Polarsteps' Journey: Real-time Insights with Noon for Growth & Well-being

Introduction

Polarsteps is an adventurous travel app. Users relive their travels or travel memories with a Travel Book. Over the recent years, the app's user base has expanded at an impressive pace. This growth in users naturally led to a surge in requests and inquiries via email, social media, and the App Store.

At the heart of these operations is the diligent Customer Support Team. Steffany Hernandez, who currently leads as the Manager Support Specialist, sheds light on how the team has evolved, and the challenges and successes they've encountered so far.

The Challenge: A Balancing Act in Growth

The Customer Support Team's journey began with a small team that gradually expanded. Currently, the team consists of 10 people. This all happened in a time-period of just two years. Half of this team got hired this year, meaning that 50% of the current team has been working at Polarsteps for less than 4 months.

Currently, it's Polarsteps' peak season. There are more people traveling, documenting their steps and ordering travel books, meaning the work of this team is piling up. Especially, when the team members are getting used to each other and everyone's way of working. Balancing the daily tasks and making sure the team stays happy and healthy is high on the priority list of the team.

How do you stay in the Loop?

Keeping this a priority is important to make sure the team can work productively with each other, while also having the space to interact. To make sure to stay in the loop on how everyone's feeling, the team has implemented some tactics. They have different check-ins: the bi-weekly one-on-ones and the team check-ins, to discuss what is going on inside the team.

This is to make sure the team is in an open and safe environment where they can communicate their thoughts and feelings. Also, there is a focus on making sure newer and older team members are aligned. This happens with bonding activities that focus more on the social aspect.

Working on continuous improvement

Even though there are many advantages of an open environment like this, the continuous feedback can also get chaotic. How can everyone make sure they are on the same page while it does not interfere with the daily responsibilities too much? Noon can provide the solution to this.

Polarsteps has been making use of Noon for three months. This gives the team a more real-time understanding of how the team is doing outside of the check-ins in place. Steffany: “With Noon, we notice what areas need more improvement. We monitor them over time: Is it something we need to take action on immediately or are these things that we need to keep monitoring over time?

Staying on track with the team

Noon gives the Polarsteps team the possibility to stay attuned to what the team is feeling, without interfering in the day-to-day work. This is a valuable add-on next to their own check-ins as it creates a balance. Steffany: "It's a tool that helps us engage as a team and oversee topics that perhaps might have slipped if we didn't have this daily reflection. It helps us to stay focused on our work.”

The power of Hacks

Next to showing patterns of well-being over time, there are also actions teams can start doing right away. One of these are the well-being hacks in the Noon Knowledge Base. Steffany: "For July, we observed a notable dip in workload satisfaction, scoring below 60. That has pushed us to go to the knowledge base and see what we can improve.” Building on this insight, Polarsteps embraced time-blocking to optimize their workflow, driving efficiency and adaptability.

With this hack, the team defines specific time slots for different tasks. With the dynamic nature of their work and the diverse range of responsibilities they handle, this approach allows the team to adapt to unexpected changes and interruptions more effectively.

Steering Towards Success with Noon.work

Especially in times of growth and new directions, it is important to stay in the loop and focus on what you can improve. With Noon, this team is able to keep in-check with the team on a daily basis while staying productive and steering towards success.

When you explore Noon.work, you're investing in a tool that is there for your team, providing valuable feedback you can take actions on. It's about equipping your team with the knowledge to improve on a daily basis.

If you're looking to foster unity, gain actionable feedback, and empower your team with proactive insights, then it's time to take the next step. Try Noon with the 14-day free trial.