As companies are finding today, one potential impediment to growth is finding the highest quality workers to fill positions at their company. Today the best workers have many choices of where to work, and many choose to be tough about where they work and the conditions under which they work. Many are demanding that they either be allowed to work from home or at a location very near their homes to avoid long commutes and work in a more relaxed atmosphere.
As a result, companies are having to find ways to accommodate them. One popular choice is to set up one or more remote offices that allow workers to work from their home or near the. This allows for companies to have access to more high quality workers and gives them an ability to set up an office quickly.
There are some challenges however. Here are a few challenges any company seeking to set up a remote office must consider.
Get Your Staff Trained on How to Manage This Process
Your main office should be trained in how to work with a remote office. Creating an office that functions an extension of your main office can have great benefits for the company. If done properly it can be put together quickly and allow for better hires because you can choose from a wider pool of workers who might be working from home or in their home city locations rather than having to choose whether to move to wherever your office is located. The company can save money and improve efficiency greatly.
However management and those interacting with the remote office at the home office, should be trained in how to best do this. Companies like EssentialSkillz specializes in training companies on how to manage and get the most out of a remote office. They can train everyone at your company who is relevant to work best with the remote office so that it integrates seamlessly with your main office.
Communicate Company Guidelines Clearly
Part of the challenge in working with a remote office is the limited supervision that can sometimes occur causing diminished oversight and less of an adherence to company guidelines and standards. Companies must take steps to insure remote workers know company standards and follow them religiously.
Too often there is a drop off at remote office causing clients and vendors to develop a negative feeling about the organization. Company standards and guidelines should be written down and presented to workers before they are hired. They should also be tested to make sure they understand what is expected. There should also be systematic checking on if they are upholding standards and if not disciplining and retraining should occur.
Give Them the Right Tools
When you decide to create a remote office as an extension of your main office, you need to make sure that the workers in your remote office have all of the latest relevant tools to get the job done. Remote workers need to rely heaving on communication tools that allow them to keep in touch with the home office and with other business stakeholders including vendors and other team members.
Also, today there is project management, marketing, and sales software that can connect everyone in your organization no matter if they are in the office every day or if they hardly enter it at all. Give your remote teams these tools and their job efficiency will dramatically increase.
Setting up a remote office is a great idea if you do it properly.