Four ways to manage digital nomads
Originally written by our Founder & CEO for The Guardian, appears in The Guardian 19 July 2016
The freelance workforce has ballooned: between 2008 and 2015 it grew by 36%from 1.4 to 1.91 million. The trend is set to continue — one report by People Per Hour predicts that by 2020 one in two people will work in a freelance capacity. As a manager and CEO, I have experienced the challenges of leading this type of workforce.
When I was working as a designer at Google, I remotely managed hundreds of independent contractors and freelancers. It wasn’t terribly efficient and there were times when it caused real problems.
On one occasion, we were due to launch a big campaign and time was tight. Unfortunately, we needed to make some last-minute changes to some of the artwork and our designer was nowhere to be found.
Most managers can walk over to their team, have a chat and get things done. But when you’re managing remote workers, and your designer is still asleep in the US, there isn’t a lot you can do. Luckily, we managed to draft in another designer and we made the deadline, but it was not ideal.
However, one thing that did work well was having a big screen in the middle of the office for video conferencing. It was permanently tuned into Google hangouts. This meant workers at their computers in the San Francisco and New York offices, and contractors working for us across the world, could choose to keep their webcams on and their video feed would be beamed on to the screen.
It was great to have that more visual connection with contractors. And, when we had full-team meetings, everyone was dialled in to the hangout. Both the challenges and successes of running a freelance workforce have helped me to better manage disparate teams. Here are my tips:
Keep in touch
Leading remote workers requires excellent communication, but modern technology makes this easier. There are plenty of free or inexpensive video conference tools you can use in a small business to replicate our hangout screen at Google. Instant messaging tools can be more efficient than email for quick questions. However, if there is a complex problem, it is worth bringing relevant freelancers into the office to talk through the challenge together. If they are based abroad, this would be the time for a phone call or video conference.
Remember your values
What are you like as a boss? And what are your must-haves in an employee? If you are hiring freelance workers, you need to answer these questions before you begin advertising vacancies. Give potential workers a clear idea of what you would expect from them and you will attract like-minded people.
Assess your management style
Without regular face-to-face contact, the way you engage with your team may have to change. Simple things like being able to assess whether a member of staff is stressed or has too much or too little to do can be extremely difficult when you aren’t in the same room. You need to plan regular catch-ups with remote workers, probably more regular than those you have with in-house staff, so you can pick up on any issues and find solutions quickly.
Bring the company together
It’s important to be in contact with freelancers about more than just work. For most of our team, working from home is a lifestyle choice, but we still try to bring them in every couple of weeks for pizza and beers in the office.
If someone is working with us regularly, we will make the extra effort to meet with them to build the relationship. After three months of working with our US-based designer, we flew him over to the UK to meet us because we were working with him so regularly. If you have the budget for that, it’s worth the investment.
By handling remote workers in the way you would full-time employees — looking for people who fit your culture, including them in all company updates and making sure you are in touch regularly — you can build a stronger team and, crucially, instil loyalty and respect.
