remote teams – Page 3 – Talent500 Blog

Work flexibility: 4 tips organizations can try to attract top talent

Posted on June 22, 2022July 19, 2022 by temp

The pandemic has not only resulted in an irreversible shift in the dynamics of work, but also created a new breed of mobile employees. Today’s workforce prizes autonomy and flexibility, often more than traditional triggers that attract and retain talent like compensation and benefits. Not only is a higher number of top talent demanding flexibility, but many are also willing to look for other opportunities should it not be offered.

The Talent500 State of Talent survey in 2022, conducted among 4,800 professionals across Indian cities, reveals this sea change in mindset: 87% of the tech talent are actively considering a job switch in 2022, and the primary reason for 55% of respondents is a lack of work-life balance. Further, for 83% flexibility is the top consideration for accepting a new offer.

Brushing aside these statistics as a pandemic reaction rather than a pandemic epiphany, can only add woes to an organization’s recruitment drive. Companies today are dealing with record highs in attrition rates and the intense competition in order to bag the right talent. After all, having greater agency over their lives, better control over their schedules, and the freedom to work when their productivity is highest, is what drives the workforce of today.

This phenomenon is not limited only to India or Asia, but complements sentiments across the globe. As per a survey by Slack, 72% of the employees prefer to work in a hybrid model. Other research also found that employees from the US value the flexibility to work from home for 2-3 days a week as much as 7% pay raise. What’s more, 40% of the employees who currently WFH would look for another job if required to work from the office.

While the why is easily understood in the advantages that flexibility offers employees – in terms of reduced stress and chances of burnout, higher job satisfaction and productivity –implementing flexible policies comes with other benefits for an organization. This includes increased loyalty, improved brand image, better employee morale and a larger talent pool to dip into. However, one fact that stands out among all these is the impact of flexibility on employee retention and attrition. After all, 89% of the companies saw better retention because of flexibility. And while it comes with its challenges, organizations can successfully implement and manage flexibility with the right frameworks in place.

Implementing flexibility – 4 tips for organizations

Flexibility involves both give and take. To foster fairness and accountability, here are a few pointers that leadership teams should keep in mind when implementing flexible policies.

Strengthen communication

Research indicates that 86% of employees and executives believe that ineffective communication causes workplace failures. When virtual, remote sessions overtake physical, face-to-face meetings, it is important for organizations to ensure that the employees are able to communicate with each other without any challenges or lags. While internal messaging tools, emails and video calls are all a must-have, what is critical is for managers to establish a clear guideline on which modes of communication require immediate attention and which matters require urgent communication such as those regarding deadlines or availability.

This helps employees respond to time-sensitive matters with ease and be accountable in remote settings. Since communication is so vital to success in such cases, companies can also offer soft skills training to boost this skill. In fact, 65% of employees who received training for communication had a higher performance score as per another survey.

Keep employee expectations clear

In flex work, making expectations clear to employees can help leaders track their performance as well as ensure that employees know the objectives of the employer. Employers can, and should involve employees in the goal setting process. This not only helps employees understand how their work contributes towards organizational objectives, but also feel a sense of ownership and engagement.

In fact, only 30% of the employees agree that their managers involve them in goal setting and these employees are 3.6 times more likely to be engaged as per a Gallup report. Research also suggests that productivity increases by 56% when managers help employees align their goals to the needs of the organization.

Spell out flexible policy terms clearly

Documenting the options that employees have when it comes to flexible work is key to ensuring smooth operations. Such formal policies can help organizations avoid inequities that come with informal and non-recorded arrangements and also help propagate company culture better. It is also necessary that managers or leaders put together the required details before the arrangement comes into effect.

While this may postpone how soon you can offer its benefits to your workforce, it does pay in the long-term. Include the working terms, infrastructural and other requirements, measures for keeping data safe, health precautions, and more in this policy and make it easy for talent to access them (such as via cloud) when needed.

Review performance

Performance reviews, a part of the traditional work arrangement, also have a big role to play in fully remote or hybrid models. For these to work, organizations need to be transparent about KPIs and other metrics used to measure employee productivity and impact. The only change when it comes to flex work is for employers to consider having such reviews at shorter frequency. This helps employees adapt better, keep their eye on the prize, and work towards achieving company goals in a more informed manner.

Managing flexibility – 3 ways for organizations to take the reigns

Implementing flexibility can come with certain disadvantages like procrastination, decreased engagement and loss of workplace culture. Here’s how companies can tide over these for a net positive gain.

Leverage technology

Tech has a starring role to play in most aspects of work today but enjoys the spotlight most when it comes to successfully implementing flex work. Organizations can and should use it to help teams collaborate, plan, learn, and adapt to evolving needs. According to this study, more than 80% of the employees stated that technology empowered them to better communicate and collaborate. Tools that help mitigate cybersecurity risks and keep sensitive information secure are also a must-have.

