Top business leaders and staffing agencies often note that effectively managing a remote team requires setting clear expectations, facilitating open communication, building trust, embracing flexibility and using available technology for seamless connection and collaboration.

This post will discuss five tips for leading a remote team that you can put into action.

1. Build a Solid Foundation for Remote Communication

Effective communication has always been the foundation for successful teams. However, it is even more crucial for remote teams. Without the benefit of face-to-face interactions, leaders need to prioritize regular, clear and transparent communication. Fortunately, technology provides many highly effective communication tools, including email, messaging platforms, project management software and video conferencing platforms.

Use these tools and set clear expectations, establishing communication protocols and encouraging active participation in virtual meetings to minimize misunderstandings and maximize collaboration and productivity.

2. Develop a Remote Culture Based on Trust and Autonomy

A healthy remote work arrangement relies and thrives on trust and autonomy. As a leader, you need to commit to trusting your team members to accomplish their tasks without built-in on-site supervision. This may feel like a leap of faith, but putting your faith in remote workers boosts their confidence and productivity.

Foster a culture of trust by encouraging open conversations, recognizing achievements, providing constructive feedback and welcoming questions and feedback from team members. Focus on balancing employee autonomy with accountability to ensure that team members take ownership of their responsibilities, meet deadlines and comply with company standards.

3. Be Available and Approachable

While employees might seek, appreciate and relish working remotely, they also need human interaction from time to time. Let them know that you and their coworkers are there with and for them, no matter where everyone is physically located. Keep an open virtual door policy that welcomes them to reach out via phone calls, emails, text messages and video conferences.

4. Foster a Strong Team Culture

A cohesive team culture in a remote setting is critical to your mission to boost employee engagement and retention. Here are some things you can do to encourage a positive team culture:

• Play online games
• Take virtual coffee breaks
• Join team challenges
• Set up in-person meetups

Schedule brief daily video team meetings to give everyone a chance to engage in positive social interaction together and show each other support.

5. Focus on Humanity

With so much work to do and so much technology that allows us to do it on a somewhat impersonal level, it is easy to let awareness of our humanity fade into the background. Bring humanity into your interactions, providing an opportunity for everyone to connect on a deeper level.

Ask everyone to share their stories, struggles and emotions related to work or their personal lives. These insights can help you understand work performance and productivity issues and how you might be able to support your employees to ensure that they and your organization flourish.

Conclusion

Leading a remote team isn’t all that different from managing on-site employees. It requires trust, increased engagement, creative new communication strategies and robust use of technology. With these, you can all overcome challenges and enjoy great success.

Sara Riggs is Senior Vice President and Head of Swoon Staffing, where she works to create even more collaboration between Swoon’s recruiting and sales teams to build a true synergy. She has 15 years of experience in the staffing industry, Riggs’ expertise has advanced through the recruitment ranks with her determination, passion, strategic vision and unwavering commitment to organizational growth, her team and Swoon’s customers.

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Still, remote working brings its own set of challenges that should be considered if organizations are to make the most out of this way of working. Here are some common pitfalls to look out for.

Miscommunication

Things get lost in translation during non face-to-face interaction. Without the benefit of eye contact, body language, and other nonverbal cues, important messages may be misinterpreted or misunderstood and lead to serious miscommunication issues. 

Imagine a law firm working on a huge arbitration case where a remote team is involved. Lawyer A who is based in New York and Lawyer B who is working from London rely on emails to communicate most of the time. If Lawyer A sends an email with unclear instructions which are misinterpreted by Lawyer B, this could cause a major setback in the case that has serious legal implications and potentially cost the firm thousands of dollars.

Invest in quality communication tools that enable employees to communicate clearly and frequently. Tools such as video conferencing, project management software, and cloud-based file sharing are great for keeping everyone on the same page.

Social Isolation 

When working remotely, it’s easy for individuals to get stuck in their own bubble and become socially isolated. But people require social interaction, even to do their jobs right.

Imagine a software developer working from home. He spends long hours in front of his computer coding, with little to no interaction with other people outside of work hours. This can lead to burnout, stress, and frustration which will ultimately affect the quality of his work as well as team morale.

Make it a priority to encourage teams to interact and build relationships. This could be done by setting up regular team video calls, introducing virtual happy hours, or organizing online group activities that promote collaboration and camaraderie. 

