Steps to make your business fully remote

The possibility of working off site has made remote businesses possible and popular. There are many advantages to having a remote business and converting your traditional business into one that is fully remote, could be intimidating. The trick is to take one step at a time and easily pull it off. With a remote business, you will pay less on lease and utility costs; you will also skip the daily commute and have a wide variety of employees to choose from. Here are the steps that will help you make your business remote:

1. Identify your needs: The first and foremost step of the process is analysis. You need to gather as much information as you can and access your current needs. You can do this from other similar businesses that have taken the same route. Not all types of businesses have a niche to work remotely; you need to determine if it is cost effective for you to switch to a remote model. Study the processes that are currently handled at the office and take note of any changes that need to happen.
2. List down the help of remote services: If you have in house workers that keep your business running, you will have to find remote alternatives for the same. This means preparing your workers for a remote role or to outsource the work to a firm.
3. Centralization of your systems: If you want to go remote, you need to centralize your systems and fully transition to cloud. Cloud hosted platforms are easily accessible from any operating system which means your employees will have unlimited options to important files and can update the company data from anywhere. Take this step by step so you do not lose out on any information in the transition process.
4. Communicate: When you are moving towards a remote model, you need to communicate with the employees since they will be a part of an entirely new system. The employees will not have the benefit of talking to one another or meeting in person, hence set a precedent on how your teams will communicate with each other.
5. Run trials: It is not a good idea to assume that your model will work perfectly. So before you finalize the plans, run small trials to test the new systems. You can do this by ensuring the departments in your organization go remote one by one. It will give you an opportunity to fix the problems that may occur in the process.
6. Announce the move: When you are confident about the success of your remote model, make a formal announcement that you intend to transition. Lay out a target date for closing of your office and assign the departments to become remote in phases. Communicate with the clients and employees for a smooth transition.
7. Set firm expectations: Before you finalize the transformation, set firm expectations for the employees’ roles and responsibilities. Ensure that they understand their roles and the consequences of not meeting the goals. Also tell them what they should do if they find themselves struggling in the new environment. Keep room for some flexibility and for unforeseen events.
8. Capitalize on the transition: If you are going remote, you might as well capitalize on the same. Get press coverage and visibility for adopting this model. Announce the move on social media and attract extra visibility from individuals who now have the opportunity to work with you.