Make data accessible on a need-to-know basis

With everything going digital, employees need to have access to required data with ease. Easy and instant access to it makes them more productive and keeps them engaged. While this is highly valuable to organizations, a noteworthy aspect is to ensure that employees get access only to data that falls within their responsibilities. With ransomware attacks rising to 35%, a need-to-know access to data can reduce this risk and prevent data leaks.

Encourage collaboration

Collaboration can nurture stronger bonds within teams and boosts engagement. Research by Gallup suggests that those who have close workplace friends are 7X more likely to have better output, higher personal and customer engagement and enjoy greater well-being. To catalyze such relationships, employers can plan virtual celebrations, create intimate virtual spaces for employees to connect with each other, do a daily virtual huddle, and even create separate channels for specific categories as needed. Planning physical retreats as often as possible can also work wonders.

There are many companies who have successfully embraced workplace flexibility including Dell, Unilever, Sodexo and Humana, and yours can too. As a partner in aiding your efforts to hire, manage, and build global remote teams, look no further than Talent500.

With automated hiring processes and pre-vetting of profiles, we can help you find talent that adds value 5x times faster. Our in-depth pre-assessment has helped place 300,000+ professionals and build teams in 50+ organizations. Request a consultation now to know how you can leverage our tools to effortlessly manage and build your remote workforce.

3 challenges and solutions for building strong company culture in a globally distributed workforce

Posted on June 22, 2022June 22, 2022 by naveen

It’s no secret that organizational culture impacts company success as well as employee satisfaction. A positive culture of shared values and healthy workplace behavior enables and empowers employees and managers to be engaged, driven, and loyal. Strong organizational culture also attracts a talented workforce. Nearly 77% of candidates look at the workplace culture before applying for a job, according to a report by Glassdoor. This suggests that a negative perception of an organization’s culture can make it challenging to fill open positions and retain top talent.

While instilling culture across the organization is a challenge in any setting, the COVID-19 pandemic underscored its importance as it significantly impacted productivity and forced leadership to evolve to the new normal. Their reassessment and reevaluation either strengthened the work culture or diluted it. Nevertheless, be it a fully remote workforce, or a distributed team working on a follow-the-sun model, culture is key to creating a sense of genuine connectedness and belonging.

Increased stress, lopsided work-life balance, isolation and job insecurity have all contributed to lower productivity of distributed teams and remote workers in recent times. This is only compounded by company culture that is transactional rather than relational. In fact, companies that managed to instill positive organizational culture, offering their workforce flexibility and transparency, saw big gains. Not only are 68% of teams evaluating their culture to better reflect the new normal, but 62% of remote and hybrid employees and 52% of on-site employees said that their workplace culture had a positive impact on their work as per a 2021 report by Gartner.

Here’s a deep dive into the challenges and means of scaling organizational culture in a globally distributed workforce.

Challenges of building workplace culture in distributed workforce

Fragmented and dispersed workforce

One of the ways to cultivate workplace culture is through shared experiences. In the past, these took shape as shared learning seminars and other such in-person activities. Unfortunately, due to the pandemic, such interactions aren’t as frequent or are fully digital when they occur, and thus lacking in one way or another. This makes building and enforcing a strong work culture challenging in a distributed workforce.

Too much transparency in the workplace

While transparency is essential, especially now, too much is problematic. Companies with an overly transparent culture often face issues of over-sharing, which in turn hampers the ecosystem. For instance, too much transparency about financial struggles, losses or even salaries can lead to unrest, detrimental competition and even unwarranted dismissals.

Increased pressure for productivity

Spurring productivity, while essential to any organization, is among the hurdles companies will likely face when building the right culture. Both managers and employees can make it difficult to set the right values or even act in accordance with them when there is pressure to boost productivity. According to research, 50% of senior leaders stated that this type of pressure is one of the biggest challenges in creating a positive culture.

How organizations can build a strong culture in a globally distributed workforce

Be intentional about culture and celebrate cultural differences

Having a set of principles or values that leaders and the top tier of management believe in and act on, is step 1. Bringing up workplace culture from onboarding and throughout the employee work cycle is key to it being taken seriously. While it is important to have a culture that all employees can share, it is also important to accept and honor diversity. An empathetic culture is mission critical in a globally distributed workforce, since companies are now expected to be diverse. According to this study, 84% of the CEOs said empathy drives better outcomes; the same study also said that 90% of GenZ employees are more likely to stay if the organization has an empathetic culture.

Leverage technology to better communicate and collaborate

Communication and collaboration are critical tools that support organizations in building desired workplace culture. Remote working can have a negative impact on both of these and active measures to counteract such gaps must be put in place. Organizations can assign mentors to the new hires, have online team huddles, and upgrade to technology that streamlines communication. Only through effective communication can the values be imparted into every sector and silo of the workforce.

Lead by example

Actions speak louder than words. For culture to truly set in, the organization’s values must be actioned by top management and the board of directors. Leaders should believe in what they say and do to get the desired results. On the other hand, leaders acting in opposing directions can create distrust among the employees, which then further deteriorates into a negative perception of the workplace. Simply put, when it comes to building the right culture, a ‘Be. Do. Say.’ style leadership is necessary.

Apart from the above measures, organizations should also rely on the in-country experts when managing a distributed workforce. This means that even though company values would be at the forefront in communication between employees, in-country experts should be at the forefront in matters concerning monetary and non-monetary compensation. This is because there are different customs and laws that come into play.

Dependency on the experts here can help with compliance and stronger culture. Talent500 can help you build and grow your global workforce in a seamless way with our AI-powered tools. Request a consultation now to know how we can help you manage your workforce, stay compliant, and engage with employees to cultivate a strong culture.

How to converse effectively with clients as a front-end developer

Posted on June 17, 2022July 21, 2022 by venkatesh

For front-end developers, communication is an essential skill. In contrast to backend developers, they have the active participation of stakeholders in their work. Whether working on a small website or a large-scale application, you will actively communicate with clients.

Speak with confidence

Confidence in your communication is a must to subconsciously convey to the client that you are an expert in your domain. Front-end developers have a lot to discuss with clients, project scope, design, timeline, cost, etc. Everything must be conveyed with the clear objective of informing the client.

If you are wondering how front-end developers include confidence in their communication, here’s an example:

Suppose you have a feature that will make a client’s site faster, then your tone must reflect that you know what you are talking about.

“I think it will help make your site faster” is an unappealing statement. Instead, you should use “By reducing the number of HTTP requests to the browser, I will significantly improve site performance.”

Here the difference is that you sound confident, and the client knows precisely what you will be doing and how it will affect the project.

A word of caution here is to keep in mind to be respectful. During large web projects, there will be thousands of elements and components to work on. Something will slip through the cracks, do not be accusatory. Gently discuss with clients about project requirements or missed tasks.

Communicate roadblocks with a strategy

Clients are an essential part of a business. To get them on the same page, you need to structure your conversations around their needs. It is vital to keep them informed and included in the development process.

Most front-end developers tremble when they have to communicate roadblocks with the client. But it is not that difficult; think of it the same as creating a website’s front page.

You think about the action you want the visitors to take. In this case, navigate the client through the issue without aggravation.

Have a call-to-action ready that speaks to the client and paves the way for communication.

Design the rest of the page, i.e., the conversation around getting the visitor (the client) through the conversion funnel (talking through the issue).

Let’s see it through an example. Suppose you face difficulty with a component design and think you can achieve it with another programming language. It would help if you initiated something like this.

“I have completed the registration module, but we should make the KYC process faster. Right now, you have suggested Vue.js, but it is limited in its scope in performance. We should use Node.js, which is much faster and can be deployed faster.”

Here you are making clients stick to the path you want to take, cementing your authority and expertise.

Set expectations

Establishing boundaries around the project’s scope, turnaround times, response times, and support is crucial. The first step towards this goal is to make the expectations clear from the beginning.

Define the expectations as accurately as possible. It will help the client be clear about the scope of work you will be doing and the timeline. Discuss the project’s timeline with the client before starting the project to minimize the risk of future disagreements.

Most clients like to work with developers who stick to their agreement and put in the hours promised. Set up a proper communication channel and time when you will hold meetings with the client for effective communication. Avoid engaging clients outside this time unless it’s necessary.

Be transparent about your pricing

Be it a rate-based project or fixed hourly rates, the project’s pricing is always the elephant in the room. The final project pricing depends on the complexity of the project and the features you are going to build. Not all features are created equal, and if you do not communicate this to the client, there will be a misunderstanding later on.

Eliminate any scope for miscommunication by putting your pricing in writing. Mention what features you will be working on and that any additional features will cost extra. Be open to the demands of the clients and their budgets. You can compensate for less pay by using technologies that offer better automation and faster delivery. For instance, if a client wants static pages in a JavaScript page, you can use GatsbyJS, which has ready-made static page templates.

Conclusion

Front-end developers are not the awkward, bespectacled geeks who fail to communicate with clients; they are professionals who deliver on clients’ requirements keeping them in the loop throughout the development process.

We hope these tips will enable you to talk to clients professionally about everything related to the project. The key here is to prioritize the needs of the client but demonstrate your value as well for a sustainable partnership.

Talent500 is a platform for front-end developers to explore remote work opportunities with fast-growing startups and Fortune 500 companies. Sign up today to join the pool of elite talent.

Together, we win: 6 ideas for building culture in remote teams

Posted on April 5, 2022April 5, 2022 by satya

Did you know that “loneliness” and “difficulty in collaboration and communication” are two of the biggest struggles faced by remote workers? Often, the lack of human interaction leads to remote workers feeling isolated and disengaged, eventually affecting their mental health and productivity.

The solution? A robust and inclusive remote company culture. Your company culture directly impacts the enthusiasm of your workforce, and how much of their time and energy they are willing to invest in your company. Not just that, there is now a proven link between healthy company culture and employee productivity. According to a study conducted by Oxford University’s Saïd Business School, happy workers are 13% more productive than their unhappy counterparts.

