Telecommuting is becoming a hurdle race where lack of motivation is the main burden for thousands of employees. Turns out, virtual onboarding sometimes is a little more complicated than we think. From coordinating times for calls that take place in different time zones to maintaining good communication. Dealing with a remote team can be tough.
In this article, we are going to explain very useful strategies in case you are starting to approach people remotely in your work team. Also, how to keep them always up to date with everything that happens in your company despite the distance, without leaving aside one worker or another.
- What are the benefits of remote teams?
- How can I use technology to get the most out of my workers?
- How can I hire the correct workers?
- What is the way to know if my workers are feeling overwhelmed?
- Is it necessary to dedicate time to the emotions of my remote workers?
- How can I communicate the values of my company correctly?
- Is there a way to simplify collaboration between my workers?
- How can we help you obtain more information about virtual onboarding?
1. What are the benefits of remote teams?
Remote workers tend to be more productive due to flexible hours, lack of distractions, organizing work on their own terms, no travel time, and self-motivation to complete more tasks in less time. This gives businesses good results.
It is often thought that autonomy is equivalent to a lack of structure, but this is not true. Giving employees the freedom to make decisions allows them to take charge of their own work. While managing a remote team, you will notice that employees with more autonomy also show more responsibility.
It is human nature: When employees have more autonomy to complete a task in the most comfortable way, they go to great lengths to ensure the best results. In most cases, remote work means employees don’t have to deal with those productivity-ruining interruptions.
The most evident advantage of having remote teams is the financial savings on office rent. Furniture, electricity, technology, and other overhead costs. Allowing a worker to telecommute half the time can save a company huge amounts of money each year. This economic benefit could be of great help to your company.
2. How can I use technology to get the most out of my workers?
Now that we know the benefits of remote teams, it is time to move on to some best practices for managing them. The first thing to know is that with physical and cultural distance barriers, such as time zones, multiculturalism, and different work styles, managers must strive to build an engaging culture and consistent processes so that remote teams prosper.
The use of technology and software can help your team perform at their best, no matter where they work. Ensuring a reliable, secure, and well-equipped infrastructure is the foundation for smooth collaboration and effective remote working.
Make sure you invest in the tech stack that will help you bridge the physical gap. With tools like voice, video, online collaboration tools, and file-sharing software, you can ensure your remote team members have an engaging and productive work experience.
This is a post-network society and distributed teams are the new normal for any business, not just technology. We see an explosion of tools and techniques to manage the growing number of distributed teams. We will see it more as the idea of work begins to come out of the industrial concept of the 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM job.
3. How can I hire the correct workers?
When recruiting remote staff, be sure to look for people who are motivated and share the same vision and values as your company. To manage a remote team effectively, it is important to clarify expectations from the start. Make sure everyone understands the company’s goals and have a consistent virtual onboarding process in place.
Some companies hired people who demonstrated an abnormally high amount of energy and intrinsic motivation. If they have that, there is no need to pressure them or tell them what to do. They will take care of it and execute it by themselves.
What can you do to make remote team members really feel like part of the team? Include everyone at company events and meetings. Keeping them in the communication loop will help reinforce their sense of ownership, but it will also motivate them to actively participate in brainstorming sessions.
Make sure all meetings have a clear agenda and ownership is clear before and at the end of each meeting. There is no talking in the hallways when working remotely, so optimizing communication is a must. As part of virtual onboarding, consider hosting a training session to cover KPIs, expectations, task descriptions, and team member job descriptions.
4. What is the way to know if my workers are feeling overwhelmed?
40% of remote workers rate flexible hours as the main benefit. Being aware of the difference in circumstances and time zones is the best way to show respect and understanding towards other team members. Allowing people to work remotely and then tying them to a fixed schedule can be a little counterproductive.
