Managing Remote Teams: Tips On Running A Virtual Office Efficiently

More and more businesses are running virtual offices because they are easy to set up and allow for flexibility and scalability. However, not all virtual offices succeed.

Many virtual offices fail because of the inability of the management to properly handle the team. Get a Virtual Office from MINT WORKLOUNGE and we will set it up right when needed! We’ll take care of all the details so you can focus on what matters. 

Mint workspace has got your back with their professional yet personable service, providing flexible serviced office solutions tailored to suit individual companies.

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To help you avoid getting into this situation, we have listed 4 practical tips for effectively running a virtual office.

1. Plan and implement effective business processes.

Business processes are integral to your success because they are the step-by-step guide describing how things should be done in running the day-to-day operation of your business. Without strong processes in place, a business can hardly function efficiently and effectively. 

With a virtual environment, you can set up processes for these key areas:

  • Virtual Office Management

Virtual office management processes typically involve customer experience, employee management and attendance tracking. All these tasks are time-intensive, you don’t want someone doing them manually. 

This is where you can take advantage of office management tools that can help with the monitoring and automation of various office management tasks. Some of the popular ones are Top Tracker, Trello, Asana and many more. 

  • Marketing and Sales Management

Your marketing and sales team is the bread and butter of the company. So it is just proper to have strong business processes in this area to ensure continuous company growth. If your processes are weak, you may not be able to raise adequate sales which in turn could hinder your company operations.

Tools such as HubSpot, Nutshell and Pipedrive can ease or simplify the various marketing and sales management tasks. 

  • Accounting and Finance Management

The accounting and finance team are responsible for the business’ financial status. Their tasks involve collecting, maintaining and reporting financial information. 

Strong processes for the accounting and finance team ensures that your financial data is safe, accurate and reported to the appropriate authorities in a timely manner. 

Xero, FreshBooks, QuickBooks, HubSpot and SOS Inventory are among the most popular applications for accounting and finance.

When planning for effective business processes, make sure to check if there are available tools and platforms that can help make the tasks easier. Some of these tools are free so you can use them at no cost.

2. Hire and retain the right people.

The people who work with you are crucial to your business success. That is why you need to ensure that you are hiring the right people for the job. This is only possible if you also have the right person in charge of the hiring process.

managing remote teams

It’s important to understand that a virtual setup is very different from having an actual office where you could actually see what’s going on. You won’t have the same level of oversight in the day-to-day workflow of the employees as you would with someone you are working with in the same office. 

One of the good qualities of a virtual employee is self-motivation. Without self-motivation, it can be easy for employees to get distracted and lose their direction when they are working at the comfort of their home wearing sweatpants. One way to identify if the person has this attribute is by asking about projects they completed solo and the steps they took to do it.

Communication skill is also an important consideration when hiring a person for a virtual office. Someone who could clearly and consistently communicate and collaborate with your team ensures that everyone stays updated on progress.

Other good qualities of a virtual employee include good time management skills, adaptability, fast learner, and a bit savvy with technology since they need to learn how to use the different tools for the processes.

Moreover, hiring is just the initial step, retaining qualified employees is another thing. You should have a process in place to encourage your most-trusted employees to stay.

3. Invest in secure communication tools.

When most, if not all, of the team members work virtually, effective communication is vital. Communication tools such as Slack are great for collaboration, catch-up, coaching and meetings. 

It’s also a good idea to invest in tools or platforms that provide a more secure way of communicating especially with voice and video. One good example for this is Zoom which really made it big during the pandemic as more and more people communicate via online calls or meetings.

Of course, you can never go wrong with emails. You can use Gmail or other email platforms for a more formal way of communicating with your team or customers. 

4. Promote a great virtual workplace culture

Workplace culture affects employee happiness, engagement, productivity, retention and recruitment. It is an important business strategy because it can either support or erode your organization, especially if you are a Startup.

There are a wide variety of programs and tools that can help promote positive virtual workplace culture. For example, you could plan regular employee recognition events, conduct non-work-related virtual activities to bring employees closer together, and do weekly checks and coaching to understand the sentiments of your employees. 

Positive virtual workplace culture will not only help your business but it will also help your employees become more motivated and involved in achieving your overall goals.

5. Consider having a virtual office

In Thailand, one of the requirements to register your business and get permits is to have an address. If you need one, there are companies that offer virtual offices in Thailand such as Mint Worklounge:

Mint Worklounge offers several business service packages for a virtual office including address only, address plus company registration, and address plus company and VAT registration. Aside from compliance, having a virtual office can also save you the hassle of working on your paperwork.

Summary

Running an office where your employees are located elsewhere is not easy. However, the tips we listed above can help you pull through and succeed given your situation.