9 Best Practices To Support Your Remote Business

If you’re running a remote business you’ll be well aware of the challenges. Remaining successful involves staying one step ahead, and learning all of the remote best practices. To improve your operations today, make a start with these nine ideas.

1 . Stay organized 

To successfully run a remote business you must stay organized. Staying on top of your key tasks and projects is critically important, especially since you don’t have in-person meetings. To help your teams stay organized you can try using project management software. Using project management tools you can create a schedule, communicate, collaborate, and oversee project completion.

Need a few tools to help you manage your time? Try time management tools like Toogl or Time Camp. Both of these have a range of cool features to help you manage your schedule and stay productive.

2. Engagement software

Keeping your employees engaged is critically important, a lack of employee engagement can quickly lead to productivity lulls, dissatisfied staff, and increased turnover. One of the best ways to keep your staff engaged is to recognize and celebrate their achievements. Platforms like Motivosity and Bonusly can help you to support employee recognition, and boost morale.

Some employees may lack engagement because they feel unfulfilled in their roles. To help your employees, try to create a purpose-driven environment. Help them to give something back by developing charitable initiatives and projects.

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3. Keep up your company culture 

A positive company culture is the key to success, the problem is it can be hard to boost your company culture when you’re working remotely! For the most part, it’s about supporting positive relationships within your teams. Ensure that you set up regular work social events, whether these are in-person or online. Improving your company culture is about:

• Supporting employees to grow within your company.
• Ensuring that you create a diverse and inclusive environment.
• Encouraging positive relationships between your employees and managers.
• A collective effort to reach company goals.

4. Wellbeing support

For some staff members, working from home can be a challenge. It’s useful to provide well-being support, to ensure that all staff are healthy and happy. Well-being programmes have so many different advantages, for example:

• Wellbeing software can support staff with their physical and mental health.
• Happy & healthy staff are more productive and creative.
• Companies that look after their staff have a better reputation.
• Can help to reduce staff turnover, (which is often costly).
• Educating staff about well-being helps them to support their peers.

5. Communication tools 

If you’re working remotely you’ll need to use the best communication tools. You’ll need to find a suitable platform for video conferencing, collaboration, and project management. CRM platforms are a great way to improve your communication with your customers and support your sales pipeline. If you’re using video calling functions, it’s important to read up about HIPAA Compliant Video Calls, to learn more you can access the Phone.com website.

At the same time, ensure that you put effective communications policies in place. Your team should understand how to communicate depending on the situation or task. Ensure that you hold regular one-to-ones with all members of your team. Meetings are a great way to check in with your staff individually and address any issues.

6. Strong branding

Online businesses have no brick-and-mortar store to represent themselves. For the online business, strong branding is more crucial than ever. Creating a brand includes so many different factors, from your design work to your brand story and messaging. For a few general tips to create a strong brand, try these:

• Perform plenty of target market research, (you’ll need to build a brand that your audience can relate to).
• Research your competitors, figure out their strengths and consider how you can be better!
• Brand storytelling is about telling people why you created your business and appealing to the emotions of your audience.
• Think of your brand as your personality, how do you want your audience to remember you?

7. Set boundaries

When you’re working remotely it’s important to set healthy boundaries, and help your team to set these two. When you’re working from home it’s easy for your work life and your home life to become blurred. Many people end up working longer hours or getting into unhealthy habits.

The best thing to do is stick to a set schedule, write down boundaries, and set goals. It can also help to set boundaries with the other people you live with. Many work-from-home parents have had to talk to their kids about when it’s okay to disturb them, (and when it’s not okay)! Adjusting to remote working can take a little time.

8. Get inspired 

Working remotely can be a blessing and a curse! Some words of wisdom might be just what you need. These podcasts are great sources of inspiration.

Worklife: This podcast is brought to you by Adam Grant, throughout these episodes he covers a huge range of useful topics, including avoiding procrastination, preventing burnout, boosting productivity, and the science of work.

Dear HBR: Be sure to check out this Q&R-based podcast all about the world of modern work. Here you’ll find plenty of advice that will help you to improve your work-life balance and thrive while working remotely.

The Remote Show: If you need remote working advice this certainly is the podcast for you. You’ll get to hear from the employees, founders, and CEOs of the top remote companies. Find out how you can win at remote life, and how to overcome key challenges.

9. Ask for feedback

To support the success of your remote business it’s important to ask your employees for feedback. Your employees will have lots of great insights about how you can improve your workplace structure. With the input of the whole team, it’s far easier to find the best solutions.

Using these nine ideas you’ll start to thrive as a remote company. From using the right tools to improving your company culture, there’s plenty you can do to grow your business.