Using TIME effectively

Our CEO Reto Meneghini writes about the past year in his blog post (German only):

"We had the opportunity this year to try out a lot of new things in the world of work. Using the learnings gained from this, the task now is to shape the 'future of work'."

ONE learning is being discussed very intensively at the moment: the downside of working from home. The blurring of the borders between work and private life and too much disconnection among work colleagues can have a negative impact on the well-being of employees as well as on the performance and innovation capacity of teams and organizations.

We have finally moved away from seeing remote working primarily as a feel-good issue for selected employees - and we are already learning about the limits of 'mass-scale working from home'.

The work model of the future is hybrid

Like so often, it's a matter of finding a middle ground. A combination of virtual and face-to-face collaboration, of home office and in the office - but with new rules (see blog post "Let's go hybrid") and with the help of the right tools. So that employees can work - and live - in a 'healthy' way. So that leaders can successfully manage their teams remotely and companies can make the best use of a hybrid work model.

We want to respond to the changing nature of modern collaboration: first and foremost by helping our clients to understand how the factor ‘time’ is dealt with. Based on this, it is important to set the right course for healthy modern working - in the hybrid model.

“Setting the course for healthy modern working - in the hybrid model.”

Workplace Analytics

For this purpose, two dimensions are important: that of the individual worker and that of the teams and the organization.

Employees should be able to access and use the right tools from anywhere to maintain healthy separation between work and private life. Microsoft has developed MyAnalytics for this purpose: With this tool, employees can better manage their working hours and increase their well-being at work based on individual data analysis. Among other things, MyAnalytics helps me to create important free spaces for my personal tasks in my tightly packed schedule.

Microsoft Workplace Analytics (WPA) extends the idea of MyAnalytics to the enterprise level, targeting decision makers rather than individual workers. Team leaders, department managers, and corporate CEOs can use WPA to more easily understand how the resource 'time' is generally used in the company:

• Time for individual work versus cross-team and cross-company collaboration.

• Time for innovation and creativity versus time for day-to-day tasks

• Time for meetings versus focus work

• Time for the team versus own work

• Time for oneself versus time for the community

Microsoft Workplace Analytics provides data-driven insights into work patterns that impact well-being, productivity and business performance. With this understanding, challenges of various kinds can be addressed in a targeted or preventative manner: Work patterns that increase the risk of burnout, reduce efficiency, or impact team performance can be identified. Resource-intensive activities can be examined even more specifically in terms of cost/benefit.

The analytics app supports companies in developing a deeper understanding of their internal organization and deriving opportunities for improvement from this - which can be particularly helpful for healthy, modern work in the hybrid model.

No conclusions about individuals

Important to know: Protective measures such as anonymization, aggregation and 'differential privacy' are integrated in the tool by default to protect personal data. Thus, no conclusions can be drawn about individuals. WPA can be used in compliance with legal regulations such as the GDPR.

Where to start?

Microsoft Workplace Analytics opens up many new possibilities. The question that comes up is thus, which are the objectives to be pursued.

We recommend that companies start with small steps: gain initial experience in teams before taking a closer look at the organization as a whole. One example is the sales team: based on behavioral patterns, successful sales teams can be compared with less successful ones. Based on this comparison, data-driven action plans for optimization can be recommended and implemented. Changes in behavioral patterns can be made visible through regular measurement and analysis.

This is just one example of many. As a certified WPA Microsoft partner (see box), we can support companies in the use of WPA - from initial analysis, configuration and monitoring to evaluation and consulting for improvement programs.

Interested in what opportunities WPA offers your organization? We are happy to talk about it with you.

Get in touch

Contact form - Workplace Analytics

Andreas Hänni is Partner and COO at MondayCoffee AG.

SERAFE: Introduction of a state-of-the-art communication solution in no time

In January 2019, SERAFE AG replaced Billag to collect radio and television charges from Swiss households. 

SERAFE contacted MondayCoffee in the autumn of 2018 for support. They needed a telephone system and a contact center in order to efficiently handle inquiries by phone and later also via chat. 

MondayCoffee designed in no time an Enterprise Skype for Business environment in the data centers of SERAFE AG and integrated the contact center solution LUCS from Luware to ensure easy and efficient communication among employees as well as with partners and customers. 

Download Case Study (German only)

Serafe: Case Study Download

Simple, fast and sustainable – the way we do business, the way we communicate!

Planzer is an international transport and logistics company.  

