In today’s business world, lots of companies rely on remote teams, which – if set up and maintained properly – can have a whole range of benefits for their businesses. Having a remote team could save you lots of money, time, office space and instantly grow your talent search pool globally. In the past 10 years, there has been a significant spike in virtual workforces, and nearly 44 percent of U.S. companies say they are currently striving to increase their remote workforce. Virtual work has earned its place in the business world today. It is no longer just working from home. It is about enabling your team to work from anywhere, anytime.
The process of setting up a remote team, however, might seem a bit challenging. But there are some ways to make it easier for both sides.
Here are 7 important steps that will help you to successfully set up your remote team:
- Building the right remote culture stands at the beginning of successful virtual team endeavors: CEOs must work remotely themselves from time to time and thus also need to encourage others to do so and reward it. The company needs to establish a bonus system flexible enough to consider the needs and expectations of all employees, those working remotely and those maintaining the office routine.
- The rules determining the set-up of remote work need to be fixed and communicated transparently. This will make it easier to manage your team remotely and also make the solution more attractive for your employees, who have a clear understanding of what they can expect and what is expected from them.
- The rules for remote work must apply to everyone. If it is treated as an exception for only some special cases, it will not serve to establish a functioning and permanent culture.
- The right tools need to be in place which will enable you to manage projects and tasks, collaborate, share files and track results. Considering using a unified workspace and platform might be a good option in order to bundle all remote actions in one place right from the start.
- Key performance metrics will help you to steer productivity and assess the results of your remote team. This is where technology can help you gather the information quickly and deliver it in a simple and comprehensive way.
- Encouraging the communication between your remote and your physical in-office team members is crucial. It will contribute to the faster and easier integration of remote workers in the company and make them feel a part of it quickly.
- Building transparent, trustful and respectable relations with your remote employees will boost your business. Your employees will work harder and better if they know about your vision and understand the bigger picture.