In co-located settings, company culture often stems from various naturally occurring triggers built upon how team members treat one another, and what is the accepted code of conduct. On the other hand, in the absence of these natural triggers, remote companies often struggle with the following challenges when it comes to building culture:

The water cooler effect

The ‘watercooler effect’ is defined as “a phenomenon occurring when employees at a workplace gather around the office water cooler and chat.” In a physical office, casual conversations and non-work banter build trust amongst employees, in effect strengthening company culture. However, in the absence of these regular conversations and social interaction, remote workers often find themselves distanced and disconnected from their team members.

Cultural differences

In colocated offices, a large part of the workforce shares a common culture. Festivals and holidays become a natural point of convergence, adding to the team’s sense of oneness and camaraderie. On the other hand, members of a distributed team hail from different cultural backgrounds and celebrate different festivals, and thus have to work harder to find common ground.

Lack of trust and empathy

Non-verbal cues like facial expression, body language, gestures, and eye contact play a huge role in any kind of communication. When a person’s nonverbal signals match with their words, it increases trust, clarity, and empathy. Team members feel connected to each other, viewing fellow colleagues as people instead of merely names on a screen. One of the biggest factors for disengagement within remote teams is the lack of trust within team members.

For distributed teams, culture must be built intentionally, and strengthened continuously. Here are some steps that every remote organisation can take to build and strengthen their work culture:

Re-emphasize core values

Ensure that the company’s core values are clearly articulated, and reiterated at regular intervals. We recommend ensuring that your company’s website clearly reflects your vision and mission statement and your core values. Remember, simply adding that you’re an equal opportunity employer in your company’s values is not enough. The same must be reflected in the composition of your workforce.

Get buy-in from the leadership

One of the best ways to earn credibility in this area is to get participation from your company’s leadership. Here’s an example: back in May 2020, when most companies were struggling with the transition to remote work, Twitter’s CEO, Jack Dorsey, sent a company-wide email telling his employees that they had the option to continue working remotely forever. This endorsement by the CEO played a huge role in helping Twitter’s employees feel safe and valued as they chose to continue working remotely. Today, we know that company culture remains an empty phrase unless it is reflected in the actions of the company’s leadership.

Create open channels of communication at all levels

In physical workplaces, interaction amongst team members is often decided by physical proximity of their cubicles. However, in a remote setting, every employee is simply a message away, whether it’s your immediate manager or the company’s CEO. Remote companies must use this advantage to form better relationships between employees that are not restricted by organisational hierarchies.

Set clear availability expectations

In a remote team, it’s easy for people to feel like they need to respond to requests immediately to show that they are staying actively engaged. However, this also leads to the problem of constant presenteeism followed by burnout. Companies need to set clear expectations with respect to time and channels of communication. Slack, email, video calls – clearly demarcate your policy with respect to synchronous and asynchronous communication. Clearly defined expectations ensure that all employees are on the same page.

Invest in your onboarding process

69% of employees are more likely to stay with a company for three years if they experienced great onboarding. As a remote company, your onboarding process is your best chance to create a positive lasting impression on new employees. We recommend investing into weekly and monthly check-ins, a thoughtful welcome kit, and a company handbook with all the relevant information an employee needs to get started.

Set up a virtual water cooler (or banter channel)

Much like an actual water-cooler, where colleagues indulge in non-work banter and socialising, a virtual water cooler enables the same for distributed teams. A dedicated slack channel, a virtual game room or even an email thread – the idea is to help your workforce bond over shared interests and non-work conversations. From Gatheraround to Donut, there exist hundreds of tools to help strengthen the connection between members of distributed teams.

Remote teams work because they refuse to let barriers like physical location and time zones act as hurdles. The same also holds true for building company culture.

As a remote first organisation, we know at Talent500 that there is no fixed secret-sauce for building the perfect remote culture. As leaders begin to understand and prioritise the needs of their distributed workforce, a healthy and nurturing company culture is the natural result.

The power of remote: is your company ready to go global?

Posted on April 5, 2022April 5, 2022 by satya

Post pandemic, one of the biggest changes that we have witnessed has been the sheer increase in the number of people choosing to work from home. According to this survey by Buffer, as many as 97% of respondents would choose to work remotely for some parts of their work week.

The good news? The remote model offers multiple benefits to employers too, from reduced operational costs to access to an unrestricted pool of highly skilled talent. However, building and managing a successful remote team comes with its own set of challenges.

Right from the initial policy framework, to setting up the digital infrastructure and recruitment pipeline, an organisation has to consider a multitude of factors before it’s ready to go remote. Here are 5 areas that you must consider:

Remote work policies

A remote work policy is a set of guidelines that outlines the code of conduct and expectations from all remote employees of the company. These policies often cover work timings, communication expectations, time-tracking processes, data security rules, legal considerations and more. For teams transitioning to remote work, having a policy in place helps eliminate uncertainty and ad hoc decision making at the manager level.

A good place to start is by ensuring that your remote work policy covers the following:

Working hours and availability

Ensure that your remote work policy clearly sets down expectations with respect to working hours, times of availability etc.

