasks, and producing

stronger, and more cohesive teams, quality work. Because you’re not in the

but that isn’t easy! The foundation office with them all the time, this can

of a great team is a strong sense be more complex than in-person team

of comradery and collaboration. management.

Effective team management focuses

How can a manager improve virtual
on building a collaborative spirit within
team collaboration? It can be as simple
both the virtual or office workplace.
and as seamless as integrating key
How can today’s managers improve
software into your daily management
collaboration, and, ultimately, their
routine.
company’s bottom line?
 2

Implement a task management software

Task management may be without the confetti and fanfare of other

software, but it is possibly the most crucial software for your team’s

success. Tools like Asana, Flow, Workfront, or other collaborative task Try this: Using Poll Everywhere, survey your team to find out which

management software ensures visibility into project statuses and software they would like best. Then, take the top-voted options and

timely completion. Most task management software has the ability to set-up trial periods with them (most task management software has

store documents for easy access from any device, anywhere. at least a 7-day trial period) so you and your team can gain hands-on

experience and make an informed decision.

Pro tip: Lengthy decision-making processes can lead to the dreaded

decision fatigue, reducing your ability to make good choices and

potentially leading to irrational trade-offs. Luckily, there are a few

ways you can avoid this: limit your team’s choices to no more than 3

options, set a decision deadline, and decide early. Studies have shown

that people make better decisions earlier in the day when their mental

acuity is sharp. Your team and your to-do list will thank you.
 3

Offer multiple forms of communication Schedule designated work hours

Communication is the cornerstone of a collaborative and efficient Virtual team management usually comes with employees in various

team. But, everyone’s styles of communicating may vary greatly. time zones and countries. To streamline communication and nurture

Offering various channels of communication allows people to choose collaboration, establish designated work hours that keep everyone in

what’s right for them and the situation. While a more formal request the loop as to when their team is available. Remote workers often set

might go through email, short messages might be better suited for their own schedules, but having dedicated work hours throughout the

organizational chat platforms like Slack, and last-minute emergencies day is great for virtual collaboration, meetings, and productivity.

might require a call or text. You can also set guidelines about how to

use each communication method.

Try this: Slack statuses can be a great way to provide both in-office

and virtual team members visibility into their coworkers’ availability.

Try this: Foster both formal and informal collaboration by setting Encourage your team to update their status to reflect when they’re on

up Slack for your team. If you’re managing a larger team, you could PTO, taking a coffee break, grabbing lunch, working heads down on a

even create channels for subdivisions of your team to ensure team tough project, or in a meeting.

members are only receiving notifications most relevant to them.

Poll Everywhere for Slack can be a great way to quickly take a vote or

gather feedback from your team.

Pro tip: Syncing Slack with Google Calendar will auto-update your

Slack status to reflect when you’re in a meeting. As a bonus, it will

even send you meeting notifications and reminders via Slack. Cheers

to automation!
 4

Meet virtually as often as you would Give your employees autonomy

in-office No one loves a micromanager, but even companies that give their

Working from different offices around the country, or maybe even employees some autonomy may not be going far enough. Employees

the globe, can require some creative thinking when it comes to want to feel like they have control over how they perform their jobs.

hosting team meetings. All-hands meetings, fireside chats, and virtual Offering your team more autonomy shows trust & respect and gives

employee trainings are great ways to keep your team in the loop, employees a feeling of ownership over their work. A study performed

celebrate wins, and set goals. Today’s technology makes it easy to at the University of Birmingham surveyed 20,000 employees

video call, collaborate virtually, and engage your team in real-time. and found that workplace autonomy has positive effects on job

satisfaction and employee wellbeing. Research conducted by the

Department for Business Innovation and Skills indicates an increase in

wellbeing is associated with improvements in work performance.

Try this: Bring life to your meetings by actively engaging employees.

Hosting a retrospective on big projects and releases can be a valuable

way to gather feedback and find areas for improvement. Creating a

competition to end your meeting offers the benefits of testing team Try this: Challenge employees to take more ownership of their jobs.

knowledge and gamifying the workplace. Encourage them to pitch their own projects or brainstorm ways they

can do more with less oversight. Also, you can give the opportunity

“Trust and rapport are even harder to build for them to manage a project you would have managed as an way to

when you are remote. Take every opportunity encourage growth and ownership in their role.

to meet face-to-face, even when you wouldn’t

have in the office.”
Cory Buecker, Business Engineer & Analytics Manager
 5

Set clear expectations

It may sound obvious, but employees need to know what leadership

expects from them in order to feel like they can succeed in their

careers. This requires managers to set clear goals and to provide Try this: Consider reworking your employee evaluation process.

consistent feedback to employees. Instead of conducting a single, nail-biting evaluation each year, try

creating a system of more regular and casual “feedback meetings”

Millennial workers, in particular, value feedback. As an article for
where you can provide clear, actionable feedback to employees.
Gallup Workplace explains, “Millennials have grown up in an era of
Biweekly or monthly one-on-one’s can be a great way to encourage
remarkable connectedness. They’re used to receiving instantaneous
your team to discuss goals, challenges, or questions they have.
feedback from parents, teachers and coaches.” A Gallup Workplace
Regular one-on-one’s have the added benefit of giving the manager
poll found that only 19% of millennials say they receive routine
a chance to offer support, realign objectives, and establish a
feedback at work.
strong relationship with their team. With busy work schedules and

upcoming deadlines, it might be tempting to cancel these meetings.

We encourage you not to do so. Frequent opportunities to give

and receive feedback is a critical component of any performance

management strategy.
 6

Offer opportunities for growth

We are long past the days when most workers viewed their careers as programs within your organization so you can effectively turn today’s

simply a means of earning a living. These days, employees view their best young employees into tomorrow’s powerhouse managers.

careers as a holistic part of their lives and expect continued growth

and development opportunities. Clarify the roles of each team member

Collaboration is often an organic process that blossoms when team
According to the American Psychological Association, “Opportunities
members begin to trust each other and feel secure about their place
for growth and development help employees expand their knowledge,
in the group. That starts by clearly defining the role of each team
skills and abilities, and apply the competencies they have gained to
member. Ensure that responsibilities are clear, so team members
new situations.” Business Insider outlines a few alarming workplace
aren’t trying to perform the same task or aren’t butting heads about
stats, stating that a lack of career growth is a key reason employees
who is responsible for what. Let team members know who reviews,
resign, and that “77% of employees feel they’re ‘on their own’ to
who approves, who can answer questions, et cetera.
develop their careers.”

With workplace engagement and career development top of mind for

employees, it’s more important than ever to focus your attention on

Try this: When forming your team, create a simple-to-understand
how to nurture employee learning, skill expansion, and career growth.
organizational chart or process chart that team members can

reference if they have questions about their roles and the roles of

others. Share this with other departments you work regularly with so

Try this: Review career growth opportunities within your company. they know who they can go to with questions.

