Going remote is only a win for some businesses. Yahoo! is one well-known example. The company 2013 tried letting workers work remotely but rapidly drew them back in. It’s easy to set up a remote team for failure and force a reversion to the old way of doing things if proper preparation and resources aren’t allocated. Though there are differences between the needs of a solopreneur and those of a business owner managing a remote staff, many helpful tools and strategies may make remote work simpler for everyone, whether they are working alone or with a team.
1. Figure Out What You Need
Thoroughly inspect your whole business and the tasks it entails daily. How do you communicate with the people you serve? How do you usually get in touch with people? How do you sell your wares and collect money from customers? A thorough analysis may determine what can and cannot be done remotely.
2. Use the right tools
Many company bosses hire remote workers before they have the right technology. Get virtual business phone numbers so clients, partners, and vendors can still reach you. Connect your team using chat platforms like Slack and Zoom, and think about using a shared warehouse or an on-demand service if you sell tangible goods. Do your best, but don’t go crazy. Almost as awful as not having the correct applications and tools is having too many to handle. To avoid having anything get lost in translation, stick to a small number of apps and platforms.
3. Concentrate and Computerize
Even if you don’t have to work remotely, having a centralized, uniform data source is crucial for your organization. In the past, the byproduct of conducting business was mountains of paper, file cabinets, forms, and folders. It’s easier than ever to save and share documents and get work done with a single cloud data storage and application provider like Microsoft Teams or Google Workspace. Asana, Trello, or Basecamp are just a few examples of productivity software that can keep your projects, meetings, and other commitments on track.
4. Make a database of your knowledge
Software like Atlassian Confluence is used by many businesses as a knowledge base to keep track of the operations, human resources, client and project notes, and other data that employees need to execute their jobs. One way to streamline your processes is to create an in-house knowledge library that you and your staff can use to find quick solutions to common problems that arise during daily work.
5. Organize Policies and Procedures
You can only expect your remote team to feel like one cohesive unit if you have established clear standards and procedures for how they should operate. Depending on the structure of your team or the nature of your job, you may need to develop guidelines for when and how employees may be reached when working remotely. Although adaptability is crucial, the steady progress of business should take precedence over any other considerations.
6. Build a system for sharing information and keeping everyone informed
Keeping in contact with remote employees or those frequently out of the office might take a lot of work. It’s possible that recipients of your messages will react later or that when you need an answer to a pressing problem, you won’t be able to reach the person who has it. Schedule frequent check-ins and team meetings to keep everyone connected and up to speed on what everyone else is working on and how they can assist. This will go a long way toward mitigating any possible difficulties.
7. Streamline the Process of Bringing New Employees On Board
Many difficulties that arise from working remotely can be avoided with proper preparation. Create in-depth guidelines and easy-to-follow step-by-step instructions for new team members if you have a specific set of project and time management tools that need to be utilized in a particular way. Doing so may allow them to begin their new position with as little disruption as possible.
8. Something New
Not everything will happen well or quickly or perhaps at all. Keep your hopes up high when testing new approaches and software for telecommuting. Keep hope if, at first, you fail. You might need to use the right tool for the job or consider an alternative that could save you time or effort. Put your queries to other company owners to gain insight from their experiences.
9. Make Regular Assessments
The key to deciding whether to stay the course or make changes in a firm is a regular review of the company’s operational operations, as any successful business owner understands. More so for distributed teams, this is of paramount importance. When teams operate from different places, it can be difficult to gauge performance other than via particular deliverables; however, in a shared physical office, there are many chances to measure performance and work engagement. You can always keep improving by constantly evaluating your progress.
10. Hold Frequent Meeting
Keep your feelings in mind as well. When everyone is spread out throughout the globe, it’s simple to lose sight of the bigger picture and start to feel like you’re not contributing to anything as a team. In addition to regular staff meetings, an excellent method to increase morale is to arrange virtual events, such as pizza parties or cocktail hours, where all employees may participate simultaneously.
In conclusion, managing a remote team while working remotely might be overwhelming. Thanks to the fast development of contemporary communications technology, more and better resources have become available to help business owners, managers, and workers operate remotely. You may improve your chances of success in the modern business world by acquiring a virtual number for your company and learning other tools and strategies.