Already at the age of 3 years Andreas Pfister loved to play with trucks. Later came the trains. He is still at home in this world today. At the family business Planzer. A Swiss transport and logistics company with around 4,800 employees, 50 locations in Switzerland and 5 abroad. Every day, around 1,400 vehicles, 350 rail cars and 3 cargo bikes transport goods for small and large companies from A to B in a sustainable way.

Employees in the office as well as truck drivers on the road benefit from the 'Work Smart' environment.

Andreas started as an apprentice in the dispatch department - one of the most important departments in a transport company! "It is the linchpin between customers and truck drivers. Many people who work in this department used to transport the goods in the past: a helpful experience or rather a prerequisite for being able to do a good job when planning the tours," says Andreas.

Today, Andreas is responsible for project management at Planzer Support National, develops transport concepts for large companies, prepares offers and takes care of customer support. "It's always exciting when the theory is put into practice - in the go-live of the transport concept," explains Andreas. Will it work properly on the rails and roads?

But how is such a transport concept developed today? "Experts from several Planzer locations and customers must be involved. We used to send the documents back and forth by email, but now we use our online FamilyTable. There we also find all the documents relating to Planzer's own quality management," explains Andreas.

With its standardized structure CoffeeNet 365 provides the necessary orientation. 

The FamilyTable is MondayCoffee's out-of-the-box collaboration software. It replaced Planzer's existing SharePoint environment with the aim of creating a platform that combines intranet functionalities, communication and company-wide collaboration in a standardized tool. Furthermore, the solution aimed at a stronger integration and engagement of the employees, especially the drivers on the road.

"With the FamilyTable, I can set up my workrooms on my own, without spending hours on it. Project members can be easily invited, and if I need information from other projects, I have my pages that I follow just a click away. I like that," says Andreas. The tool with its predefined structure also provides the necessary orientation. "This used to be more difficult with SharePoint," adds Andreas. With his sleeves rolled back and a mischievous smile, he adds: "I have to admit, in the document libraries we still occasionally find ourselves using our old-famous file folder structure, even though that wouldn't be necessary anymore thanks to tags and the powerful search function."

It takes time, patience and practice to change the way we work. But it's worth it. "Our truck drivers post pictures on the road today via the integrated Yammer News Feed directly in the FamilyTable. "This reminds me of my time in the dispatch department," says Andreas. Or maybe of his childhood, when he dreamed of driving a big truck!   

Today, Planzer has a forward-looking working and communication environment.

Capturing value from collaboration

Harvard Business Review about the value of collaboration:

Two of the biggest barriers to collaboration are ignorance about others expertise and mistrust in their ability. This makes us miss knowledge we could use to solve big problems. Research found that only after seeing collaboration's value you put in the effort of collaborating effectively. 

Find the full article here

ALSO launches MondayCoffee collaboration solution in the Cloud Marketplace

January 31st, 2017

ALSO is expanding its Cloud Marketplace to include EspressoNet 365, a solution for small to medium-sized enterprises that facilitates collaboration with colleagues, customers, or suppliers in one virtual space, at the push of a button. Created by MondayCoffee, an award-winning Swiss Microsoft Gold certified partner, EspressoNet 365 is based on Microsoft Office 365 technology. With proven structure, design and features, it helps companies to manage their workflows intelligently, both internally and externally.

Order confirmations, proposals, bills – all relevant content can be stored in one place, easily accessed and co-edited by colleagues as well as shared with customers at any time, anywhere and on any device, supported by the security of the Microsoft enterprise software and cloud infrastructure. Instead of sending emails, news can be published on the same tool, or via more interactive features such as blogs to keep everyone up to date. 

“By introducing premium Office 365 add-ons to the ALSO Cloud Marketplace, we continue to demonstrate how users can get the most out of their existing services. EspressoNet 365 is a great example of our growing Vertical Cloud Services portfolio that is built to fit our customers’ needs, and we are delighted to have them as a partner,” said Thorlakur Thorgeirsson, Cloud ISV Manager at ALSO Holding AG.

EspressoNet 365 can be installed in less than one hour and, thanks to EspressoNet’s intuitive user interface, employees can be trained remotely in no more than one day.

“We are convinced that EspressoNet 365 can help professionals to simplify their work lives while enjoying the reliability and security of Microsoft technology. Partnering with ALSO allows us to take EspressoNet 365 onto the international stage and further promote effective collaboration practices. We are very much looking forward to working with ALSO,” said Reto Meneghini, founder and CEO of MondayCoffee.

For further information and access to the ALSO Cloud Marketplace, please visit: www.also.cloud.