Do you have a robust mentorship program? Do you offer tuition

reimbursement to employees? Look at ways to create development

 7

Show employees you care Increase work flexibility

Employees want to feel respected and supported in their careers. Today’s workers care more about achieving a good work-life balance

Sometimes, a “thank you for your work” goes a long way towards than ever before. Parents want to spend more time with their kids,

helping employees feel appreciated. Another way companies can younger workers want to leave early on Friday for a weekend getaway,

demonstrate how much they value their workforce is to offer highly and older workers want to spend more time with friends or on their

prized benefits, like health insurance, paid family leave, or even a gym personal hobbies.

membership.
According to the 2018 Retention Report, roughly 13% of respondents

Not every company has the funds to be able to offer each employee a switched jobs to achieve a better work-life balance, and the 2018

$2,000 annual vacation stipend like Airbnb or unlimited parental leave Global Talent Trends study reported that 51% of employees wanted

like Netflix, but that doesn’t mean you can’t find a fun way to show more flexible work options.

you care. How about bringing in lunch after the end of a big project

or using Poll Everywhere to host trivia contests every Friday with fun

prizes for the winners?

Try this: Consider offering flexible start and end times at the office,

or letting in-office employees work remotely periodically. When

designing vacation benefits, take the benefits and drawbacks of PTO

Try this: Survey your employees and ask them what workplace and unlimited vacation policies into account. Both vacation plans can

benefit they most want. Sit down with your management team and have varying effects on your employees, and the best fit for your team

determine how you can create fun, authentic employee appreciation will be based on your current company culture and the one you are

experiences for your team. trying to cultivate.

 8

Help team members get to know each other Meet in person when possible
Collaboration is a lot smoother when team members know and trust Although remote work is growing in popularity (more than 3.9 million

each other. That doesn’t happen overnight, but you can certainly Americans reported working from home sometimes or working

help speed up that process by creating opportunities for coworkers to remotely full-time), there’s something special about in-person

spend time together during office hours, outside the office, or through meetings. At Poll Everywhere, we reap the benefits of both worlds

a ‘remote hangout’ (a watercooler type chat via Google Hangouts or by hosting team and company-wide meetups twice a year. Team

other video meeting platforms). New hire welcome emails and casual members can put a face to a name, collaborate in-person, get to know

Slack channels are also great ways to foster deeper connections. It each other, and experience the benefits of osmotic communication.

could also be as simple as holding weekly trivia games on Friday using

Poll Everywhere Competitions or hosting a quarterly barbeque.

Try this: In addition to annual company-wide meetups, try fostering

in-person gatherings throughout the year. Your virtual team may live

Try this: Brainstorm some fun, stress-free activities that encourage thousands of miles apart, and in that case, consider trying out smaller

team building and collaboration (an interactive game of People team meetings that include employees who live close to each other.

Bingo works great, but more on that later). Set up topical Slack

channels to chat about shared interests like pets, movies, music,

home decor, cooking, or traveling. You might be surprised at how

quickly you can get to know remote coworkers whom you may have

never met in person!

 9

Gather feedback
Productivity and profitability thrive when employees are engaged and “The live Q&A is a special experience.
when collaboration and feedback are the standard. Research from It’s authentic, it’s unfiltered, and it’s
Gallup and McKinsey highlights the competitive advantage of a highly truly impactful.”
engaged workforce (hint: these companies outperform those without Thoey Bou, Director of People Ops at Poll Everywhere

by 147%).

Reward amazing teamwork

We have a unique way of anonymously gathering employee feedback
Your employees value feedback. One of the best ways to support
and turning it into a two-way conversation that identifies problems
collaboration is to reward it when you see it. Publicly acknowledge
and ultimately, their solutions. Our Chief Operating Officer, Sam
teams that are doing great work.
Cauthen, addresses each question or concern from the survey.

Try this: Make it a monthly or weekly tradition to highlight an

Try this: Gather your team and present the challenge or goal. Instead
individual or team that is doing an excellent job at your company.
of telling them your solution, solicit ideas and feedback. Ask the
Start your regular team meetings with the space to celebrate
opinion of everyone in the room, including your more introverted or
accomplishments across the team. Be authentic! If your praise feels
newest employees. If you’re worried about putting anyone on the
forced or hokey, it won’t mean much to your team.
spot, consider using an anonymous poll to gather feedback.
 10

Set, share, and track goals

Goals have the unique power to align, motivate, and inspire a team.

When colleagues collaborate to set goals, they create an environment

where everyone strives to perform their best. Every team needs a goal, Try this: Collaborate with your team to set a clear and simple

or goals, to accomplish. Maybe your team is working on a marketing goal vision. Include both personal and team milestones that help

campaign, creating a new project, or simply providing excellent everyone stay on track and facilitate coworking as often as needed.

customer service every day. Try the SMART (specific, measurable, As teams work hard to complete goals, many lessons are learned and

achievable, realistic, timely) method and set up regular meetings to insights are gained. Schedule a retrospective meeting to document

provide status updates and track progress. what went well, what didn’t, and what steps can be taken to improve

future processes
As organizations grow, it may be that a team’s goals involve more

than one team member. Ensure your team has visibility into both

the company’s and coworkers’ goals so they can better understand

how each person plays a role. Goal transparency is crucial for

Pro tip: When your team completes their goal, make sure there’s a
accountability and ultimately, success.
celebration planned to reward their hard work. This could include a

lunch outing, company-wide recognition, a half-day off, or even cake

delivered to the homes of your virtual team members (we like to do

that here at Poll Everywhere).

 11

In-office vs.
virtual teams:
key management
differences
Management isn’t easy, but it can be Andrew Hampton

the most rewarding part of any career. Full Stack Software

Engineer
There’s added skills when you’re

working remote – and managing, too. Andrew has been full-time remote

Recently, Poll Everywhere Marketing at Poll Everywhere for almost four

Manager, Courtney Rogin, made years, and working remotely for over

the remote plunge and learned the a decade. Here’s his tips on sustaining

challenges and benefits of working remote work for several years at the

fully remote. She wanted to learn same company:

from the best, so she reached out to

• Avoid distractions by keeping your
Poll Everywhere co-workers to see
office or workspace separate. This also
what advice they had for working and
makes it easier to walk away from work
managing remote.
at the end of the day.

• Keep your morning routine. I still get

up at the same time as when I went

into an office. I still get ready as if I

were leaving the house.

 12

Aimee Escobar Robert Graham

Director of Customer Director of Marketing

Success & Support

Aimee manages a large hybrid team (both in-office and remote Robert is our fearless marketing leader and has been with Poll

employees) while working full-time from our San Francisco HQ. She Everywhere for over five years and is the only director that works fully

shared her best tips on managing remote employees while being in- remote. Here’s how he manages a team of remotes while being remote.

office:
• Be extremely consistent about visibility of presence, punctuality,

• Check-in just as you would with in-office employees. Ask about their understanding expectations, and reporting on progress.

weekend, day or any personal matters.

