说服你的团队去远程:常见问题解答

You’ve read the news and done your homework: organizations that employ remote workers enjoy better outcomes in finding and retaining high-caliber talent, while positioning themselves to capitalize on a global trend with a growing impact on the workforce.

但是当你向管理团队推销雇佣远程员工或顾问的想法时, 你会遇到一大堆问题——我们为什么要冒这个险? 远程人才不会稀释团队文化吗? 远程操作将如何使我们的业务更具竞争力?

This article is a resource for teams or executives who want to hire remote teammates but face internal or managerial friction. Below, you’ll find a list of frequently asked questions and our suggested responses—talking points and observations, 基于数据和我们自己的经验, 您可以使用它来传达与远程团队合作的价值.

问:“我为什么要关心远程团队? 为什么这件事很紧急，值得我关注?”

您应该关心的原因有两个:您的组织可以从远程帮助中受益, and global workforce trends are changing—creating new opportunities to hire stellar talent while increasing the risk in failing to use a remote model.

我们将在下面详细讨论团队和项目的需求. 现在，让我们关注第二点，从一些数据开始:

• 超过5300万美国人，即美国人口的三分之一.S. workforce, currently participate in non-traditional work beyond the typical in-office nine to five (US Department of Labor)
• 到2020年，估计有50%的人才将远程工作(Global Leadership Summit)
• 在线人才平台预计将贡献2美元.到2025年，全球GDP将减少7万亿美元，占全球GDP的2% (McKinsey)

从工业革命到个人电脑, evolutions in technology and norms often catalyze changes in our workforce and how employers and employees interact. 在这些转变过程中，公司有机会适应——或者相应地失败.

Traditional hiring methods will increasingly exclude top talent and restrict teams from accessing the best workers. 为了生存和发展, organizations will need to include remote talent or risk compromising their teams through unnecessary geographical constrictions.

An example of a recent trend is a systemic decrease in employee tenure and increase in turnover. It is now well accepted that typical workers no longer spend their careers climbing the ladder at a single company, 相反，他的平均任期只有4年.2 years. 几代人之前, 在不同公司之间跳槽的人很难在职业生涯中取得进步. 但我们现在对资历和经验的看法不同了, 因为雇主的期望已经发生了转变，以跟上顶尖人才的步伐.

我们的下一个发展是远程工作的常态化, 由通讯技术和管理实践的进步推动. Traditional hiring methods will increasingly exclude top talent and restrict teams from accessing the best workers. 为了生存和发展, organizations will need to include remote talent or risk compromising their teams through unnecessary geographical constrictions.

问:“为什么我们不能专注于本地人才?”

你们当地的人才库是否能持续高效地提供出色的成果? 换句话说，最适合你项目的人碰巧就住在附近的可能性有多大?

对这个问题的一个很好的回答是看一下历史数据. 如果你的团队始终能够快速满足招聘需求，并且拥有很高的保留率, 也许没有什么需要改变的.

If, however, 你的团队在几周或几个月内填补职位空缺，而不是几天, 如果你当地的生活成本推高了工资(例如.e. San Francisco), 如果业务关键型计划拖拖拉拉, 换句话说，如果你的团队能力明显有限, if you’re compromising world-class quality for butts in seats—then you should consider evolving your hiring processes.

The decision to evaluate remote teams ultimately converges on a bigger question than “where can we fill gaps in our local market?” It’s a question of “how can we structure our business to embody the agility and ability necessary to flourish in our competitive landscape and execute on important initiatives?”

当地理位置不受限制时，组织可以利用其他不可用的资源. 如果你从全球最优秀的公司中进行选择，你的竞争力如何提高?

问:“我们应该如何使用远程顾问?”

一个成熟的远程组织可以使用远程人才来满足各种各样的业务需求. Organizations in the early stages of integrating remote workers can manage the transition and establish proof-of-concept by assigning remote consultants to the right projects:

• 选择一个在当地很难找到技术栈或所需技能的职位或项目.
• 选择具有明确可交付成果和明确路线图的短期需求.
• 专注于团队的新技能. For instance, 如果您不需要努力寻找本地Ruby开发人员的话, 那么聘请远程Ruby专家可能是一场艰苦的战斗, compared to the case for finding remote Machine Learning engineers if your team isn’t optimized to find them.
• Consider specialized needs—instances where hiring a long-term employee is often not the right fit. For example, if your team is lacking a Machine Learning expert or Senior UI Designer with industry experience, 但是一个即将到来的项目需要这些技能, 然后，引入短期帮助和合适的工具来完成任务可能是有意义的.

问:“哪些指标显示了远程顾问与本地人才的投资回报率?”

Our research demonstrates that the real cost of hiring employees can far exceed the cost of working with equivalent freelance talent，即使他们的时薪更高. 对于远程顾问和员工, regional differences in costs of living are worth keeping in mind as well—consider the rates of two equally talented developers when one lives in London and the other in Argentina, 甚至是纽约市中心和俄亥俄州郊区的区别.

除了成本优势之外，还有其他一些好处值得注意:

• Speed to hire: 与远程咨询师相比，传统招聘通常需要多少天?
• Increased quality: 你多久能通过传统方式找到a级球员, 受地域限制的招聘方式?
• Outside perspective: 对于有跨国抱负的企业来说, 产品开发如何从多样化的视角中获益?
• Leveraging time zones: how can you benefit from round-the-clock coverage when pushing design changes to new products or offering customer support?

在最好的情况下, your team will directly measure the fiscal and productivity advantages of blended and non-traditional teams by pursuing a pilot engagement with remote talent. We recommend using the qualitative analysis above to help your team build enough conviction to greenlight a trial project, 因此，您可以收集自己的数据，并得出基于切实节省的令人信服的结论.

问:“我们需要的是队友，而不是资源. 协作和文化至关重要.”

We couldn’t agree more, and figuring out how to maintain close collaboration and a tight-knit team takes careful planning. 将其分为三个部分, 让我们来探讨一下准备工作, collaboration tools, 沟通和混合团队文化.

• Preparation: The way you frame remote teammates will have a large impact on how well they ultimately integrate into your team. 鼓励相互信任的沟通与合作, management should demonstrate that remote employees or consultants are an agile extension of their team and valued partners. 他们可以通过深思熟虑的入职培训来做到这一点, 包括在关键会议上的人才, 分享总体目标, 在关系上投资，必要时进行培训, and choosing words carefully (for instance ‘partner’ or ‘team’ over ‘resource’ or ‘outsourcing’).
• Collaboration: Remote partners should onboard into the project management and collaboration tools you already use. 然而，任何人都不喜欢微观管理, 你应该知道你的敏捷人才每天都在做什么, 就像对待内部员工一样. Finally, security should not be a roadblock to remote work as you can configure environments to provide necessary access while protecting your privacy to an equal—or greater extent—as onsite employees, 通过远程VPN登录或安全笔记本电脑等工具.
• 交流与文化: 来团结你的混合团队, 沟通应该有意识地结构化，但也应该鼓励有机地发展. 默认过度沟通来促进团队内部的一致性，尤其是在开始的时候. Try to include remote members in the same ways you would include in-house employees; considerate communication will evolve into a natural rhythm that works for everyone.

我们已经发布了关于最佳实践的深度专题 management and culture for remote teams. 但事实是，远程通信, 协作和文化在成千上万的公司中得到了证明和信任, 在数千个不同的团队和行业中:冒险是一个问题 will we, not can we.

Q: “What are the cons?”

与远程或混合团队一起工作当然有缺点. 如果你正在考虑换工作，这里有一些需要仔细考虑的事项:

• 工具和通讯开销: If you’re bringing on remote team members you may need to invest in additional tools to keep them in the loop (for example, 企业级虚拟会议解决方案，如Zoom). 而且你还可以节省办公室的日常开支, 因此，净效应可能是中性的，甚至是积极的.
• 变更项目管理: 如果您的团队目前没有设置支持和包括远程成员, 你需要调整你的项目管理节奏. 应该考虑时间、培训和工具.
• Culture clashes: 并不是所有的内部文化都适合远程团队. 倾向于自上而下的文化, 流程驱动的决策制定可能更适合远程工作.
• 雇佣合适的队友: 这是不言而喻的, 但是你需要仔细考虑你选择和谁一起工作, 因为你最初的选择将为你未来的机会奠定基调. 请注意，并非所有项目都需要高端帮助. 例如，初级级别的项目可能适合更广泛的人群.

你说服你的团队了吗?

不管你多么有说服力, going remote is never an easy decision—for the simple reason that on-site teams have a hundred years of corporate inertia on their side.

In this article, we’ve armed you with the data and context to provide compelling responses to executives or team leaders who voice concern about hiring remote talent. 我们的最后一条建议是一步一步地建立舒适. By convincing your team to go remote on projects with a narrow scope—perhaps a defined project that require a rare, 不寻常的技能——你将给远程旅行的好处一个为自己说话的机会.

Additional Resources

以防你需要更多的弹药来证明你要远程操作, we’ve listed a number of additional resources that you can examine and share with stakeholders in your organization, 从具体的策略到完整的100%远程组织案例研究.

• 在雇主和自由职业者之间建立信任 (《欧博体育app下载》)
• 团队的未来:管理混合劳动力 (Toptal)
• 案例研究:WordPress如何在100%远程员工的情况下蓬勃发展 (《欧博体育app下载》)
• Jon Younger的《欧博体育app下载》 (HBR Press)