God bless technology...

There is one thing for sure, when you're a start-up or small business in today’s business world, there is little we could have achieved without the support of technology. When I imagine a world that relied on communication via handwritten letters and possible faxes, no email, no internet, no apps, no conference calls - how did anyone manage to get anything done! In a world where we expect everything at a touch of a button, I truly believe that the access that we all have to technology is the very reason why remote working and entrepreneurship has grown so quickly over the last 10 years.

Nowadays you don’t need a physical office to get your team delivering projects. It’s no longer frowned upon to not have your own bricks and mortar and a logo above your door. Business people now care more about getting the job done in the best and most efficient way possible and for many, using remote workers makes up a lot of their core business. To be able to turn on and off resources when needed is key to being agile.

I have at least two clients whose teams are based in various countries and the business is managed entirely through technology. We arrange face to face meetings quite regularly because the human interaction is still important to build and maintain the working relationship, however when there’s a job to be done, we are all of the mindset that we don’t need to be in the same office to get a great job done. In some instances, the different time zones mean I can brief a project in before I go to sleep and have the job delivered whilst I sleep - isn't that part of the dream to make money whilst you sleep!? That’s more down to the time zone, but I love the fact that a project is continually being worked on.

As many of you know, the rapport between myself and my clients is hugely important so how do I manage to get the work done without losing touch with my clients and colleagues? The secret, it’s all about nurturing the human side of the business.

- Personality matching - getting the right personalities to work alongside each other becomes even more relevant in this kind of set up as everyone needs to be on the same wavelength. 

- Trust - for me, this is at the top of the priority list - without it you won’t have faith that the job is getting or going to ever get done.

- Regular catch ups and using shared drives such as Microsoft Office 365 or G Suite/Google Apps and project boards like Trello offer transparency for all to refer to, whilst NDAs and contracts will help provide you reassurance that your information and vision is being kept confidential at all times. 

- Status calls - regular face to face meetings or video calls (if in different countries) are a must. When we don’t see each other, conversations tend to be more transactional and then relationships don’t have time to form. The meetings offer a time when we can all learn more about work challenges and finding solutions, you can discuss business growth and share business plans in a more personable way. 

- Team building - building the relationship with your team. You will talk to these people via email, phone, whatssup, Skype all the time, so you still build a working relationship. Sometimes it can feel disjointed, other times it can work perfectly well. This is where personalities kick in and a business owners emotional intelligence becomes key. 

- Keep it special - organise social meetings with your team. For a remote team, banter can and should still happen via all channels, but every so often it is just damn nice to meet up and let your hair down for a few hours, have a drink together, talk about non work-related stuff. That is when you find out more about your team, their personalities and how to build that trust.

Use technology to help your business grow smarter, but keeping the human connection going makes the smartest around.

Find out how Duck Soup London can help your business by contacting us at https://www.ducksouplondon.co.uk/contact