Recently released figures showed that in the 18 days preceding 20 March 2020, users of the platform grew from 32 to 44 million users and the percentage of organisations holding weekly Teams calls more than doubled from 21% to 43%.

At Protech, our employees have been using Teams extensively since it was launched and so have considerable experience with the platform. We have compiled some best practice that can help you to quickly get up to speed and improve the efficiency and productivity of your online meetings.

1.Sharing important emails within chats:

This feature within Teams provides users with channels to collaborate while reducing the number of emails cluttering your inbox. If an important email is received and required for discussion, it can be quickly shared across chats without needing to forward it to each individual’s email address.

a) Navigate to the channel in which you would like to share the email and select [Get Email Address] in the dropdown

b) Select [Copy] on the code provided and then open the email that you wish to share in Microsoft Outlook

c) Select [Forward] and then paste the address into the [To] box within Outlook; it will then appear directly in the selected chat for you to discuss with colleagues.

2. Saving important posts, conversation and chats:

Many discussions on Teams contain important posts, conversations and chats that you may need to refer back to at some point. It’s easy to save any of these messages into a consolidated list for future reference.

a) Click onto the particular message you wish to save

b) Select [Save This Message]

c)  You can then refer back to saved messages within your profile area

3. Locating group chats quickly and easily:

To locate group chats quickly and easily, you can rename them to something memorable and pin them so as to be easily accessible at the top of your chats list

a) To rename a chat, select the pencil next to the names of the people within your chat

b) Type a group name and then hit [Save]

c) To pin the chat so that it appears at the top of your list, select the ellipsis […] and then select [Pin].

4. Transcribe long, complex chats:

If you have a long chat message that is difficult to understand or follow, you can transcribe it so that the message is read out to you in audio. Hearing the words spoken can often give you a new perspective on a dense paragraph of text.

a) Click on the message you wish to transcribe

b) Select [Immersive Reader]

c) The message will then be read out to you in spoken audio

5. Shortcuts to improve productivity:

Teams has many shortcuts that can improve your productivity when using the platform. We have gathered some of the most useful below. Typing “/keys” into the search bar at the top of Teams will also provide a complete list of all keyboard shortcuts available.

CTRL + E Navigate quickly to search bar

CTRL + G Switch to another team

CTRL + N   New chat

CTRL + 1 Activity

CTRL + 2 Chat

CTRL + 3 Teams

CTRL + 4 Meetings/Calendar

CTRL + 5 Calls/Speed Dial

CTRL + 6 Files

6. Manage your personal task list:

Managing all the tasks you have been assigned across various channels can be challenging. Teams is integrated with Microsoft Planner which allows you to see a complete picture of all tasks and deadlines assigned to you from all your teams. This helps you to plan your work accordingly. Actions that are assigned in Planner can be seen by clicking the ellipsis […] in the main menu on the left-hand side of Teams and then selecting [Planner].

To do this, the Planner tab needs to be added to your teams first and there are full instructions at the Microsoft support page.

7. Blur background to remove distractions:

Teams has the ability to blur your background and remove any distractions from the video camera image so that the focus is on the individual rather than their surroundings. This can allow a wider choice of rooms to function as a professional office environment when collaborating online.

a) Start your video within a Teams meeting

b) Select the ellipsis […] icon from meeting options and select [Blur My Background]

8. Collate meeting notes:

Teams allows you to take meeting notes whilst on an internal team call. Participants may be given access to them prior, during and after the meeting.

To share notes such as agendas or discussion points before a meeting, go to your calendar within Teams and select the meeting in question. You will then see a meeting notes tab at the top of the screen where you can add notes or use @ to bring something to people’s attention.

Once a meeting has started you can take notes by selecting [More Options], [Show Options] in meeting controls and [Start Taking Meeting Notes]. When you first add a note, a message will be posted on your behalf to all participants within the meeting chat. Meeting notes will be available once the meeting has concluded. These are available within the channel where the meeting occurred by selecting [Show Notes]. If you have made notes within a private one-to-one call, go to your chat list, find the meeting and select [Show Notes] in full screen.

