Scaling keeps entrepreneurs' minds churning with big ideas and bold plans. Remote business leaders are no different, but the strategies and tools they need are.
Jamal English, CEO and Founder of EDM Network, grew a one-man insurance operation into agencies distributing over eight figures in annual premiums and a marketing company providing lead generation to dozens of large distribution partners. Similarly, Craig Goodliffe, CEO of Cyberbacker, transformed his real-estate business into a global enterprise with thousands of employees and nearly 50 franchises.
Their tips for hiring remote teams, facilitating effective communication, and creating flexible-yet-productive cultures enable remote businesses to scale to the next level.
How remote businesses scale through hiring and onboarding
(Photo : Craig Goodliffe)
Remote CEOs have the advantage when it comes to hiring. Casting a wide recruiting net means more diversity and talent. The ability to work remotely is also the largest draw for top talent.
When Goodliffe scaled his company across multiple franchises, he was ready with a robust hiring procedure. "If there's one thing I know, it's that you have to get into business with the right people," he observes. "We use social media platforms to recruit and vet applicants' skills with a series of assessments. We conduct initial interviews, and if candidates move forward, we go deeper in second interviews. We receive 22,000 applicants and 4,500 interviews each week, but we ensure several people are involved in every hiring decision."
Bringing on new remote employees gives rise to another challenge, a traditional training like shadowing doesn't work when employees are miles apart. Before scaling their teams, companies need to build out a digital onboarding process that clearly defines procedures and expectations.
Goodliffe's digital onboarding process enables recruits to hit the ground running. "After six months, any Cyberbacker can train new Cyberbackers," he explains. "Our trainers lead two virtual classes monthly and create video tutorials for a curriculum library. With over 300 classes each month and 5,000 hours of training videos, our recruits rarely run into unanswerable questions."
How remote businesses scale with infrastructure for communication
When businesses operate remotely, communication is often the weakest link. Leaders need a robust infrastructure for collaboration and teamwork to support the growth they hope to see.
English says it's critical to decide how remote teams will interact: "Open communication is key to engagement. Our weekly meetings allow us to stay in touch. Decisions like whether or not we require video during conferences, how we request input, and how we enable impromptu meetings had to be answered before we could scale."
"Scaling a business across multiple time zones isn't easy, but it's possible thanks to advances in collaborative technology and tools," says Shiela Mie Legaspi, President of Cyberbacker. Communication platforms, such as Slack, instantly alert users when they have messages from remote colleagues. Slack's chat rooms are organized by topic, group, or direct message, making conversations quick and easy to find.
Work management systems, like Asana, organize tasks and enable teams to collaborate on projects. When managers assign tasks to virtual teams through this platform, communication happens in one convenient location, and multiple team members can update progress.
Other easy-to-use and affordable tools include Calendly for scheduling, Lattice for tracking goals and feedback, and Zoom for video conferencing. Leaders can explore the latest technology, choose what will serve their expanding company, and become experts in the new tech before rolling it out to their team.
Scaling a remote business with a culture of productivity and flexibility
As remote companies scale, they need to foster a culture that protects both flexibility and productivity. "I'm not in the same space as my employees, but I know who is on task, who is meeting goals, and who is getting the job done," says English. "To ensure productivity, we practice robust reporting and track everything to outline deliverables. Good remote leaders trust but verify."
Goodliffe cautions remote CEOs against micromanaging employees' schedules. "We think of work/life balance like a ballerina on tiptoe," he explains. "Instead of focusing so much on balance, we focus on counterbalance. Deadlines cause long hours, and vacations cause you to fall behind. If you lean too far in either direction, you will experience burnout or failure. Counterbalance is finding balance after times like this."
Both English and Goodliffe encourage business leaders to explore the benefits of scaling remotely. "The pandemic made work from home possible, and now it is the norm," Goodliffe concludes. "Remote work allows us to scale in ways we could never have before.
* This is a contributed article and this content does not necessarily represent the views of techtimes.com
