Tips for Building a Remote Staff

Employing a remote workforce can be a major advantage for companies because they have less office space expenses and their workers can perform daily duties from anywhere in the world; making them happy to be working each day. It takes quite a bit of planning and forethought to build a remote staff, so be sure to take into consideration the main points outlined in this article on how to do so properly.

For remote workers to feel like they are part of the company, they will need to feel as they are part of the company’s goals. The most difficult thing when running a remote staff is making sure everyone is on the same page. A company that uses a remote staff should ask for input from each employee in an effort to create new goals for the company.

When running a remote staff, allowing an individual employee to establish his or her expectations of performance. The communications and management consultant for Strategic Communications LLC, Linda Pophal, had the following to say:

“The way to manage any employee effectively, I believe, is to clearly establish goals and objectives, provide the right tools and resources required to do the job (including communication resources like policies, procedures, etc.), and communicating regularly for updates on progress, to share new information and just to maintain the relationships. Setting up regular processes can help. This might include regular phone/Internet conferences, required reports on a regular basis or the use of project management tools that allow everyone to track and report on activities. One of the barriers to effective remote working arrangements is this odd ‘mental block’ many managers seem to have that not being able to ‘see’ their employees is somehow different or more challenging than other management scenarios. In truth, this type of relationship exists in many traditional organizational structures.”

Quotes provided by Mashable and Elance.

If you decide to run a company with a remote staff, communicating on a daily basis with the remote employees will be necessary for your company’s success. Even though remote workers will operate on their own time and are self-managing, they will still need frequent communication with their superiors. The CEO of Mom Corps, Allison O’Kelly, said the following:

“Often when companies hear about ROWE, they worry about losing control,” O’Kelly explains to Mashable. “Rather, it is a shift in focus from controlling when, where and how people work to hold people accountable for results. Virtual managers likely need training on how to expand their communication skills to include how to keep employees motivated as a team, giving positive and negative feedback over the phone, making sure schedules stay on track without micromanaging and making employees feel appreciated for the work they do.”

The final tip is to make sure your employees do not feel isolated while working in remote locations. The feeling of isolation can occur when an employee does not experience frequent communication from his or her superior throughout the week. If you have remote workers operating close to your company’s headquarters, be sure to invite them to your location every so often. This will help them feel more welcome within the company.