Communication channels

An effective communication strategy is the backbone of every remote organisation. Clearly demarcate the preferred channels for both synchronous and asynchronous communication.

Cybersecurity standards

We know that data security is one of the biggest concerns for all remote organisations. Clearly mention all security measures that employees need to take in terms of firewalls, VPNs, antiviruses and usage of public wifi.

Mechanism for availing paid time off

Put down the number of leaves and vacation days, how they are divided and how they can be availed so as to make life easier for your HR department.

Digital capabilities

One of your most important responsibilities as a remote employer is to ensure that your workforce has access to the tools and technology that they need. Much like a physical office where you would set up cubicles, conference rooms, computer systems and desks, your remote workforce will require infrastructural support. This can be divided into three parts:

Hardware

Having a dedicated workspace enables your team members to bring their most productive selves to work. This includes the right computer and attachments like speakers or headphones, a fully functional workstation and an ergonomic chair.

Software

Working without the necessary tools is like running a race barefoot. Ensure your team has access to all necessary licensed softwares like adobe illustrator, Microsoft365, CRM softwares, etc

Remote work tools

Today, there exist multiple tools designed specifically to help remote teams increase their productivity. From synchronous and asynchronous communication, to having a common central repository of all data, these tools help remote teams function as a single unit.

Recruitment essentials

73% of all departments are expected to have remote workers by 2028. Now, more than ever is the time when recruiters upskill themselves in order to have a seamless remote recruitment process.

We recommend dividing this process into office stages:

Assessment and planning

As the most important part of building your remote team, it is important to ensure that you have a clear understanding of the various roles and job descriptions. We also recommend having an organisational chart in place before you start recruiting.

Build your employer brand

According to Gartner, 65% of the candidates surveyed report that they have actually discontinued a hiring process due to an unattractive employer brand. The right EVP (employer value proposition) helps potential candidates understand how their professional goals align with your company’s trajectory. Make sure your careers page includes information about your company’s culture, perks and benefits, employee testimonials and opportunities for growth and learning.

Building a remote talent pool

One of the biggest advantages of working remotely is to be able to hire solely on the basis of skill set and relevant experience, regardless of the candidate’s location. Here are some tips to help you build an expansive pool of talent for recruiting your remote team members:

a) Leverage technology: Thanks to the integration of AI and machine learning into hiring workflows, companies can now post across multiple channels via a single process. Remember to include platforms meant exclusively for remote workers like flexjobs and angel list.

b) Use your social media: Not just LinkedIn, but even your company’s Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts are good places to publicise the fact that you’re hiring. If your blog posts receive a fair amount of traction, it’s a good idea to use them for putting out hiring requirements.

c) Employee and user networks: Employee referrals are one of the most effective ways to find and retain new employees. We also suggest sending out feelers in your user base. The added advantage here is that they are already familiar with your product or services.

Preparing for virtual interviews

Whether an interview is conducted in person, or across a computer screen, the qualities that all recruiters look for remain constant. Share all relevant information like the date and time of the meeting, name of the interviewer and any other such requirements a few days prior to the interview. We also recommend preparing a standard list of questions and a hiring rubric for a completely objective interview. This has the twofold benefit – it ensures that the interview covers all required areas, while simultaneously guarding against any bias that might creep in.

Onboarding your distributed teams

The right onboarding process can improve employee retention by 82%. Effective onboarding becomes increasingly important for remote organisations as it plays a major role in helping new employees find their place within the organisation. In the absence of the same, HR departments at remote organisations need to strategically build a highly engaged and interactive onboarding process.

We recommend dividing your onboarding process into three parts – pre joining, first day, and post joining. This enables you to structure all activities in a chronological order and maximise the results.

Compensation and benefits

The remote workforce knows exactly what perks and benefits it wants, and it isn’t a high-end coffee machine or foosball table. ‘Flexible working hours’ and ‘the ability to work from home’ are some of the most valued employee benefits according to millennials.

When recruiting globally, employers also need to factor in the statutory benefits of the employee’s country of residence. For example, Indian law requires that all companies with over 20 employees make contributions to a provident fund. Most countries will require employers to contribute to provisions made towards health insurance, pension funds, or accidental insurance. As you decide your remote recruitment strategy, it is important to factor the cost of providing these benefits to your remote workforce.

Legal and regulatory compliance

Access to a global team also means that you will now have to ensure compliance with the employment laws, taxation regimes and legal requirements of the countries of residence of your foreing employees. While you might not have to worry about the taxation percentages for the contractors you hire, all full time employees will be subject to taxation in their country of residence.

Similarly, every country has its own employment laws and regulations, non compliance with which can result in hefty fines. A sizable amount of the initial cost will go towards registration and paperwork, and consulting legal and financial experts.

A good way to hire across multiple countries without investing a substantial amount of time and capital is to avail the services of an employer of record. An Employer of Record is a third-party organisation that serves as the legal employer for a company’s foreign employees. The EOR undertakes the management of all workforce-related aspects – from hiring & payrolls to taxation, employee benefits, and legal compliances.

