It is not a question of opinion to state that organizations and professionals are increasingly preferring remote work teams; rather, this assertion is based on observable data.
According to what is stated in this article by Morgan Stanley, the labor market in the European Union (EU) is experiencing the fastest development in the field of remote work. This is due to the fact that the number of people working as freelancers has doubled between the years 2000 and 2014. Something like is place in the United States, where independent contractors presently make up 35 percent of the workforce and where this percentage is projected to rise to almost 50 percent by the year 2027.
According to Google trends, search terms such as “remote work” and “hiring freelancers” have increased their popularity by 200% over the last five years, mostly in Latin America. Similar terms in English have experienced a search increase of up to 400%.
The fact that there is a greater demand for self-employed experts does not, however, negate the fact that assembling remote work teams can present their own unique set of obstacles.
For instance, many individuals in company and entrepreneurs are afraid that they will lose control of their processes if they try it, therefore they don’t even dare to give it a shot. Others who have already experimented with this mode of operation as a working style have reported having difficulties with leadership or communication.
In spite of this, the possible drawbacks of using a remote work team are extremely minimal when weighed against the numerous benefits of doing so. In addition, by utilizing the best practices for remote leadership, these risks may be mitigated or even eliminated entirely.
The benefits of having a remote work team include not only the comfort and living standards of your employees, but also a reduction of up to 35 percent in the amount of money spent on recruitment needs.
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As a way of example, Forbes points out that companies that manage remote employees start to enjoy from:
- Costs reduction and cash flow increase.
- More productive, diverse and creative work teams.
- Schedule flexibility and happier workers.
- Great availability of specialized talents.
The publication also stresses the fact that teams that execute their work from a remote location tend to be more innovative and productive than regular employees. This is because they operate inside a technological environment that enables them to maximize the use of their time.
In addition, a recent study demonstrated that working remotely reduces the amount of employees who leave their jobs, which in turn reduces the costs associated with the position. In the eyes of employees, this benefit outweighs the potential loss of income when they are given the opportunity to keep their jobs.
In this piece, we will provide you with some guidance on effectively managing remote staff so that you can derive the maximum benefit possible from this arrangement.
First, let’s debunk the widespread misconception that remote workers are less committed than their in-office counterparts. This is one reason why so many business owners shy away from taking a bet on freelancers to grow their companies.
The myth of lack of commitment of remote workers
The most typical misconceptions around working remotely involve a lack of control, communication, and commitment on the part of the employee. However, these issues are not caused by working remotely in and of themselves but rather by poor management of the task in its whole.
According to a study conducted by the consulting business Kronos, the primary reason behind the lack of dedication shown by on-site personnel is because:
- Their incapacity to balance work and life.
- Bad communication with their line managers.
- Unrealistic deadlines for their work loads.
- Being demanded to perform tasks not related to their job duties.
In point of fact, working remotely has the potential to address the most common factors that contribute to a lack of commitment and low productivity. This is possible for the following reasons:
- It enables workers to have improved time management.
- It makes use of technology to maintain effective communication channels
- It focuses on achieving goals while adhering to the timelines that were discussed.
- The worker’s attention is solely focused on the tasks at hand.
To a greater extent than any other type of employment, well-managed remote work has the potential to bring about genuine productivity and dedication. In order for us to accomplish this, we will need to adhere to the three stages of efficacy.
How to successfully manage remote employees? The three essentials to effectiveness
The three fundamental necessities of effectiveness pose a management method based on a triad of virtues that feed off each other and allow you to retain fluid, efficient, and stimulating work processes. This strategy is built on a triad of virtues that feed off each other. They are made of:
1. Trust
This requires not only delegating specific tasks and responsibilities to every employee, but also ensuring that every worker is aware of the consequences that would result from their failure to comply with the requirements set forth by the team or even the overall project.
