Technological advancements and the influence of a new generation have driven the traditional work environments towards remote employment.
Remote working has been increasingly familiar due to the incredible convenience and massive benefits it provides to both employees and businesses when being executed properly.
In today’s digital age, the typical workplace is being redefined, and remote working is on the rise, it’s time to arm yourself with profound insight on how to create and optimize your remote team’s efficiency. This article will come up with some useful guides to do so.
Table of Contents
Ultimate Guide For An Ideal Remote Team
Decide On The Structure
Establishing a virtual working team is complicated and requires thoughtful preparation. An ideal plan should be based on your preferences, specific needs of your business, and the current surrounding condition.
The first and foremost thing to consider is the appropriate way of implementing remote teams, whether for hiring net-new remote employees or for making flexible work an option for current staff. Take your time to make a thorough plan before you roll it out.
Furthermore, it’s necessary to determine which jobs are remote-friendly and which are not. This helps you figure out which approach you’re going to take, whether your business can be fully remote, have specific teams that work remotely, or have certain individuals who work off-site.
Plus, by identifying which roles will be eligible for remote working, the potential for confusion or animosity between colleagues can be minimized.
Pay Attention On Recruitment Process
Recruiting is a crucial process that must be handled with care, especially when it comes to building a remote team, when the need for disciplined, reliable, and skilled employees may be even greater.
An apparent job description will be a good kickstart. The job description had better include all the key differentiators of your company, your value proposition, the details of the role, and your company’s core values.
When hiring, look for expertise, communication skills, quick response times, and other typical qualities required for entering the labor force in your candidates.
Regarding remote employees, recruiters should also look for traits that will drive success in working remotely, such as being self-motivated, self-disciplined, and organized.
Take Advantage Of Tools For Management
For sustainable collaboration, a win-win is indispensable. Fair assessment and proper management will balance remote workers’ freedom and comfort with the company’s efficient workflow.
Nonetheless, it’s easier said than done, as it might be challenging to keep track of employees all the time. As the folks at workpuls.com explained, in this digital era, various tracking software can work wonders for not only simplifying the exhausting managing task but also keeping workers on track of their effort. This is an integral step to boost the productivity of your remote team.
Fair and clear assessment will even enhance your team’s performance as they know all their effort is tracked accurately.
Establish Transparent Guidelines And KPI
Setting KPI and establishing guidelines for workflow is essential to optimizing the productivity of your team and holding them accountable.
Here are some examples of how to set clear expectations and guidelines for off-site employees:
- Specific working hours or online times
- The frequency of check-ins
- Process documentation for tasks
- Mutual and individual goals
- Who to contact in case of issues
- Means of communication to use under particular circumstances
Depending on the nature of your work, there may be more ways you can help employees ensure they thoroughly understand and know what is expected from them.
Keep Your Team Engaged
Feelings of disconnectedness can adversely affect work quality, morale, and your bottom line. So it’s a good idea to pay more attention to stimulate internal and external interaction of your team by holding regular department meetings and having manager check-ins with individual employees.
If only part of your team is working remotely, it’s important to make sure they’re included and acknowledged during these meetings.
Apart from work-related meetings, happy hours, games, or any team-building activities should be included to create opportunities for socializing and fostering team bonding.
Set Up Communication Channels
Communication is core to any business setting, especially when remote work is involved. Fortunately, in the advanced technological era, staying connected is no longer a big deal regardless of where your employees are in the world. Below are some suggestions:
- An internal direct messenger for direct communication
- Email for official or client communication
- Project management system for project-related comments or questions
Establishing communication processes will ensure that everyone knows how to reach one another, and can promptly respond to each other.
There’s always room for improvement in every process, so it’s important to constantly review to make sure your current approach is effective in building and fostering an outstanding remote team. Carefully lend an ear to your team members’ feedback and opinions, take the appropriate ones and work for the better.
