Remote working definitely sounds like the business revolution we all needed, but it’s not something you can simply take over and hope for the best for the rest of the time. As with anything else, there are downsides to remote working and several challenges to overcome, as well. Thankfully, every business can use working strategies and tools to overcome these issues and enjoy the full benefits remote working offers.
Many studies have been done on remote working in the past few years, noting the benefits for all involved. Remote workers have been found to take fewer days off even when sick, stay motivated for a longer time, stay in their jobs for more extended periods and focus more on their freedom over wage increases as they save on travel costs and other expenses.
We curated some major areas where remote agencies face issues. Let’s take a look at them:
Managing employees across time zones
One of the advantages of hiring remote employees is finding a talented employee no matter where he lives. This means remote employees could be distributed across different time zones in any country. Imagine organizing a meeting between employees who live on the US east coast, US west coast, Eastern Europe, and India. A good time to meet for the US employees will be a late evening for those in India.
Again, training and the right tools can help you overcome this challenge or at least minimize its impact. When you sensitize people about respecting each other’s family time, they are more likely to accommodate each other. You can rotate a recurring team meeting to take place at a different time each week, so no worker has to always meet in the evening. You could also ask everyone to have some overlap between their work timings.
Automation and project management tools can also help overcome this challenge. A software developer in India can notify his co-worker in the US when he checks in new code. The co-worker can then continue to build on that work during his working time.
Creating connection
Leading a distributed workforce demands adapting traditional approaches to cultivating strong company culture. For example, in-person perks and events may not be accessible to all team members—if they’re feasible at all. Likewise, building camaraderie isn’t as simple as gathering in the kitchen for Monday morning bagels.
However, creating and maintaining a warm and positive collective vibe among team members is crucial to remote work’s success. While remote work entails a ton of benefits, it can sometimes feel isolating. Because remote professionals don’t have face-to-face interactions, you’ll need to intentionally cultivate a sense of inclusion and collaboration.
The need for community extends to independent professionals, whom businesses are increasingly engaging to work alongside full-time employees. If you lead a “hybrid team” made up of independent talent and FTEs, consider how to support the entire team, not just employees.
Keep the announcements and updates coming. Nothing erodes culture like confusion about the company’s direction. Providing regular updates on everybody’s progress, company goals, and other essential group announcements can unify team members through a shared sense of purpose.
Managing projects
Starting right at the top, the biggest challenge with remote working is managing projects when your team is spread across multiple locations. Whether it’s a mix of in-house and remote staff or an entire team of remote workers, managers are responsible for making sure deadlines are met and targets are hit.
Without having a physical presence, communication is more complex, and keeping track of individual tasks is problematic, especially for complex projects and large teams.
Thankfully, there are tools for just about every challenge a remote team manager could experience. Above all, you’re going to need some project management software to assign tasks and keep track of progress.
Tracking tasks and productivity
Now we’re getting into some of the more complex problems of managing remote teams. To hit big targets, you’ve got to make sure all the smaller tasks are completed promptly. Keeping track of the progress, multiple remote workers are making on a daily basis can be a daunting prospect.
How can you keep track of progress on individual tasks while also keeping a keen eye on project-wide progress? Well, the project management tools will help you do that in a reactionary sense. In other words, they’ll show you when team members have started tasks and finished them, but you only get this information after these interactions take place.
They don’t give you live feedback or tell you how productive team members are while working on tasks. You’ll want a project management tool like Monday.com or Clickup to get a more real-time look at team progress. The platform prompts team members to provide quick “check-in” details about what they’re currently working on so you can see what everyone’s up to at any given time.
Process Management
The best way to save time when managing processes is to create a template—a solid foundation you can use for any or most projects. As an agency matures, this is what they’ll look to incorporate within their structure.
However, remote work can muddy the waters of the process. Communication is often delayed, hampered, or misconstrued, thanks to people working different hours in potentially different time zones. If all your employees are touching base with each other at staggered times, you can expect severe delays. So how do you safeguard against this remote working hindrance?
You can use a digital platform to set your team up with your best practices as a starting block, then build your template up from there. This will free up much more of your time, allowing you to get ahead of the curve, even while factoring in remote work challenges.
Forecasting Upcoming Work
One big mistake a lot of agencies make is treating an uncertain climate as a stopgap. This leads to managers taking their foot off the accelerator, waiting for things to get “back to normal” in the coming months.
There is no guarantee, however, that things will go back to how they once were. You should be looking to make as much impact as you can right now. Don’t treat this like a break; treat it as an opportunity to review your office practices and optimize client acquisition.
The trouble is, you need reliable, real-time data on your employees to make sure they’re being utilized correctly. You need to be able to forecast the future so you can plan for it successfully. This is tough when you’re not working face-to-face.
Conclusion
For modern, forward-thinking businesses, remote and flexible working offers a superb opportunity to sustain fast growth, minimize risk, and reduce overheads. If tackled correctly and conducted by a bright and communicative team, this approach could provide the edge over your competitors.
Regardless, it’s not a walk in the park to implement remote working. There are genuine trade-offs to be made when comparing the traditional team structure to the remote model.
There are multiple challenges to overcome with resourcing, productivity, processes, and communication. That said, We hope this article has given you a solid foundation from which to start and an awareness of the obstacles and rewards that await should you adopt the remote setup.
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