This week, we have the pleasure of posting a guest blog post by Tina Martin. Learn more about Tina at the end of the article.

 

New technologies are always changing the dynamics of how we work, and for today’s business owners, digital tools have made remote work easier and more popular than ever. For employees, a desire for work-life balance and the flexibility of remote work is a big draw. Flexibility is a huge benefit for business owners, too, because hiring remotely allows you to get help without the cost of on-site staff. Hiring remote employees is a smart way to grow your business, but you don’t want to jump in without a plan.

What kind of jobs should you hire remotely?

Remote work can actually be whatever makes the most sense for your business. You may need full-time, off-site employees who keep everyday operations running, or you may only need part-time or short-term freelancers. 

Sometimes as you’re growing a business, you have jobs that could be done more efficiently if you hire someone to help. A perfect solution is to hire a virtual assistant who can take these smaller roles off your plate. Common tasks that virtual assistant freelancers handle include all kinds of administrative functions, such as taking phone calls, coordinating your schedule, proofreading documents, and completing data entry. 

Hiring someone to do these tasks is very affordable, and of course, it allows you to focus more time and energy on what your business needs most to grow and succeed. When you’re ready to hire an assistant, your best bet is to search for a candidate through an online job board. The best job boards are dedicated to matching employers with reliable freelancers who have the specific skills you need. 

What makes remote work work?

The number one thing that makes a remote team successful is communication. Before bringing on remote staff, your primary goals should be to set a communication strategy and choose the right tools to make it happen.

Collaboration

Communication is how team members can work together on shared projects, while ensuring important tasks don’t get dropped. The best strategy for keeping everyone on the same page is to use digital apps that make virtual meetings possible, along with tools for transcribing notes so that all team members stay in the loop, even when they aren’t able to join a live call. You can find automated speech-to-text transcription services online, which are easy to use and provide a quick turnaround time on delivering your notes. Plus, these digital tools cost much less than hiring someone for this job, with some services offering accurate transcripts for as little as 10 cents per minute. 

Expectations

Communication with remote workers is also how you make sure they know exactly what a project entails and the timeline for when it should be done. Many business owners worry about not being able to check in on their team’s progress, but Workforce explains how a good remote team member will typically live up to expectations that are set clearly. Setting clear expectations can be as simple as writing a set of guidelines that you go over with new hires, and including a policy for how you would like your team to keep communication ongoing. Make sure your expectations are achievable and that you follow up with your employees on a regular basis.

Feedback

Providing feedback is something that tends to happen naturally in an office setting, but it takes a little extra effort when you’re managing a remote team. Along with providing individual feedback to team members, using apps like Slack can make it easy to keep everyone connected. This way, team members can lift each other up when a project is done successfully. Plus, it’s an efficient way of communicating to the group when something needs to go in a different direction.

Above all, effective communication is what makes everything else you do possible. When you approach it with a plan, bringing on help from remote employees can be the boost your small business needs to reach new heights. Managing remote employees can seem intimidating, but businesses that are willing to innovate are the ones that reap the rewards of taking risks.

 

Photo from Pexels

 

Tina Martin stays busy as a life coach and works hard to help herself and her clients achieve a healthy work-life balance. She started ideaspired.com as a side project to reach as many people as possible, and encourage them to put their dreams first.