• You will learn of many things later than others. If you learn of things

• Make their one-on-ones count. Plan an agenda accordingly and late, then you can be late or last to weigh in. You can be calm and

follow through on any action items. considered where others might be more reactive.

• Take advantage of remote visits by extending one-on-ones and • You may (especially if remote with coworkers in an office or closer

creating moments to bond such as team outings, activities. in proximity) be at a disadvantage to speak up in a timely way at

meetings. If you must miss out on serendipitous moments, then you

are afforded the opportunity for greater focus. Embrace it.

 13

Kyle McFarland Because virtual teams are potentially in different timezones, have

Apps Team Lead widely different working styles, and are not physically co-located,

building trust can be significantly harder. Humans are fundamentally

Kyle McFarland has previously managed the fully remote Apps team at social creatures and can easily turn on the innate “fight or flight”

Poll Everywhere. When asked about his insight into effective remote mode and quickly distrust remote team members if normal social

work and management, he cited trust and communication as some of queues are not present or misread in an interaction.

the hardest things to get right.

With remote work, a key element of trust is removed: I do what I say

I’m going to do, you believe, and you don’t see me do it. As a remote
“I’m fascinated with how proximity or being a
worker, it can be challenging to ensure others in the company see you
remote worker impacts trust with non-remote
do the things you say you are doing.
team members, other remote workers, or the
business. I’ve seen a lot written about this
topic, but what is most salient to me are the
three elements of trust; You believe I have Pro tip: Impeccable agreements. Because trust is easy to erode, Kyle’s

your best interests at heart, I do what I say team practiced a process called impeccable agreements, asking that

I am going to do consistently, and you see everyone writes down who will do what and by when. This simple

me perform these actions. I view these as yet powerful agreement process helps prevent dysfunction from

core dials for team success and even MORE escalating and sloppy agreements from forming. Having it written

important for remote team success.” down helps remote workers check in explicitly with others and acts as

a forcing function for us to ask the question, “Did you see me do this

and agree the agreement was accomplished?”

 14

Mic drop your

meetings
Meetings, when done right, can provide the root of the meeting problem:

incredible value to a business. They

allow teams to brainstorm, share “75% of people have

information, collaborate, and track received no formal
progress on goals. Meetings form training on how to
the cornerstone of any successful conduct a successful
team and play a critical role in the meeting”
efficient synthesis and distribution of David Grady and Jason Fried

information designed to keep members

aligned. Why then, are workplace The solution to our collective meeting

meetings dreaded by employees and miasma isn’t to eradicate meetings for

managers alike? Research from David all time and never speak their name

Grady and Jason Fried shows that again. Rather, it’s to improve how

50% of people find meetings to be meetings function so that they provide

unproductive and 73% of employees clear value to participants and help the

do other work in meetings. The cost of company complete its goals. In other

these wasted meetings is estimated at a words, good meetings depend on good

whopping $37 billion per year. Another meeting facilitation.

shocking statistic from Grady and

Fried’s study points to what could be

 15

Determine the best communication method Ask key questions

With so many options to choose from, Google Hangouts, Zoom, to name What are you working on today? What did you accomplish yesterday?

only a couple, selecting a tool that best fits your meeting has never What are your blockers? Daily standup meetings are an effective way to

been easier. Slack, for example, is great for quickly communicating with identify blockers, track progress, and gain insight on project statuses.

remote employees, and can also help facilitate meetings. Slack offers With Poll Everywhere, you can easily collect answers from your team

video calling options, allowing you to call employees directly through and record the data for later reference.

the app or call everyone related to one channel, such as the team
Keep it short
working on a certain client or project. For the most technical teams,
As we discussed before, meetings are costly to a business (calculate
Slack offers screen sharing and drawing on screen capabilities, making
the cost of yours here). Your meeting should only take as long as
it easy to explain how to use software or a program or troubleshoot a
absolutely necessary to achieve your goals. You’d be amazed at what
computer issue that your coworker may be having.
you can get done in 15 or 30 minutes when everyone at the table is
Check your tech motivated and engaged. The job-hunting website, Monster, suggests

Having high-quality audio and video technology will make all the that 45-minute meetings hit “the attention-span sweet spot.” All the

difference during your remote meetings. Make sure to test your way back in 2009, Harvard Business Review wrote about the power of

equipment and to have everything set up before the meeting starts. 50-minute meetings.

Investing in a pair of good headphones with a built-in microphone can Google’s Calendar app simplifies scheduling shorter meetings.

also help provide clear audio and minimize background noise for both Customize the default meeting duration within settings to the number

you and your meeting participants. of minutes that best fit you and your team. Additionally, enabling

Google’s “Speedy meetings” option automatically ends 30-minute

meetings 5 minutes early and 60-minute meetings 10 minutes early,

allowing for breathing room and much-needed bathroom breaks.

 16

Designate working hours on the calendar Only invite necessary members

app Many workers get dragged into meetings because it “might” be

One of the benefits of having a remote workforce is that employees useful for them to observe, but it’s probably more useful for them to

can work from anywhere, but this also means that you’ll have to spend that time doing their jobs if they aren’t really needed. When

schedule meetings around varying time zones. Tools like Every Time scheduling your meeting, consider who absolutely must attend and

Zone can help. only invite those individuals.

Come prepared Start on time, end on time

While tools like Asana aren’t exactly made for meeting facilitation, Time is a finite resource, which makes it nearly invaluable. Every

they are still great collaboration tools to organize your team’s work minute a worker sits in a meeting is a minute they can’t be working on

and know what everyone is working on. Using all this information, you their own projects. Start your meetings on time and keep an eye on

can easily come to your next meeting prepared to discuss the team’s the clock. Sometimes long meetings are inevitable, but usually, a good

progress, goals, and action items. Visibility into your team’s workflow facilitator can help the team wrap up on time or even a little early.

and tasks is key to hosting a successful meeting. Ensuring your team is adequately prepared prior to the meeting can

help keep them brief and productive.

Make an agenda
Creating an agenda may seem like obvious advice, but not everyone Set up a “virtual watercooler”
takes it. Before you call a meeting, figure out exactly what topics you Build in a few minutes at the beginning of the meeting to give remote

want to address and what you want to achieve. Provide everyone a employees the opportunity to chat casually. Scheduling time for

copy of the agenda prior to the meeting in order to give your team a casual conversations is great for team building and also prevents

chance to review and think of any questions they may have. this type of chatter from cutting into your precious meeting time.