9. Change your theme to dark:

To improve your health and wellbeing, you may wish to consider changing the theme of your Teams application to dark mode. This can help to reduce eye strain, neck and shoulder pain, dry eyes, headaches and blurred vision

a) Go into your account in the top right-hand corner of the screen and click [Settings]

b) Select [Dark Mode]

10. Record a meeting:

It’s easy to record your meetings in Teams by capturing its audio, video and screen sharing activity. You can keep this for reference or provide a copy of the recording to your internal contacts

1. Once you are in a meeting, select the ellipsis […] and click [Start Recording]. Everyone in the meeting will be notified that the recording has started
2. To stop recording, go to the meeting controls and select [More Options] and stop the recording.
3. Upon completion, the person who requested the recording receives an email from Microsoft Stream when it is available. It also shows up in the meeting chat or in the channel.

The post 10 Tips for Awarding and Membership Organisations to Improve their Microsoft Teams Experience appeared first on Protech |.

Protech has specialised in the membership sector for more than 25 years and have gathered eight ideas to help professional membership organisations navigate this crisis.

1. Deliver virtual events: The first and perhaps most obvious is to shift to online or “virtual” workshops, training courses and seminars. There are many video conferencing software platforms that can be used for this including Zoom, WebEx, GoToMeeting, Microsoft Teams and Zoho. Running virtual workshops and seminars could both reduce the delivery cost and minimise the number of refund requests. But to succeed, it’s important that these online events provide a similar amount of value for members and attendees as their physical versions. If you were due to hold a large conference, don’t just replace it with one catch-all seminar. Try to pick out the key themes and split them up into a broad series of webinars. Promote these webinars through social media and use an email marketing campaign to target both current and perspective members. To optimise the delivery of virtual events, always aim to integrate your preferred webinar provider with your CRM to automate back office processing. This is something at which our ProConnect platform excels.
2. Incentivise your CPD activities: Create compelling campaigns that incentivise people to sign up for membership. If your target audience is likely to be working from home, they may have spare time that would usually be taken up with commuting and wish to use it profitably. Incentivise them to complete CPD activities that improve their knowledge and career prospects. Provide a good mix of paid and free learning materials. Structure your approach around helping them through this crisis.
3. Clarify your value to members and identify key revenue generators: You won’t be the only membership organisation considering this virtual shift, so be sure that you’re providing benefits that are of real value to your members. Also be sure that you fully understand what they value most and use this to inform your decision making.  Focus on the key revenue generators which in most cases will be membership and CPD. Heavily promote these to current and prospective members based upon the value proposition developed above.
4. Use event materials to protect revenues: You may have previously created materials specifically to add value to your conferences. This same principal can apply to virtual events. Content such as statistical industry trends and guides can be offered in a number of ways to incentivise delegates to download for a small fee
5. Deliver paper-based qualifications online: Consider whether you have the capability to easily move paper-based exams online. If you already have assessment management software readily available for some exams, you can deliver these assessments virtually so that the qualification revenue can still be redeemed. Speaking with your CRM provider about the integrations already in place with assessment providers is the first step. The process of moving to online assessments may be easier than you think.
6. Provide an option to donate: Often, a professional membership organisation’s main source of income will be its annual conference. The risk of losing this revenue can be compounded by the obligation to honour contracts with venues and event contractors, even following a cancellation. When reaching out to members to notify them of any event cancellation, you should provide an opportunity for them to voluntarily support you if they feel so inclined. An online donation mechanism can help you to recoup some of this lost revenue.
7. Use text messaging: Targeted messaging that goes directly to your members’ mobile devices will play an important role in interacting more purposely. Understand what matters to members based on their historical preferences and point them in the direction of the targeted message.
8. Ensure payments can still be taken: Keeping cash flowing is vital to your organisation’s ability to survive this pandemic. But many payments can often be reliant on bank transfers and PDQ machines; methods that are both currently under considerable extra pressure and risk. You can help your members simplify their payment by making use of BACs contingency services although these can often be costly.

This article is part of our 25 page free e-book, how professional membership organisations can drive member value through the pandemic and beyond.

