How Small Businesses Can Support A Remote Workforce

Remote workforces are a massive benefit to today’s small businesses. Where once upon a time you had to have the office space for all the skilled team members you needed, now you can rely on a remote connection to get the job done. 

And that makes running a company a whole lot cheaper, especially when you have an equally small sized budget! 

But if you’re new to working with a remote team, and you want to be sure you set one up properly, there’s a few things you should know about creating and supporting your own remote workforce. Check out our tips in the list below. 

Make Working Timeframes Clear

When do you want your remote workers to be on the clock? From 9 to 5? From 10 until 7? Or do they have a more flexible 12 to 24 hour period to get work done? 

Don’t be vague here. Plenty of business owners out there fall at the first hurdle of remote working simply because they haven’t clearly outlined remote working hours. 

They’re waiting on work that in their mind ‘is late’, but in the employee’s mind, didn’t have a specific deadline. So be specific about the actual working timeframe that your team needs to fit into. It’ll save a lot of miscommunication and disciplinary issues! 

Institute a Careful AI Policy

Whether or not you use AI programs within your business, an AI policy is crucial. It helps workers to be both careful and effective in their approach to using AI, and that will help to build a productive and trusting remote culture. 

And this is something all the top AI consulting firms recommend. AI has become commonplace in our digital world, but when you’re operating a remote team, you need to know it’s actually benefitting you. 

Because AI tools need to be used responsibly, to help employees work smarter and not harder. You don’t want your team to be substituting their skills here, but it’s hard to keep track of AI usage when this team is remote. 

A clear and easy to follow AI policy will help you to stay on top. 

Establish a Social Working Culture

Just because you’re remote doesn’t mean you need to be alone! Working from home or outside of the office shouldn’t cut people off from collaborating. Not only does it make getting work completed a lot harder, but it could lead to morale issues within your team as well. 

But if you want remote team members to keep in touch, you need to make it feel easy, friendly, and like a normal part of the job to do so. ‘Out of sight, out of mind’ often comes true in these scenarios, and that’s not the kind of attitude you want to let run rampant. 

A remote workforce could be good for your small business. But if you want to support one properly, make sure you set remote working boundaries using the tips above. It’ll lead to better productivity!