Today, more and more companies are moving away from traditional offices and shifting to virtual workspaces. This reduces the need for workers to commute to their job and for employers to pay for commercial office spaces. With cost-cutting being a priority these days, such a decision only makes sense.

Given how complex business operations are these days, working from home has become a common occurrence. Various advances in technology make it easier to collaborate with remote assistants and keep your projects organised. The need to cater to a global market has also necessitated this change for many organisations.

Why a remote team fails

While you might have a good reason to hire remote employees, it doesn’t mean that all will go well on your motive alone. There are several online teams that are unproductive and failing their employers. Ensure that you won’t waste the resources on putting together your team through these tips:

Problem: Members aren’t communicating with each other

The only way for virtual workers to stay connected is by contacting each other frequently. Since organic interactions like meeting in the pantry have become impossible, people have to give greater effort towards forming professional relationships when they’re based online.

When you don’t communicate with your members regularly, they may feel like you don’t appreciate them. This is going to affect their morale which will impact their productivity and efficiency in turn. They may eventually want to move to another company where they think they’ll feel appreciated.

Solution: Making communication easy within the team

Provide them with the necessary tools

At the most basic, they need to have an app where they may send and receive messages, such as Slack, Zoom, or Skype. Pick one that has the features that you need, such as being available on different platforms so it’s easier to continue conversations.

Initiate conversations with your workers

Learn to start conversations with your people by asking a question in your group chat, for instance. Share your own experiences or insights about your tasks too. Limit the personal topics though as some may not be comfortable talking about it.

Problem: Members aren’t following the proper procedures

Since they are outside of a traditional office setting, your remote assistants might forget that they are at work. This sometimes results in employees neglecting to follow the rules or proper processes for accomplishing their tasks. Things that are done incorrectly will affect the quality of your output.

This is concerning when it affects the rest of the team. For instance, writers are required to submit their articles for proofreading. If someone neglects to follow this guideline, you may end up with work that has been plagiarised or doesn’t meet the standards of your client.

Solution: Improve the orientation and training

If you’ve decided to hire remote employees just recently, you must be sure to explain the processes, procedures, and rules clearly. Describe why each step is important and must not be skipped or overlooked. Having a document they may refer to is going to help them remember it all.

Problem: Members aren’t setting boundaries for their personal lives

Everyone who is working from home needs to set limitations. Working and residing within the same space tends to result in overlaps in personal and working schedules. Before they know it, they end up working more hours than they would in a physical office.

Working too much and not having time for their personal lives is going to lead to burnout. This is going to impact the quality of their work and their productivity. Sometimes, it will affect their physical and mental health too, such as suffering from depression or insomnia.

Solution: Encourage them to have work-life balance

Check that they aren’t doing too much

One of the reasons they may be working beyond the required hours is that they have to handle too many tasks. In this case, see how you may delegate duties better and encourage them to disconnect sometimes. Remind them that their health is more important than fame.

Schedule non-work related activities

While you’re unable to hold outings like going to the beach together, you may still have fun events virtually. One example is by having coffee over video call. If you think your remote team may be interested, try having video game tournaments online.

Problem: Members are being micromanaged by their supervisors

In some cases, it’s the management that is making the work harder for the team. Leaders and managers may be breathing down the necks of their workers. The employees will feel annoyed at having their boss watching them like a hawk.

Even if your staff doesn’t find it frustrating, they may feel pressured to work non-stop and get burned out. They will feel like you don’t trust them to do their jobs right so they won’t trust you either. Really, there is no place for micromanagement within a virtual team or in any organisation really.

Solution: learn to build a culture of trust

If you were the one to hire Filipino remote professionals, you must learn to trust your own judgement and trust your people to deliver results. If they fail to meet your expectations, that is when you enter the picture and talk about how they may improve their performance.

Problem: Members are having a hard time adjusting to remote work

For many employees, working from home is a completely new journey. There are going to be some individuals who have a hard time transitioning from a traditional setup to a virtual one. The ability to thrive in a work-from-home setup isn’t something that comes naturally for everyone.

When your worker is unable to adapt, their performance is going to suffer. The strength of your team is dependent on your weakest member. If one of your staff is facing a problem, the rest of your team is going to be affected.

Solution: Help them adapt to the new environment

Find out what they’re struggling with

Ask your workers what is keeping them from working as efficiently as possible and how you may be of service to them. It might be that they are struggling with their equipment or they are having issues with their internet connection. Maybe you may send them funds or a new computer to aid them.

Hire through a remote workers agency

When you decide to hire Filipino remote workers through the help of an offshore staffing agency, your employees may rest assured that they have human resource support in their country. They will have someone to teach them the ropes and represent them regarding any concerns during the transition.

Choose the right remote staffing agency

Continuing on the point about hiring through an offshore agency, ensure that you are working with a company you can trust like us at Remote Workmate. We are specialists in connecting global companies with remote assistants within your particular industry.

We’ve successfully helped hundreds of businesses by building and managing remote teams for them. If you want to know how our remote workers agency will help you to hire remote employees, click on the button.