Remote work makes it possible to take advantage of the best workers in your industry without needing an office to house them all. Workers can be productive from anywhere and still provide all the vital skills you need to run a thriving company. Here’s how to make the most of your distributed workforce.
1) Professional Touchdown Space
There are times when a touchdown space becomes necessary to bring each remote worker together. With an on-demand office, you can arrange for conference rooms and a boardroom when you need them to bring the entire company together for meetings. You can also arrange for hourly access to multiple locations by utilizing a network of meeting spaces. The best providers even have discount cards available, and bundled plans to provide even more value to heaver users.
2) Using an Answering Service
With a professional live answering service you can receive messages, have your phone calls forwarded, and establish a professional image for your company. By using an office business center or virtual office provider that offers this service, you get all of the professional services and conveniences often needed by small businesses – without paying for a full-time employee to take your calls or staff your front desk.
3) Outsource When Needed
With the far-reaching capabilities and easy availability of mobile technology, work is rarely confined to the office anymore. A small business can take advantage of the same outsourcing opportunities that were once only for large corporations. As a small business owner, you can hire a mobile worker for every major aspect of your company, allowing you and your entire team to work from home or on-the-go most of the time.
4) Staying in Communication
Make your mobile technology work for you by creating a framework for regular communication. In between your physical meetings in your touchdown space, arrange for virtual meetings to get your entire team up to speed on current projects and long-term goals.
5) Avoid Paying for Services You Don’t Need
All of your business resources should go to the services your business needs – not ones that are irrelevant or wasteful. Try to always think like a “bootstrap” startup – even after you have progressed beyond that stage. With pay-as-you-need services from your touchdown space provider, you can avoid draining your resources with services you don’t need by paying only for those you do.
6) Allow Workers to Work the Best Way for Them
Not every mobile worker works most efficiently from a home office. Often, your workers know how they work most efficiently. They may work well from home, or they may prefer a “third place”. Third places can be gyms, coffee shops, restaurants, or anywhere else that offers a comfortable place to work and the connectivity needed to get it done. Be flexible about work locations and contact methods in order to give each mobile worker a chance to discover exactly how they can be most productive.
7) Stay on Top of the Latest Devices and Software
Mobile technology is evolving so quickly that you may find new and better software every few months that will make each mobile worker more efficient.. Watch the latest developments in the mobile marketplace, and don’t be afraid to invest in new productivity and communication tools for your mobile team, although, see #5 above. If you don’t stay on top of the market, you can be assured that your competition will. New mobile tools can decrease the amount of time it takes to get work done, and make it easier to collaborate from anywhere.