Fun icebreakers or trivia questions are great activities for virtual

watercoolers and can also help employees get to know each other.
 17

Focus your discussion Outline next steps

Discussion time during a meeting is crucial for strong collaboration, Congratulations, you’ve successfully completed your meeting! Ensure

brainstorming, and team building, but it’s often the most likely point the progress made is not lost by sending a meeting recap email to

where the meeting can fall off the rails. As a facilitator, it’s your job to attendees. Include what was discussed, and by the time the meeting

keep the discussion focused and relevant. If someone starts to deviate is over, you should have accomplished your goal or at least made

too far from the topic at hand, pull it back and remind everyone again progress. Be sure to articulate that accomplishment so that your

about the meeting goal. Incorporating live polls into your meeting team feels good about the time they just spent. Close the meeting

discussions helps keep your team’s attention on the topic at hand and by ensuring team members are aware of pending action items, next

simultaneously keeps side conversations at bay. steps, and deadlines, so they can properly execute and follow up

where needed.
Provide everyone space to contribute
Extroverted employees, with their bold and confident personalities,

can sometimes outshine introverted ones, especially in meetings.

Make sure you ask for feedback from everyone so you can take the full

temperature of the room. Your more introverted team members may

have great contributions to make, especially when given the chance.

Poll Everywhere provides the perfect setting to gather feedback from

all your employees, no matter their personality type. You can even set

up an anonymous poll to gather more authentic feedback, especially

if the question is more sensitive in nature.

Section 2:

Scale your
company culture
 18

Bridge the gap

between remote
and onsite teams
There’s no quick and easy path to “…company culture comes
building company culture. And with a from the ground up. It’s
remote or hybrid team, it can be even the result of the collective
more challenging. If there’s one thing effort of your entire team,
we’re sure of, it’s that company culture every day.”
comes from the ground up. It’s the result

of the collective effort of your entire Since more than 40% of the Poll

team, every day. Although it may not be Everywhere team works remote, our

easy, it’s incredibly rewarding. Working Director of People Ops, Thoey Bou, has

remote benefits both the company and come up with a few ideas:

employee in countless ways, but remote

work can pose some key challenges

to workers including loneliness,

boredom, and isolation. So, how do you

build a culture of trust, productivity,

collaboration, and autonomy when

there are thousands of miles between

your team?
 19

Welcome emails Remote culture onboarding

Integrating newcomers into your culture is no easy task, especially With a team made up of more than 40% remote workers, we leave

with a remote team. Welcome emails are a great opportunity to allow nothing to chance when it comes to integrating new team members

your new team member to introduce themselves and become familiar into our culture. Complete with a detailed slideshow, we discuss

with the company’s culture. Personalize this initial correspondence by our company values, forms of communication, designated working

asking questions like (What is your hidden talent?), (What is something hours, Slack standards, and how we encourage fun and frequent

few people know about you?), (Tell us a fun fact!) As cheesy as these communication between in-office and remote team members.

questions may seem, they can really help make a new employee feel
Welcoming all newcomers into the fold with the same culture training
comfortable and encourage camaraderie with their new colleagues,
ensures the entire team is on the same page when it comes to key
both remote and in-office.
success factors including communication and expectations.

Schedule “remote hangouts”

People Bingo
Remote hangouts are exactly what they sound like: hanging out
Encourage new people to interact and get to know each other
remotely. These are fun, casual, ‘watercooler’ type conversations
with a fun game of People Bingo. Use Poll Everywhere to survey
designed to replicate the side dialogue employees would have in an
employees about their unique interests, hobbies, and quirks (this
office. Hosting these gatherings weekly is a great way to encourage
survey won’t work if it’s anonymous, so inform your participants that
bonding and learning new things about each other. Get creative and
their responses will be used to identify them). At your next company
make these your own! Fun things we’ve tried include our own version
gathering, meeting, or outing, randomize the facts and create a Bingo
of ‘MTV Cribs’ (a tour of remotes’ homes), ‘What’s in your fridge?’,
game for your team to play to kick off the event with a fun, engaging
funny polls to inspire conversation, and exciting life updates.
icebreaker. Include prizes for extra encouragement!
 20

Employee recognition Annual remote meeting

Recognizing your team for all their hard work is a critical piece At Poll Everywhere, we host biannual company-wide retreats. We

of the employee engagement pie. Celebrating birthdays, work use some of that time to gather our remote team members for a

anniversaries, and special life events has traditionally been done collaborative check-in. This is our chance to highlight pain points,

with paper cards full of handwritten praise. Except that in real-life address any roadblocks, issues, and gain insight into remote employee

(and in work-life), these celebratory cards leave much to be desired satisfaction and where we can make improvements.

in the form of handwritten anything. The reality looks more like

Our findings are summarized during an all-company townhall,
your office manager chasing down coworkers to add their signature,
discussing the pain points that the Operations team can help bridge.
misplacing the card under stacks of paper, and ultimately unable to
“When people realize others share their excitement or concern,
deliver said card to its intended recipient. And the larger your office
camaraderie spreads throughout the company and reminds us that
is, the more frustrating these challenges become. Paper cards also
we all carry these emotions inside us.”, explains Thoey Bou, Poll
have the unfortunate drawback of excluding remote workers from
Everywhere People Operations Director. This is also a great time to
congratulating their colleagues.
thank our team for the continued efforts of being inclusive of remotes

Welcome to the digital age where e-cards solve all the above and to remind us all of its importance.

problems. The unlimited space and timing e-cards provide can lead
Remote advocates
to an increase in signatures and more heartfelt comments. With
Meetings, both big and small, are challenging for remotes. It’s vital
Poll Everywhere, e-cards can be customized to fit the occasion and
that they are able to participate productively. Having a designated
the recipient’s personality (this is a great place to add a fun photo
remote advocate at every big meeting helps ensure remotes’ voices are
of the lucky employee!). Check out how we celebrate our team’s
heard when something technical goes wrong, i.e. audio/video doesn’t
Polleversaries (work anniversary, in Poll Everywhere lingo).
work, there’s an echo, etc. Making one person responsible for updating

meeting facilitators on any issues keeps communication streamlined.

 21

Seamless
communication
Successful businesses are built on good streamlining and improving workplace

communication. Poor communication communication for decades. Here are

skills between individuals, within three key ways technology leads to

teams, and across departments can effective communication:

cause friction in the workplace. This

can lead to confusion, frustration, “…poor communication is

and poor project outcomes. Most costing large corporations
importantly, poor communication (those with 100,000
can be expensive for a business. Very employees) roughly $62.4
expensive. The Holmes Report noted million a year, which
that poor communication costs large works out to $26,041
corporations (those with 100,000 in lost productivity per
employees) roughly $62.4 million a employee.”
year, which works out to $26,041 in lost

productivity per employee.

Technology can play a huge role in

improving communication between

individuals and across teams both

colocated and virtually. In fact,

technological advancements have been

 22

Asynchronous communication
The complexity of disseminating information increases rapidly as a The production of remote team communication can be quite stressful.

company grows. Remote leaders must stay tapped into the firehose First, it’s necessary to find a reliable communication technology,

of information, corralling it if it’s not clear or feels too ambiguous, then coordinate a time with others, ensure it all comes together, and

and monitor how effective the team is communicating externally and handle the inevitable technology failure gracefully. In the book, (How

internally. to Win Friends & Influence People), Dale Carnegie suggests one of the

most powerful ways to make a great impression is by simply wearing

Remote teams face unique communication challenges:
a genuine smile. For remote workers, a broken webcam or spotty

• Primary modes are written and async internet service could prevent the expression of a radiant smile. Could

that have a negative effect on a client or onboarding presentation?

