Worcester Business Journal

wbjournal.com | February 17, 2020 | Worcester Business Journal 21 In 2016, AiVi Nguyen at age 31 became the youngest partner in the 105- year history of Worcester law firm Bowditch & Dewey, and she is currently the chairwoman of the board for the United Way of Central Massachusetts. She also is known by the nickname Goldfish, for her ravenous appetite. Make no mistake, Worcester millennials still love the time-tested mainstay restaurants that are Baby Boomer and Generation X favorites for business lunches. But, when meeting each other for lunch in or around downtown, Millennials opt for something different. K N O W H O W Five tips for managing a remote team 10 1: B U S I N E S S I N T E L L I G E N C E B usiness intelligence can, for many of us, come under the catch- all umbrella of analytics. But understanding the difference between them is key in putting both to work to improve your company – and one doesn't work without the other. Experts here weigh in on BI, and how it works with analytics to support better business decisions. BI doesn't predict the future. According to CIO.com, company leaders must understand the difference between BI and business analytics. BI is what is happening now: What sales prospects are in the pipeline, or the number of members lost in the current month. Business analytics, meanwhile, is predictive. "BI aims to deliver straightforward snapshots of the current state of affairs to business managers," says a CIO article by Mary K. Pratt and Josh Fruhlinger. "BI is that it should be easy for relatively non-technical end users to understand, and even to dive into the data and create new reports." Good change is based on accurate BI. e fanciest data-analytics soware will be useless without the correct information, according to a Forbes article by Christian Ofori-Boateng. "e right tool will help you illustrate data in a meaningful way, and then distribute this information to the right people at the right time," he writes. Problems should be clearly defined and solved one at a time, he adds, which is a better method with which to rally your team around their solutions. Be strategic in BI planning. First, company leaders should decide what they want to fix, sourcing data before and not aer that point, writes Jeff Pruitt at Inc.com. is saves time and aggravation. "Having a strategy helps to filter down the amount of data you'll have to sort through and is a more accessible option for companies wanting to embark on BI but not able to dive all-in right off the bat," such as smaller firms, he says. 1 0 T H I NG S I know about . . . ...Where Millennial professionals meet for lunch in Worcester BY KHAM INTHIRATH Special to the Worcester Business Journal T he popularity of remote teams has exploded. Today, 66% of US companies allow remote work, and 16% of teams are entirely remote. If you're one of the many companies interested in onboarding or growing a remote team, you may be wondering how to build team culture, or how to manage your new team effectively. Here are a few strategies to make your growing remote team as efficient as possible. 1. Make communication the top priority ere are dozens of benefits of working with a remote team. However, it can be difficult to establish a communication pipeline. Take a two- fold approach to your communication pipeline: • Settle on a good channel. Whether you use Slack Zoom, (which is excellent for video conference calls, which boost the connection of remote meetings), or another team management platform, find a platform working for you and your team and keeping everyone on the same page. • Bypass the brief. Instead of briefing your remote employees and assuming they know enough to get started or resolve an issue, explain the circumstances in full. When remote employees have all the information they need, they can deliver better work. 2. Set goals and align team members Set small, achievable goals and develop a system to track them. Instead of launching a large project, break the objective down into smaller goals (sprints) set over two or three days. Conduct weekly check-ins or progress reports to propel your team forward. 3. Streamline your onboarding process A streamlined onboarding process will make it easier for remote employees to step into your company's culture. It will help bypass misunderstandings and ensure compliance across the board. We recommend a central place to store and share these documents like Google Drive or a private network, which makes it easy to manage onboarding docs. Track them with soware tools like Asana, ClickUp or Teamwork. 4. Arrange in-person meetings routinely ere's no substitute for face-to-face interaction, even with a remote team! If it's possible for your organization, arrange routine in-person meetings. is face-to-face time helps reinforce team bonds, boost retention, and promote innovation, creativity, and problem-solving. 5. Implement quarterly reviews Quarterly reviews improve your company's output and creativity while preventing people from feeling isolated or lonely in their remote positions. In addition to the structured quarterly reviews, be sure to check in regularly to offer support for your team. Onboarding a remote team is an excellent way to meet your goals and make your company as productive as possible. While managing a remote team can be difficult, these tips can help you create an efficient and agile remote workforce to make you more competitive than ever. Kham Inthirath is the founder and president of Worcester marketing firm InThink Agency, focused on helping local businesses find and connect with their target audiences. BY SUSAN SHALHOUB Special to the Worcester Business Journal By AiVi Nguyen 10) No-frills Worcester: Boulevard Diner 9) No-frills Worcester, plus booze: George's Coney Island 8) Cloth napkin: Lock 50 7) Craft beer/drinks: Armsby Abbey 6) Middle Eastern: Shawarma Palace 5) Latin: Talyta's Café & Restaurant 4) ai: Rice Violet 3) Wi-Fi: BirchTree Bread Co. 2) Universal (something for everyone): e Boynton Restaurant & Spirits 1) Personal expertise (Vietnamese): Saigon Restaurant W W W

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