Working with a colleague you don’t like every day is pretty rough — but it turns out this problem doesn’t disappear if you ditch the office and start working remotely .

Even if you don’t share the same physical space, you’re still forced to communicate with said person on Slack, email, or both. What’s worse, the nuance of the real world doesn’t exist, and you’re likely struggling to contain yourself.

Sound familiar? If so, don’t worry because you’re not alone.

“Try as we might, we won’t like everyone and not everyone will like us. Even when we or they have done nothing wrong,” says Gethin Nadin , a psychologist and HR author.

“This can happen more often when we aren’t face to face with someone as it’s difficult to build a relationship through a screen,” he adds — and with most of us stuck working from home for at least the remainder of the year, it’s important to know how to act.

According to Nadin, dealing with difficult coworkers online boils down to four things:

1. Give your colleague the benefit of the doubt

When you don’t like someone, it’s easy to speculate on their motives, but trying to be positive about their actions will actually help you feel better about the situation.

It’s important to remember that 2020 has been challenging for most of us. Indeed, emotions are already strained, so try and be as kind as you can (or at least just bite your tongue for now).

2. Be sensible

Who hasn’t bad-mouthed a colleague? It’s so easy to do, right?

“Talking and moaning about other people at work might seem normal and sometimes fun, but be wary that it can hurt your reputation and chances at work,” Nadin says.

To avoid this, try and keep your feelings to yourself unless you really need to talk to someone — and if you do, confide in your friends outside of work.

Think about how what you say often says more about you than the actual person you’re discussing.

3. Own your headspace

Nadin says that so much of life is how we feel about it and how we react to it.

It can be so hard to control our reactions and emotions, but it’s not impossible.

“It’s your life — so don’t let people live rent-free in your head,” Nadin adds.

Don’t let negative emotions seep into your own headspace. If you do, you’ll only end up feeling even more unhappy.

4. Pick your battles with colleagues

Like in every relationship, you need to pick your battles and really think about what’s worth the argument.

“When you work with people, there’ll be lots of small things to argue about, so make sure you only bring up the things that are worth it,” Nadin says.

I mean, do you really want to have a fight about every single unfortunate comment? It’s exhausting — and let’s face it, you could save your energy for things that actually matter.

The truth is that you’ll come across people you don’t like or click with wherever you may go. It’s inevitable — so the trick is to learn to manage these feelings or emotions and more importantly to not let this affect your behaviour and quality of work.

Just remember:

To be empathetic: put yourself in the other person’s shoes and think why they’ve offended you. Could it be a miscommunication issue or a misunderstanding?

To be more tolerant: be mindful of the fact that everyone is going through something. While this doesn’t excuse poor behaviour, it could help explain it.

No one is as bad as you think: even if you think you’re colleague is a monster (they do exist, believe me) it’s likely that you’re focusing solely on the negative. No one is as bad as they seem — and on the same token, no one is as nice as you think.

Think about context: what triggers tension between you and your colleague? Is there anything you can do to combat it? Either way, acknowledging the cause is the first step towards (a hopefully) harmonious coexistence.

To be transparent: if the issue persists, be prepared to discuss it with the individual. Gossiping won’t get you anywhere!

To take control of your thoughts: don’t let negativity consume you, or how you view others. Sure, your coworker might suck, but don’t let them affect the rest of your life.

Interested in the future of work? Then secure your free online tickets for TNW2020 and learn more.

Level-up your customer service with these 4 dynamite strategies

No matter what kind of business you run, a huge part of your business’ success ties back to your customer service strategy; according to a 2017 Microsoft report , more than half of consumers have stopped doing business with a company due to poor customer service. And as industries continue to get more and more competitive, building a dedication to customer service into your brand DNA is more important than ever.

At the core, customer service is just what it sounds like — servicing your customers. If you consistently provide the kind of high-level service that leaves a mark on your customers, it’s going to build a sense of trust and drive brand loyalty with your audience. And if you don’t? Well, let’s just say your customers are going to be less than impressed — and more than likely to abandon your company in favor of one of your more customer-centric competitors.

But the question is, what actually goes into creating that high level service experience for your customers? As a business owner, how can you lay the groundwork for an unparalleled customer service experience from beginning to end?

Make it simple

Consumers crave simplicity. For example, if a potential customer has a question about one of your products, they don’t want to spend 30 minutes scouring your website for your contact information. Or let’s say your customer has to return a product. They don’t want to go on a fact-finding mission to figure out your return policy (including calling your customer service line) — only to find out that they’re ineligible for a return or refund.

The point is, the more challenging it is for your customers to get the support they need, the more likely people are to get frustrated and abandon the process — and the more likely you are to lose that customer for good.

