It seems now, more than ever, we are finding the balance of running an efficient business with a financially sound approach more and more difficult. Because the overall issues we all struggle with relates to the workforce and the finances we have in which to support them, naturally, thoughts turn to “trimming the fat.” One of the most common working setups now is having staff members work at home, or implementing remote workers in a full-time capacity.
With a remote workforce, it’s not just about asking staff members to work at home purely so you can save money; in fact, remote working brings up a whole different number of challenges- not just for you, but for the workforce as well! So, with that in mind, let’s address this, and see if we can use remote working as an effective way to cut back on finances, but still increase the overarching productivity and progression of the business.
The Issue Of Connection
Every business needs to focus on implementing appropriate and scalable technology; this means that you have to go above and beyond when it comes to keeping your remote workforce sufficiently protected. While you can swiftly deal with this by hiring one of the many IT support services companies out there, such as BeStructured, it’s important to remember that to keep your workforce sufficiently connected and engaged with the work isn’t just about cloud solutions, it’s also about connectivity.
As far as the technical approaches are concerned, to ensure that your workforce is connected, we have to look at what our business needs are, but also how we can best prepare for technological mishaps. The one thing that we cannot control is the internet connection capabilities of our remote workers. So this begs the question, should we invest more in our remote workforce so they have the necessary tools to stay connected, or is this wholly their responsibility? It’s quite a shift if you have people that once worked in an office and now have to be productive at home. After all, if their internet connection isn’t working properly at home, this is nothing to do with you, but should this be part of the rules and regulations of your business? For many job postings that require remote work, you will often see that it’s essential for candidates to have a “fast network connection.”
But what happens if you have a member of staff that you are desperate to hire, but this one issue of an internet connection stands in the way? Investing in your workers’ capabilities by supporting them in their own individual needs is vital, and it’s not just a means for you to keep your employees happy, but it could help the business in so many ways.
Managing Your Workforce
To make your workers feel productive and efficient, as much as they would in an office environment, this becomes quite a challenge. Managing your workforce via a long-winded communication process becomes frustrating, especially when you are used to raising your voice a little bit so that the desired member of staff can hear what you have to say. Now, you’ve got barriers between you and your employees. This means you’ve got to find another way to make your workforce feel valued, but also that you are getting across your point.
To manage your workforce over the internet requires you to get an understanding of how you communicate normally. For example, if it takes you some time to get your point across because you’re trying to find the right words, this can result in a loss of time and productivity. And while this is stating the obvious, when you have to communicate your thoughts over the computer or in an email or instant message, brevity is key.
What we have to give thought to, especially when our workers’ time is so precious, is that we need to communicate what we want, but without necessarily getting in the way of what our employees are trying to do throughout the day. In this respect, is a sudden Skype conversation going to nurture or hinder their productivity? But also, are you able to get your point across in a couple of sentences? And what we have to think about is if the employees are able to interpret the message effectively; if you end up engaging in a lengthy email conversation because they’re getting the wrong end of the stick, this is only going to compound issues further.
So before you even consider hiring remote workers, you’ve got to lay down a plan that can maximize your communication as well as your efficiency. This depends on how you dish out the work. If it’s a daily occurrence where you give out tasks and expect them to be done by the end of the day, you can gradually fine-tune your communication methods. But although collaboration is an essential component, and collaboration tools like Flowdock can help, you still need to ensure that you are putting yourself across in the best possible way. And if you have new workers that have only ever communicated with you via email or instant messenger, it’s worth having a few opportunities to develop your relationship with them so that you know what they’re capable of, and they know how you communicate yourself.
Making Them Feel Part Of The Team
One of the most common problems cited by remote workers is that they don’t feel they are part of one team. It can feel very fragmented, especially when you have workers scattered all over the globe. Is there any one way to get around this? Well, short of having them all congregate in one room at the same time, no. Instead, it’s your responsibility to ensure that they can work together, even if they’re not doing the same tasks. Making them feel “part of the team” is very subjective and if you are doing your job correctly, the disparity should be minimal.
Because you’ve got worker all over the globe, scattered, you need to ensure that everybody feels that they are one entity and that they are all working towards the same results. Big-picture thinking is an essential trait of a leader, but putting the theory into practice over the internet can require a lot more legwork. In many ways, it’s worth treating this as a social media campaign. Regular drips of information will keep your team in the loop, but without having to engage with them directly. Blanket emails help in this respect, but it’s about building on these. Ensuring that you inject personality into your emails is essential, but when it’s possible, having those conference calls and Skype chats can help, but only when you have something important to communicate. It’s a very difficult thing to enforce correctly, which is why there are increased cases of isolation with remote workers. It does depend on the size of your team; if you have a handful of workers that work remotely, it’s easier to communicate with them all on a one-to-one basis. But the bigger the team gets, the more impersonal the management style could be.
A live web chat might help to alleviate concerns when you’ve got staff with problems that affect everyone, but when you have staff members that are experiencing personal problems; it’s time to pick up the telephone. Because remote working can mean a very hands-off approach, some workers prefer this, but others don’t feel that there’s any sense of togetherness in a business, so what do you really want out of your workers?
When you are implementing remote working to help shave costs, this leaves many workers with a bad taste in their mouth, especially those that prefer working in an office environment. And if employees catch wind of you cutting financial corners in every possible way, is this going to endear them to you? Because if they think that being sent to work at home means you don’t have to communicate with them as much, you will only see this reflected in the quality of the work.
A productive workforce can work in most environments. But this means that if you want the results to be as good as they used to be you have to make considerable changes in your managerial style that you have to go that extra mile to keep every member of staff engaged. Remote working can seem like an ideal solution to a financial problem, but because there are so many other challenges, it doesn’t add to your workload, but it requires a transitional period that can take some getting used to.
As the landscape appears to be shifting firmly in favor of remote working, it’s an essential aspect of many burgeoning businesses, but this doesn’t mean that it’s an easier option. To have an effective group of remote workers requires equal parts reliable technology, equal parts an effective managerial style, but also the best type of workers to function under their own initiative. Yes, it will save you money, but will it save your sanity? If you make the switch, be prepared for a shock to the system.
