The cost of building a startup continues to get less costly and less costly, and among the big motorists of that is the ability to build a team of individuals all over the world. Building a completely remote team gives you access to talent that would otherwise be entirely out of reach. But it does not come without expenses (figuratively and actually).
Working from another location isn’t something anyone can do and building a product remotely has obstacles that are quite distinct to remote teams. So how do you build a remote team? How do you build a company culture around a group of people who rarely see each other in person? What procedures work and which ones don’t? What are reasons you might not want to build a remote team?
This guide is to aid you choose if constructing a remote team corrects for your startup and the best ways to do it efficiently.
Should you build a remote team?
The success of a remote team is hardly ever due entirely to “process”. You cannot just throw a couple of tools in the mix, begin hiring all over the world and expect things to amazingly work. It’s something that has to be ingrained in the material of the company and it requires deliberate work making it … work.
And due to the fact that it’s something that needs to be instilled in the company culture, it’s very tough to add after the fact. So addressing the concern, “should I build a remote team?” becomes vital early on.
To answer this question, let’s really look at the objections individuals have.
Your team will be far less productive
This is a matter of hiring. As I cover below, you need to hire people who are Professional Remote Workers ™. If you hire people who aren’t self-motivated or with the ability of major issue resolving, then yes, performance will certainly suffer greatly.
Communication is tough
Yes. Yes it is. But I think that’s a human nature concern, not a location issue. This goes back to hiring for a remote setup. If you hire people that are bad at communicating in written form, you will all dislike each other within 3 months.
Work/Life balance is non-existent
Agreed. It’s a lot harder to leave your work at work when you work where you live and live where you work. Set a culture of healthy work/life balance by having a great work/life balance yourself. Do not deal with the weekends or all hours of the night unless that’s what you desire for your team (hint: you most likely don’t). Encourage time off, encourage analog pastimes that get your team of behind a desk. As long as you’re intentional about this, it’s a non-issue.
Collaboration takes a hit
This is one objection I have the tendency to agree with. This was truly obvious at our retreat earlier in the year when we were entirely. Face to face it was undoubtedly simpler to rapidly toss things together or hash out concepts.
But that’s not to say collaboration cannot happen from another location, it just looks various and requires more work. The inverse argument is that while collaboration might take a hit, performance as a whole is much better. So I ‘d state it stabilizes itself out.
Hire for remoteness
There are all sorts of things you can and must do making your remote team work, but all is for naught if you hire individuals who are bad at working remotely. That’s not a knock on their capabilities. They could be fantastic at their craft while simultaneously bringing the whole team down since they aren’t fantastic at functioning in a remote setting. Some people prosper in a remote setup, others do not.
It’s crucial that you find people who fit the remote mold if you want a remote team to work. There are a couple of qualities I’ve found to be terrific indicators that somebody will certainly be a good suitable for remote working.
Self-motivated problem solvers
The most significant quality you’re searching for is self-motivation. Will they finish the job without having their hand held constantly? Are they truly terrific at problem-solving? Will they do things without asking consent and just wing it? Yes’s to all those are excellent indications of operating well in a remote setting.
Great writers
Considering that the majority of your communication will take place over chat or email, being impressive at writing will go a long way. Brevity is an unfavorable quality for me (though verbosity can also be an issue). There’s a balance in between saying too much and not saying enough that needs to be discovered and individuals who do a lot of composing (blogging or otherwise) have the tendency to know that balance. A major positive for me when hiring is having a personal blog site.
Non-industry pastimes
I’ve found that having hobbies beyond their field are also really favorable signs. When you’re working from another location, it’s simple to feel isolated and entirely taken in by work. People who get associated with pastimes outside of “programming” or “design” have the tendency to get burned out much less frequently.
Interacting from another location
You’ve hired a fantastic remote team, but if you do not take communication seriously, you’ll implode.
There are a lot of great tools you can use (which you can discover below), but communication is less about tools and more about intent and purpose. There’s more idea that has to go behind each interaction.
You’re no longer having passing conversations around lunch, you’re keeping your team in the loop so they aren’t left in the dark. You’re composing so that others know plainly what work has to be done. You’re saying things that, oftentimes, will certainly be saved in the archives of your company permanently.
Source: baremetrics
