Today’s startups recruit the best and brightest from around the world. To make it click, your workforce becomes mobile, and your office can be anywhere around the globe.
And while this freedom brings business benefits, you’ll face challenges, too. Here’s how to overcome them.
1. Find a common language
Native English speakers have it pretty easy. Talented workers, the world over, learn the language. But if English is your second, third, fourth…language, you may struggle with the UK colloquialisms. And they might struggle with your written English.
Today, lazy native English speakers can learn a new language with a free software. Until they do, there are other ways for your multinational colleagues to connect. Humans are visual creatures, and visualisation apps and websites make facts, ideas, and answers much easier to understand. Use them to break through the language barrier and reach that ‘aw, yeah’ moment much quicker.
2. Connect wherever, whenever
To hire talent, startups recruit remote staff from around the world. There are even recruitment sites such which specialize in connecting staff for startup projects – wherever they’re based.
But if your company has employees working in different time zones, there’s the challenge of avoiding idea lag. To avoid inefficiency, you’ll need a smart messaging app to ensure everyone is up-to-date on the progress of a project – regardless of when they boot up their PC. You’ll need a safe, cloud-based storage system, too, that chosen employees can access an up-to-date software.
When the time comes to have an actual chat, you’ll need meeting room software. Technology ranges from Skype calls to boardroom systems with smart cameras that zoom into the person who’s speaking. With today’s technology, remote teams can even hold virtual reality meetings with headsets (if you really want to).
3. Give 24/7 customers service
If your startup is a handful of people based around the world, then different time zones become an advantage when providing customer service. With the evolution of customer service, you can respond to customers 24/7 by phone, ‘live chat’ or on social media. Customers who get a reply to their Facebook direct message within moments are far more likely to become brand advocates than a company who takes a week to return an email.
4. Take payments on the go
Businesses such as coffee vendors and house-call physiotherapists used to rely on cash in hand, checks or wired transfers. Now, all startups can take payments on the go, away from the till.
With a mobile credit card reader, you can take payments on the go with all major debit and credit cards even PayPal – all at the same rate. All you need is a smartphone and you’re off.
Whether it’s 24/7 customer service, taking payments away from the till, or finding better ways to communicate; the challenges of a remote workforce can actually become a business benefit. You just need a little bit of entrepreneurial thinking, and some technology to connect your co-workers around the world.