If there is one thing that is common to all companies that have thrived in the last two years, it is their ability to function remotely. As you take the first step towards building a remote organisation, remember that its success hinges heavily on the foundation that you lay much before you start recruiting.

At Talent500, we are helping global companies hire, build and manage global teams in 30+ countries by acting as their Employers of Record. We aim to transform high-impact companies by giving them access to a worldwide community of highly skilled professionals transcending geographical boundaries. Sign up here to take your first step towards global expansion!

5 Necessary tools for managing remote teams

Posted on April 1, 2022April 1, 2022 by satya

Much like the weapon of choice for any warrior, the right tools enable your workforce to perform to the best of their abilities. Having access to the right tool becomes all the more important in a distributed work setting, as team members now need to collaborate across multiple platforms and on numerous projects.

With over a hundred offerings for every single aspect of remote work choosing a tool that works best for your team can be quite a challenge.

We’ve curated the best tools for 5 essential aspects of remote work:

Communication

All successful remote teams leverage a combination of synchronous and asynchronous communication, which requires an entire arsenal of tools. We recommend finding tools that enable you to sync multiple time zones, and can easily be integrated with other applications. Our list of top communication tools includes

Slack

Did you know that ‘Slack’ is an acronym for “Searchable Log of All Conversation and Knowledge”? One of the most widely used communication tools throughout the world, Slack is said to reduce the number of emails by 32% and meetings by 23%. We love slack for its easy to use interface and seamless integration with numerous applications that we use daily.

Zoom

Thanks to the pandemic, Zoom’s popularity has skyrocketed due to the sheer number of video calls that every organisation now requires. Zoom’s USP lies in its versatility. From automated recording of meetings, to integrated breakout rooms, Zoom is a complete video conferencing solution.

MS Teams

A stiff competitor to Slack, Microsoft’s MS Teams is used by over 500,000+ organisations worldwide. Its inbuilt integration with all Office 365 tools like Word and Excel make it the world’s most widely used office collaboration tools.

Project Management

There are over a hundred project management tools in the market today. However, how a software development team functions differs greatly from how an advertising team functions. The trick is to find a project management tool that addresses the specific requirements of your team. Here’s our list

Jira

Jira is considered one of the best tools for agile project management used by software development teams. It is preferred by technical teams as it makes managing workflows, tracking bugs, and getting the next release together effortless.

Trello

An integrated solution for all your project management needs, Trello helps teams break complex deliverables into individual tasks. It offers a wide range of boards, from the simplest “to do/doing/done” workflow to a much more complex board offering options like “backlog/in progress/ blocked/paused/ready for launch/ live”.

Asana

While almost all project management tools offer functionalities like Gantt charts and Kanban boards, we love Asana because of its process management automation.

Knowledge sharing and storage

From GitLab to Airbnb, one thing all successful remote companies have in common is their policy of documentation and knowledge sharing. Having a single source of data which is universally accessible reduces the time spent on location and duplication, and also helps new participants understand the chronological chain of events. Our recommendations include:

DropBox

One of the oldest file sharing tools, DropBox is still used widely by individuals and organisations alike due to its interoperability. It’s easy integration with an exhaustive list of softwares, cloud security, and storage and search capabilities make it a favourite with teams globally.

Confluence

Atlassian’s knowledge management tool makes it to our list due to its structured storage and smart search functions. It allows automatic versioning, instant previews, full-text search, and pinned comments, making knowledge sharing a breeze.

Box

Much like DropBox, Box is another data and file storage solution aimed majorly at enterprise usage. If data security is high up on your priority list, we recommend using Box due to its advanced security controls, intelligent threat detection, and complete information governance.

Collaboration to stay in line with the flow

In the absence of a physical whiteboard and conference room, distributed teams need the right tools for effective collaboration. Today, there exist different tools to help with the various aspects of brainstorming and ideation, from digital whiteboards to video and screen recording applications. Our list includes:

Miro

An online collaborative whiteboard, Miro offers a wide set of functionalities including Agile workflows, ideation & brainstorming and mapping & diagramming. The one thing we love about Miro is its infinite canvas, enabling easy asynchronous collaboration.

Invision

Invision is a digital whiteboard that allows you to wireframe, plan, design presentations, and give and receive feedback smoothly. With over a hundred pre-set templates, planning and collaboration becomes smoother and faster.

Worldtimebuddy

Designed keeping in mind the needs of a distributed team, worldtimebuddy is a world clock, time zone converter, and online meeting scheduler. Simply add the locations of your teammates and then drag and drop the slider to find a good time to meet.

Rewards and recognition

Rewards and recognition form an integral part of any company’s culture. Still sending that old email to show your appreciation? It’s time to get a little more creative. Thankfully, there exist multiple tools that integrate with reward points or coupons to give your workforce tangible rewards.

Bonusly

Designed to help remote teams connect and increase employee engagement, Bonusly enables team members to recognise each other’s contributions and award points. The best part? The points can be redeemed in exchange for gift cards from numerous brands like Amazon, Uber, Starbucks and many more.

