Leveraging Technology to Manage a Distributed Company

From creating an inclusive company culture to managing your distributed business efficiently, here are the top tech tools you need to thrive in the future of work.

Now that the COVID threat seems to be slowly fading, planning for the total or partial return-to-the-office phase is on the to-do list of many employers. The sudden shift to remote work the pandemic imposed has, however, changed the mindset of many workers around the world: saving time and money on the commute and being able to spend more time with the family while having the choice of working from home or in-office represents, for most workers, an indispensable condition of the post-pandemic workplace. 

In such a new environment, how can companies make sure they are building an inclusive culture where employees have the same opportunities regardless of their location, while keeping all business-related tasks under control? Luckily, technology comes in help.

Hybrid is the new black

The pandemic has triggered substantial changes in the way both companies and employees think about work, causing many organisations to transition from an office-centric culture to more agile arrangements. Such a shift is still largely in the experimental phase: businesses are in fact testing new working models that do not affect productivity or employee engagement. According to a survey by McKinsey, with interviews with over 100 executives across industries and geographies, many of these companies will embrace a hybrid future of work, one with both on-site and remote staff. This new model, when executed purposefully, promises to increase access to talent, employee satisfaction and productivity while keeping costs under control and reducing work-related stress and burnout.

In conclusion, a hybrid model or “remote-first” workplace is one where employees primarily work outside of the office but can get together in physical locations, optionally and at their own discretion, for the occasional visit, reporting or meeting. 

But with every benefit comes drawbacks. Not everyone thrives in a remote environment: with minimal direction and physical interactions, even the most successful remote employees may still feel disconnected from each other and from the company as a whole. So, as companies continue to test the best mix of in-office and remote work, technology can offer great solutions to keep productivity high while allowing improved internal communication, seamless project management and business management overall. 

Even with only one remote employee, you are a distributed organization

When technology provides a lot of new opportunities to carry out our professional duties from anywhere we want, “work” is no longer associated with a physical space. With a dispersed workforce, companies need to reinforce their internal communication, act against any proximity bias, and provide every employee with the same experience and sense of belonging. Even if you have 99% of your team in-office, and only one employee working remotely, you need to make sure you manage your workforce fairly and effectively, building a distributed company culture so that every single worker feels part of the organisation. 

Technology, once again, is of great help, covering crucial collaboration issues as well as the overall business management.

COMMUNICATION IS KEY

As teams, companies and even public policies are adapting to the new remote reality, the way we communicate in the workplace has to follow the same path: communication is the backbone of every healthy organisation, from the way employees interact with each other, to the tools that support team dynamics and collaboration. Without guidelines established at an organisational level, communication will be defined by individual practices, which can quickly lead to disarray and miscommunication, especially for hybrid teams.

For distributed teams, communication may happen synchronously or asynchronously, with every company and team experiencing a unique combination of the two. Synchronous communication is the one that happens in real time, and needs support from reliable cloud-based telephone, chat and videoconferencing tools, such as Aircall, Slack, Zoom, Whereby, or in-person meetings when possible. 

In a traditional office setting where all employees work on-site, most interpersonal interactions are synchronous. In hybrid teams, however, synchronous moments need to be scheduled, making tools such as google calendar or outlook calendar a must, so that every employee can check their colleagues’ calendars and make sure they are available. 

Asynchronous communication, on the contrary, does not happen in real-time. The most common channels used by asynchronous teams are:

• Email: use an email client that is reliable. Google and Outlook business suite have the advantage of coming with a document sharing system that is widely used. 

• Delayed Messaging: Slack is a powerful messaging tool both for synchronous and asynchronous communication. With its organization in workspaces, channels and private chat, Slack allows for both professional and personal exchanges. 

• Collaboration: there are many existing tools that make remote collaboration seamless. When we speak about developers, for instance, GitLab provides an all-in-one DevOps platform with essentially every feature that developers need. For creative teams, some of the best solutions are provided by Miro and Mural, whiteboard tools that enable users to brainstorm ideas on digital sticky notes, cluster them, vote for ideas, and run timers.

• Shared documents and workspaces: GSuite and Microsoft Sharepoint are the most famous ones. But there are a few interesting newcomers such as Notion, a knowledge repository and workspace that allows companies to organise information, share documents and collaborate. 

• Voice and video messaging: Weet and Panopto provide interesting solutions for video recorded messages that are transcribed, searchable and easily organised. More recently, some solutions have been developed for asynchronous stand-ups and check-ins. With Friday, for instance, you can set updates and work routines for a variety of functions, including daily standups, but also weekly check-ins, one-on-ones, and CEO updates as asynchronous meetings. As an additional help, Yammer has carved out a place as a top asynchronous tool for company announcements and forums that do not depend on an immediate response.

• Project management: The project management software landscape is very competitive, and the best tool depends on your company’s specific needs. As an example, online project management tools like Asana, Basecamp, and Trello provide individuals, teams and small businesses with modern features that allow them to be more organized, productive, and professional.

Distributed Companies - Is there a Perfect Business Management Solution? 

From a business leadership perspective, managing a distributed company means not only creating an inclusive culture where all employees are happy, fulfilled and given fair career opportunities. In fact, the task comes with an additional layer of complexity when dealing with bureaucracy, HR management, payroll, and taxes in several countries. As of now, there is no solution capable of giving a full overview of a mother company and its branches or subsidiaries: all these entities are managed as single-standing bodies in their respective country. 

BRIDGE IN is currently working to fill this market gap with a Company-as-a-Service software: we are developing a comprehensive suite of business applications that allows you to have control over financial management, human resources, taxes and payroll while automating 80% of your business management related tasks, from employing a global workforce to running a subsidiary through self-service app and RPA.