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With the shift from in-office working to remote and hybrid models, employers now have newfound access to diverse, global perspectives. No longer limited by geographical location, you can set your sights on new horizons, expanding into international markets and recruiting for jobs from anywhere in the world!
This new way of working is exciting and opens up endless opportunities for potential employees as well as for your own organization. That said, building out a remote, global team comes with its own set of challenges and if you have never traversed this terrain before, it can be pretty daunting.
Training is crucial for the success of a global remote team but you might be asking yourself, “How to train remote workers” or “How do I manage remote workforce training sessions?”
A couple of years ago, managing employees, working on projects and building teams that are remote-first was unheard of. Maybe you thought about it from time to time and brushed it off as something that sounded nearly impossible to execute smoothly. But thanks to things like asynchronous communication tools and technologies, like Slack and Zoom, you no longer have to be limited by your corporate HQ.
In fact, there are countless benefits to working in a remote, global context asynchronously. Asynchronous work provides increased flexibility and improved work-life balance which leads to more positive morale and ultimately, better retention for your company.
Later in this blog post, we will detail some asynchronous communication tools you can leverage to make virtual training go even smoother, but first, let’s get a better grasp of why we need to bother with in-depth onboarding and training in the first place.
Why Are Training Sessions Important Anyway?
Training your remote global employees helps team members acquire the necessary skills, knowledge, and communication abilities required to collaborate effectively across different time zones and cultures.
People who work remotely aren't in the same physical space with their remote team members. To manage remote employees effectively, you need to make sure everyone is on the same page. Training can promote team collaboration and make sure that every team member is aware of what's going on in the company.
As with any recruitment, hiring and onboarding process, there are a lot of things to consider. Getting your new employees comfortable and prepared to hit the ground running and begin contributing to your organization is paramount.
So, as a remote, global employer, what types of training should you provide? Here are a few best practices in training when you manage remote employees.
Top 10 pieces of training to offer your global remote team
1. Onboarding Training
Start with a comprehensive onboarding program that introduces new team members to your company culture, values, policies, and tools. Provide an overview of their roles and responsibilities.
2. Cross-Cultural Communication
Teach your team how to communicate effectively with colleagues from diverse cultural backgrounds. This should cover nuances in language, communication styles, and cultural sensitivity.
3. Remote Work Best Practices
Train your team on remote work best practices, including time management, setting boundaries, and maintaining a better work-life balance. Encourage self-discipline and productivity.
4. Technology and Tools Training
Ensure that your team is proficient in the digital tools and software they'll use daily. This might include project management software, communication tools (e.g., Slack, Zoom), and any industry-specific software.
5. Data Security and Privacy
Educate your team on cybersecurity and data privacy best practices, especially when handling sensitive information. Emphasize the importance of keeping company data secure. Read on for seven tips you can leverage to keep your systems and data safe and secure during remote global onboarding, training and beyond.
6. Effective Virtual Meetings
Provide training on how to lead and participate in virtual meetings efficiently. Cover aspects such as agenda setting, facilitation skills, and using virtual meeting features effectively.
7. Conflict Resolution and Mediation
Equip your team with conflict resolution skills and strategies for handling interpersonal conflicts in a remote work environment. Encourage open communication and empathy.
8. Crisis Management and Continuity
Develop a crisis management plan and ensure your team knows what to do in case of emergencies. This should include procedures for handling technology outages, security breaches, or other crises.
9. Language and Communication Skills
Offer language training or communication skills courses, especially if English is not the first language for many team members. Clear communication is essential for remote collaboration.
10. Professional Development
Encourage continuous learning and career development. Provide access to online courses, webinars, or mentorship programs that can help team members grow in their roles and expand their skill sets.
Training Best Practices for Remote Teams
Remember that training your remote, global team is an ongoing, iterative process. Some employees will catch on faster than others, depending largely on whether they have worked in a globally distributed, remote work environment before.
Ensure you are regularly assessing the training needs of your global remote team and adapting your training programs accordingly. A good way to do this is through regular check-ins with your employees on a weekly, bi-weekly or monthly basis.
You may want to keep your check-ins more frequent at the early stages of their employment to ensure things go as smoothly as possible and everyone feels prepared, confident and well-equipped to handle their workloads and execute on project deliverables. Also, consider feedback from team members to improve the effectiveness of your training initiatives.
Essential Tools for Remote Workers
So, now that you have your top 10 pieces of must-do trainings for your global remote teams, what other things do you need to consider? Most importantly, you will need to invest in the right tools and technologies to keep your teams connected and your proprietary information safe and secure.
Over the years, reliable internet connection has been the only requirement for employees and employers alike shifting to a remote-first or hybrid working model.
This shift has enabled companies to expand into new markets and recruit talent from around the world, lending diverse perspectives and creating opportunity equalization all over the world. But with this new way of working comes greater consideration for things like safety and security as most (if not all) collaboration, conversation and information is exchanged online.
Employers need to be diligent and reconsider their technological investments, which include tools and technologies to improve workflows, refine processes and keep employees connected and engaged with one another —whether you’re in the office or on the other side of the world.
These tools will also help with remote global training as it will be the communication platforms you leverage to onboard employees, share information with them and connect with them both personally and professionally.
So in such a technologically advanced, digitally-focused era, what tools can help you hire, onboard, engage and manage your remote-first, distributed workforce in a way that improves productivity, reduces the risks of miscommunication and enables you to smoothly on-board and train your remote global teams? We have outlined a few of our faves below:
Borderless AI
Borderless AI enables businesses to compliantly hire and manage talent worldwide without establishing a foreign entity. We alleviate the complexities and risks associated with hiring global employees with zero deposits, dedicated in-house support, and AI-powered global employment law resources.
