The year 2020 has been a roller coaster ride for all of us. What’s really changed in this past year, is the way we work. Most companies have adapted to the formula of remotely handling work. And soon, the idea of working from home caught up with the majority of humanity. “Work from home” became the new normal after a while. Some companies even went as far as permanently settling into this arrangement of remote working, owing to the reduced cost and increased productivity. A lot has changed during this pandemic.
The concept of working remotely has several benefits as well as disadvantages, for employers and employees alike. With proper plans and policies in place, companies can make the scales dip towards a positive outcome. If one understands the positive impacts of remote workers, there’s no better way of conducting work (depending on the nature of jobs). However, things can get complicated and menacing if certain parts of this work ecosystem are left unwatched. The internal system of a company must be well-balanced for this approach to be successful.
Why Hire Remote Workers?
Hiring remote workers is the best method to apply in the current economic situation. It is favorable for both staff and business. Apart from being safe and healthy for everyone, it provides financial advantages like never before. The Coronavirus pandemic has brought around a new work order in the world. And it is not bad at all. In fact, managing work virtually provides many opportunities to benefit from.
Simplified Teamwork
Working together on a virtual system gives the team a chance to bond closely, which aids in building team integrity. This encourages individual members to put in extra effort and give their optimum best. With fewer distractions and flexible hours, employees tend to be more productive, which is really good for business.
Reduced Costs
The extent of cost-cutting is unparalleled when a company hires remote workers. The company can save a lot of money associated with office rent, reimbursements, transit-related expenses, and miscellaneous bills. These savings can be optimally utilized for expansions, future investments, and to update equipment provided to the staff. And still, make more profit than before.
Increased Productivity
It so happens that companies hire staff based on who is available in the company’s region. But with geographic limitations gone, companies have a broader range of talents to hire from. Having the option of versatile working hours, the employees choose the most productive hours of their day to work. It is given that the amount of work done in a comfortable environment is far more yielding than working without focus in an office set-up.
How to Set Up Remote Working
There is no doubt that setting up a remote work ecosystem is not an easy task. There are a lot of things to evaluate before leaping into the work-from-home revolution. There are several incredibly smart and useful platforms that you can use if you are new to the virtual business system. For starters, the creators of WorkBright explain that there are platforms that offer features that you can utilize like remote onboarding, applicant tracking, audit logs, and data backups, that are required to set up a business virtually. It is absolutely necessary to go through every single process within your business, work out how to manage it in a virtual space, and train your staff to handle the tasks. A step-by-step approach works best in this case.
Plan a New Business Model
Start by assessing which operations within your company are crucial for your business continuity. To prioritize those tasks, analyze which parts are already digitally active and which processes need to be sorted. Take recommendations from your team, and try to find out the best possible ways of organizing the tasks.
Streamline Communication
Communication is the key. Research the available online mediums for communicating with your team. A lot of recently introduced platforms provide a perfect setting for teams working remotely to freely interact with each other. Video calling shared screens, and online seminars are some of the great ways to make employees feel involved. Employee engagement is directly proportional to their satisfaction level, which is significant for retention.
Manage Your Team’s Productivity
Many companies track mouse movements and screen-time, while others log time spent on projects. It is best to record updates frequently, to ensure timely completion of tasks. There are extensive ways of tracking employee performance when most of the work is done online. It is very important to have an open communication channel where everyone can post updates about the work. It will also help resolve the issues that occasionally arise. Try to establish a routine within your workforce as it prevents chaos during unprecedented situations.
Take Recommendations and Feedbacks
The best way to set up your business virtually is by implementing the best plan you can formulate, and consistently resolving the arising issues as time unfolds. Taking recommendations and regular feedback from your staff, as well as customers, regarding the newly established arrangement, can help enormously in solidifying the perfect ecosystem for your business.
Things to Look Out For
- It is possible to have employees working at a different timezone than the company’s location. Make sure to acknowledge their respective time zones when assigning tasks.
- Keep the orders as clear as possible. Limited communication must not jumble the intention of the instructions.
- Sometimes your opinion or comments may be taken as negative feedback by an employee, due to a lack of proper expression or miscommunication. Be expressive in your praises, and subtle in your criticism. Times are tough for everyone, so be gentle on your part.
The system of working remotely may require some getting used to. Be patient with yourself and your coworkers, and try to resolve things calmly and systematically. Eventually, you’ll find yourself in a better business structure where work happens seamlessly, and satisfaction levels soar high.
Even when things go back to normal and offices reopen like usual, you’ll have the advantage of being prepared for unforeseen circumstances where work will have to be managed remotely. Predicting, based on the current market situation, more and more companies are opening up to the idea of having a remote workforce since it is so much more beneficial than the traditional way of working.