The Possibilities of 100% Remote Businesses
Gone are the days when the idea of telecommuting is only for women who need to manage their homes and take care of their children. Most businesses are now partially remote with employees spread across cultures and climes. However, there is a clear difference between running a part of your business remotely and completely converting a traditional brick and mortar business into a virtual company.
A remote work with no headquarters or cubicle is not only possible but also beneficial for both the business owner and a remote worker. The flexibility you offer to your employees enhances efficiency and productivity. How do you run a 100% remote business successfully?
Hire Talents from all over the world
As a new entrepreneur, due to a lack of funds to run your business, you might be compelled to work on your own. However, the growth of your business means more manpower but your team can make or mar your business. One of the perks of running a remote business over the conventional business environment is the ability to hire people with diverse backgrounds irrespective of the time zone. Therefore, you need to take advantage of your ability to pool talents globally.
Use a remote job board to post the vacancies available in your organization and be specific with your requirements. Choose people with experience working remotely over those without. Collaboration is an essential part of a remote business, so, hiring people who can collaborate effectively will move your business forward.
Use Technology for Collaboration
Technological tools are the heart of any remote business. Paper and pencil method with a bunch of documents in a file cabinet is not going to work with virtual business. Use cloud services like Google Cloud to store your important files in your business. Equipping your employees with devices like phones, tablet and a computer encrypted to protect your files is worth every penny of your investment. However, another way of protecting your files without breaking a bank is through the Bring Your Own Devices (BYOD) policy. This way, the employees do not need to learn how to use the new devices given to them and the company saves money.
Platforms like Zoom or Microsoft Teams are useful for collaboration among team members on a project. Your employees can chat and connect easily while offering helps to one another when they have an up to date tools and resources at their disposal.
Measure Performance through KPIs
When your employees are working from different locations, it is difficult to track when they clock in or out, what they are doing at a particular moment and how much they have achieved in a day. To prevent your employees from stealing the company’s time, you need to measure their performance differently from that of a traditional office setting. Key Performance Indicator, popularly known as KPI is a quantifiable measure used to determine the effectiveness and progress of an organization or employees concerning set goals.
Ensure your employees have a daily set of goals or objectives they must achieve. Focus more on the result than the process. Each employee’s goal must align with your business’s objective. To motivate and increase productivity, reward employees that perform higher than the others.
Practice an Open-Line Policy
While communication is an essential part of a thriving business, it is especially important for a remote business. So, instead of an open-door policy, use an open-line policy where your employees can communicate through different means. Stress the importance of an open line of communication among your employees to prevent delays. For instance, despite the beauty of technological advancement, the system can fail anytime. If your tech staffs are not available to answer queries, it might lead to further disaster.
Welcome feedback, hold meetings virtually and consistently, and listen to your team’s opinion on how to move the company forward. Let employees be a part of the problem-solving method in the company and give credit to an employee with viable solutions.
Bond and Connect
As essential as collaboration is for the success of a remote business, it can only be effective when employees feel like a part of the business through team bonding. Celebrate your company’s wins with your employees whether physically or through an evening of video conferencing. Team bonding activities can include a happy hour, a glimpse into an employee’s home and sharing pictures of their hobbies and what they do when they are not working.
Team bonding is not only a way to connect, but also an avenue to build trust among team members in a remote business. Team bonding brings people together. Also, an overworked team is a burden on productivity.
Are you thinking of taking your business 100% remotely? Then you are a part of the future. However, for a successful virtual business, you must work on your team, technology and even yourself as the owner of the business.
Originally published at https://nextplane.net on May 11, 2020.