That’s why it’s important to make your customer service process as simple, straightforward, and transparent as possible. Make sure the contact information for your customer support team is visible and easy to find on your website. Make it simple for your customers to cancel an order, make a return, or file a complaint. Make sure that all your customer service requests are being answered quickly and efficiently.

The easier and more transparent your customer service processes, the better the experience will be for your customers — and the better the results will be for your company.

Offer one-on-one customer support throughout the entire process

Imagine you’re the customer. You need to get in touch with a company’s customer support team, so you reach out through the live chat on their website. You explain the situation and ask your question, but there’s no response.

So you call their customer service number. You talk to a rep, explain the situation again, and ask your product-related questions. The rep takes down your information and tells you they’ll look into it and gets back to you.

A few days later, you haven’t heard back, so you send a follow-up message to the customer service email. A new rep responds to your email and asks you for the same information you gave the original rep. So, you explain the situation and ask your questions again … only to have the rep tell you they’ll look into it and get back to you.

And you’re right back at square one.

There are few things more frustrating to a customer than getting bounced around between customer support reps; in fact, according to a survey from Dimensional Research and ZenDesk , a whopping 72% of consumers view having to explain their situation to multiple people as a negative customer service experience.

Not only is it a waste of time and energy (for your customers and your team), but it also makes the customer feel like their issue isn’t being acknowledged or resolved, which leads to a serious sense of frustration — and can lead to them seeking out a different company to do business with.

If you want to provide an effective customer service experience, your customers need to feel like they’re getting the one-on-one support needed to actually resolve their customer service issue. Assigning a dedicated customer success manager to handle each customer service request — from the very first interaction all the way through to the resolution — will ensure that your customers have an effective, consistent experience.

When one of your support reps takes on a customer request, make sure they’re staying with that customer throughout the entire customer service journey. Train your reps on how to keep track of their requests, how often to follow up, and how to ensure your customers feel like they’re being taken care of throughout the process.

Or, if your product or service has an onboarding process, you can even take things step further and assign one customer success manager to handle a customer from onboarding throughout their entire customer journey (like we do here at Hourly).

When a customer works with one rep for the duration of their customer service experience, they’ll feel like your company is actually committed to helping them find a resolution — and, as a result, they’ll be more committed to working with your company in the long-term.

Roll up your sleeves and get into the trenches

Corporate values tend to have a trickle effect; if you truly want your brand to become synonymous with stellar customer service, that commitment to service has to start from the top.

Your company’s leadership needs to take an active role in not only shaping your customer service strategy, but in implementing that strategy and adjusting it as necessary to best serve your customers.

Carve out time on a regular basis (for yourself and your leadership team) to roll up your sleeves, get into the trenches, and tackle customer service requests. This will help you get better insights into your customers, identify any issues with your support processes, and develop the strategies necessary to continue improving your customer service strategy.

As the CEO of Hourly, I spend 30 minutes every day on the front line doing customer service — no excuses, no exceptions. Not because I have to but because I want to.

Not only has this daily practice given me insights into how to better serve our customers, but it’s also helped me better understand the challenges my customer service team deals with — which has allowed me to better deliver the resources, training, and support they need to succeed in their roles.

Spending time doing customer service, no matter how busy I am or what other responsibilities I have as CEO, has been a complete win-win — for myself, my team, and our customers.

Invest in a local customer service team

There are a lot of companies out there that will argue that outsourcing your customer service operations is the way to go to save budget.

But while outsourcing your customer service may be a more affordable option, it can lead to issues. If your customer service reps are working in a different time zone than your customer base, it could make it more challenging to get your customers responses in a timely manner.

If your reps are in a country that speaks a different language than your customer base, it could lead to language barriers that make it harder to communicate or solve complex customer problems — and the quality of your service may suffer.

If you want to provide the highest level of customer service to your customers, you need to invest in hiring a domestic customer service team that speaks the same language as your core customer demographic. Hiring domestically can limit potential communication barriers — and make the customer service experience smoother and easier for your customers.

Focus on customer service to take your business to the next level

In order for your business to succeed, your customers need to trust you. They need to want to have a sense of loyalty to your business over the long term.

And the customer service experience you provide is going to play a huge part in building that trust and loyalty.

These are the strategies my team and I use at Hourly to deliver the highest level of customer service to our customers — and using these tips as a jumping off point, you can start building the strategies to do the same for your venture, too.

So you’re interested in improving your business? Then join our online event, TNW2020 , to hear how successful companies are adapting to a new landscape.

3 lessons for every newbie founder competing with industry veterans

It’s hard to believe it’s been almost five years since I began my entrepreneurial journey within an industry I had heard was nearly impossible to break into, let alone as a young entrepreneur in my 20s.

