Are you thinking about transforming into a fully-remote business? It’s something you’ve seen other companies do and you think that having a remote workforce may let you scale your company at a faster rate. You slash operating costs by no longer needing an office, and everything seems like a brilliant idea.

Before getting too carried away, you must ensure your company is set up for a seamless transition. Multiple things must be implemented - including the three below: 

Make sure everyone knows what system you’ll be working on. Are you handling things through Google Workspace, Microsoft 365, or a different platform altogether? Pick one and then train your workers to use it. You can find online training courses for Microsoft 365 and other systems with relative ease. When you’re sure everyone is trained up and ready to crack on, you’re one step closer to transitioning. 

When everyone works remotely, there’s a greater risk of losing important data. Someone could spend hours working on a document, only for their internet to cut out and lose all their work. You need backup as a service for your business to save any work from being lost. A backup system kicks into action automatically and stores everything in the cloud. If someone loses work or deletes projects by mistake, you can access them in your backup server without any qualms. 

It goes without saying that this is extremely crucial if you want remote work to…well…work! No backup system means you always run the risk of losing vital business data. If anything, you should have more than one backup, so the second and third are a failsafe if the original doesn’t work! 

Working together in an office means there are clear working terms. People know when to clock in and when to leave. Remote work differs as people aren’t being watched all the time. If you’re not careful, workers can take advantage of this and work whenever they want. People can show up late and claim they’ve been working for hours. 

Before implementing remote work in your business, create clear working terms. Write them into tasking agreements so everyone knows what’s expected of them. This can include specific working periods - like 9-5 - or details of flexible working. For instance, there’s nothing wrong with people picking and choosing when they work, as long as the day’s tasks have been completed by a set time. It depends on what your business does and how you’d like to operate. The key thing is to note the working terms so everyone sticks to them. 

Businesses make the mistake of immediately switching from conventional work to remote work without taking key things into account. You need assurances that your workers are on the same page and understand the systems you’ll be using. You also have to be clear about working terms, so your company operates efficiently. Finally, always put backups in place before implementing anything to cover your tracks if data get lost.