Managing Virtual Teams the Cybalink Way

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It’s not uncommon for business owners to believe it’s tough to manage a remote team. We’re here to prove otherwise. When debating whether to form a remote team, business owners may have management concerns. For Australian businesses, the offshore team will likely be thousands of miles away. It’s natural to think you may not be able to create a streamlined workflow with it.

But you’d be very surprised to find out how simple it actually is. With the right tools and processes in place, managing a remote team can be quite effortless. In certain cases, it can be just as easy as managing your onsite team.

In this article, you’ll read about some of the best practices for managing your remote team. You’ll also discover how Cybalink Solutions’ tools can make this process much smoother. But first, let’s dive into one of the cornerstones of successful management.

Communication Is Key

How do you manage your onshore or local team?

Of course, there’s going to be some form of communication. Effective communication is at the core of management for all businesses. However, a good number of people consider face-to-face communication to be the only effective way to manage teams. While this might be true in the past, a lot has changed in the past few years. Technology has advanced to a point where you can communicate virtually face-to-face with all of your employees anywhere. This is part of why remote teams have become so popular. You can have the benefits of offshoring without disrupting your workflow or company culture. In fact, offshoring can further streamline your workflow if done appropriately.

For the most part, it’d require the proper integration of your offshored team into your onshore team even with the distance. Your offshore team can feel like they belong in your business and subscribe to its culture as well as your onshore team does. If this sounds too good to be true, it’s probably because you balk at having to tackle all of this on your own. Outsourcing, and offshoring in particular, does require a bit of effort to set up. But you know it’s going to be worth it in the end. But you don’t have to do it all alone. Most companies did it with the help of an outsourcing and offshoring provider. That’s the role of Cybalink Solutions, which specialises in the construction and engineering industry.

Let’s see how Cybalink Solutions’ solutions can make setting up and managing an offshore team enjoyable and hassle-free.

1. Onboarding Support

Effective onboarding is the key to successful long-term management. Even the most talented employees aren’t going to perform well if your company makes them feel out of place. You need to make sure the outsourced employees understand everything about your business and their roles. Cybalink Solutions can help you with this in a number of ways.

First of all, we get to know your business inside out before we start looking for your future team members. This allows us to find people whose skills and values are in alignment with yours. To be doubly certain, we make the final selection together with you. You can see for yourself if the prospect is a prime candidate to become an integral part of your business for the long haul. However, our support goes beyond this. We’ll go over the onboarding process with you every step of the way. We’ll make sure that your goals are clearly communicated to the remote team and that they know exactly what to do. At the end of onboarding, you should have an offshore team that fits the local team as well as possible.

2. Cross-Cultural Workshops

Many people are of the opinion, perhaps rightfully, that cultural differences can prevent them from managing a remote team with any efficiency. You’ll be working with people whose culture you may not know anything about. Can you even be sure you’ll be able to get your point across? That’s only true if you make no effort to know the other culture and you don’t have anyone to guide you along. Talk to the business owners who have successfully offshored with Cybalink Solutions and they’ll tell you that there’s no reason to worry.

Our clients haven’t had any trouble aligning their culture with their team’s. Part of that is that we don’t allow any room for misunderstanding. We set up cross-cultural workshops that will take care of this problem for your company and the outsourced team. These workshops have been so designed to put our clients and their teams on the same page. You’ll learn about your team’s culture and what motivates them to do their best work. This is a vital component of the effective management of your outsourced team. Of course, we’ll also make sure each team member understands your local and team cultures perfectly. This should help eliminate potential confusion or interruptions in communication. Along with our other solutions, the workshops aim to make your new team feel included and valued.

3. A Transparent KPI System

Key performance indicators (KPIs) agive you clarity and allow your business to focus on its main strengths. Besides, you can track your progress with the help of your KPIs and see if you’re going in the right direction. If not, your KPIs will guide you. You must have a clear KPI system that all the key people in your company have access to. This is another thing that gives everyone the same frame of reference regarding your vision and goals. 

Plus, the system shows the team members their individual contribution to the company’s success. With the right KPIs in place, everyone can find out exactly how their work influences some of your most important metrics. We’ll help you set up a KPI system that accounts for all of the above. Both your onsite and remote teams will have access to the system so that they can all work cohesively.

4. Performance Management Sessions

When you work with Cybalink Solutions, you don’t have to do anything related to outsourcing on your own. Of course, this includes managing your remote team. Our performance managers can help you manage your employees with ease and effectiveness.

The performance management sessions are only one of our many tools. During the sessions, our managers will assess every aspect of the work your remote team is doing. During the sessions, you’ll be able to see how the remote team contributed to your success. And if there are any issues, our managers can help you sort them out right there and then. 

5. Frequent Communication

Thus far, we’ve talked about your communication with the remote team. But who are you going to contact if you need any help?

Cybalink Solutions, of course!

As mentioned, our goal isn’t just to find capable people for your remote team. On top of that, we’re also committed to helping you manage your team in the long run for you to achieve lasting success. Naturally, communication is the key to this. This is why we stay in touch with our clients on a regular basis.

We have clear touchpoints with each client to make sure that everything is running smoothly. These sessions occur weekly, fortnightly, and monthly. This shows us how your remote team is performing and the impact they have on your success. With Cybalink Solutions, you’ll always have the support needed to manage your remote team effectively.

Expanding the Right Way

Remote workers should be more than just a faraway team to your business. The new outsourced employees should be an extension of your local team in order to have a perfect fit. And with Cybalink Solutions, you should have no problem making this happen. As you can see, our solutions can help you in a number of ways. From finding the right people to managing them in the long term, we’ve got you covered. Find out why the companies who used Cybalink Solutions for their offshoring needs have achieved outstanding success.

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Get in touch today to book a confidential call with our co-founders Kim Lombardi and John Rodgers.