• Higher barrier to verbally communicate with others
Do others think differently of you because you never show your face

• Must gauge critical social cues through the limitations of on camera? These are the questions remote managers must consider

communication technology since it’s so easy to take social interactions for granted.

Pro tip: Check-in more frequently than you want to and always

default to over-communication, even if it feels slightly uncomfortable.

It’s worse when the information is not shared and others think it is

being withheld.
 23

Encourage feedback Knowledge sharing

When employees feel that their voice isn’t heard or respected, there’s Every company produces vast amounts of important inter-company

no reason for them to speak up to offer innovative ideas or point knowledge, including internal policies, organizational procedures,

out potential problems. This represents a huge lost opportunity for memos, and product development information. The collective

businesses and could quickly lead to stagnation. (Find out more collaboration that knowledge sharing provides is one of the most

about five companies that excel at employee engagement.) CEOs and valuable factors in an organization’s success. It enables teams to

company leaders need to know what’s happening in their company be strategic, agile, and research and data-driven. A 2004 study from

and how their employees feel. Poll Everywhere’s unique approach Warwick University highlights the benefits of knowledge sharing,

to employee satisfaction and feedback allows companies to perform including improved relationships between employees. However, this

company-wide audits that provide valuable insight that leads to information is only valuable if it can be easily found and utilized,

solution-oriented dialogue. Design polls with customized questions especially for onboarding new employees. Tools like Notion, Elium,

and anonymous responses so your team can share their true feelings. and Helpjuice simplify creating an internal knowledge base that

Improving your company’s current level of workplace communication team members can comment on, update, and create all within the

may have a big impact on your workforce’s productivity, the dashboard.

satisfaction of your employees, and your bottom line. While

communication is a skill each individual employee can cultivate

and improve within themselves, the processes and technology you

implement in your business can make a big difference in how well

your employees and teams understand each other.

 24

Redefine your
People Ops
strategy: why
safety matters
The rise of employee engagement as a a focus on employee engagement as

concept dates back to the 1990s with “breaking all the rules.” Though for as

many citing the 1999 management far as this thinking has come in the last

classic, First Break All the Rules as thirty years, there is still a significant

the unofficial birth of the movement. amount of misunderstanding as to

Written by then Gallup consultants what it means to embrace employee

Marcus Buckingham and Curt engagement as a strategic imperative.

Coffman, the book relies on surveys Done well, it can change everything.

and interviews of 80,000 managers to

conclude that employee engagement “…there is still a

is necessary to drive company significant amount of
performance. misunderstanding as to
what it means to embrace
Today, the idea that employee
employee engagement
engagement is key to business
as a strategic imperative.
performance is far from revolutionary.
Done well, it can change
Not even the most entrenched human
everything.”
resources departments would view
Sam Cauthen, COO, Poll Everywhere
 25

Employee engagement at its core What makes people work

At its heart, employee engagement is about recognizing that your So first, what makes work enjoyable and engaging? Daniel Pink in his

employees are people. There’s not a “work person” and a “home book, Drive, describes the intrinsic motivators that drive us to expend

person.” They are the same person, for better or for worse. Employees effort. Based on an evaluation of years of social science research,

are full individuals with their own set of motivations and their own set he identified three types of motivators: a sense of autonomy or

of constraints. This may sound self-evident, but however much we as ownership over the work, an opportunity to mastery of the work, and

human resource professionals recognize this truism, so many of the finally, a sense of purpose or mission broader than yourself.

structures, processes, and policies we put in place completely ignore it.

Neel Doshi and Lindsay McGregor in their work, Primed to Perform,

A successful engagement strategy puts individual motivations and detailed a spectrum of motivators with the following three being the

constraints at its core, and constructs a system whereby those most powerful for driving performance: play or just sheer enjoyment

individual motivations and constraints are in sync with the broader in the work itself; purpose when you value the output of your work;

goals, mission, and constraints of the company. It’s not that an and potential when you believe that eventually the work will lead

individual pursuing their self-interest leads to the broader good. to something that is important to you. Those three lead to the most

Rather, it’s that an individual doing work that engages them - that is engagement in work and the highest work performance.

enjoyable to them - leads to company success.

Keeping those drivers of engagement in mind, here are the most

important factors in delivering a successful company employment

engagement strategy.
 26

Know where you stand at the high level Begin in the first conversation
If your organization chooses to embrace engagement as a strategy, These tools will help you understand the overall state of engagement,

you have to be able to define and measure it. You should understand but the real work of engagement as a strategy begins much earlier.

at the aggregate what engages your employees and how well you Engagement starts in the first conversation, before a candidate

enable that engagement. You have to know what drives them to becomes an employee.

excel and what captures their sense of potential. There are a variety
Most often talent acquisition is concerned with what the prospective
of frameworks and tools to assist leaders in understanding the
employee can do for the company. The interview process focuses on
state of motivation analytically and at scale, from the McKinsey
how well their knowledge and skills meet the requirements of the
Organizational Health Index to Gallup’s Q12 Engagement.
role and what they are likely to accomplish in the first 30, 60, and 90

If you’re starting from scratch and don’t have the budget for those days. You may also evaluate “cultural fit” or better yet, “cultural add,”

tools, you should begin with open-ended interviews and observations but those things are still about what the employee will do for your

of meetings and then use what you learn to inform broader surveys. company.

The goal is to define engagement for your organization and track it

Equally important to an engagement strategy is understanding what
over time.
the company can specifically offer to that employee. Part of the

recruiter screen should aim to understand what the person is looking

for in their next role and a clear headed view as to whether your

company and that role can provide it. Let’s say there’s a candidate

who equates professional growth and mastery with getting promoted

and managing a team. If you’re hiring for a small, non-hierarchical

team where those opportunities are limited, it will be more difficult to

engage them over the long term.

 27

Invest in knowing the individual

Managers have an outsized role to play in an engagement-oriented Employees are people first, and they have an intrinsic need for bonding

people strategy. The impact of a manager on an individual that does not automatically turn itself off between the hours of 8:00

employee’s motivation and work likely can’t be overstated, but there a.m. and 5:00 p.m. The best managers can understand and relate to

is a significant role for the people operations team to play. their team members’ inherently human motivations.

