As technology advances, connecting with people has become easier, irrespective of their difference in geographic locations. This has led businesses to encourage and build remote teams. Conference call technology and other advanced equipment is helping companies to hire remote worker. Conference calls bring people who are in different parts to the world on the same platform to make informed decisions. Professional transcription services allow crucial discussions and decisions to be documented for reference.
Over the past five years, the number of organizations that offer remote work options has increased by 40 percent. Building a remote team allows companies to get access to skilled workers and also keep the employees happy and satisfied. However, it is not easy to transform your regular office to work remotely. It requires keen planning and preparation. Here are some tips to build a remote workforce:
- Have a good remote work policy: As per Upwork, most hiring managers have the resources to hire remote employees, but do not have a proper procedure to do it. Any company that wants to transition to a team of remote worker should outline expectations, share these with the team, and update everyone on a regular basis. The policies depend on the size of the team and their needs. A basic remote policy should cover:
- At what time the team needs to be online during specific business hours or whether they can set their own schedule
- The type of tools the team should use for communication and collaboration
- The type of data management tools the team should use to organize and share documents and other critical data
- The procedure for the team members to track progress on projects and measure results
- Revise the hiring policy: Whether developing a remote workforce from scratch or moving to hiring remote employees, companies need to update their hiring strategies to reflect remote work expectations and responsibilities. Focusing on candidates’ soft skills, self motivation, etc. is essential so that they can make an effective contribution.
- Have the right set of tools: To function a remote workforce smoothly, you need to keep a lot of tools and techniques ready:
- For remote workforce, proper communication is essential. Besides email, they need tools such as Skype, HipChat, Slack etc. These tools offer video call, text message options, and so on.
- Productivity: Remote employees are assessed on the basis of the number of tasks they have completed in a given period of time. As it is challenging to keep track of them, ensure that they work use time tracking tools like Toggl, Tick etc.
- Security: Your remote employees may tap to wifis at cafes, libraries and other public spaces. Therefore, make sure that you have a good security policy before transitioning to remote work. The remote worker should have a secure password and should update it frequently. Critical information should be stored in a secure cloud.
- Project management: Setting up a cloud based project management tool is important to allow the remote workforce to access files and information they want. Tools like Trello and Basecamp help organize projects between different departments and set deadlines reminders.
- Assign managers: Remote employees need a well prepared and efficient manager or team leader. The manager should be efficient enough to train and prepare them. Managers should have the right tools so that they are available for answering any questions, providing feedback, and keeping track of projects.
- Set up a proper meeting place: Setting up a remote workforce allows to companies to minimize expenses like arranging office space, etc. But it is still important to have a physical place for occasional team or client meeting. In many cities, there are temporary offices that offer comfortable spaces for collaborative sessions and can be rented for a day or hours.
- Good company culture: For any company, having a positive culture is important to ensure good employee engagement. Company culture has been found to be among the top five reasons why employees leave their jobs for positions with other companies. If you have a good team leader, he or she will take necessary steps to build a good culture and keep the team together.
Technological advancements are transforming the conventional method of running a business and conducting meetings. Recording and transcribing video or audio plays a crucial in meetings. Conference call transcription service helps ensure that everything that was said, including decisions made, are accurately documented.
