3 Ways to Invest in Your Workplace Team in 2020

Workplace Teams look different at every company. This makes sense, since every company requires something different in order to run successfully based on their size, offering, and stage of their lifecycle.

How can Workplace Teams operate with so much variability? How can they prioritize their work, grow their professional skills, and balance employee requests and experience? 

We’ve identified three key ways to invest in and elevate the importance of your Workplace Team in 2020.

Get Your Workplace Team on the Same Page

Workplace Teams typically don’t have formal documentation explicitly outlining their work and responsibilities. This poses a few problems: lack of clarity means teams are disjointed, disorganized, and left feeling overwhelmed. Lack of clarity also means colleagues don’t understand (and therefore underappreciate) this important work.

Regardless of the size of your team (even if it’s just you!), making your team and individual accountabilities explicit is important. What do we mean by making your accountabilities explicit?

Think of all the different roles on your team and start to break them down: IT Manager, Reception, Office Manager, Events Coordinator, etc. Note: one person can fill multiple (or even all) of the roles, and more than one person can fill a role as well. Create a live document that outlines each role in detail, including any associated domains and accountabilities.

Role - the title that corresponds to a section of work

Domains - the specific software, physical items, and/or spaces that are “owned” by the role holder

Accountabilities - the actions and “actual work” done within the role

Revisit and update this document on a regular cadence (monthly is a good place to start), as you'll find that your work—and even who’s doing it—changes. Here's an example of what the role of Office Manager might look like:

Role:

• • Office Manager

Domains:

• • Food & Beverage
  • Vendors
  • Space

Accountabilities:

• • Ordering snacks, taking food and beverage requests, and keeping track of employee dietary restrictions
  • Researching vendors and maintaining vendor relations
  • Organizing the office seating chart
  • Buying and arranging office furniture

Prioritize Professional Development for Your Workplace Team

The responsibilities of workplace professionals are constantly evolving. Your work changes as your company changes, which means you must be poised to respond and adapt. The reactionary nature of your job also means you have to be open to learning on your feet and forging ahead with work you may never have done before.

One of the best ways to prepare yourself for unexpected responsibilities is through your own career development. While the idea of taking a class, finding a mentor, or starting a project that will advance your career sounds ideal, it can be a lot of additional work. That’s why we suggest creating an Individual Success Plan (ISP).

An ISP is a personal career development plan that helps to further define your role and track performance. It details your competencies, the goals you’ve set for yourself, and your aspirations. The plan should be created with your manager. That way, when opportunities align with your goals, you’ll have the confidence to ask for what you need—whether that's the budget to take a class, or time off to attend an event.

Work Smarter and Faster

Virtually every team at your company has bespoke technology to help them do their jobs: sales has Salesforce, designers have Figma, and marketing has Hubspot. But what about the Workplace Team?

A team with such wide-ranging initiatives and tons of moving parts deserve their own tool. That’s why we designed Managed by Q. Now, like other teams in your office, you have a tool built specifically for your needs.

Managed by Q allows you to organize tasks, collect employee requests, share information about your office, book services from vetted vendors, view and track metrics, and access vital workplace resources.

With all of these features (and more on the way!), Managed by Q helps your Workplace Team save time, streamline employee needs, and prioritize your most important projects. 

2020 is the year for your company to invest in its foundation—the Workplace Team. By clearly defining the team, providing support for professional development, and utilizing team-specific tools, your Workplace Team will be positioned for success. This is the year that you and your colleagues better understand the role of the Workplace Team and their workload, make sense of office trends and expenses to make smarter decisions, and create a more positive experience for everyone at work.

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