In the employee’s first experience with the company, people In a people-oriented strategy, people ops can facilitate opportunities

ops establishes the standards and expectations to be met in the for relationships to form through activities and team events. They

onboarding. They provide tools, communications, and in many can serve as a resource to managers in delivering for employees,

cases themselves deliver the company-wide components. This whether that be through additional training or care packages when

is a tremendous opportunity to underscore engagement. Your a family member is ill. In reviews, HR is well placed to ask questions

onboarding should focus less on rules and procedures, and much about individual motivations and morale. With a strong people ops

more on the company’s cultural values and the reasons why people team, these efforts are not dependent on the awareness of individual

work hard there. Use onboarding to tell the stories of mission, of managers nor are they happenstance. They are part of company

mastery, and of autonomy that have made a difference to your operations.

company and your customers. No one is engaged at work because

Ultimately, people ops must also be responsible for the boundaries
they know the company handbook.
that are important to maintaining professionalism. They set

People ops also has a role in establishing a culture that makes it expectations around employee behavior and address failures to

okay for managers to get to know their employees as people. In live up to those expectations. The consistency people ops provides

researching what makes a manager great, Gallup’s 2015 State of the enables that to happen well.

American Manager highlights the following:

 28

Cultivate safety Invest in shared purpose and shared

After extensive research under the name Project Aristotle, Google experiences
found that the most important determinant of team productivity was Finally, even as the individual is core to an engagement strategy,

the existence of psychological safety. This is a sense of mutual respect it is equally important to invest in a sense of shared mission and

and belief that individuals will not be penalized for expressing their community. To succeed, a company must be more than a collection of

views. individuals. It must be a system of teams oriented towards the same

north star and with a sense of shared history and trajectory.

The cultivation of psychological safety is a necessary condition

to an employee engagement strategy. Not only is there a drain on A sense of mission and purpose is one of the most powerful drivers

productivity in its absence, but it’s difficult to imagine how you might of engagement. While not all companies set out to save the world,

be people-centered without it. The cultivation of respect and inclusion there is something they do that matters to someone. Otherwise,

is the job of all professionals in an organization, but as people ops they couldn’t exist. While a company’s goals are ultimately set by its

executes on an engagement strategy, they can take a leading role. strategy and its leadership, the answer to the question as to why it

matters is in the realm of people ops to articulate and reinforce. Bare

this purpose in mind when you plan events and set out policy and

layer it into your communication. We’re all here for a reason and it’s

helpful to be reminded.
 29

Gamify employee
engagement:
3 unique ways
Company culture is significant to any “Company culture is
business – happy employees are 12% significant to any
more productive and effective at time business – happy
management. How about scaling your employees are 12% more
company culture to the next level using productive and effective
Poll Everywhere? Poll Everywhere’s at time management.”
various poll types, such as Q&A’s and Department of Economics at the
University of Warwick
multiple choice questions, allow for

seamless employee engagement.

Here are three unique ways (inspired

by Waynesburg University Statistics

Professor Erica Chauvet) you can use

Poll Everywhere to scale your company

culture and create a fun and interactive

environment.
 30

Play an improv game Host a game show

With Poll Everywhere, you can gather live audience feedback. But how Poll Everywhere’s Competitions – the exciting poll type that allows

about turning the tables and reacting to the audience in real-time? presenters to ask a series of questions and lets participants compete to

Engage your team with a fun and interactive improvisation game. answer the fastest. Instead of asking a simple multiple-choice question,

why not gamify the experience by turning it into a game show?

• Select four to five volunteers to play as the improv ‘actors’

• Select one moderator who will share questions via Poll Everywhere • Choose one person to be the host; (Jeopardy wouldn’t be the same

• The audience controls the story’s direction by answering the questions without Alex Trebek)

• Select three individual participants to play the game

Poll questions can be multiple choice with options like:
• The audience plays as the 4th participant
What setting should the actors be in?

a) Waiting at the DMV Don’t worry about downloading Jeopardy PowerPoint templates,

b) Self-checkout line at Target integrate your Poll Everywhere Competition into any presentation.

c) Grandma’s kitchen Test the participants by asking fun trivia questions such as:

Or open-ended poll types like: • Pop culture: What was the highest grossing film in 2019?

What is the guiding sentiment of this scene? • Company culture: What are our four core values?

What is Character A’s hidden talent? • Product facts: What was the name of our latest product update?

What is the relationship between Character B and Character C?

Incentivize your employees with prizes like $50 gift cards for the

Continue the game with a variety of questions and switching winner of the game show. Using Competitions will make any company

participants so everyone gets to participate. An improv game is a fun presentation exciting and encourage active engagement from your

way to develop your employees’ presentation skills, ability to think team.

quickly, and function as a team.

 31

Lead a company variety show

Variety shows are a fun and friendly competition style to try at your Be creative and switch up the segments. Segments can include:

next company event. Test your employees’ knowledge and improve Interview Segment

employee engagement by incorporating live voting and ranking with Participants will be asked basic behavioral questions similar to

Poll Everywhere. those asked in a job interview. This segment is designed to introduce

participants to the audience and give a good first impression.

• Select a handful of volunteers to participate in the pageant and one

moderator to deliver questions. Examples include:

• Structure the variety show with 3-4 segments. • Tell everyone about yourself.

• Use Poll Everywhere’s ranking poll type to list each participant. • What are your career goals?

• After each round, the audience should upvote the participant they • What are your hobbies and interests?

felt aced that round.

• By the end, the participant with the most upvotes will be the winner!
 32

Company Knowledge Segment Talent Segment

The company knowledge segment is designed to see which participant What is a variety show without a talent segment? Participants should

has been paying attention during those all-hands meetings or town prepare a special talent to win the hearts of the audience. Talents can

halls! Ask each participant a set of company-related questions. range from dancing to magic tricks. May the best performer win!

• How many new employees did we hire in 2019? Use the Poll Everywhere open-response poll type to encourage

• What sales goal did we achieve by Q4? the audience to contribute their own questions. Incentivize your

employees to participate while also giving back to your community

Brain Teasers Segment
by offering a prize in the form of a charitable donation. Winner of the
Test your participants’ ability to think critically on the spot by
variety show can pick a charity of their choice to donate the prize to.
asking brain teasers! Audience should judge based on how well the

participant can articulate their thought process and how logical the Amp up your next company event by incorporating these three unique

process is. ways to use Poll Everywhere. Scale your company culture to be the fun

and interactive workplace that your employees deserve.

• What’s the market size for residential light bulbs in the US?

• How many ping pong balls could fit in a Boeing 747?

• Explain the internet to someone coming out of a 30-year coma.

Section 3:

2020: A clear
vision for
enterprise
 33

collaborate quickly across functions,

Top tech trends but it’s hard to get everyone speaking
and tools the same language. There is so much
The business benefits of cross-functional
potential for them to have more focused,
communication and collaboration
purposeful conversations with a tool like
gained traction in 2019 and will continue
Poll Everywhere. Poll Everywhere may
in 2020. With the rise of diverse and
not be well known for its use in product
widespread teams, authentic and
organizations, but it should be.”
effective communication is critical to the
Another trend that will continue in
success of any business. Rebecca Kerr,
2020 is cloud-based software. Many
a content and conversation strategist
technology companies are releasing
for the Design Transformation team
cloud-based software and applications
at InVision, designs transformative
that streamline and automate workflow
workshops and keynotes around live
management, communication, and
audience response questions. She
data sharing. In 2020, productivity
sometimes uses Poll Everywhere to
and efficiency are huge competitive
uncover a prevailing sentiment within
advantages that companies should
the group and to find ways to work
strive to optimize, but what tools can we
together to find common ground. “Every
incorporate to be successful at this?
product organization has to deal with

breakdowns in communication between As a technology company focused

design, development, and business. on building highly functional and

They’re trying to find better ways to collaborative teams, we have a few ideas:
 34

Work management
As your company grows, it is critical to have efficient management to improve efficiency across any team.

tools in place to track, prioritize, and manage workflows and projects.

