How to Successfully Incorporate Remote Employees into Your Startup

In today’s digital age it’s easier than ever for your employees to work off site. In fact, many startup owners find their employees prefer to spend at least some of their time working out of the office.

A recent Gallup poll shows that more people are working remotely, and they’re doing so for longer periods of time. What’s more, employees are choosing jobs based on the opportunity for flexible scheduling and work from home options

Allowing your employees to work remotely is also good for business as remote workers are often more productive than those on location.

If you’re thinking about allowing your staff to work off site, and you’d like to integrate this style of work, check out this article on how to successfully incorporate remote employees into your startup.

Hire a Diverse Team

One great way to hire a great team of remote workers is to hire staff at different life stages. For example, have a few college graduates, some mid-twenties staff, some team members in their 30s, 40s, 50s and up.

This gives your team a wide range of experiences so they can all learn from one another and bring more to your startup.

You’ll find that the younger team members are often more adept digitally while your older hires have a wealth of experience at their fingertips.

Use Cloud-Based Tools

To communicate with your remote employees and share your workflow, you’ll want digital tools.

This enables everyone to collaborate, increase team communication, manage workflows, and boost productivity.

In addition, wherever your team members live and work, they’ll have access to each other as well as all their files.

You’ll find that cloud-based tools help build a better team atmosphere.

Be Clear About Your Company Culture

Even though your workers are remote, you still want to set a company culture. To do this, you want to share your startup’s mission, vision, goals, and objectives.

Setting your company culture up front helps to unite your team and make everyone feel like they’re part of a bigger picture.

Have Open Communication Lines

In addition, ensure that your lines of communication are open when it comes to talking with remote team members.

This includes email communication, phone calls, texting, video chat, and in-person meetings. Communication starts at the top, and it’s the single best way to ensure a happy, positive culture at your startup that trickles down to customer relationships.

For communication to be stellar, train your managers. Good communicators are good listeners. They instill trust in their employees and show them respect.

A good rule of thumb is weekly check-in meetings. These can be casual on occasion and quite serious on others. For example, one week you may have a lot to talk about. The next week, you may shoot the breeze and work on personal relationships.

Remember that consistent, positive communication is key to good employee morale.

Leverage Accountability Tools

As a startup owner, you may wonder how to keep your remote employees accountable. Fortunately, there is usually an app for that.

First, set clear expectations with your staff. This may include accountability when it comes to deadlines and well as the number of hours you expect.

Digital tools can help you with all of your accountability needs. Consider time-tracking tools to ensure your team is providing you an honest day’s work.  This is especially helpful for hourly employees or team members who bill based on the project.

You can also utilize online tools to manage deadlines and track workflow. This helps you see who is doing the work and who might be slacking off.

Final Thoughts

Taking the leap to incorporating a remote team takes some planning and organization, but it can be good for your startup.

You can get incredible results and a high level of productivity when your team works geographically separate from your main office.

For many startups, off-site teams help you save on overhead while providing you access to remote specialists.

Leverage these tips to help you manage your remote employees and grow your startup.

Are you a new startup ready to succeed? Are you looking to get your new business off the ground and watch it rise to success? We are here for you. We can help answer your questions and guide you through the process. Outsource your HR duties, finances, payroll and more to us. Contact Escalon today to get started.

Image: Joseph Gruenthal on Unsplash