Started by just 3 founding members, now having a team of 300 people, Zapier is a company that has a 100% remote work environment. Similarly, many other companies are also adopting work from home working models to reduce their overheads and to avail the opportunity of hiring global talent without geographic concerns.  

Though the digital landscape is providing plenty of opportunities for growth and success, knowledge about managing the remote workforce is still scarce. Let us dig inside the remote working strategies of the big shifts and see how they are managing their work.

Here are the four useful strategies inspired by the big names of the corporate world:

1. Team Management

It’s highly unrealistic to expect effective collaboration and communication from the role from the get-go. Things are not that simple. You need to plan things and divide your work into chunks. Here is how you can do it:

· Not Everyone Can Become a Remote Worker

When you are making a remote team, make sure that the workers are fit for the remote work. You will need some self-motivated people for your team. Though you will provide proper guidance and direction to your workers, the team should be ready to work even in your absence. In short, self-learners are the perfect choice for a remote team.

· Set Up a Hierarchy

You cannot set up a one-man show. Not everyone is gifted with all the required skills. For instance, if you have set up a remote writing business, you will make a system in which writers will submit tasks to the proofreaders, proofreaders will send tasks to the editors, and then the final work will be sent to the managers.

· Set Goals

One of the biggest pitfalls in remote working is the lack of motivation. When your team is sitting on the bed, working alone with no co-workers around, there is nothing to get them motivated. However, you can do one thing; set goals! Goals are always a driving force to work better, no matter where you are.

· Trust Is Mandatory

You will not be sitting like a boss, keeping eagle eyes on your team. You will be assigning work and getting the final work. What is happening in between needs to be done with trust? So, select people whom you can trust blindly.

2. Make Use of Efficient Tools

Here are a few tools that can make things easier for you:

· Slack

Rather than using the traditional methods of emails and phone calls, go for Slack. This communication tool helps save time and let your teammates collaborate with ease. Keep the emails for formal communication. Like if there is something that needs to be noted on a higher level, it should be emailed formally.

For instance, you have set up a sushi delivery business, and one of your workers wants to ask about the performance appraisal. Instead of using a tool like Slack, he will formally email about his concern to the HR department. However, Slack will be used for communication and notifications regarding orders at hand, orders delivered, pending orders, total orders of the month, and so on.

Not everyone can be a pro of Slack, you need to set some parameters as per the nature of your business. Messaging through Slack can be time-saving and effective in running your remote business activities smoothly.

· Trello

Trello can also resolve a bundle of your remote business concerns. It makes work more efficient; tracking of tasks becomes easier with Trello. This is the platform that allows you to assign work, get the completed files, and track work history. Trello sends automatic notifications when tasks are near to their due dates. At the end of the month, this tool acts as a helping hand in analyzing the performance of your remote team.

· Dropbox

Don’t bother your team to send final tasks via email. How will you manage when you have hundreds of emails from different workers? You will end up jiggling them to find the right task at the right time. Dropbox can resolve this problem in minutes. Set up a dropbox and let things get done automatically. Whenever your team members save something in the dropbox of their computer, it will automatically be saved on the dropbox of your computer.

3. Do Not Compromise On Company Culture

Remote work doesn’t mean that you forget your company’s culture. Build relations, often communicate and celebrate things together. Just like a traditional workplace, remote teams also have annual, monthly, and semi-annual events. Having a game night, a book week, or a fun fact hour are some amazing ideas to show your lively culture.

Apart from it, introduce new members to your team. Share their hobbies, let them interact with their teammates, and make them feel comfortable. Have a virtual get together and let everyone share their tips and tricks. It helps the team members to stay mentally fit and create a special bond with the company.

· Set Up a Communication Plan

Remote working can be made easier with a proper communication plan. Make a schedule of weekly meetings, monthly discussions, rewards, and promotions. You can have meetings via Zoom. Zoom video conferencing is in full bloom these days. Besides sharing the screens, Zoom lets you share your face, which breaks the isolation which remote workers face regularly.

Having a video call and watching the teammates will contribute to a healthy discussion. It will feel like a real human interaction, and remote workers will feel good. Above all, it will let the workers stay focused.

Conclusion

The world is going through great chaos with high uncertainty of success. This is the time to adapt to this digital shift and transform our work into a remote business. Though, it might look tricky in the initial phase.

Efficient communication, use of efficient tools, and smart working strategies can help you reap the benefits of remote working. What tools are you using for managing your remote team? How are you maintaining the rhythm of communication, and what are the outcomes?

Share some tips with us!

Author Bio:
Shaheryar provides ghostwriting and copywriting services. His educational background in the technical field and business studies helps him in tackling topics ranging from career and business productivity to web development and digital marketing. He occasionally writes articles for My Sushi.