From 1996 to 2016, remote work options more than tripled. This trend has continued to accelerate ever since the COVID-19 pandemic hit, and if you haven’t already then, it’s time to adapt to the times.

As a remote team manager, proper documentation is the way to success. It doesn’t matter whether your company has an entirely remote workforce or a hybrid workforce; you need to prioritize documentation.

 

Benefits Of A Remote Or Hybrid Workforce

Remote workers or independent contractors offer several benefits to your business. Among the benefits are onsite operations cost reduction, the removal of geographic obstacles to hiring allows your company to access a much greater pool of talent, and the productivity of remote workers often exceeds that of onsite employees. Employees and companies benefit from remote work arrangements, thus making your company more attractive to potential new hires and helping retain existing workers. 

According to a study published in the Harvard Business Review, employees working from home were more productive than those working from a traditional office. Among U.S. employers surveyed by PwC, 83% of a remote working team proved to be very successful for their organizations. In a Gallup survey, 54% of office workers said they would leave their current jobs to take flexible hours generally offered through offsite locations.

 

Challenges Of A Remote Or Hybrid Workforce

It can also be challenging to engage a remote workforce. HR teams can face complexity, such as managing benefits, and regular communication is a severe challenge with remote employees who feel left out or are not adapting well. In addition, it takes more time and effort to build and maintain your company culture. With a documentation mindset, one can overcome these challenges.

 

Going Beyond Onboarding

According to a recent survey, 93% of employers firmly believe that an excellent onboarding experience is vital for retaining employees. When you have a remote workforce, you need to deliver an onboarding experience that extends beyond the traditional onsite experience, 

If you engage a remote workforce, you should prioritize documentation. Analyze how you would translate a digital onboarding experience from an onsite experience. In what ways does your company’s culture come alive? What do you do to make your company’s resources and tools more accessible and easier to use? 

Creating and maintaining documentation in advance is critical to the success of your remote workforce. There is no excuse that building, maintaining, and improving your company’s online presence should be an ad hoc exercise.

 

Increasing Knowledge Sharing

Regardless of geographic location, the key to a successful remote team is documenting the processes and expectations shared across the team when necessary. The concept of fostering knowledge sharing through free-range documentation is fundamental because it facilitates effective collaboration and enables employees and freelancers to contribute ideas and help with new projects. In addition, collaborative documentation, such as Slack or Telegram, is of particular importance when it comes to communication. 

There is also documentation covering communication content expectations, such as how often you should be updating and whom to talk to about various questions. Having an effective, two-way communication system becomes even more critical when working with a remote team.

It’s much easier to enhance a project-based work model with a documentation-first approach. By shifting to such a model, your work production becomes faster and more agile. Organizations of this type are proven to be more effective when robust communication and processes are in place.

 

Embrace The Remote Workforce

Enhance your remote workforce by embracing new work models. You can strengthen your talent pool and make your company more agile by hiring remote employees, freelancers, and contractors. Changing to a hybrid or remote workforce is easier with a documentation-first mentality. To beat the competition, it’s time to embrace the documentation-first mentality to push your remote team to thrive during these turbulent times.