How we make a remote team work?

This month was HR month for us. That means that this month, we created messaging and communication around hiring HR talent via flexible models for your business. We realised a while ago that every function has its unique nuances that unlock differently, and if we want to create a world where nearly all roles can be carried out flexibly (flexi-time, part-time, remotely), then one approach is to do it function-first.
 
 
  
 
 
 
This has led us down a fascinating road, where we have to get into the mind of each function, or at least the hiring managers for each function, and figure out their triggers and barriers. When we started doing this work for HR, the first thing that leapt out at us was our own situation. 
 
 
So we thought why not talk about our own story this time, what makes us tick, what challenges we face, and how it all comes together. 
 
So how do we do it?
 
How does a start-up make remote-working, work?
 
A start-up is many things, but static it is not. Every day is unique, plans melt as externalities change, and sometimes mid to long term strategies get finalised over a 10 minute call. How in all this does a remote team figure? Isn’t a dynamic work environment built on hustle-might where you pull your team into huddles, anytime and anywhere?
Yes, but who said huddles can’t be virtual. And as every founder will know, if hustle isn’t in the mind, it won’t be in your office. 
 
We at FlexiBees are a 22-member team, with a few full-time employees including the co-founding team, and the remaining working part-time. We are fully distributed, including the co-founding team, which means we all work out of our own locations, across cities and even countries. We are head-quartered in Mumbai, our 12K+ strong talent pool is pan-India, and our clients are from across the globe. We have grown by 4x in revenue in the last year, doubled the number of clients, placed 2.5x more women, and all while experimenting with new initiatives and building for future growth. 
We have a long way to go, and the challenges that will come in our path in the years to come  are likely to be 100x more demanding, and not all of what has worked so far will continue to work then. But some things will. 
 
So what powers a remote-working company?
 
1# Numero Uno: Hiring the Right Talent
 
 
 
Imagine you are on a beach, reclining in a chair with a drink by your elbow and salt on your lips. This is ideal, you think. But just when you are about to doze off, a disembodied voice cuts through your calm, and demands to know what the hell you are doing - relaxing - when your business is being run to the ground by the folks back home. You throw your frizzy head back and laugh, then tell that damn voice to mind its own business, you trust your team and know they shall do a fabulous job.
 
First of all, well done, you, on finding that team. And second, TRUST, is the operative word here. Imagine a remote working team to be a company full of vacationing founders (ha!) who know that their team is going to do a great job even in their physical absence, because they have that all-important quality, your trust.  
 
Trust comes from the knowledge that your team has the capability to do the job, the hunger to want to do the job, and the attitude to do it properly: competency, drive and work-ethic, the holy trifecta. We at FlexiBees, are fanatical about hiring for these three non-negotiables; it helps that we are a recruitment company and have well-designed processes and finely tuned antennae that helps us identify them. The gems we finally unearth are self-motivated, take pride in their work, and are raring to succeed! We don’t need to breathe down their necks, which relieves bandwidth for all, and puts the spotlight where it belongs - on performance. 
 
2# Vision, Goal, Process setting 
 
  
 
Since the dawn of time, startups are considered better, faster, cooler that their portly corporate cousins. We talk ad nauseum about the startup life, about how it breaks you and then makes you, about its lashings and its lessons, and everything else in between. But we forget that a solid stint in a good company can give you all that and more, and with people politics as the icing on the cake, to further build character. FlexiBees’ co-founders are among those who have walked the corridors of corporate labyrinths and lived to bring the best of it to their startup. 
In other words, we believe in setting vision, goals, communicating expectations, setting process and in general giving people the inspiration and clarity they need in order to perform well. Right from our contract, to our inductions, to our reviews, we try as much as possible to speak a consistent language so our teams don’t have to expend precious energy in trying to decode what is wanted of them. 
 
It has held us in good stead, and relieved us of having to monitor people or business all too frequently.
 
3# Constant Communication 
 
    
Communication is the life-blood of any organisation and for a remote one, even more so. We are big communicators, proactive and technology-savvy, and ensure our channels are well-greased. We run the business through multiple Whatsapp groups and one-click video-conferencing software, with hundreds of interactions everyday that span everything from updates, acknowledgments, clarifications, discussions and even celebrations. We have our own version of a Friday evening hangout and work on building relationships and goodwill in our virtual universe, apart from the occasional physical meet-ups we have during the year.   
 
And that’s about it. Through these three things, we ensure we walk the talk on our vision, of making work more flexible, while not compromising on the quality that we hold ourselves to. 
 
If you too want to explore remote-working for your business, perhaps we can help you, not just for the talent, but also in designing remote-friendly ways of working that can unlock the hidden potential of your existing and untapped talent pools. So, come to FlexiBees, by just dropping us a message.     
 
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We at FlexiBees are happy to have helped our clients, both startups and established players, meet and exceed their business goals through providing them flexible talent across a variety of functions & skill-sets like Sales, Business Development, Finance, Marketing, Digital Marketing, Public Relations, Investment Banking, Technology, Content Writing, Graphic Design, etc. All these companies have benefited by being able to hire high quality talent at pricing optimised only for the hours of work they need. So if you have a job requirement, take 2 minutes to fill our form and we will get back pronto.
 
Look FlexiBees has been featured! We have been covered by Economic TimesDNA IndiaYahoo Finance, Yahoo Lifestyle
 
And if you too want high-quality flexible talent for your team, send us your requirements below -