Learn how to:

• Adapt your value proposition to resonate with member needs
• Practically enhance your member retention
• Diversify your qualification approach to protect revenue
• Minimise the impact of event cancellation
• Ensure that your productivity levels remain high whilst working remotely

Download this free e-book now to discover actionable strategies and practical advice.

Download free e-book here

The post Minimising the Financial Impact of Event Cancellation appeared first on Protech |.

The two key elements for success here are an effective digital transformation of processes and a diversification of the qualification offering. Presenting additional benefits to learners while servicing them digitally is imperative to continued revenue and growth.

This digital transformation, and especially its approach to people as well as purely technology, is something that Protech helps organisations to achieve every day. With regard to the important diversification challenge, here are five ways that professional membership organisations could protect their qualifications revenue and drive enhanced value.

Engage learners by tracking them through their journey

Organisations that offer qualifications through centres are often less aware of what stage of their journey a particular learner is in. This passive approach to engagement and administration presents a missed opportunity to enhance revenue. Map out your learners’ journey and identify the various touchpoints that present a chance to engage and communicate.

These give opportunities to offer additional value-added services such as eLearning tools, CPD tracking and activities, journals, qualifications and membership schemes. Each of these diversified offerings provides an opportunity to enhance revenue. A central portal that is integrated with a CRM system will help you to control activity and engagement between learners, registered centres and their organisation. It will support administration and provide the tools to engage with their learners at appropriate points of their learning journey.

Leverage your membership value to endorse online qualifications.

Qualification administration is often an arduous and time-consuming process. If your organisation has a strong, recognised brand you could consider leveraging it to endorse online qualifications provided by other organisations and centres. It’s important to select these opportunities carefully, but this strategy is likely to reduce overheads for administering qualifications.

At the same time, it allows more learners to achieve qualifications under your membership organisation’s seal of approval, bringing further opportunities for engagement with learners.

Minimise costs by providing online e-assessments

AQQ Chief Executive Andrew Hall stated in 2014 that “most UK exams will be digital and paperless by 2018-2019”. So why in 2020, are there still multiple barriers for membership organisations to host their exams online? The challenges arise because different departments often require different systems while learners and other stakeholders continue to demand a personalised, intuitive and streamlined experience. One solution is to provide online e-assessments which significantly reduce paper, copying and distribution expenses.

These can be delivered via two primary routes. Firstly, your organisation can transition its paper-based test locations into a test centre network. This provides the opportunity for learners to take e-assessments at multiple test centres across the globe rather than just those few that have paper-based testing facilities. This strategy has a positive environmental impact and eliminates paper, copying and distribution expenses.

The second route is to provide on-demand e-assessments that allow exams to be conducted anywhere and at any time. To achieve this increased flexibility, all the learner requires is their own internet connection. You will also benefit from reduced manual processes around marking and certification as this should be automatically carried out within the student management or CRM system.

Consider a “direct student” model

While offering qualifications through centres is accepted practice, professional membership organisations should consider moving to a direct student model. Here a learner can simplify their journey by enrolling onto a qualification directly through your website. An approach that simplifies enrolment is likely to increase the number of learners signing up. And if your organisation is already a well-known brand, this strategy could be presented as a self-service option for learners that will also reduce manual processing and centre fees.

Protech has worked with clients who offer the centre and direct student model, or in some cases a combination of both. It is vital to understand the most efficient way to offer qualifications that maximise short- and long-term revenue opportunities.

Grow revenue from related services by building strategic relationships with other learning institutions

You can enhance revenue from other parts of your service offering by building links to other institutions such as universities and training providers who can endorse you. When a learner completes a degree or course, these links can mean that they are then provided with the opportunity to become a member of your organisation for a discounted rate. This allows the learning institution to offer more value to their learner and gives you to opportunity to grow membership revenue and cross-sell other products and services such as apprenticeships, events and further learning.

Click here to find out how Protech’s solution can support your organisations qualifications strategy.

This article is part of our 20 page free e-book, how awarding organisations can drive learner engagement and diversify qualification experience

Learn how to:

• Improve the value you are providing to learners and centres.
• Diversify your qualification approach to protect revenue.
• Vary communication styles with centres and learners to drive engagement.
• Ensure that your productivity levels remain high.

