Expanding your company to remote locations can be a scary proposition. Many companies shy away from it because they believe it will cut into their profits, but that’s not necessarily true. If you have the right strategy and team in place, opening up new offices can actually increase your profits. With the right tools and support, operating remote locations can also work for any business. Here are some things you should know if you want to expand your business with remote work in Germany or another country.
What is remote work?
Remote work is when someone is hired to work away from the traditional office setting. It can be done from any location, as long as it’s a place where the remote employees can be highly productive. Successful remote work requires that employees have the autonomy to make their own decisions and have access to the tools they need to do their best work. Remote work comes with a variety of benefits — including lower turnover rates, increased productivity, and a more diverse workforce — but it also comes with some challenges. Companies that want to hire remote workers need to have strong processes in place to make sure that everyone is staying productive, feeling included, and getting compensated fairly.
Why open a remote location?
Remote locations can be a great way to scale an operation — especially if you’re a company that serves a global audience. In the past, it’s been difficult for companies to open additional offices because they would lose the benefits of a centralized workforce. If you’re trying to expand your business with remote work in Germany or another country, though, you get all the benefits of centralized operations with the added benefits of remote offices. The most important thing to remember when opening a remote location is to hire people who are just as productive as your on-site employees. If you don’t do this, you’ll lose the benefits that come with remote work and actually hinder your entire team. It’s important to hire the right people for remote work so they can hit the ground running when they’re hired.
Hire the right people.
When hiring people for remote work, you’ll want to make sure that you’re taking certain factors into account. First, you need to hire the right people for the job. Even though you will be hiring people to work remotely, the position still needs to be a good fit for the role. You also need to make sure that your company has a strong culture. If you don’t, you’ll run into problems hiring remote employees. Your company culture is what makes employees want to stay with your business for the long haul. It’s important to make sure that you have the right systems and expectations in place for your remote workers. You’ll want to make sure that they’re clear on their goals and you have the tools they need to be successful.
Set up your infrastructure.
Once you’ve hired your remote employees, the next step is setting up the infrastructure to support them. A big part of that is setting up proper communication channels. You’ll want to make sure that you’re using a communication tool that works for your team. For example, you might want to use a messaging app like Slack if you’re working on a distributed team. If you have a distributed team, it’s also important to make sure that everyone has access to the tools they need to do their best work. You might want to invest in a good VPN service so your employees can continue working while traveling. You’ll also want to make sure that you have proper reporting structures in place so that your remote employees know who to go to with questions or concerns.
Don’t forget to measure.
Once you have your remote operation up and running, it’s important to track its performance. This will help you identify any areas of improvement and make sure that your remote workers are still as productive as your on-site employees. You can use tools like Intercom to track key metrics, like the number of new customers acquired. You can also use tools like Typeform to collect data from your employees. This can be helpful when you’re trying to track things like work hours, work quality, and productivity. Successful remote work also means making sure that you’re measuring morale and engagement. You can do this by using tools like 1-on-1 or Culture Grid to conduct regular polls and surveys with your remote workers.
Wrapping up
Remote work is a great way to scale an operation. With the right team and infrastructure, it can actually increase productivity and engagement. To make sure that it works, you’ll need to hire the right people for remote work and make sure that they have the tools and support they need to do their best work. Once you have everything in place, you’ll also want to track your remote operation to see if there are any areas of improvement you can work on.