Extended Reality - Augmented and Virtual
Many experienced managers may point you to old-fashioned GANTT
Reality
charts for project management. However, the latest workflow
Extended reality (XR) is an umbrella term for all computer-generated
management technologies are online platforms such as Workfront,
graphics that blend real and virtual environments such as virtual
Asana, Pivotal Tracker, and Airtable. These management software
reality and augmented reality. Companies like Niantic Labs are
platforms are perfect for the modern workplace.
currently leading the way in virtual and augmented reality games, but

In addition to project management software, online collaborative others such as Oculus and SkillReal are bringing their XR technology

workspaces such as Basecamp and Notion are useful tools for to enterprise. Many companies are using VR to conduct training,

collaboration and building databases. Employees can share ideas, data visualization, construction, and manufacturing. For example,

track their tasks with due dates, and collaborate with team members. Walmart is using VR technology to simulate situations and train

Managers can keep up to date with every project and management their employees in areas of customer service, new technology, and

workflow. This is incredibly beneficial for companies with remote compliance. Companies like IKEA and Amazon are integrating AR into

workers, as managers can see what projects remote employees are their mobile applications to allow customers to place furniture and

currently working on. other products in their homes. These examples merely scratch the

surface of potential use cases of XR technology. Expect to see even

These platforms also have great automated features such as due date
more innovative enterprise applications of this technology in 2020.
reminders, project synchronization, and more. Asana, for example,

has “rules” which can be customized for each board to allow for

different automated tasks such as automatically assigning every new

task to a specific person. These project management tools are crucial

 35

Scheduled content Data Sharing

Staying up to date with the latest trends in digital marketing is According to Siemens CEO Joe Kaeser, “Data is the oil of the 21st

crucial for maintaining your brand awareness. Social media and century.” Going into the new decade, enterprises need to improve

email marketing are undeniably important but can be the most time- their data ecosystems if they want to keep up with big data. In the era

consuming parts of digital marketing. Software like Hootsuite, Buffer, of privacy concerns, enterprises need to develop a trust mechanism

and MailChimp make drafting and scheduling social or email easy. that can manage the exchange of data between consumers and

Your content marketers have the flexibility to schedule posts weeks in the enterprise. In 2020, companies may look to blockchain-based

advance and plan according to holidays and themes. systems to handle these exchanges such as the IBM Blockchain

Platform. Blockchain is a distributed ledger technology that stores

Company communication
and records transactions that cannot be tampered by participants.
Efficient teamwork starts with efficient communication. In 2020,
Rules called smart contracts can be used to automatically sort and
cloud-based instant messaging applications will continue to be a
define transactions. Blockchain can securely log and transfer sensitive
major trend. Companies like Slack, and Wrike are rapidly improving
personal information in a seamless and secure manner.
their messaging platforms by providing enterprise-specific systems

that promise security and easy company-wide communication. Both

small and large organizations can benefit as teams can easily create

channels to discuss specific topics and collaborate on new projects.

Remotes or employees who work from home can stay in touch

with the entire company with the same ease as speaking in person.

Employees can chat across departments and small company-wide

announcements can be shared.

 36

Artificial Intelligence-as-a-service and

Automation
Automation, specifically robotic process automation (RPA), is poised intelligence algorithms are exceptionally complex, powerful tools

to be implemented by 40% of enterprises in 2020, with spending for customizing and streamlining operations. We may see the rise in

increasing to $1.5 billion. RPA is technology that is trained with AI-as-a-service companies engineering tailored algorithms designed

business logic and inputs to do repeated tasks and routines. Tasks to share, upload, and analyze data. With enough data, AI systems are

range from automatic responses to bots who can conduct specific capable of redefining professional services such as legal or accounting

jobs. RPA is beneficial in automating low-value tasks, thus reducing by analyzing contracts and managing bill payments. AI can provide

human error and cost of staffing. One commercial bank was able to data-driven insights that streamline decision-making processes and

reduce staffing costs by 30% and saw a 27% increase in tasks done personalize the customer experience.

correctly during the first try. As we enter 2020, RPA continues to

improve with the integration of machine learning, natural language

processing and other artificial intelligence software.

When we think of artificial intelligence, we often think of Sophia the

Robot or Google Deep Mind. While a talking robot or an expert Chess

player are fascinating, they are merely entertaining applications of

artificial intelligence. Entering a new decade in 2020, what are the

practical applications of artificial intelligence that can be adapted

for Enterprise? The realistic vision for 2020 is AI-as-a-service.

Currently, $12-15 billion is spent on AI in the enterprise market, with

IBM, Google, Amazon and others dominating the market. Artificial

 37

Cybersecurity
As we become more data-driven, assessment, and avoiding PowerPoint

cybersecurity will continue to be top boredom.

of mind for consumers and businesses

alike. A key component of a safe “Implement Poll

and secure program is successfully Everywhere to teach
training your team on cybersecurity. meaningful security
To bring you the most up to date and lessons with minimal
accurate security training guidelines, time, overhead, and
we consulted Poll Everywhere Ruby effort.”
Engineer, Lucas Nicodemus. Lucas Lucas Nicodemus, Ruby Engineer,
Poll Everywhere
helped spearhead our recent SOC

2 Type 1 certification achievement.

(Learn more about our updated security

features). Here’s what he had to share:

Implement Poll Everywhere to teach

meaningful security lessons with

minimal time, overhead, and effort.

To effectively educate your team,

focus on the most effective learning

practices: spaced repetition, formative

 38

Spaced repetition
Core principle: Space out learning on a curve so that employees are Space out your slides so that the most meaningful principles and

familiar with security principles on an optimal “forgetting curve.” In action points are repeated the most. Initially with short slide to slide

initial training, emphasize core points multiple times, interweaved intervals, and then with content gaps for other information and less

with specific examples of security principles. In security training, important examples.

the philosophy should be used as an introduction, ex: why threat

After the training, continue using the spaced approach by reminding
modeling is important for our company, with specific examples of that
employees of specific security risks and attacks through all-hands
philosophy spaced out and interwoven into the rest of the training.
meeting announcements, daily announcements, and semi-annual

Example lesson: security refresher presentations.

• Topic introduction: “We need to keep a permanent record for

Design the program to be easy for newcomers to understand while
regulatory compliance”
still being useful to employees with high tenure. For example, annual
• Action statement: “Forward items of regulatory importance to
refreshers should provide unused examples of attacks that existing
company security email address”
employees are already familiar with, while interwoven with general
• Content: Show instances where approach is important, e.g.,
advice that is always topical.
examples of phishing emails

• Introduce the following topic: “Don’t use removable media to avoid As Sean Kang states in his research article on effective learning,

viruses and hardware damage” “In short, spaced repetition enhances the efficacy and efficiency of

• Action statement: “Use alternatives to removable media” learning, and it holds promise as an educational tool.”

• Re-introduce the first action statement: “Forward items of regulatory

importance to company security email address”

 39

Formative quizzing Example lesson:

Core principle: There are two different approaches to training • Topic introduction: “Removable media is discouraged”

employees on security principles: • Rationale: “We don’t want to have our computers taken over by viruses”

• Formative quiz: “What are the risks of using removable media?”

• Self directed training
• Answers: “Can be used to deliver viruses”
• Guided training

In the last example, both answers are correct. For questions with only one
Self directed training is useful for distributed learning, but the learner
right answer, like “where do you report security questions to?”, use the
can be easily distracted. Many people believe they have a “better than
following workflow to emphasize the benefits of formative assessment:
average” knowledge of security which can cause them to tune out

important security concepts. • Permit changing answers. Audience members should be able to

respond and correct themselves.

A better approach is to use a more traditional guided environment

that requires audience participation. This environment discourages • Show the correct answer and encourage audience members to update

multitasking and prevents the participants from easily becoming their answers accordingly. This reinforces the “no penalty aspect” of

preoccupied and distracted. the exercise, as well as enables employees to have a positive

experience even if they initially respond incorrectly.

Avoid PowerPoint boredom
Core principle: Poll Everywhere’s ability to combine content with live Combine formative assessment and spaced repetition for maximum

response questions makes it a great interactive alternative. Ensure benefit. As formative assessments progress, change the questions to be

that your team understands their responses are anonymous and for less focused on “all correct” answer choices and move them towards

practice only. Regularly use formative quizzes throughout the content more traditional quizzes while keeping the stress of the situation low:

as presented. questions can be difficult as long as participants are able to change

their answers to join the in-group rather than feel like outsiders.
 40

Assessing employee knowledge

Core principle: Conduct a more summative assessment of employee resources (e.g. meetings constrain their time, lack structure and are

security knowledge for effective training and to satisfy compliance. unproductive).”

It’s necessary to demonstrate the training worked and that employees

It’s in everyone’s best interest to participate in the training, get a good
were able to pass a rudimentary assessment of policy and best
score, and be signed off on.
practice.

Documenting your results

Poll Everywhere Competitions can be a fun way to build a compliance
Use spaced repetition techniques to deliver clear and concise policy
quiz. Design the quiz to have correct answers and to be constrained on
and best practice advice over multiple slides, repeating as necessary
time and resources. Before starting, re-enforce that you’ve switched
while interweaving knowledge to create distinct and understandable
and that this is the important quiz where answers count. Emphasize
knowledge units. Finally, administer an assessment.
that wrong answers really are important.

After your presentation, use reporting tools to demonstrate to

Set an expectation for success and failure: success means that you
regulatory agencies that the training was successfully completed.
successfully completed the training and failure of the quiz will result
Provide an executive summary report that shows high-level overviews
in an entire repeat of the meeting. Make sure you have registered
of the company status. This can help adapt future training to focus on
participants on when giving a competition based quiz, and permit
content that was most missed.
employees to set a screen name that isn’t their real name.

Use a gradebook report to document that the training worked: you’ll

Research states, “Employees enjoy meetings when they have a
know exactly who participated and how well they scored. Save the
clear objective, and when important relevant information is shared.
results, and you’ll have completed a training program.
Consistent with conservation of resources theory, most employees

are unhappy with meetings when they reduce their work-related

 41

Customer
collaboration:
the benefits of
interactive SKOs
Customer collaboration will be at is usually assessed through after-the-

the forefront of 2020 and should fact metrics like deals-won, churn, and

form the heart of your sales strategy. lifetime value – and customer needs

Think interactive SKOs, collaborative are often gained through sparsely

brainstorming sessions, and purpose- completed digital surveys.

driven strategy meetings. To get the

Rather than relying on a few stale
inside scoop on building successful
communication channels and feedback
sales relationships through customer
tied to $25 gift cards, expand the
collaboration, we sat down with Poll
narrative to drive better conversations
Everywhere Account Executive Matthew
and gain actionable insights.
Cooper. Here’s what he had to share:

“By inserting dynamic

Your organization’s relationship with
content such as fun ice-
its customers is critically important.
breaker questions you
Most companies fall into a few “proven”
break the PowerPoint
communication patterns to interact
fatigue and engross your
with customers through their lifecycle.
audience in the information
The efficacy of these communications
you want them to absorb.”
 42

Make customer presentations interactive Build actionable data for organizational,

By inserting dynamic content such as fun ice-breaker questions process and product change
you break the PowerPoint fatigue and engross your audience in the When organizations use a tool to conduct the three customer

information you want them to absorb. You spent money to get this communications above, they’re gathering data in the moment – but

meeting, and money to show up, make every second count by getting they’re also gathering data over time. Imagine if you had the most

your customer or prospect to contribute their thoughts and attention. common sales objections from over 100 sales dinners all in one

place? Or the most common product concerns from the last 2 years
Get a pulse of the room
of product training? Using tools to leverage quality conversations in
Nothing is worse than spending 45 minutes presenting information
the moment allow you to aggregate that data over time and make
that your customer already knows – or worse doesn’t care about. Use
decisions on a macro level.
interactive questions to gauge where they are in the process, to guide

the conversation, and make each presentation customized directly to

their needs. Plus, you never know what treasured information your

customer will reveal if they’re anonymous!

Build fun into for-profit training or

accreditations
If you offer paid training for your customers, there’s no excuse for it

to be dull. When customers are spending good money to upskill their

workers on your platform – use it is an opportunity to both educate

and entertain. Fun trivia-style competitions can make trainings or

certifications fun and memorable. Remember, you can have people

retain information and get prizes at the same time.

 43

Closing thoughts
As the digital landscape becomes more diverse, complex, and

widespread, your technology toolkit will become even more essential

to the efficiency and success of your business. 2020 brings an increase

in remote workers (over the next 5 years, 42% plan to increase their

remote work), immediate collaboration, and instant engagement.

As location becomes less relevant for remote and hybrid teams, it

is essential to maintain control over your brand, training processes,

company culture, and unique strategy. That’s why we redesigned our

key enterprise and security features. From controlled user access to

unlimited teams and shared activities, our new enterprise features

will help you keep employees engaged and support your team to

facilitate more productive and efficient meetings. Poll Everywhere

makes it easier than ever to promote collaboration, maintain brand

consistency, and keep data secure all from one place. Learn how our

enterprise features can support your business’ unique needs and

allow you to create, present, and control consistently.

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Closing thoughts

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