HeyTaco

A simple application that can be integrated with both Slack and MS Teams, HeyTaco uses “Tacos” as reward points. Team members can only give out 5 Tacos per day, ensuring that the rewards are used judiciously.

Kazoo

Created to help companies keep their employees motivated and engaged, Kazoo is used by over 600 companies throughout the world. Instead of simply offering a reward-framework, Kazoo also integrates functionalities to track progress, like goals and OKRs.

In the words of Peter Drucker, the founder of modern management, “Efficiency is doing things right. Effectiveness is doing the right things.” Choosing the right tool for your distributed team is a function of two factors – knowing your areas of operation, and understanding your team’s requirements.

Take the first step towards building your distributed workforce with Talent500. Our team of experts and network of highly skilled professionals help you build your global team in over 50 countries. Ready to take the first step? Set up a consultation with our team here.

Removing barriers: 5 team building activities for your distributed team

Posted on April 1, 2022 by satya

One of the few advantages of a brick and mortar workplace is that colleagues get multiple opportunities to interact with each other and form social bonds. It is natural to socialise at cafeterias and water coolers, social and cultural events.

However, when your office is remote and meetings are virtual, team building requires a little more innovation than just foosball and monthly coffee meetings. According to this survey by Buffer, the top two challenges faced by remote workers include “barriers to communication & collaboration” and “loneliness”.

Luckily, the right team building activities can help solve both of these problems. When members of a distributed team participate in virtual team building activities, it builds bonds of trust and empathy between them. Team members understand each other’s strengths and weaknesses. As a result, teams experience increased productivity, better collaboration, and a marked increase in employee engagement.

Struggling to find an activity that will help erode the cultural and geographical barriers amongst your team members? Here’s a list of 5 universally popular team building activities:

Virtual escape room

Clues, competition, and camaraderie; a virtual escape room is the perfect combination of all three. Participants are divided into teams, which must then compete against each other across a variety of challenges. The challenges mostly include solving puzzles and riddles. The team that is able to complete all the challenges in the least amount of time wins, or “escapes the room”. Here’s a list of some very popular virtual escape rooms.

Virtual pictionary

There’s something about poorly drawn illustrations that makes us inevitably smile. Much like real life pictionary, one team member tries to illustrate the word on the virtual paint board, while the others take turns guessing. Skribbl.io, Let’sDraw.It, and Brightful are all great multiplayer games.

Two truths and a lie

Here is one team building game that never fails to break the ice between members of a distributed team. Just as the name suggests, each member of the group introduces themselves by stating two truths and one lie about themselves. The rest of the participants then guess which statement is the lie. In addition to being a great alternative for the usual introduction, it also gives team members a brief insight into the personal lives of their team members.

Gatheraround

What if you could find a way to make sharing easy and effortless? That’s exactly what Gatheraround does. The game lets team members answer random questions based on a particular theme. It’s USP lies in its easy to use interface and carefully curated questions. Gatheraround offers an entire list of themes to choose from, ranging from “All-Hands Social” to mixers for various communities.

Mad, glad, sad retrospective

Although a tool devised for the improvement of project management, the mad-glad-sad-retrospective exercise makes its way into our list due to its sheer simplicity. Team members take turns discussing 3 things in the previous sprint/work week; one that made them mad, one that made them glad, and one that made them sad. Apart from being a great way for team members to share their emotions, it also enables leaders to understand team dynamics.

Still wondering if there are any tangible benefits of investing into team building activities? According to this Gallup research, virtual team building activities lead to an increase in employee performance rate, resulting in 41% lower absenteeism and 21% higher profitability. So the next time you think about skipping that Fun Friday session, remember that it impacts your bottom line directly.

Take your pick from our list of fun and easily executable team building activities. You can thank us later!

At Talent500, we help companies build, manage, and scale their distributed teams. With our best-in-class benefits, managing a remote team becomes easy with us as your EOR. We leverage a host of community activities, learning and development initiatives, and many more methods to help bolster employee engagement. To know how we can help you achieve this goal, book a consultation online.

6 steps managers can take to enhance the productivity of their distributed teams

Posted on February 16, 2022February 16, 2022 by naveen

Worldwide, the percentage of people working remotely has risen from 17% in 2019 to 32% in 2021. More importantly, 99% of people surveyed in this period chose to work remotely for some part of their week.

However, the shift to location-independent work demands a clear switch in the way managers lead their teams. As the manager of a remote team, how do you ensure productivity when you can no longer check in on your team physically? We’re here to help.

What we have learned

Flexibility is non-negotiable

A whopping 82% of workers surveyed said that that lack of flexibility is their mean reason for not accepting a job offer. 69% of millennials would give up on certain work benefits for a more flexible working space. Want to retain your star performers? You know what to do.

“Flexibility” refers to the ability of an employee to break free from the 9 to 5 window of traditional working hours. There remains little doubt today that the work-life narrative has taken a 180-degree turn post-pandemic.

With this intermingling of personal and professional responsibilities, it is important that every team member has the flexibility to decide how, when, and where they work.