Security Breaches 

For remote work, the security of sensitive data is at risk. Without proper security measures in place and regularly updated tools, unauthorized access to confidential information can occur. 

Consider a company that stores inventory data with real-time inventory visibility and transactional data software. If hackers were to gain access to this information, it could be damaging to the company and its customers. 

Prioritize data security by investing in secure cloud-based storage solutions and regularly updating software with the latest security patches and features. You also want to provide your teams with comprehensive training on how to protect sensitive information.

The benefits of remote work are undeniable, but it’s important to be aware of the potential pitfalls that can arise as well. By taking steps such as investing in quality communication tools, encouraging social interaction, and prioritizing security measures, organizations will be better positioned to make the most out of this way of working. 

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Nearly 1 billion people from around the world use Google Drive for personal reasons and work.

Google Drive helps people by storing files over a cloud-based platform so that they can easily access information.

This program is a newer addition to the Google family, and there are many things that you will need to learn along the way.

Continue reading to learn how to navigate Google Drive on your Mac computer!

1. Instantly Save Webpages

Learning how to navigate Google Drive on Mac computers can help you save information quickly.

Most people that want to save a webpage end up saving the URL and email it to themselves. With Google Drive, you can save webpages, documents, and photos instantly to your drive.

To be able to do this on a Mac, you will need to download Google Chrome. When you have a page online that you want to save, simply save it to your Google Drive Chrome extension fire.

This is a much easier way to save information, rather than taking screenshots.

2. Quickly Search for Files

If you are sick of spending extra time every day to search for contacts and files, this platform can help.

By clicking on the search bar and typing in what you are looking for, you can easily view all of the documents with the provided information. This can help if you are in a rush and need to quickly pull up a document for a work presentation.

Not only can you search for documents, but you can find other things as well. You can type in what you are looking for and it will pull up forms, audio, images, and more that you have uploaded with those words.

Another advantage of having this feature on your Mac is that you can find things even if you have hundreds of folders.

3. Transfer Text to Documents

Does your job require you to re-type information from images and PDFs to documents?

To do this you will need to open your document from the Drive and the hit File. Within File, you will select open with Google Docs. The automatic optical character recognition feature in Google docs will instantly take your data and put it on a document.

This helps when you have a picture of the information that you need to be entered.

When you transfer the text to documents, you will end up with the original files and the new test files. Once you have the needed information on Google Docs, you can format it to your liking.

4. Backup Your Stuff

By syncing all of your documents and files to your Mac, you can backup your Google Drive.

This will help make sure that files don’t disappear, and if they do, they are easy to recover. While on a Mac, Google Drive may resemble a Dropbox. A folder will be created on your computer to store all of your Google files.

Backing up your files to your Mac computer can also help you access files from other devices in a much quicker way. You shouldn’t have to have multiple programs open, just to find one document.

5. Talk With Your Team

Another trick that will help you navigate Google Drive on your Mac is that you can talk with your team while working.

When multiple people have access to the same Google Drive document, they can open a chat and communicate with each other. This is helpful if you need instant feedback or have questions while working on a project.

You can talk with coworkers and peer in real-time. Many people open these chats to send images and more details. Near the blue SHARE button at the top of your screen will be a chat button.

Hover your cursor over the buttons to begin a chat by selecting who you want to talk to. An advantage of this is that you don’t have to pull out your phone or go on another program to get quick feedback. The feedback is also kept with the right document.

Other Benefits of Google Drive

There are many benefits that you can get through Google Drive.

As it was mentioned above, the Drive can act as a backup file storage area for your most important documents. You can also send larger-than-normal documents, videos, and pictures to anyone.

Since this Drive is a part of Google, it also has a built-in search engine for your convenience. Google Drive is meant to make your life easier by giving you multiple resources in one location. The best part is, you can work with other people too!

If you are wanting to use Google Drive more frequently, you can download the app on any Android or iOS device. This means that you can work from the same drive, whether you are on a Mac or an Android phone.

You Can Navigate Google Drive on Your Mac

If you are looking for a secure place to share and save documents, Google has you covered.

Learning how to navigate Google Drive on your Mac can help you work more efficiently and stay organized. These tips can ensure that you get the job done quickly without losing any documents.