The 3D bioprinting industry has been dominated by professors with decades of experience and pharma giants, but I knew with enough passion, grit, and determination, I could break through. I had always been fascinated with 3D bioprinting technology and the life changing opportunities that could emerge if this industry was democratized.

In 2016 my co-founder and I went full speed ahead to pursue our dream of turning our vision of a world where 3D bioprinting technology was readily available and affordable to the masses into reality.

While outsiders may see CELLINK as an overnight success story with our recent $1 billion valuation and exponential growth, from an insider’s perspective  the notion of an overnight success is far from reality.

My team and I are extremely thankful for the success we have had but achieving this has meant a lot of sacrifices and we have had to overcome multiple hurdles to get to where we are today.  Below are three things I believe every entrepreneur should consider when breaking into an industry dominated by industry veterans.

1. Do your due diligence

No matter what you want to be successful in, you need to do your due diligence to get a full comprehensive picture of how you can disrupt and contribute to the industry and/or  problem you are trying to tackle. If you’re going after an industry run by a few key players with decades of experience, this is even more imperative.

Instead of seeing the experience others possessed as a challenge, I saw this as an opportunity to learn. I was maniacally focused on grasping the full picture of the industry I wanted to break into.

What did they do well? What could they have improved upon? You need to study the history of your industry and take note of the various milestones achieved. Ask yourself, what did it take to get here and why have they not reached the next milestone? What’s holding them back?

Take small yet impactful steps towards breaking into your industry if you want to truly innovate it in the long haul. Our first step into tackling the 3D bioprinting market was to create a universal bioink for bioprinting of human tissues and organs. We knew that aside from the exorbitant costs of most 3D bioprinting systems, the other challenge scientists faced was having to develop their own bioinks.

My co-founder and I saw this was a heavily asked question online and decided to take action. Before we even fully launched CELLINK, we set up a webshop to evaluate the demand from our target customers, within 24 hours of launching our universal bionk, we were sold out. At that moment, we knew we were onto something.

In a matter of months, we decided to take the next leap to developing cost-effective 3D bioprinting technology to accompany our inks and become a full 3D bioprinting solutions provider. It was time to enter the big leagues!

2. Stand your ground

When I started CELLINK, I was 25 years old. I was hungry, motivated, and felt a burning drive to truly disrupt this industry. As my co-founder and I went to raise money, we were quickly met with scrutiny and an onslaught of questions relating to our ability to make a real impact in this field.

Did we have the experience needed? Did we really have a game changing business model on our hands? Regardless of the numerous negative responses we received, this only made us stronger and more determined to show the world what we were capable of. Giving up simply wasn’t an option.

We decided to take what many see as an unconventional route of raising money and went public. We took CELLINK public on Nasdaq First North only 10 months after we launched. This to date is one of the earliest IPOs in history.

We may have been met with a lot of skepticism but found leading industry experts who believed in our technology and us as a team. We began to grow at a rapid pace and started securing partnerships and customers with world renowned research institutions and pharmaceutical companies around the globe. For every shred of doubt we received along the way, we took it with grace and used it to further push us towards our goal.

Even after a $1 billion valuation, acquiring four companies and building a team of nearly 400, we must still be persistent and stand our ground. We continue to have to prove ourselves on a daily basis. It’s part of the job.

3. Collaborate

Who knows better than your customers? Taking a collaborative approach to work alongside our customers has been instrumental to our success.

Within the first few months of launching, we developed a Collaborative Partnership Program where in exchange for a discount on our technology, our customers provided us with in-depth feedback on a regular basis and together we explored what it would take to have them reach their goals.

We knew we had to approach our business through a collaborative lens in order to build products that were not only coveted, but needed. We took a deep dive into the challenges our customers were facing and have continually worked closely to give them what they need to succeed and move the industry forward.

You can’t play guessing games if you want to succeed, never assume. Taking the time to really get to know your customers and those who you wish to work with can be the differentiating factor that will make or break you.

Creating our Collaborative Partnership Program has led us to a customer base of over 1,800 labs in 60+ countries.  We now have partnerships with almost every major pharmaceutical company and are working with world leading researchers on groundbreaking drug development, disease model analysis, cosmetic development, and more.

Collaboration is essential to effectively building relationships, learning, and making an impact. Never underestimate it.

As I enter my fifth year as the CEO of CELLINK, I look forward to the challenges and victories that lie ahead. As our team and portfolio of products continue to expand, we are taking this next phase to become a bio-convergence company and further provide technologies, products, and services in order to create, understand, and master biology to change the future of medicine.

Always remember to listen, absorb, and reflect in order to make the right choices to propel your business forward, especially in an industry where you’re seen as the underdog.  Never stop hustling!