Geography is no longer a problem when hiring people, but an international workforce comes with its own administrative challenges. We have compiled 5 tips to manage a borderless team with different languages and time zones:
Don’t be a stranger
Make time to connect with your team members. Open effective communication is essential in every business, but especially when your team members are scattered all over the world.
Prioritize one-to-one and clear communication, so things don’t get misconstrued or lost in translation. Miscommunication leads to wasted time and resources.
Take advantage of the new technologies
As we just mentioned communication is key when you are working with a remote team; software like Slack or Team has simplified agile communication.
Also, having a work management tool, where all the team members can collaborate and have the same view of work status. Softwares like Asana gives leaders oversight of what each person is working on, and allows them to move processes along.
Promote happiness
A study conducted by the Social Market Foundation found that a happy worker is up to 20% more productive than an unsatisfied employee.
Not only do we work harder when we are happy, but also our capacity to solve problems and think creatively increases.
Many reasons can influence how we feel about our work, but one of the main reasons is having the opportunity to progress, both as individuals and as part of a team.
Give your team members time and opportunities to develop their skills and achieve their personal goals.
Build trust and transparency
Trust is vital, in every job, but especially if you are working with remote employees. Some employers are tempted to use activity trackers but these tend to make workers feel that they are “micromanaged”.
Your priority should be to give your employees the tools and resources they need to work and be efficient, unproductive workers will stand out on their own, even without you specifically looking for them.
Offer flexibility
Working with multiple team members from around the world requires a high level of organization and coordination from both, team leaders and team members, especially when they are based in different time zones.
Rather than impose an organization from the outside, empower team members to take responsibility and let them self-organize the team and enjoy autonomy, usually, this has as a result more engaged employees.
That said, it is important to implement structures to support proper oversight between departments. Collaboration can only happen if teams are accountable to one another in addition to themselves.
Contact us if you need some extra help or you don’t know where to start. We’re here to help so you can focus on other parts of your business. Contact us and sign up for our newsletter to get the latest tips and trends in your inbox.
