![]() Good luck replicating this in your own businesses. ![]() But we have learned from them, optimized for them and has resulted in us scaling our business to new heights, with an engaged and loyal team. Having run a virtual business for the last four years, it certainly has presented some challenges. But for it to be a success, it is important you follow the high level guidance above. And, it will make most staff members materially happier with the increased flexibility that comes with working from home. I think it will make businesses materially more efficient, saving them from spending on unnecessary costs. I actually love the move to virtual workforces. And, let the team know, when you do have them, they are important, and they need to be focused on. Only schedule meetings that are absolutely needed, keeping them to a minimum. The problem with web video: it can be tiring, hurting your eyes, and it can be easy to tune them out, with cameras turned off, or you seeing staff doing other work while the meeting is in progress. In a virtual company, the only way to have group meetings is by web video (e.g., via Zoom, Microsoft Teams or Google Meet). So, you need to keep emphasizing your team’s cultural values, and make sure all staff are living by those same standards, even while working from home. You still want your staff to become loyal to the company and have their peers’ backs. Worse yet, it is much easier to hide, and ignore having difficult conversations, when someone cannot easily tap you on the shoulder and take you into the conference room to talk about it. It’s hard to build a “one for all, and all for one” culture when you are never seeing your peers in person. Set up virtual lunches with your team to talk about anything other than work. Provide compliments and employee awards virtually. So make sure you have good analytical reports that can help you see which employees are doing well vs. You lose all of that with a virtual company, but those things are still equally important to your success. Managing and Cheerleading Becomes Twice as HardĪs a serial entrepreneur of in-person companies, I loved walking up and down the aisles, seeing what people are working on, patting staff on the back, taking them out to lunch, or whatever. In the wake of COVID, several new service providers are offering virtual team building events (e.g., trivia nights, murder mystery parties), which you may want to consider for your business. If you are truly a virtual business with staff located across the country, in person events becomes much harder and cost prohibitive, so you will need to figure out how to replicate the above with “virtual events”. The good news: your home office rent costs just got cut in half!! This is sometimes referred to as a hoteling model. The result of that is losing the 10,000 square foot office with dedicated desks for each worker, and instead, replace that with a 5,000 square foot office with shared work-stations, similar to what you would see in a shared office workspace, like WeWork, where employees would reserve a desk or meeting room for the day, as needed. Let employees come to the office, when and if they ever want to. May companies are offering a hybrid approach. Provide In-Person Options for Those That Want It Once you are a big company, you will need to throw out a bigger net to find new workers from a broader geographic region. ![]() If you are a small company, try to keep it centralized, especially to simply payroll tax filings in one state. But others have tried to keep hiring in one central location, so that it would be easier to get the team together in person, whenever that may be needed (e.g., for annual meetings, weekly happy hours, easier training). Which opens up a lot cheaper talent pools in Eastern Europe and Asia. Some companies have said the employee can be located anywhere in the world, if they have the right skills. You will also need to figure out where the employees are geographically located.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |