Today more Americans are working from home and even major companies are discovering the remote worker. According to the 2010 Census, nearly 10% of America’s workforce were already working from home, and the number is on the rise. Among Fortune 500 companies, enterprises from Apple to Xerox are now hiring remote workers. But hiring remote workers can be a minefield of great expectations and horrible disappointments!  So how can you set this up to add value to YOUR bottom line?

First the Good!

Technology has made this revolution possible! Communication can be nearly as good as with onsite workers. Now that working with remote teams has become ubiquitous, every piece of managing off-site workers has an online solution. From the Skype interview to online project management software, the remote team manager has a wealth of tools at his disposal for real-time employee tracking.

There are some real advantages from the standpoint of the HR department! The employer now has a wealth of global talent at his disposal. Freelance job sites like Upwork.com or Freelancer.com have literally millions of both jobs and freelancers. And of course another big advantage is the advantage of lower employee costs with savings in wages, benefits, and desk real estate.

Many off-site workers are actually more productive without the continual distraction of people coming and going, the banter over the cube wall, and the tsunami of meetings. At-home workers feel a responsibility to get the work done, because productivity rather than the clock becomes the real measure of accomplishment. And when they reach that magical “in the groove” mindset, they can just keep working until the task is done.

Now for the “Bad”!

You have likely had the “delightful” experience of working through a large stack of applications to find just the right ones to interview.  Now imagine that stack to be way higher, and contain a much wider range of un-screened applicants from all over the globe. How are you going to weed out the true professionals? Are the employer reviews just courtesy sweetness?  Where do you start in this “virtual pile” of applications and how much time is it going to take? The craziness looms large!

Once employers have finally made their decision and hired a few freelancers, they have to learn new, virtual ways of managing, and then stay on top of the process. Maybe the new hires include a WordPress designer from India, a graphic artist from Ohio, and a copy writer from New York. Now the question becomes, how to form them into a smoothly running team that communicates well and gets all the work done without duplicating effort. Unfortunately, even after conquering all these challenges, some have experienced shoddy work, workers that suddenly go silent, and an astounding lack of professionalism. Not exactly a great motivator to try again!

But there is another side to this coin as well. Many have discovered amazing workers and have developed great long-term relationships with remote employees that they have learned to trust and value. Freelancers have found employers who value them to the degree that they are flying them to work locally and/or are offering them great full-time positions.

It doesn’t have to be Ugly!

I see two very key components for making this new model work.  Both of them require effort and commitment on the part of the employer:

1.  A buffer between the employer and the virtual team.  There is some additional overhead to having a virtual team.  It really helps to have someone manage this process for you.  If you are big enough to have an HR department, they will need to learn new skills for evaluating new hires, such as hiring for small jobs first to “test” the capabilities and compatibility of the new worker.  Then they or someone else will help to manage the remote workers.

For most businesses, they will benefit from hiring a Project Manager with the skills for screening, hiring and working with virtual employees. Often this person is also a virtual employee themselves. I see this as an increasingly specialized remote job position that is going to see substantial growth moving forward. Your new freelancing Project Manager or Executive Assistant will handle the hiring and day to day management of your Virtual Team, and they will be the one who interfaces with you and makes sure the work gets done.

2.  A commitment to communication.  In the traditional office, you likely have established ways for two-way communication, whether it is the employee reaching out to you as you walk by her office cube, or an “open door” policy. You have to have this same commitment to communication in the virtual world. Daily virtual “standup” meetings, regular Skype calls, instant messaging, or a dedicated project management software solution all take time, but whatever it is, you need a system!  Without it, your results will likely be frustrating for both parties. If you hired a Virtual Team Manager, then that person will shoulder much of this task for you.

This is Your Future!

So there you have it. The freelance world is growing exponentially, but like any workplace situation, it’s substantial advantages have to be managed. Find someone with the experience to manage the process, and this new world of virtual workers could become a key component of exceptional business growth. If you would like to discuss ways to leverage remote workers to your advantage, contact us at goBruce Business Services.

Let us know your experience.  Is your company using Freelancers?  What is your experience and are there any tips you can share?