Workers are allowed to feel free to make their own decisions and are also held completely accountable for their own performance when there is an atmosphere of trust in the workplace. The experts on human talent at Acsendo believe that trust is one of the most important ingredients in the recipe for motivation.
Developing trust in distributed work teams requires a high degree of communication, but more than anything else, it requires having very clear objectives and goals, offering accurate feedback on the fly, and encouraging relationships that are founded on respect and empathy.
2. Communication
When communicating with a team that is geographically dispersed, it is necessary to make use of various technological tools in order to do so in a way that is clear, well-organized, and unambiguous.
Choose the “workchats” of special apps for teamwork whenever it is possible to do so. Some examples of such apps include Slack, Workplace on Facebook, and Evernote. In these apps, you will be able to hold individual work chats with each freelancer as well as group work chats with the team based on the project.
Remember to take a written note of every agreement that is reached during your virtual meetings, and try to steer clear of the never-ending ping pong of files and their subsequent adjustments that takes place through email. Instead of doing that, you should employ cloud computing and shared documents.
3. Motivation
When it comes to motivation within a remote work team, this means that your employees have a clear belief in the benefits of giving their best in order to demonstrate a genuine commitment to the project.
A good freelancer has a strong commitment to their work, but there is no harm in keeping your team informed of individual and team accomplishments, offering assertive comments, and promoting healthy competition.
In order to maintain continuous motivation, frequent and positive reinforcement might also prove to be quite important. You can provide this kind of reinforcement by simply sending a message to acknowledge each time one of your employees completes a significant task. Proceed to investigate the favorable comments!
How should you monitor the assignments of your remote team?
To successfully manage and oversee the assignments of your remote employees, in addition to the three fundamental essentials of effectiveness, there are some more considerations you may take into mind, including the following:
Determine whether or not you are capable of managing your own workload in addition to that of the team. Keep in mind that managing a remote workforce will require you to put in additional time and effort into your everyday responsibilities. Many people in leadership roles on projects do more than just manage; in addition, they take on other important responsibilities inside the project, which results in their becoming overwhelmed with work.
Because of this, it is of the utmost significance to evaluate, using a perspective that is grounded in realism, whether you will be able to stay on top of things. In any other case, you can always rely on the assistance of a virtual assistant from AssignmentGiant.com to get the job done.
Use specialized apps for team working
There is a plethora of software available on the internet, both free and for a fee, that can assist you in maintaining communication and control over your remote job. You’ll discover apps like Trello, Asana, Google Drive, and Evernote, among others, among them.
You may build group projects on Asana, complete with the assignment of tasks and the setting of deadlines, so that each of your employees is aware of precisely what they are responsible for and when it is expected that it will be completed. In addition to this, the app enables them to determine their place within the process and provides them with positive reinforcement once a task is successfully completed. In this manner, it assists you in maintaining healthy levels of both motivation and responsibility.
Use shared work files
Through the use of files that are shared in the cloud, you are able to monitor the progress that is being made by your employees in real time and also make edits or comments without having to generate new files. Utilizing the tool AssignmentGiant Time Report is yet another alternative, and it is recommended that you do so if you are paid on an hourly basis.
It is a very lightweight and secure piece of software that each of your workers is required to download onto their personal computers. This gives you the ability to monitor their work by examining screenshots taken throughout the time they report spending working on your project.
Conclusion
A healthy shift in the labor pattern may be promoted by hiring a remote work team, which is one of the finest methods to contribute to the growth of your business, reduce expenses, gain access to top talents, and promote a healthy shift.
AssignmentGiant is a platform that allows you to find freelancers and feel confident about their level of expertise. You can do this because you are aware that the freelancers you find through this platform are accustomed to an effective style of remote communication and are highly motivated to develop stable long-term working relationships.
If you are still unsure, I highly recommend that you take the time to read about some of the successes that we have had with business owners of SMEs who have adopted remote teamworking. One such case is that of Mindvalley Hispano e Innominatum.
