Are you a business owner looking to create a remote business? Awesome. This is the future of work. The only good thing about COVID was that working remotely became a way of life, paving the way for people to work from home, and even the maximum freedom, work from anywhere. Working from anywhere gives staff the freedom to work with a beach view, or from a chalet in the mountains... or even from a cool cafe in the middle of the capital. Allowing your staff this luxury is very attractive and is great for team morale and wellbeing, but how do you make sure your team stays engaged with their workload and with company goals? Here’s a list of things to consider when creating a ‘work from anywhere’ approach in your company. 

You can pick the cream of the crop by hiring internationally

Want the best and most effective team, but feel limited looking for staff in your country? By creating a ‘work from anywhere’ model, you can pick the very best candidates for your team.  And as ‘working from anywhere’ is one of the most desired traits in a role, you will also get the best applicants applying. A company that might be really useful in hiring a remote team is Oyster HR. They expand teams across 179+ borders and hire, pay and care for your staff, so you don’t have to worry. 

A different way of providing benefits

Perks such as private healthcare, bonuses, childcare vouchers and pension contributions are great for staff. These will always be necessary and desirable, but other benefits like subsidised season tickets, company cars, and an onsite gym may be more redundant. Instead of using these incentives to get staff feeling valued, why not offer benefits like training and development courses, online wellbeing subscriptions and pay a contribution to bills and expenses. Remote staff will feel valued and cared for by the leaders in your company. 

Monitoring teams by project delivery

Many bosses may worry that if their staff are not on-site, they won’t deliver their best work. However, this has been proven to be not true. Data from Rescue Time showed an overall increase in productivity, with workers spending more time on the right work, and less time in meetings and chatting. This is an important finding, but some managers might ask how we monitor productivity. My advice is to look at how many hours a day and per week is spent on each project, rather than monitoring the amount of time your staff are online. This gives your staff the freedom and autonomy to work in a flow state so they will generate their best work. 

Making sure teams are working on the same time zone as their manager

So your staff feel like they get the best support they need, I recommend that teams should work from the same time zone as their line manager. This allows employees to always be helped and heard by team members, so they can collaborate and get tasks done more efficiently. This does not mean that you should hire people from the same continent as you, just that your team should work the same 4-5 hours of the day. This may mean some staff have the mornings off and work in the afternoon, while some staff may work early mornings or evenings. The point is that everyone in the team is aligned and has the chance to work together.

Having two annual events to bring the team together

It’s  important for your team to get along and connect whilst working, but how can you take team bonding to the next level? I suggest having at least two annual meet ups a year, either somewhere close to headquarters or somewhere with beaches and coconuts. Face-to-face workations can build team togetherness and allow your staff the opportunity to show a different side of them that working behind a screen limits. Events like this make staff feel valued by the company and also helps staff feel even more connected to the work and their colleagues when they are back behind a screen.

So here are my five suggestions for those of you with or wanting to have remote teams. Working from anywhere is the future of work and, as mentioned, one of the most desirable ways of working for employees. If you’d like to chat more about how you can create an awesome ‘work from anywhere’ culture, please feel free to arrange a 30-minute call below: