Milo

Design Strategy for Remote Workers

What are the challenges of remote workers?

Remote workers who responded to my survey described these challenges:

Maintaining Work Life-Balance

Difficulty Scheduling Meetings

Managing Work Time

Working Across Time Zones

Sample of Individual Responses

  • “Having to work past normal hours to schedule a meeting.”
  • “Long days – working early mornings until late evenings.”
  • “Feeling like I’m inconveniencing my team members if I request a meeting time change.”

However, 18 out of 20 respondents noted that their managers are willing to be flexible to accommodate these challenges.1

“Since there is a three hour time difference, my team from Arizona is very flexible and accommodating.”
Anonymous Survey Respondent, February 2021

How can managers and HR help?

A digital platform can gather feedback and provide the team with data to resolve these challenges.

Managers and HR can evaluate feedback supplemented with data visualization charts to help them better understand how to manage their team members.

A 2018 study1 showed that teams who gave feedback:

  • “Developed a greater sense of awareness and knowledge.”
  • “Built roadmaps for what needs to be done to achieve their goals.”
  • “Became more involved and confident in their work environment.”

Giving feedback helps team leaders rethink their plans and become more productive.

Digital Platforms for Giving Feedback

Collaboration board to use at meetings

Each member’s feedback to the group

Individual response format

Feedback to a chatbot

Chatbot Technology

An October 2020 study2 examined feedback-seeking behavior and found that chatbots:

  • Made employees more aware of team emotions
  • Kept the users more focused and on-task
  • Offered options for privacy controls

Interface

Milo

Your Virtual Service Assistant
for Team Wellness

Milo can help by listening to concerns and providing the team with data to resolve any problems.

  • Filling out feedback surveys can be a chore. Milo streamlines the task.
  • Milo saves time. Giving Milo feedback can be fast and efficiently done.
  • Milo evaluates the data for team leaders so that they can respond.

User Scenario

Progress Report

In addition to the data charts and visuals displayed to managers, the employees can view their individual progress to monitor their progress.

  • Teamwork: How is my team’s synergy?
  • Workload: Is the work manageable or overwhelming?
  • Energy: How much energy can I devote to my work?
  • Leadership: Do I feel directed and supported by leadership?

Implementation

Milo is a plug-in software optimized for companies that are collaborative and feedback-seeking, and its reflection and feedback model is a solution for companies with emerging work ethics.

Sources: 1Bhattacharya, Karina, (February 2021). Survey for Remote Workers. 2Seigyoung Auh, Bulent Menguc, Pinar Imer, Aypar Uslu, (2019, October) Frontline Employee Feedback-Seeking Behavior: How Is It Formed and When Does It Matter?; 3Benke, I. (2020, October). Chatbot-based Emotion Management for Distributed Teams: A Participatory Design Study. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Chatbot-design-instance-NeutralBot-implemented-based-on-design-workshops-with_fig4_345178251

Karina Bhattacharya

Create a website or blog at WordPress.com