Remote work has gained a lot of popularity since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. When most businesses were forced to adapt to remote work as the world went on lockdown, business owners, leaders and employees alike started to understand the benefits that remote work has to offer, with better work-life balance topping the list.
But while there are many upsides to running a remote workforce, there are several issues that entrepreneurs and business owners may encounter when trying to build a totally remote company. Here, nine members of Young Entrepreneur Council discuss the potential solutions to those issues and why they’ll help set you up for success.
1. Draft A Company Playbook
Fully remote companies are discovering that they can’t rely on perks and swanky office spaces to drive company culture; management styles, policies and business tools are your culture. When choosing them, start by drafting a company playbook, stating your purpose and mission for each key aspect of people operations, and make sure that your decisions align with the type of culture you want to foster. Remind managers to lead by example and make sure they understand why each policy is relevant so that it doesn’t get lost in translation as it trickles down the company. You can also build culture through the remote collaboration tools offered to employees. Certain tools show your employees where you stand on flexibility and autonomy and what you as a leadership team value and prioritize. – Luciana Safdie, Spot Meetings, Inc.
2. Create A Strong Culture With Key Gatherings
One issue you may run into when trying to build a totally remote culture is creating a strong culture. We have overcome it with three consistent meetings: 1) A daily “roll call” on Zoom where all employees are invited to show up and ask any one question. It’s been so fun getting to know everyone and what they are up to; 2) A monthly two-hour town hall. We start with a 30-minute Zoom game, followed by our extended level-10 meeting. We review scorecards, condensed financials, VTO, rocks (goals), to-dos and issues; 3) An annual all-company retreat. This year, we hosted at an all-inclusive resort in Florida. We are accruing this expense all year instead of paying rent. It was a great three-day opportunity to update our annual plan and vision, get to know each other personally and have some fun. – Ashley Ingle, Profit Matters
3. Hire The Right Employees
I believe there are employees who are more “right” for remote work than others. It has to do with whether or not they do well with self-direction. When I’m hiring, when I’m forming partnerships, I look at my relationship with the other person and my ability to communicate with them as the foundation of the hire or partnership. I’ll have multiple conversations with that person so that I can have a clear sense of their expectations and how they think and communicate. I’m looking for the type of compatibility that will be the foundation for a great remote team member. As long as we have that communication in place, the rest is easy. – Tyler Bray, TK Trailer Parts
To read more head on over to the Forbes Article
