Remote Contributor Management
Delivered October 22, 2019. Contributor: Joseph M.
Goals
To gain an understanding of the best form of compensation for a team of remote contributors, the best strategy of managing a team of 100+ remote contributors i.e. how to best manage a team of remote workers, the best ways of keeping a team of 100+ contributors engaged and incentivised, the best communication channels and management tools that can be used to manage a team of remote workers (contributors), and how to manage turnover in remote workers.
Early Findings
- The benefits of working remotely include reduced time spent commuting, lower costs, and greater autonomy.
- As of 2019, the number of organizations that have a remote workforce is growing i.e. 66% of organizations allow remote work while 16% are fully remote.
- The tools that are used by remote workers as they work include Skype - 27%, Dropbox - 14%, Whatsapp - 13%, Hangouts - 12%, and others - 44%. This statistics were dereived from a survey of 450 remote workers.
- On the other hand, in regard to satisfaction for remote workers, 60% of remote workers would like their jobs less if they had to go to the office.
- Advancements in communication technology and internet access has resulted in teleworking becoming "a fairly accepted practice in many offices, both in the U.S. and globally."
Managing Remote Employees
- Strategies used to manage remote employees include setting clear expectations, treating remote workers as local, engaging on a regular basis, scheduling video-based coaching, making the team feel inclusive, outlining clear missions, values, outcomes, and roles, setting up reliable tools for use by the remote team, staying focused on goals, creating a viable communication strategy, connecting the goals of the remote team to those of an employer, using technology to build a community from the remote team, and establishing close bonds and offering prompt help and support.
- The top collaboration tools for remote teams include Asana, Trello, Zoom, Proofhub, Slack, Dropbox, Go To Meeting, and Realtime Board.
Proposed next steps:
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