Navigating Google Drive is much easier if you know that you can quickly lookup information. The search toolbar is helpful and you can hover your cursor over keys to see what they are for.

You and your team can also be more productive with this file storage by chatting in real-time.

Be sure to check out our blog for more articles about Google Drive features and how you can be more efficient!

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If you are currently looking to pick up freelance work, here are six freelance jobs that you can apply for today.

1. Web Development 

Web developers are responsible for coding, designing and ensuring the functionality of websites. Web development naturally lends itself to remote freelance work because roles do not require too much face-to-face interaction and are carried almost exclusively online. If you have a background in coding and programming, a quick search online on freelancing job search engine will pull up tons of freelance web development jobs, many of which offer the chance to work on interesting projects for decent money.

2. Writing

Have you always wondered what it might be like to try your hand at writing for a living? Article and blog post writing is a great way to earn money remotely if you have a flair for the written word. Depending on where your knowledge and expertise lie, there are thousands of copywriting, research proposal or creative writing projects that you can apply for today.

3. Translation

If you are bilingual and comfortable as a writer, working as a freelance translator is a door that is always open to you. The internet is full of translation agencies that offer fair prices for piece work. Most gigs will require you to have skills and knowledge in the area in which the subject matter lies, as specialist terminology is not always straightforward to translate without experience in the field. 

4. Customer Services

Some of the largest and best-known companies in the world, such as Amazon and Apple, now outsource much of their customer service to freelance contractors. Most companies will require you to take part in an induction course in which you will learn about the company’s product range and how to troubleshoot. To apply, all you need is excellent people skills, a laptop with a reliable internet connection, and a phone.

5. Marketing

Small companies and startups often hire remote contractors to take charge of their digital marketing requirements these days. If you have some experience in marketing and want the freedom of working as a freelancer, check out sites like FlexJobs, ClearVoice Marketplace and Media Bistro for the opportunity to work on some of the exciting projects that crop up on a daily basis.

Around a third of people in the United States derive income from freelance work today. Many of them would not change their way of work for the world. Join the freelance revolution today by investigating some of the jobs mentioned about and you may find yourself on the route to a life of freedom and professional fulfillment.

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The world of employment is changing and fast. Gone are the days where holding down a job meant having to stay in one location and subject yourself to the stress of the rat race. Technology has opened possibilities for remote working that could not have been imagined just a generation ago.

Read on for seven remote jobs you can apply for today which will leave you free to travel to your heart’s content.

Freelance Research Writer

Do you fancy yourself as a writer and have an analytical mind? Companies like Wonder are always contracting researcher to write answers to research questions for their clients. The application process is super-easy, and the pay is reasonable at $15 an hour.

English Teacher

One industry that has shown itself to be almost completely recession-proof is the TEFL industry. Demand for native-English speakers is always high, and now there are various online companies such as DaDa that will link you with students and classes from all over the world. You can work as many hours as you want and pick and choose your classes.

Writing, Editing and Design

Sites like Upwork provide a marketplace for writers and editors of all experience levels. Just create a profile and portfolio and you are ready to start sending out pitches to businesses seeking talented professionals with creative skills from across the spectrum.

Transcription

No previous experience is required to sign up with online transcription services like AccuTran Global, Scribie and TranscribeMe! Once you have signed up, you will be sent audio files and will be paid by the hour of audio you transcribe.

Customer Service

If you are great with people and would like to work from home, maybe you should apply for a job in customer service. Companies like Amazon, American Express and Apple constantly have positions opening which will allow you to ditch the daily commute.

Translator

Do you are bilingual or have a good knowledge of languages like Chinese, Russian, Spanish or French? If so, you might want to consider applying for translation work at companies like Gengo or Verbalizelt. These companies hire regularly and offer a fast-track route into the world remote working.

Travel Agent

For people who love travel and planning trips down to the nth degree, becoming a remote travel agent might be the job for you. The job combines good knowledge of destinations as well as all deals and flights with excellent customer service skills. Companies like World Travel Holdings offer an easy route in for those just starting out.

With just a laptop and a reliable internet connection, the geographical constraints of yesteryear are no longer an issue for the growing number of digital nomads. It is now possible to earn money while leading a life full of adventure in some of the most exotic places in the world. Ask anyone who has switched over to remote work and they will often tell you that it was one of the best decisions they ever made.

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