Download this free e-book now to discover actionable strategies and practical advice.

Download free e-book here

The post Five ways to Protect Qualifications Revenue appeared first on Protech |.

Have you established what members actually want and need?

Engage with your members to find out the benefits they value. Research competitors, study statistical reports and explore other industry’s professional membership organisations to identify potential benefits. Take a look at what members are saying within online communities and social media pages.

Have you correctly segmented your benefits?

Create a member value proposition based on appropriate demographics. Consider likely member situations and attitudes to drive member benefits. For example, if a younger marketing executive has been made redundant due to the pandemic they are especially likely to value financial help, CPD learning, and training courses.

Are you working closely with partners, sponsors and industry experts?

Restricted budgets and reduced staff may prevent you from providing additional benefits.  Consider engaging and teaming up with partners, sponsors and industry experts to reduce costs of delivering further benefits. Consider partnering with an organisation who have developed eLearning content, training courses or qualifications. Provide both free and paid features within these areas to help drive both value and revenue.

Are you signposting all government support programmes?

Help your members stay abreast of official government help and support by making information prominent and easily accessible through all channels. Signpost guidance front and centre through your corporate website, within COVID-19 content hubs, through social media channels and as part of all email campaigns and online communities.

Is your member value proposition clear?

Make sure your membership proposition is prominently displayed on your website. Create a marketing strategy that clearly highlights those benefits most tailored to the current situation. CPD, online assessments, eLearning, and webinars to support members are the most obvious benefits on which to focus. Highlight the outcomes in addition to benefits. For example, attending an online webinar results in increased subject-matter knowledge and practical advice that members can use each day while also gaining CPD points. Engage with your technology provider who is likely to have expertise in optimising the experience for members.

Are you finding innovative ways to engage members?

Review the channels used to communicate with your members to ensure they are still appropriate. It was reported in January 2020 that more than 4.5 billion people now use the internet, while social media users have passed the 3.8 billion mark. Maximising your presence in the areas that have the highest visibility is vital. Consider interactive content such as live videos, webinars, and polls to drive people to your website. Whilst looking for new engagement methods, don’t ignore the older age demographic who may be less technology-focused. Retain more traditional communication channels such as telephone, text or post to also serve them with relevant valuable information.

Click here to find out how Protech’s solution can help you to drive your member value.

This article is part of our 25 page free e-book, how professional membership organisations can drive member value through the pandemic and beyond.

Learn how to:

• Adapt your value proposition to resonate with member needs
• Practically enhance your member retention
• Diversify your qualification approach to protect revenue
• Minimise the impact of event cancellation
• Ensure that your productivity levels remain high whilst working remotely

Download this free e-book now to discover actionable strategies and practical advice.

Download free e-book here

The post A Checklist for Driving Member Value appeared first on Protech |.

We have assembled a checklist of questions that summarise our advice to this sector. It should help you to uncover every opportunity to help your learners and centres.

Have you clearly communicated the status of their exams to your learners?

Communicate with learners directly to update them on the status of exams, outline any potential changes to the way they are provided and share rescheduled dates. Ensure that this message is consistent and shared on all applicable channels including centre portals, learner portals, direct email, corporate websites, letters and text messages. If you are awarding grades based upon predicted performance, show how this is calculated. Video content is especially useful in providing clear explanation. If you provide qualifications through centres, provide them with this information to distribute to learners.

Have you established what support your learners need right now?

Ask learners what extra information or support they need for their scheduled exams. Send out surveys and create polls to understand other value-added services you can offer learners. For example, can you provide online conferencing training courses, extra tuition workshops or relevant online webinars? Keep in regular contact with centres to understand how they are coping with the pandemic. If they are located in different countries, they may have different needs so work with them to help support their learners.

Have you correctly segmented your communications?

The information you share with centres needs to be appropriate to their needs and there may be an opportunity to group similar communication messaging. For example, by geography if they’re located in different parts of the world. For learners, segmentation may be more closely based on the exam they are taking. So group the information you provide on exam status and other value-added activities you can offer.

Are you signposting all government support programmes?

The variety of government and industry-specific support available should be signposted clearly on the homepage of your website. Consider creating a content hub within your website’s news section to collate all the important and helpful resources around COVID-19.

Are you working closely with partners and sponsors ?

Restricted budgets and reduced staff limit the value you can provide to your learners. Working more closely with your partners, sponsors or industry experts may be a way to maintain your standards by delivering assessments or similar activities online.

Are you finding innovative ways to engage learners and centres?

Use interactive webinars and one-to-one video calls to keep in regular contact with centres. Upload key information to your central portal to provide guidance for centres and information that you’d like them to share with learners. People spend over 90% of the time on their phone using apps so if you have this facility, use notifications from your app to drive learners to engage with you. Update them on key exam information and market other relevant products.

This article is part of our 20 page free e-book, how awarding organisations can drive learner engagement and diversify qualification experience

Learn how to:

• Improve the value you are providing to learners and centres.
• Diversify your qualification approach to protect revenue.
• Vary communication styles with centres and learners to drive engagement.
• Ensure that your productivity levels remain high.

Download this free e-book now to discover actionable strategies and practical advice.

Download free e-book here

The post A Checklist for Providing Enhanced Learner and Centre Value appeared first on Protech |.

1. Response funds: Providing financial benefits is not viable for every business but many medium to large professional membership organisations are setting aside sums of up to £250,000 to support their members directly. In one instance, an organisation is providing members whose income has been affected by COVID-19 with a £250 grant to help with food and lockdown bills. It’s a generous act that is also an investment in their membership
2. Legal advice and support: Another important benefit that many membership organisations are providing is legal advice and support. This is an invaluable service that can be actioned by pulling together documentation on employment, PPE issues, personal injury advice and many other areas relevant to your organisation type.
3. Membership scheme payment holidays: A natural reaction for many members during the pandemic might be to cancel their subscriptions to minimise “non-essential” spending during the crisis. Those professional membership organisations that offer some sort of discount or payment holiday are likely to be better positioned as the world returns to normality. Those that insist on full payment with zero concessions are in danger of losing members and damaging their brand value.
4. Vouchers for benefits that are currently dormant: Your membership organisation may provide benefits such as outdoor activities that are not currently accessible due to government guidelines. Consider marketing these offerings via gift vouchers so that they can still be purchased and then redeemed when it’s safe to do so. This tactic also has a very positive cash flow effect for your organisation.
5. Discounted products and services: Providing small discounts on high-demand products and services will help greatly with maintaining revenue. Right now, products such as online qualifications, training courses, eLearning and other CPD Style activities are popular with many members who have free time and wish to progress their career. Helping make this affordable for members could pay dividends in other areas. Consider providing a mixture of free and paid learning in various styles to engage your members and drive interest in other areas of your business.
6. Activities to combat boredom and to keep children entertained: Two common challenges facing members today are keeping children entertained and combating boredom whilst furloughed. Many professional membership organisations are providing industry related puzzles, challenges and activities to help in both cases. Consider whether this is something that your members would value and if so, whether you could also provide them.
7. Sharing real life stories from industry: With so many negative stories circulating, it is important to share positive and engaging stories of members who are working within the industry you’re targeting. Keyworker stories can be particularly inspiring and will spread positivity and joy. Encourage members to engage with you to share their experiences.
8. Web Chat, email and telephone support: Providing a variety of support channels is vital for professional membership organisations and they need to be clearly signposted everywhere. Members should be first directed to your website’s FAQ pages and if their query is not listed, they should be encouraged to get in contact with you via the channel with which they feel most comfortable.
9. Valuable, relevant resources: The provision of resources on key industry trends that resonate with members can add a great deal of value. Providing this via branded marketing materials, social media, video channels or within webinars is ideal. During our research, we found one leading professional body that divided the topics from their cancelled annual conference into a webinar series so that members could learn about them in bite-sized chunks.
10. CPD Career Development Activities: The current economic downturn will probably have a longer-term impact on members’ career growth. This is a key opportunity for professional membership organisations to help and we are seeing CPD and learning opportunities being heavily marketed today. If you offer these types of services, focusing on the outcomes of new qualification and further learning is vital to engaging, retaining and recruiting members. It’s also important to demonstrate your ability to provide a higher quality learning experience which will require efficient and innovative back-office processes to achieve.

Bonus Tip: Pass on any good advice you receive

Protech has researched and published an FAQ page on our website to provide guidance for  professional membership organisations during this stressful time. Offering a similar information resource to your members will not only provide value by helping them, it will also reduce the demand on your own customer services teams.

This article is part of our 25 page free e-book, how professional membership organisations can drive member value through the pandemic and beyond.

Learn how to:

• Adapt your value proposition to resonate with member needs
• Practically enhance your member retention
• Diversify your qualification approach to protect revenue
• Minimise the impact of event cancellation
• Ensure that your productivity levels remain high whilst working remotely

Download this free e-book now to discover actionable strategies and practical advice.

Download free e-book here

The post Actionable Advice for Membership Organisations During COVID-19 and Beyond appeared first on Protech |.

As one of these employees, the need to respond quickly to member enquiries requires you to stay alert and close to your office desk. Similarly, whilst many organisations offer self-service functionality within their corporate website, the process of on-boarding new members often extends across a number of departmental functions so sharing an office with your finance or marketing colleagues has many operational advantages. And with almost all regular tasks being computer based, any decrease in IT support or connectivity can have significant effects on your ability to maintain service standards and deadlines.

Of course, working from home does have its benefits too. There can be fewer counter-productive distractions, potentially unnecessary meetings are often replaced by emails and you can adjust your working environment to match your needs.

Here are six pieces of advice to help you adapt and thrive during this period.

1. Get Organised: Set up a dedicated workspace where you can work as you would within the office. Place everything you need close at hand. Ensure you honour the end of the working day and shut away your working area when you finish.
2. Take ownership of your motivation: Whilst you may have been given targets or deadlines by your team, you should also manage your own task list by setting yourself smaller daily, weekly and monthly goals. This will help you to stay motivated by giving you a sense of progress and accomplishment as you tick off each milestone.
3. Minimise the distractions around the house: Every household will have different distractions and finding a way to minimise them is vital to keeping focused. If household chores or family members distract you, shutting the door and setting boundaries may be the simple answer. Set work times and office areas really help here.
4. Control your social media intake: According to Statista, worldwide average daily social media use amounts to 144 minutes per day. Checking these accounts too often within the working day will lead to a loss of focus and wasted time. Consider whether all your apps need to have notifications turned on and allocate a set amount of time to batch check them all in one sitting.
5. Structure your working day: Outline two or three key outcomes on which to focus each day to maintain structure. Manage your time effectively and schedule your day around when you are most productive. Plan time for regular breaks and a proper lunch away from your computer.
6. Communicate and collaborate through efficient platforms:Many platforms such as Microsoft Teams, Zoom and Slack are offering free use during the pandemic. Use them to run structured meetings within your teams on a daily and weekly basis to communicate and collaborate with stakeholders. Consider finding a buddy within your organisation to check in with for five minutes per day to reduce feelings of isolation. Remember to update your status within your chosen platform so that your colleagues know when not to disturb you or if you are away from your laptop.Successful membership organisations need employees that are agile and engaged. This is unachievable if you’re fatigued, disorganised or distracted. If you’re constantly losing focus, you may be trying too hard. Use the tips above to make your working time more efficient and thus help you retain a proper work-life balance. Don’t try to overcompensate for not being in the office by working longer than you normally would and by skipping regular breaks. This is a marathon, not a sprint.This article is part of our 25 page free e-book, how professional membership organisations can drive member value through the pandemic and beyond.
   

   

   Learn how to:

   • Adapt your value proposition to resonate with member needs
   • Practically enhance your member retention
   • Diversify your qualification approach to protect revenue
   • Minimise the impact of event cancellation
   • Ensure that your productivity levels remain high whilst working remotely

   Download this free e-book now to discover actionable strategies and practical advice.

   Download free e-book here

The post Six Ways for to Maintain Productivity and Focus Whilst Working Remotely appeared first on Protech |.

1. Diversify the way in which exams are delivered: Delivering qualifications that are usually held offline or in centre locations is a key challenge for awarding bodies. One option is to convert popular exams to an online e-assessment model where learners can take the exam at a time to suit them. Where an open book exam model has been used, we noted that many questions were uploaded to portal areas that gave learners a certain time frame to complete their answer.
2.  Learner engagement: Consistent communication with learners around the status of their exams is vital. Virtually  all awarding bodies do this, but we found one leading organisation that went the extra mile. They did not have the capability to provide their exams online so were forced to use an expected grade calculation for some of their exams but provided a thorough video explanation to show exactly how these were calculated. Strategies such as this are a great way of informing learners in an engaging, interactive way.
3.  Undertake centre visits remotely: If you offer qualifications through centres, it’s important to maintain engagement with key contacts across all institutions. Within our research we found that many organisations had switched to remote visits to achieve this. Understanding the restrictions in place for your centres is important, particularly if they are located in other parts of the world
4. Frequently asked questions: Protech has researched and published an FAQ page on our website to provide guidance for awarding organisations during this stressful period. Offering a similar information resource to your learners will not only provide value by helping them, it will also reduce the demand on your own customer services teams.
5. Discounted products and services: Providing small discounts on high-demand products and services will help greatly with maintaining revenue. Right now, products such as online qualifications, training courses, eLearning and other CPD style activities are popular with many people who have free time and wish to progress their career. Helping to make this affordable for learners could pay dividends in other areas. Consider providing a mixture of free and paid learning in various styles to engage them and drive interest in other areas of your business.
6.  Web Chat, email and telephone Support: Providing a variety of support channels is vital for awarding organisations and they need to be clearly signposted everywhere. Learners should be first directed to your website’s FAQ pages and if their query is not listed, they should be encouraged to get in contact with you via the channel with which they feel most comfortable.
7.  Valuable, relevant resources: The provision of resources on key industry trends that resonate with learners can add a great deal of value. Providing this via branded marketing materials, social media, video channels or within webinars is ideal. During our research, we found one leading professional body that divided the topics from their cancelled annual conference into a webinar series so that members could learn about them in bite-sized chunks.
8. CPD Career Development Activities: The current economic downturn will probably have a longer-term impact on learners’ career growth. This is a key opportunity for awarding organisations to help and we are seeing CPD and learning opportunities being heavily marketed today. If you offer these types of services, focusing on the outcomes of new qualification and further learning is vital to engaging, retaining and recruiting learners. It’s also important to demonstrate your ability to provide a higher quality learning experience which requires efficient, innovative websites and portals to achieve.
9. Push the membership concept: Awarding organisations that offer services in addition to their qualifications are likely to generate further revenue. A membership model with value-added benefits such as CPD activities and events should be considered. Look to your CRM and digital partner to help deliver these on your website via a self-service approach that doesn’t overwhelm your administration staff. In our research, those organisations that offered membership were best able to promote high-demand services such as online events and CPD activities

The post Actionable Advice for Awarding Organisations During COVID-19 and Beyond appeared first on Protech |.

It’s a challenge because we are all social animals, happiest when interacting with others, and the office provides structure to our working day. We are also accustomed to meeting in person to build trust and collaborate on complex tasks. There can be three natural responses to the uncertainty caused by COVID-19.

Anxiety: This is a natural response to uncertainty and constant change. Try to arrange one-to-one conversations with your manager or colleagues to discuss the remote working situation. Perhaps some deadlines can be extended or tasks shared to spread the workload. Remember that many households are in the same position so it’s not an issue if your child walks into your video conference or needs to be tended to.

Stress: When isolated and working from home, it can seem as though only we are affected by stress. We can respond by staying attached to our computer or over-working, but this is neither sustainable, healthy or productive. Symptoms of stress include insomnia, high blood pressure and mood swings. Check in with yourself regularly and try to identify which tasks or experiences are triggering feelings of stress. Talk to your manager and work together to find solutions.

Isolation: Even those of us that live with others are likely to feel cut off from the world while working from home. It’s important to realise that everyone is feeling the same way. Use regular video calls to reduce feelings of isolation and replace everyday interaction. It’s an important part of team building.

10 Tips for Self-Care: Advice to help you recharge, avoid burn out and maintain your mental health

1. Take regular breaks: Time away from work is important for mental wellbeing. You can still take annual leave even if you stay at home and regular breaks throughout the working day are important in keeping productivity levels high. Otherwise we can become increasingly tired and demotivated.
2. Stay connected: Keep in regular touch with friends and family to maintain your mental wellbeing. During work hours, consider replacing long emails to colleagues with a brief phone call instead. This approach is likely to be more productive and provides much needed interaction.
3. Stay active: At least half an hour of daily physical activity is recommended for adults. Keeping active reduces stress, increases energy levels and helps us to sleep better. Cleaning a whole apartment can burn the equivalent calories of a 5-mile run and YouTube channels such as Joe Wicks’ provides some great 15-minute indoor workouts for all fitness levels.
4. Create a consistent routine: Retain the distinction between work and personal time to reduce stress levels. Try to follow your normal patterns where you can by waking at the same time, eating breakfast and getting ready for the day. If you’re not commuting, devote this time to exercising, reading or listening to music And when your workday stops, leave your desk and focus on your home life.
5. Watch your diet: A well-nourished and properly hydrated body is better at handling mental stress. Deficiencies in certain minerals such as iron and vitamin B12 can cause a low mood so it’s important to eat well. If you feel anxious, consider reducing your caffeine intake too.
6. Take up relaxation practices: Techniques such as meditation and yoga help to reduce stress while also improving fitness. Hatha yoga in particular is a good choice and beginners may prefer its slower pace and easier movements.
7. Get outside or bring nature in: Try to get outside each day as time spent in green spaces benefits your mental and physical wellbeing. If this is difficult, spend time with the windows open and arrange your workspace to get plenty of natural light. This is a great source of vitamin D for our bodies and releases chemicals in our brains that improve our mood.
8. Avoid speculation: Obsessing over unreliable online news sources and social media can increase stress levels. Limit your consumption to a set period rather than browsing throughout the day.
9. Do something you enjoy: Invest your evenings and weekends in activities that make you calm and bring joy. Try a new hobby such as cooking or painting; find what works for you.
10. Be kind to yourself: This is a challenging and stressful situation, so acknowledge you probably won’t be as productive as usual. Give yourself the time and permission to adapt gradually.

This article is part of our 25 page free e-book, how professional membership organisations can drive member value through the pandemic and beyond.

Learn how to:

• Adapt your value proposition to resonate with member needs
• Practically enhance your member retention
• Diversify your qualification approach to protect revenue
• Minimise the impact of event cancellation
• Ensure that your productivity levels remain high whilst working remotely

Download this free e-book now to discover actionable strategies and practical advice.

Download free e-book here

The post 10 Tips for Maintaining Mental Wellbeing During the Pandemic appeared first on Protech |.

During these challenging times, it is really important for professional membership organisations to deliver timely, relevant benefits for their members. This new functionality will facilitate further engagement across regional groups, encouraging interaction with peers and the professional membership organisation itself.

Steven Shiels, Head of Sales and Marketing for Protech said, “The integration between ProConnect and Hivebrite will provide members with a joined up and personalised experience across all technology solutions. The communities platform will add significant value to the organisations member proposition and improve peer to peer engagement.”

About Protech

Protech has been providing software for professional awarding and membership organisations for almost 25 years. Today, some of the country’s most respected organisations rely on the company’s ProConnect™ software to engage, communicate and transact with more than 2.5 million learners, members and customers.

The powerful CRM functionality at the heart of ProConnect effortlessly manages qualifications and membership while automating manual processes to minimise operating cost. It ships with a fully featured content management system, making it the perfect tool to construct websites and user portals. ProConnect can also manage events, host content, and operate job boards, forums and blogs. These features allow Protech’s clients to increase the acquisition and retention of members, maximise engagement and enhance member value through an enhanced user experience.

Protech’s aim is to help facilitate the sense of belonging between people and their organisations, enabling them to achieve more together.

The post Protech Supports Integration with Online Community Platform Hivebrite appeared first on Protech |.