We will handle everything from payroll, and taxes, to contracts and more. We ensure that your teams are properly paid, managed and retained so you can focus on growing your business. Book a demo today to see how to help you grow your business.
Basecamp
Basecamp refers to its platform as “refreshingly simple project management”. Basecamp provides users with features like message boards, document and file-sharing capabilities, to-do lists, schedules and real-time progress tracking.
Dropbox
Dropbox is a cloud-based file hosting service that allows users to store things like computer backups, photo libraries, thousands of documents and more – all in one place.
Dropbox has other integrated features like Sign, which streamlines your document workflows with legally binding eSignatures and Passwords. This allows you to automatically store unlimited passwords in one central secure place.
Microsoft Teams
Microsoft Teams is another platform where users can chat, make video calls and share files while integrating natively with all other Microsoft products. This tool makes collaboration simple by allowing users to easily find, share, and edit files together in real time with apps like Word, PowerPoint, and Excel.
MyZenTeam
MyZenTeam is an employee engagement platform that enables your team to build lasting connections and celebrate achievements. With MyZenTeam, employers can manage their team’s people data (birthdays, work anniversaries, national holidays and more) in one organized and secure database, edit essential information and regulate access to sensitive data in real time from any device.
Slack
Slack is a messaging app for businesses that helps connect teams to the information they need. With Slack, team members navigate a user-friendly interface that lets them chat with their colleagues, share files, collaborate and more. The tool also can integrate with other commonly used business products like G Suite, Adobe Creative Cloud, DropBox and many more.
Trello
Trello is a project management tool that can make cross-collaboration and automation of tedious tasks super simple. Users can set up boards to organize tasks and keep teams moving forward. Lists break down the different stages of a task and can be customized into workflows that fit your team’s specific needs. Cards are another function that represents all the tasks and ideas with information relevant to help everyone get their work done.
Zoom
Zoom is a communications platform that allows users to connect via video, audio, phone, and chat. It’s become a popular choice among remote-first employers who want to collaborate and host meetings from a distance. With Zoom, you can have breakout rooms and use emoji reaction functions and filter features. There are free and paid-for subscriptions depending on your organization’s specific needs.
If you are hiring and onboarding for a more technical role, like say, a software engineer position, you might require different platforms such as screening, collaborative coding, and whiteboarding tools. There are so many platforms to choose from, like TestGorilla, Woven, HackerRank and many more. We break down the most useful software engineering interview and onboarding tools on our blog, check it out here.
Now you have your training ideas and your asynchronous communication platforms. But how do you keep all the information safe and secure from the threat of hackers?
Keeping Your Information Safe with Remote Global Teams
It’s no secret that remote working can leave employee systems, like cloud storage platforms, shared drives and internet connections, more vulnerable to things like phishing scams and cyber-attacks.
It is critical that you consider this and take extra precautions to protect employee systems and sensitive company data and information to avoid your intellectual property getting into the wrong hands.
Keeping Your Information Safe with Remote Global Teams
It’s no secret that remote working can leave employee systems, like cloud storage platforms, shared drives and internet connections, more vulnerable to things like phishing scams and cyber-attacks.
It is critical that you consider this and take extra precautions to protect employee systems and sensitive company data and information to avoid your intellectual property getting in the wrong hands.
6 Tips to Keep Your Systems Secure
1. Provide antivirus and malware software with all company laptops
If an employee is required to provide their own laptop, provide them with a license for antivirus and malware so their personal hardware remains protected from low-level attacks. This will cost you some money but will be well worth the investment later on down the road.
2. Provide Cybersecurity Training for employees
Further to our point in the earlier part of this blog post, training is the ideal way to get your employees up to speed on your internal processes and procedures. If your new employees know how to keep their passwords, files and data safe, they will. Cybersecurity training can come in a variety of forms, like a password workshop or phishing identification training.
3. Implement the use of a VPN for remote employees
A VPN, or virtual private network, can be a useful second layer to provide added security when an employee is working remotely.
4. Encourage Password Protection in all video meetings
Virtual meeting software, like Zoom or Skype, has provided a quick and easy way for remote teams to connect. Unfortunately, these platforms are highly susceptible to random attacks, including unsolicited interruptions and data breaches. Password protecting your next video call ensures only those with the unique meeting ID and/or link and password can access it.
Multi-factor identification can be a great way to add an additional layer of protection to your remote employees’ accounts. Multi-factor authentication will prompt users to answer a specific security question or receive a special code sent via text message which makes it that much harder for a hacker to break in.
5. Implement a zero-trust policy
This means all users will need to be authenticated, authorized and regularly evaluated before being able to access applications and data associated with the organization. This is a more extreme measure but may be necessary depending on the size and scope of your company.
6. Consider how you Pay your Employees
Paying your globally distributed, remote employees may pose a whole other set of challenges. How can you ensure you are keeping your payroll secure while also getting money to your employees quickly and reliably?
One way to skip the administrative headache is to engage an Employer of Record Service to manage your payroll activities.
Borderless AI is an AI-first global EOR that serves as the legal employer of your company’s international teams. We take care of administrative tasks such as payroll and taxes - all while you retain day-to-day supervisory control.
Looking for more tips before you start expanding globally and recruiting top-tier talent from around the world?
Check out the latest blogs from Borderless AI for everything from step-by-step international hiring guides to deep dives into Nomad Visas across the globe and how you can get one - and everything in between.
Disclaimer
Borderless does not provide legal services or legal advice to customers, contractors, employees, partners, or the general public. We are not lawyers or paralegals. Please read our full disclaimer here.
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