When you have a team made up of remote workers, there are a lot of things to take into account: what type of equipment the employee will need, are you responsible for their chairs and desks, how do you keep in touch and what are the best tools to measure success…the list goes on and on.
But before you ever get to that point, you have to find the right person. Here are three myths we’ve debunked while hiring remote workers:
Myth #1: They must have previous remote working experience to be successful
Yes, it would be wonderful to hire all remote employees who have already shown their capability to work this way with no issues. Sure, more and more people are able to say they have worked remotely, but there are plenty of people who still work in an office. So, what are you to do if no one who has applied to your position has remote working experience?
Ask the right questions. Remote working is nothing more than having less direct supervision. If you take away the ‘working from home’ aspect, you’ll find there are a lot of ways to see if an employee has the ability to thrive in a less-structured environment.
A few questions to ask people who are applying who do not have telework experience include:
- Tell me about a time that you managed a project with little to no supervision. How did you break down the work? How did you keep your manager updated and how did you work with your team throughout it?
- Have you ever worked with another team at a different office, or a vendor not on site? How did you prefer to keep in touch with them? What were the pros and cons of working at different locations?
Questions like this will help gauge the employee’s self-management skills and allow you to see their work style when they’re not next to someone.
Myth #2: Remote workers don’t necessarily need to be a good culture fit since they aren’t in the office as often
It’s pretty easy to spot a new hire who isn’t a great culture fit. Even if an employee is working remotely, being a good culture fit is a necessity for so many things including productivity, efficiency, and team morale. I would argue it’s even more important as a remote employee to understand and be part of the company’s culture.
Here’s why: as a remote employee you have less time to interact with your team since you’re not all sharing the same physical space. In other words, you don’t come in and say hello to Janice at the water cooler, then pass by four other desks before you get to your own where you’ll have four separate potential opportunities to interact with your co-workers. These interactions may have nothing to do with work, but have everything to do with building quality relationships that help you get better work done together.
When you’re remote, you only see a co-worker during a scheduled meeting or in a chat or ping when you need to speak with them. This makes being a good culture fit imperative to get work done. If personalities and values are clashing in a remote environment, there are less ‘chance meetings’ to fix it, and there’s rarely an opportunity to do a lot of in-person team-bonding experiences.
Making sure you have someone who fits into your team’s culture from the get-go makes their success in your company even more possible.
Myth #3: Remote workers automatically understand your exact definition of what ‘working remotely’ means
False. There are so many descriptions of remote working that it should never be assumed you and the applicant are talking about the same one. For example, some remote workers also work a ROWE schedule (results-only work environment). This means they are not required to work set hours each day. Instead, they work whenever they feel most productive – whether that’s 3 am or 3 pm – so long as they are producing results.
Other remote working positions require you to have a desk or a home-base that you report from daily with little distraction. Therefore, calling in to a team or client call from a coffee shop would probably be highly unacceptable.
Whether or not your potential employee has worked remotely, it’s best to truly lay out what remote working means to your company, and provide examples of how your team is successfully doing it now.
A great question to ask a potential employee is, “What is remote working to you?”
It opens up a discussion about remote work in general, and allows you both to share your experiences while ensuring they know your definition of it for this particular job.
That ends debunking three myths that usually tag along with hiring remote workers. What other myths would you like to see cleared up when it comes to hiring?