Communication is essential, but so are boundaries

We understand that driving key results and outcomes requires you to stay on top of everything. However, it is equally important to not let the need for quantitative productivity eclipse your team’s quality of life.

Disconnecting from work is one of the biggest challenges faced by remote workers, with employees feeling that they must always be “present”. While it’s a good thing to be available for your team at all times, watch the thin line between “available” and “intruding”.

Our take: We highly recommend following the 9 to 9 rule – restrict all work-related communication between 9 AM to 9 PM.

Here are some steps that managers can take in order to enhance the quality of remote work:

1. Share your vision and goals

After all, there is no better motivation than a shared goal. Sharing your vision about the team’s short and long-term goals is a great way to get buy-in from your team members. It helps your team members find deeper meaning in what they do, and understand how they are contributing to the bigger picture.

We recommend dividing this into two stages:

Sharing the broader vision

By this, we don’t just mean the company’s vision and mission, although that’s a great place to start. Talk to your team members about the problem that you are solving as a company, service, or product. One of the best ways to motivate your team members is by helping them understand how their individual goals are aligned with the company’s goals.

Sharing short-term goals

Having shared the common goal with your team members, the next step is to get them on board with the short-term milestones. Instead of simply assigning tasks, include your team members in the ideation and goal-setting stages. Set realistic timelines after consulting with your team to ensure timely deliverance.

2. Find the right project management tool

From Trello and Asana to Jira and ClickUp, there are over a hundred project management tools today. The trick is to find a project management tool that addresses the specific needs of your team. Jira is considered one of the best tools for agile project management, whereas Trello helps teams break complex deliverables into individual tasks.

Is your team struggling to find an overlap between too many time zones, or facing trouble with collaboration? Understanding the barriers faced by your team will help you identify the tool that is the most effective for you.

3. Encourage asynchronous communication

Managing multiple time zones is a problem faced by most remote teams. Asynchronous communication solves this by giving team members the agency to work according to their own schedules. According to Darren Murph, Head of Remote, Gitlab, “the first steps to maximizing productive remote workflows include understanding and embracing asynchronous work”.

However, leveraging the complete potential of asynchronous communication will require some homework on your part. Documentation is a good place to begin with.

Digital whiteboards like Miro or knowledge management tools like Confluence and Notion enable each team member to participate according to their schedule. Ensure that all relevant details are stored at a central place, available to every stakeholder in the project. Divide all communication into synchronous and asynchronous according to urgency and importance.

4. Cut down on video calls

Remember the good old days, when video calls were a luxury, to be used only for connecting with overseas clients or team members in different branches of the office?

Not every conversation needs to be a meeting, and not every meeting needs to be compulsory. As a rule, try and make attendance optional for all meetings. This enables all key stakeholders to prioritize their day according to their individual requirements instead of forcing them to attend each call.

We also recommend cutting down on recurring meetings. Perhaps a project required bi-weekly updates in the beginning but will run perfectly well with a weekly meeting now. Dividing meetings into blocks of 25 and 50 minutes instead of 30 and 60 is another simple, yet effective way to reduce zoom fatigue. Many companies like Citigroup reserve a no-meeting day in the week, where the entire organization does not schedule any video calls.

5. Encourage autonomy and ownership

It is now scientifically proven that an increase in employee autonomy increases productivity. Want a productive team? Resist the urge to micromanage.

Instead of regularly checking in on your employees, define clear goals, milestones, and timelines. Remember that you hired your team due to their experience and skill set, and trust them to drive the results. If a team member has a specific skill or experience that is valuable to a project, encourage them to take the lead. When giving feedback, remember to give constructive, actionable points instead of mere criticism.

Not only does this build trust, it also increases job satisfaction. As a result, companies see a higher employee engagement and retention.

6. Invest in the right tech

Arming your team with the right tech and tools is one of the best ways to boost your team’s productivity. Here are a few ways in which you could empower your team by enabling them:

Home-office setup

The lack of a proper workspace is a big hindrance to productivity. Help your team members overcome this hurdle by giving them access to a home office allowance. Whether it is in the form of an ergonomic chair, uninterrupted power supply, or a better computer, these small steps go a long way in helping your remote team maximize its productivity.

Tech-tools and software

Imagine asking an athlete to run in the wrong shoes. Sounds stupid, doesn’t it? And yet, innumerable managers make the same mistake when they deny their team members access to certain essential paid software or applications. Most tools offer a limited period free trial – use this time to assess the value it can add to your deliverables.

Automation

Today, thanks to the integration of AI & ML into every industry, we have tools to automate the most repetitive and standardized tasks. From invoicing and data entry to inventory management and capturing customer feedback, there are tools to automate most processes. Freeing your workforce from these mundane tasks will enable them to concentrate on more analytical tasks.

In the words of Peter Drucker, the founder of modern management, “Efficiency is doing things right. Effectiveness is doing the right things.”

The way we work might have changed, but what remains constant is the role that good leadership plays in driving productivity in a team. Whether it is in terms of effective communication, taking ownership of tasks, or empowering and investing in your workforce, managers must lead by example.