Today’s entrepreneurs are quite different from the ones of the past. Thanks to the digitalization of the economy, it has become really possible to run your business through your laptop from anywhere, whether it is from a bungalow on a tropical beach or from one of those cool cafés for digital nomads in Berlin.
However, managing remote workers is not as easy as managing the teams of the old economy, as distance creates some unexpected problems, like the difficulty to engage, motivate and control your team members. In other words, you need to develop a brand-new management strategy when you shift from real to virtual teams.
First, choose the right technology. Managing distant workers implies a more or less heavy utilization of the digital technology, particularly of video conferencing tools, like R-HUB`s servers, Skype, Google Hangout, Slack. It is important to adopt solutions that ensure both reliability and security.Just to give an example of a good product, we mention R-HUB`s new model of video conferencing servers for real time collaboration.
This is an excellent solution for managing virtual teams, as it offers managers all the necessary functionalities to engage video conference participants with a delay that is much less than ordinary live streaming products. For further details, visit R-HUB`s web site at http://www.rhubcom.com
Second, create your company culture. Like in ordinary organizations, company culture works also for team scattered throughout the world that meet only virtually. Your culture is anything less than your values, your business concept and marketing approach. Every collaborator should understand and align with your values, so that a minimum level of consistency in the delivery of the final product is always assured.
Third, communicate in an effective and clear way. Miscommunication is at the ground of most problems (and failures) of organizations. Therefore, it is important to double-check and ask lot of questions, and to work out effective communication procedures.
Fourth, set reasonable and reachable goals. Like in real life, remote workers need to have goals, deadlines and timelines. These instruments are even more important to make collaborators work as one in the digital economy, as distance could jeopardize collaboration at any moment.
Fifth: build your team. As distant as they may be, your remote workers are human beings that need to be motivated and encouraged. Do not forget the importance of comradery and group interactions.
Sixth: be respectful. It goes without saying that you have to pay your remote workers fairly and treat them with respect. Remember that it is not that easy to find serious and hard-working collaborators, even in the digital economy.
Seven: have an onboarding process. Behind virtual teams there are real people. New hires need to acquire the level of knowledge, skills and behaviors of seniors as soon as possible. So, it is always a good idea to train new staff.