What does it take to construct a first-rate far off crew?
Inside two years, our Illinois-based startup, Preschooler, has pulled together
a crew of 50 freelancers from around the world—all recruited and managed by
means of the oDesk platform.
Preschooler’s mission is to expose the arena to innovations
that may or else be lost; we don’t simply introduce science to our customers,
we use it to gasoline our own trade growth. How? Utilizing the first-rate
practices we’ve discovered to seek out the proper experts and maintain them
engaged.
Your group and you: one of a kind places, identical
priorities?
Our desires are traditionally short-term or exactly defined,
because of this that hiring someone with a designated skillset on a full-time
groundwork is high priced, needless and unrealistic. