How Tilt used Kumospace to make the most out of a remote-first approach

What do you get when you cross an employee-focused organization with super-powered virtual office space? One big, happy team.

Learn how one remote-first company helped its employees reconnect with the help of a Kumospace virtual office.

Meet Tilt

Around 100 employees make up Tilt, a unique leave-of-absence platform dedicated to bridging the gap between companies and employees who need some time off. 

Tilt understands that one of the keys to running a successful business is to take care of your people. So, it’s no wonder that this people-centered company is exceedingly concerned with providing its employees with the best possible work environment.

The Employee Success Manager who’s pulling out all the stops

Kim is located in Cincinnati, Ohio, more than 1,000 miles away from Tilt’s home base, so she’s no stranger to the work-from-home aspect of the job.

When Kim discovered that Tilt’s fully-remote team craved more ways to connect and build camaraderie, she did what any good employee success manager would do: she went out and found the right tool to bring her people back together.

Organization strategy: Remote First

As a remote-first company with employees across the nation, Tilt needed a better way to connect team members. The company prides itself on fostering a high-trust work environment so finding the right online platform wasn’t about tracking employees. Rather, Kim sought a platform to enhance collaboration and increase communication.

The problem: remote work can feel lonely

Remote and hybrid teams often feel left out of the day-to-day connection that we take for granted in physical offices. Remote employees miss out on organic water-cooler conversations, lunch dates, and random hallway meetings. And that can feel isolating.

Kim noticed that some Tilters were setting up hours-long meetings so that they could hang out and co-work together. Tilt’s strong company culture was evident — but traditional remote conferencing tools failed to support it.

Meeting Tetris

Meetings are only effective if you can fit them around an already busy schedule. And what about ad hoc meetings? Trying to fit everything in was an ongoing hassle. Instead, Tilt wanted to create an environment where organic conversation could flourish and team members could seamlessly collaborate.

The Solution: Co-Working in Kumospace’s virtual offices

Kim took the excessive meeting invites as a cry for help, so she sought out a tool that Tilters could use to connect easily. And because Tilt is a high-trust company, managers did not need to use the platform for micromanaging or checking in on employees’ work. Instead, Kumospace became Tilt’s tool to increase collaboration, connection, and creativity.

Collaboration

The Tilt Customer Success department is comprised of three different teams. Each team designed their own Kumospace coworking pod where they discuss projects, brainstorm ideas, and chat when needed. Adjacent teams can easily pop in, generating organic conversations and building office camaraderie.

Onboarding

Kim embraced Kumospace as an onboarding tool because “there is no easier way to introduce a remote team member to the company [than in Kumospace].” The process starts in the Kumospace Lobby (just like in a physical office), where Kim greets the new team member. From there, they hold orientation in the Launchpad room and go over how to screen-share, navigate, and other nifty features that Kumospace offers. “Kumospace is super user-friendly when allowing me to show a deck,” Kim says.

Onboarding continues with a tour of Tilt’s virtual office space (including department lounges, one-on-one spaces, and hangout spaces). Onboarding concludes with a roundtable to facilitate conversation and ease new employees into their new virtual environment.

Office hours

The Tilt workforce spans many time zones, so there’s always someone online getting things done. Unlike a physical office, Kumospace is always on, conveniently available whenever you need it. Whether you’re setting up a weekly meeting or logging in late at night to finish a project, the space is open.

And just as with a physical office, working in Kumospace increases visibility for management and team members. For example, Tilt managers block out recurring office hours on their calendars so that team members drop into their Kumospace offices to discuss sensitive matters or shoot the breeze.

Recurring weekly and quarterly meetings

Dedicated office hours significantly reduce unnecessary meetings, as do holding company-wide meetings and events. Tilt uses Kumospace to host company-wide, weekly Monday-morning meetings where everyone can easily join. They have created a separate floor designed like a large auditorium specially designated for their quarterly meetings.

Working in pods

Collaborating in a single open space can be exhilarating, but when Tilters need some peace, it’s easy to find in Kumospace. Coworking pods and quick catch-up meeting spaces provide ample privacy while enabling team members to get support when needed.

How you can do it?

Are you excited about the benefits of Kumospace? Ready to try it for yourself? Here are a few helpful tips from the Tilt team to use while implementing the tool for your company.

Change calendar invites

Get the word out about the new platform. Once your team sees how easy it is to transition to Kumospace, they’ll be sold on using it for daily work, too.

Assign office hours

Increase visibility for your company by ensuring that your team can reach out when needed. Managers should lead by example by spending time in the virtual office — just as they would be in a physical office. This opens up timely communication and collaboration lines that don’t exist on other platforms. 

Lead by example

Like Kim, it’s essential to do your due diligence and ensure that Kumospace suits your company’s needs. It’s also crucial to test it out. Make sure you know how to get the most out of Kumospace before bringing in your team — that way, upon implementation, everyone can get the most out of the space.

Plus, if you’re familiar with Kumospace, you can have fun with the customization. Kim notes that her team loves eating virtual donuts during their morning meetings.

High-level culture

For Kim and Tilt, finding the right virtual office space was about connection. What started as a substitute for endless meeting invites has become an essential tool for building and maintaining Tilt’s unique company culture.

Write your success story with Kumospace

Ready to try Kumospace? From increasing remote employee visibility to revitalizing company culture, our Spaces are designed to combat the most prevalent challenges facing remote and hybrid teams. Kumospace virtual offices are free to try so test us out today! If you need help or want to speak to someone on our team, schedule a demo. We can’t wait to see you in Kumospace!