How to avoid some common mistakes companies make in a remote setup?
Here are some common mistakes companies make in a remote setup and how to avoid them:
1. Failing To Convey Expectations
When you’re managing a remote team, things can often run in an unstructured manner, and what makes it worse is if you don’t convey your expectations. Whether it’s for your short-term goals or even the long-term goals, not sharing your expectations can affect your remote team’s efficiency and productivity.
Start by assigning weekly tasks for each member and ensuring that the deadline for each of them is exact. Also, ensure that every team member knows what their precise role is.
2. Not Enough Communication
Poor communication skills can indeed be a deal breaker while managing remote teams. When you have certain expectations of how you want the work done, you need to convey the same to your employees.
Avoid this employer mistake. You should make sure all communication channels are open so that your remote team can reach out to you and have their queries answered.
3. Ignoring Team Interactions
Remote work can sometimes cause isolation. However, it’s imperative for the employees to feel the team spirit despite working from different cities or even other countries.
Make sure to set up weekly conference calls or video calls so that all the team members get to interact with one another, break the ice, and have their questions answered if they have any.
4. Not Everyone Understands Remote Work
Perhaps you have hired someone who is incredibly hardworking and experienced, but has this person worked remotely before? It’s best to understand what remote working means to them beforehand because a hardworking person doesn’t necessarily have to be someone who can work well remotely.
Be sure that your remote teams know when to rest and recharge, make mature decisions, and possess a good work ethic.
5. Micromanaging Your Remote Team
Most people like to work remotely because it gives them a sense of creative space and freedom. If you keep calling them frequently or send out emails every hour in the name of follow-ups, this employer’s mistake of micromanaging can cause your employees to feel frustrated.
Just convey the necessary details and deadlines to them and trust them as long as they maintain their work quality.
6. Ending Virtual Meetings Too Soon
One-on-one meetings involve everyone participating and giving in their opinions. With a virtual meeting, however, many might feel uncomfortable sharing their point.
Thus, it’s imperative to ensure that everyone gets a chance to speak and no one is overshadowed by someone else when a virtual meeting is going on.
7. Over-dependence On Emails
Emails are one of the most popular forms of communication, especially at the workplace. However, in a remote setup, you shouldn’t rely excessively on emails because that limits communication and doesn’t always allow your teams to present their queries effectively.
Be sure to go for video calls, conference calls, and even apps that encourage group discussions. Don’t make the employer’s mistake of depending too heavily on emails.
8. Not Ensuring The Wellbeing Of Your Employees
Remote work and global teams can mean that employees feel not only isolated but also overworked.
Just because they’re working from home doesn’t mean they are allowed to be piled up with work because if that happens, it can cause burnouts. Take extra care of your employees’ mental health in a remote setup.
9. Issues With Differences In Time Zones
Remote setups entail that your employees could be working from different parts of the world. It means that not only do you have to be flexible with the schedule, but also be understanding about it.
Create a schedule that suits everyone depending on their time zone.
10. Not Knowing Your Employees Personally
Working in an office means getting to know your employees personally; you see what they like and dislike, what sets them off, and so on.
However, a lot of this is missed out on in a remote setup, but that doesn’t mean you can’t build trust and rapport. See to it that you engage in some casual and informal talk regularly.
11. Not Providing Them With Adequate Perks
In an office setting, when an employee/team completes a goal successfully, they are rewarded with a gift or a treat at work.
Remote teams often miss out on these perks and rewards. To make up for that, be sure to send them treats and gifts now and then. It makes them feel acknowledged and boosts their motivation to work.
12. Absence Of The Right Set Of Tools
Remote setups call for extra tools and facilities to make it easier for your employees to work both as a global team and individually.
Explore the software and necessary applications available for remote teams to communicate effectively, and make sure your employees have them all.
Also Read: 10 Must-Have Remote Working Tools For Global Teams
13. Lack Of Opportunities For Growth
Employees can often feel stagnant about the growth of their careers in a remote work environment. It happens when they are not presented with competent growth opportunities.
Ensure that your employees receive the required training, education initiatives, and a proper career graph while working with you.
14. Importance Of Culture In Your Remote Setup
Workplace culture differs from one organization to the other. While one office could have a more structured and monotonous routine, the other could be more dynamic and casual.
When hiring a remote team, it’s essential to convey your company culture to the candidates.
15. Hiring Too Quickly
The chance to work from home excites many, and due to this, many companies commit an employer mistake and hire employees a little quickly.
However, with a remote team, you should select more carefully. Get members who have worked remotely before and give you all of their dedication and loyalty, even if they are located somewhere else in the world.
Having a remote team is a different ball game as compared to having an in-house team.
Conclusion
If you are looking to work in the digital world with the best squad, you should partner with an EOR. An Employer of Record can help you with the management of your remote teams. Processing multi-country payroll, simplifying compliance, giving competitive benefits are some of their offerings. With Skuad, you can have a highly skilled team to work on your projects without worrying about their payroll and management.