REMOTE WORKERS CAN BE GOOD FOR YOUR BUSINESS—HERE IS HOW YOU DO IT RIGHT
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Thanks to the convenience and flexibility that the internet and modern technology are offering, more and more people are taking their skills online and working remotely. This can, in fact, be a real boon to businesses in many different ways. For one thing, talents are now more accessible, so hiring for specialized tasks is potentially easier. For another, businesses and employers can hire the people they need, as they need them, which can be very helpful for short-term projects or part-time tasks and helps keep overhead low.
Of course, this isn’t to say that there are no challenges in working with a remote workforce consisting of freelancers. After all, you do have less control of their time and, in many cases, you might have to share that time with other employers. However, the pros of hiring remote freelancers generally outweigh the cons, especially from a cost perspective. Moreover, the downsides are often easily circumvented with solid management. So without further ado, let’s explore how you can go about putting together and maintaining an efficient remote team for your business.
Finding Freelancers
Yes, there are plenty of reasons why you should hire freelancers for most, if not all, of your business processes and tasks. Apart from the cost benefits already mentioned, freelancers offer a way for your business to become more streamlined, for tasks and projects to get done faster, and for you to have more time and energy to focus on other aspects that require your attention and even better maintain work-life balance—a mean feat when you’re a business owner.
In this day and age, there are freelancers for a whole range of tasks that a business might need, running the gamut from web developers to administrative assistants, creative writers and designers to sales professionals—the list can go on and on. Small Recruiting World can help you find contract workers who are a perfect fit for your business on a short-term basis. In addition to helping you find talent, they will provide back-office support for these individuals to help you focus on the tasks you need to accomplish
Alternatively, make sure to use a reputable online job board that brings both freelancers and employers together safely. With the right job board, you can easily choose the freelancer who fits your business’s needs best, and maybe even pave the way for a longer working relationship, if you want to keep them as an ongoing resource or permanent employee.
Hiring Remotely
Now, it’s not enough to just find freelancers; you also want to take the time to properly vet candidates to ensure that they’re the perfect fit. Naturally, you want to avoid bad hires as this can cost your business, which is why it’s best to use assessments in your hiring process. Assessments provide critical information and help you whittle down prospects efficiently, allowing you to find your ideal candidate fast.
Of course, hiring a remote worker can be somewhat different from hiring someone face to face, though the premise is essentially the same. It’s a good idea, therefore, to make use of hiring tools, as well as to make use of conferencing apps for video call interviews. Most of all, take the time to check their portfolio (if applicable) and references and/or reviews before you even extend a job offer.
Managing Remote Teams
Finally, with the right people in your camp, you want to ensure that everyone works together seamlessly despite the distance. The fact is, managing a remote team relies heavily on effective communication. It’s important, therefore, to take steps in maintaining good collaboration among your remote team members.
At the most fundamental level, adequate collaboration entails the use of platforms like Slack. Do take advantage of features like the ability to create project-specific or team-only channels where team members can communicate effectively and maybe even a newsfeed to properly disperse information for the entire company. This way, everyone is in the know, reducing miscommunication and the inefficiencies that come with it.
Suffice to say, the right remote workers and freelancers can potentially be the lifeblood of your business—or at the very least, help you keep your business running like a well-oiled machine. But of course, this entails a great deal of responsibility on your part, as well. Ultimately, you’ll want to get it right, from finding and hiring freelancers to manage them as a team, because everyone plays a part in keeping the business efficient and successful.
Tina Martin started in business administration but decided to switch to something that inspired her: personal fitness instruction. She started ideaspired.com as a side project to connect with people and, hopefully, inspired them to follow their dreams.