Recently, the World Economic Forum forecasted that the trend for flexible working, including remote working and virtual teams, was set to become one of the biggest drivers for transformation worldwide. This trend has been embraced by companies and governmental bodies of all kinds.
While trail-blazing tech companies such as Github, Basecamp and Microsoft all offer remote working, cornerstones of British life such as the Civil Service and Transport for London are praised by employees for their flexible working options. All of this means that it is well worth considering what these options could mean for your business, even if you’re operating on a much smaller scale.
Why do we want to offer remote working?
It’s no surprise that working more flexibly leads to happier and healthier employees. Whether your employees are parents of young children, carers for elderly parents or have a long commute, offering remote working full-time or as needed can make a huge difference in the lives of your employees. This will, in turn, lead to a better work-life balance more free time and flexibility. This all makes for more satisfied, loyal and productive employees.
Tips for building and managing a remote team
When it comes to leading virtual teams, it’s important to hire people who don’t require the kind of social setting a traditional office provides. It can also help to run some sort of a test project to see how well the candidate can manage their own time and communicate effectively through virtual channels.
It’s also very important to build and foster a good team culture. A ‘buddy system’ is a great way to integrate new employees into the team, and being mindful in the way you communicate in writing is key to avoiding misunderstandings and hurt feelings.
It’s also very important to bring the whole team together in person regularly to build company culture and so that everyone can meet officially.
Four mistakes to avoid
1. Failing to trust
Lack of trust often drives a wedge between employers and employees. Rather than feeling like you need to keep an eye on employees at all times, manage your team by their outputs and contribution to the wider company objectives. Many people choose to take themselves away from the distractions of the physical office to focus on the tasks they need to do, so trust them to do so effectively.
2. Allowing remote workers to feel remote
Working remotely can feel quite lonely, so it is important to set up the infrastructure to make everyone feel connected with colleagues and the wider company. Providing your team with reliable technology and software that allows them to collaborate, contribute to projects, share files and documents and generally feel like an important part of the bigger picture is crucial for success.
3. Over-reliance on email
Many people feel like they spend most of their day battling with an overflowing email inbox and this is a major distraction from the stuff that really matters. Email was never designed for as a collaboration tool, and there are many more suitable platforms available that help you follow important discussions in real time and complete tasks efficiently without outside noise and distractions.
4. Forgetting the importance of face-to-face time
Once you have developed a strong culture of remote working, it can be easy to forget the value of face-to-face time. While collaboration software and video conferencing technology have helped, it is important to remember that, by human nature, occasional physical meetings do bring everyone together as a team. The key to remote working is giving people flexibility to work in a way that is most beneficial to their own productivity and happiness, and usually that involves a combination of both face-to-face interaction and online collaboration.