One thing certain companies do well is to be aware of the different energies that people bring to meetings in different time zones. A meeting at 7:00 AM, 11:00 AM, 3:00 PM, or 5:00 PM can be the same for people in different time zones, but it can have drastic differences in mindsets, blood sugar levels, among other things to take into account.
The first thing you should do is to create a to-do list that sets daily goals and create healthy habits (such as sleeping and eating well, as well as exercising), which help counteract stress. To manage a team in a more efficient way, you have to start measuring the work through the results and not by the number of hours or the tasks carried out.
Second, the team must be perfectly connected, either through regular video calls or with a shared calendar that helps both the team leader and colleagues know what each person is doing at all times.
5. Is it necessary to dedicate time to the emotions of my remote workers?
The work environment has always been a basic pillar for teams to work well. Now, in the absence of a common physical place, achieving that positive atmosphere is more complex. Having an environment that fosters the workers’ mental health and emotional intelligence can achieve up to 20% more profit in companies.
How can we enhance the feeling of closeness and motivation through virtual onboarding?
Empathy allows you to eliminate the “coldness” employees perceive when they work remotely. Creatively using chats between colleagues can be a very positive tool. For example, congratulating a team member on a job well done or even on their birthday enhances the feeling of closeness.
You should also take advantage of video calls. In meetings, you can spend five minutes talking about how everyone is doing. It is important to deal with these issues, because working as robots will end up harming the team and will end up burning it out.
Regarding the interpersonal relationships of the workers, there are leisure activities that promote the construction and cohesion of the groups. Now, these programs are focused on online meetings that help release stress (such as yoga or mindfulness) and team challenge games (such as escape rooms).
6. How can I communicate the values of my company correctly?
Organizations that foster an inclusive virtual environment are the ones that get the best out of each team member. When people share the same vision and have similar values, they are ready to go the extra mile to get things done.
Lead with empathy. People can be plagued by political or environmental factors that you are not aware of because they live half a world apart from you. Make your crew a safe home for people to be open about things like that with no confrontations.
Do not forget to use all the tools at your disposal. A poorly managed video call can be very counterproductive. If turn-taking is not respected or members are unable to understand what is being discussed, they can become stressed. Making use of application tools, such as screen sharing, can help save time and effectiveness. This can help convey values more effectively.
Not everything needs to be as serious. Emoticons are great allies. Just as coffee breaks were taken in the office, you can make video calls to disconnect for a few minutes. Many platforms have fun elements to make conversations more lively. All this will alleviate the tension that may exist in some workers.
7. Is there a way to simplify collaboration between my workers?
In a remote team environment, one of the most important elements is clear communication. Starting progressions and opportunities will improve your crew’s performance. Communicate, follow up and repeat. Do not let anything go unnoticed.
When you work remotely, staying on top of company changes or updates is crucial for accurate communication. Try to make announcements three times: Through a chat tool, by email, and at our bi-weekly meeting.
Managing problems remotely is another of the challenges that teams are facing: From personal frictions to inconveniences generated by technology. The best option is to invest in resources to avoid it. The basic pillar is to have a good communication system and equipment for all workers, as well as offering classes for those who are not used to performing tasks virtually.
One of the most frequent mistakes is that many teams have started teleworking with little training on the new tools they were going to use. But this new way of performing the job requires a change of habits and beliefs that go beyond a course. The key is to work together on the model of work that each team will carry out while performing tasks from home.
8. How can we help you obtain more information about virtual onboarding?
The world has changed and with it the ways of working. New tools have emerged, and knowing them thoroughly can be of great help to you and your company. The fear of the new era will always be there, but with our help, everything will be beneficial for your business.
Virtual onboarding is one of our greatest specialties, but it is not the only of them. We also offer HR Management, as well as we provide you with contractors, or we help you find one, and give you proper assistance through the relocation of your company.
Do you want to contact us to learn more about this and other topics? Contact us at +971 433 1 688 or if you prefer, you can write to us at [email protected] to obtain more information about our services.
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