Had your employees asked to work remotely from home -- even before the global pandemic? Do the cost advantages have you considering being one of the companies working from home permanently? Here are five steps to becoming a remote working company...
5 Smart Steps For Evolving Into An Remote Working Company
Many companies have transitioned to accept remote work options over the last few years. With the Covid-19 pandemic, it made sense that so many companies kept their teams at home. For many managers and executives, it came as a surprise that this evolution had impactful benefits.
Remote working lowers costs and, if managed well, can make teams more effective, all without compromising productivity. But how do you go about turning your office-based business into a stellar remote working company? Let’s find out.
Provide Computers And Office Equipment
Before you commit to a completely remote company, you must understand your staff should not be expected to provide their own computers for work. Even if they are happy to do this, it will be hard to maintain proper security and control over machines that you do not own.
It is well worth providing hardware for your employees to use for work purposes. In some cases, this will go beyond a computer. Some employers provide their remote teams with:
- Desks
- Chairs
- Organizers
And other items that help with their work.
Work Management Tools
One of the biggest challenges that comes with having a remote team is managing the work that everyone has to do. Each team member will work under their own steam. They should understand exactly what they need to do each day. You, their leader, must monitor their progress.
There are many good online project management tools to help you track of the work that your teams are doing. You can use remote control tools to view their screens as they work. But that can seem quite invasive. Most successful remote teams now use tools like:
- Asana
- Trello
- Teamwork
And others to manage everyone’s work. These tools allow you to track productivity, but also set deadlines, communicate with project members and archive for future reference.
Virtual HQs And The Ideal Remote Working Company
Even if if you don’t plan to return to the office you need to have an official place of doing business. Customers and potential clients will want to interact with your company as personally as possible - Even if that is in virtual mode. They will want contact details, just as if you had a physical office.
There are several companies that can offer good, solid virtual HQs to businesses, giving you the chance to secure contact details and interact with clients and staff together. With the communications tools in the next section, this can be turned into something very powerful.
Communication Tools
Keeping in contact with your team will be vital when they’re all working from home, or where they arrange to be.
- Keeping track of their work
- Making sure everyone is happy
- Knowing you can communicate
Are all very important. However, you need to provide your team with the tools to do this effectively.
Video chat services like Google Teams have become extremely popular in recent months, while instant messaging services can also be extremely useful. Most of these tools can be used for free without compromising on quality, making it pretty simple to keep in touch with your employees.
Alongside the normal communications tools you use, you also need to provide for people contacting you from outside the company. The virtual HQ you have in place can help with this, providing you with phone numbers that can be routed to each of your team members.
This type of system can be entirely software-based, making it very easy to create a robust system that will keep your team in contact with the outside world.
Succession Plans
You've led your company through:
- Launch
- Business growth
- Scaling your enterprise
And evolving to a remote or hybrid work system. it’s time to think about making plans for business venture can go on past your involvement.
Writing a business plan is something that you probably didn’t expect to have to do at this point in the life of your company, but a succession plan will give you the confidence you need to make best decisions regarding staff and financing.
You can get tips to help your small business through this process, giving you the strongest return on investment in the business you decided to start.
Realities Of Running A Remote Working Company
Have you heard others describe why remote working will die? Think again...
Working from home will become more popular in the short-term. More and more businesses are seeing the benefits of this work arrangement. But you need to take the right steps if you want to make it happen successfully for your company.
It will always be worth researching common challenges that can come with cutting edge ideas like a remote working company. Strive to overcome them with your own organization before taking big steps.
