In an era dominated by digital operations and teams working across geographies, remote working is no longer an exception, but rather a norm and common workplace practice adopted by startups and MNCs alike to work with best industry talent. Thanks to the advancements in technology, distances are no longer a barrier for people to work seamlessly and collaborate. The question for most managers here is, how do you build a killer remote team?

Remote working is a global phenomenon. Gallup poll in 2015 found that 37 percent of American workers telecommute their jobs. For newly-built companies such as startups, remote working can be an alternative with endless benefits. By building a remote team, company can find talent from around the world without having to meet face-to-face directly. Also employers save on infrastructure costs since these employees work remotely, and they do not need a physical office space to operate.

From the employee standpoint, remote working allows them the flexibility to do more jobs at their own convenience. It also boosts creativity, as employees can choose the environment they would like to work in. The benefits offered by remote working continue.

Latest TinyPulse survey presents surprising finding, that people who have worked remote for 3-5 years are 11 percent happier than those who work less than a year. Are you planning to hire a remote team to manage your business? Then here are top 7 secrets to build a killer one:

See: Changes in Employee Communication You Should Make in 2017

Communication

Good communication is the key to building a solid remote team. Without intense and continuous communication, remote team would likely fall apart. Hence, communicate clearly and openly guidelines, responsibilities, as well as the work progress to all team members.

Set the time frame and the system used to communicate, whether it’s by message, email, call, or other software system tools. Make sure that everyone is using the same platform. When you want to gather all team members to discuss project and idea, you can use video call which allows each person to join in.

Through such methods, you can socialise your vision and business goals in a better way with all your co-workers. By meeting face to face virtually, employees will be engaged with each other to build a sense of togetherness.

As a leader, you have to make sure that there is active and ongoing conversation flow among all employees. Keep the conversation going not only through video call for occasional meetings, you can also use chatting softwares such as Slack and Google Hangouts for real-time chat. By doing so, you can ensure that everyone is on the same page to deliver and report their workings.

Roles and responsibilities

Both remote and in-house team should have the ability to understand each other’s duties and responsibilities. Otherwise, there would be chaos because there is no clarity regarding each person’s job role and duties. When a problem arises, it would be difficult to track the root cause of the issue, let alone finding a solution to tackle the same.

Therefore, make sure that you delegate balanced work share to everyone. State clearly on who leads the project, the tasks, deadlines and goals, as well as how they should do it.

Company culture

Company culture is not only identical with a physical office. Even in virtual environments, leaders should create a culture that represents the vision and values ​​adopted by the company. You can choose employees who are able to fit in the culture and share the same values ​​as yours.

With employees spread across the world, it is important to bring everyone’s opinions and concerns into account, in order to avoid unnecessary clashes and build a work ethic. As a form of employee engagement strategy, you need to cultivate a sense of belonging amongst the team.

Trust

While physically everyone might be working alone, they should be able to work with others drawing mental equilibrium in workings. The word ‘team’ means that each person should rely on, and trust each other to achieve the expected business goals.

Self-driven is the keyword for a killer remote team. Although no manager or supervisor will always be there to check their work timings, the employees should not be slacking off. Loss of faith among employees could instantly break your hard-earned company.

To prevent such happenings, you should instil trust in the team. Since you can only get in touch online, conduct transparent open-door policy such that everyone will know each other better. Pay attention to the people you hire, make sure that they are trustworthy and have excellent ability of self-management.

Respect

As a leader, you have to realise that each person owns different personality traits and capabilities. To ensure that your project runs smoothly, you should be able to bring together the capabilities of these people, while providing equal opportunity to everyone to remark their distinct differences.

Respect is something that should be highly-valued by the remote team. Each person should respect each other’s privacy as well as hold back their own egos to create harmonious relationship at work. During chats or emails, encourage employees to use polite and straight language in order to avoid misunderstanding. Do not using sarcastic remarks. Although you might not really mean it, not everyone can take sarcasm well.

Feedback

It is crucial to offer constructive and positive feedback to the team/individual for work accomplished successfully. This not just helps monitor and maintain quality, it also helps ensure that everyone is doing their best to meet business goals.

Rewards

Remote working is not something everyone can do easily. Some are perfectly suited for it, while some others are not. To appreciate all the employee’s hard work, you should provide appropriate rewards and recognitions.

The rewards can be in any form, such as incentive or bonus, or even a travel voucher they can use along with their family. You can also hold occasional face-to-face meeting, while having a vacation to popular destinations. This would strengthen employee relationships with the company, brand, managers and others in the workplace, thus facilitating talent retention.

Read also: Delegating Right: Tips and Techniques for Senior Leaders