When you outsource or start hiring people to work for you online, especially if it’s your first time doing so, there is that adjustment period of how you can balance your life while running a virtual team or business.
With this article, I will walk you through the tips on how you can have a healthy balance between working from home and having a business from home.
SCHEDULE REGULAR MEETINGS
Having a regular way wherein you can check in with your virtual employees is going to be very helpful for you right off the bat. This way, even if your business is expanding and growing, you still have a good pulse where your employees are at, both the old ones and the newbies. Make sure that you have a good and efficient system on ensuring that the right information is passed to the right person at the right time.
ENGAGE AS OFTEN AS POSSIBLE
You should engage as often as possible and not just on times when you communicate with your virtual employees. What I mean by this is, if your virtual employees have something to say or suggest, or if they see a problem and they need your help in solving it, lean in to that process. This is one of the ways that you can get to know more about your business, the things that you might not always encounter because someone else is usually going through them. This also helps you create standard operating procedures to help solve the same problems in the future.
DOCUMENT
Document your systems, your files, and your communication with your employees and clients, and make sure you have files on where things are at so it would be easy to find them. You can use tools like google drive where you can use specific folders for specific documents, or Notion, where you can have a database or library of your files. With this, it will be very easy for you and your team to find things even when you are on break. Your virtual employees will be able to keep moving forward even without you.
EXPERIMENT
Experiment with what work-life balance you need for yourself. Work-life balance differs from person to person. So, you must figure out what is ideal for you. Keep in mind that as an employer, you have the freedom of being able to live the kind of life that you want as you keep outsourcing and delegating tasks to your virtual employees. So, try to see what works for you and always find the time to experiment to see if a certain lifestyle is for you or not.
UNDERSTAND WHAT YOUR VIRTUAL EMPLOYEE WANTS
What I mean by this is know what their goals are, and, in that way, you can match each other on where you want to be in the business and in life. Then you are building loyalty with your team, as they would want to keep working with you because you have shown interest in them and on how they want to grow.
BE TRANSPARENT
When it comes to working with your employees online, be transparent. Give them direct feedback if there is anything you see or catch them doing something that they’re not supposed to be doing. Give them praise if they’re doing something really well. Basically, make sure that you have that open communication with your virtual employees so that if problems do arise, they feel comfortable talking to you about them instead of hiding them from you which could hurt you and your business in the long run.
BUILD A STRONG RAPPORT WITH YOUR VIRTUAL EMPLOYEES
Create a relationship with your virtual employees wherein they don’t just come in and get paid. Make sure you build that loyalty by becoming their friend and by simply asking them how their day was, or how is their family. Small gestures like these go a long way in creating loyal employees where you get to a point that you are freeing yourself up because you have people who like doing their job in helping you out in your business. Building rapport with your virtual employee or virtual assistant also helps you get freed up when it comes to making decisions because they know how you think and they are learning how you think, so in the future when you are off building the life that you want, they can decide things as you.
USE TOOLS TO OVERCOME BOUNDARIES
Use different tools that will help you not be bound to your computer or desktop for work. You can use different communication tools, project management, and team management tools that are mobile compatible so you can work on the get-go outside of your office if needed. Find the right tools for you and your business that will make sense in the long run.
DON’T MICROMANAGE
It is important that you avoid micromanaging, so your virtual employees won’t feel constricted and unable to grow. Give your virtual employees a little bit of freedom to figure things out on their own and trust that they can make things happen without your handholding. Giving them the freedom and trusting in your virtual employees’ capabilities will also give you the freedom to keep going in building the life that you want.
HAVE AN “OPEN DOOR” POLICY
Letting your employees know that they can come to you if they have any problems, really helps in building that loyalty, that relationship where they can trust that you have their backs, as they have yours in helping you out in your business.
Having that work-life balance with a virtual team can be a little bit daunting but with these tips above, it is definitely achievable.
What kind of work-life balance are you aiming for? Share it in the comment section below!
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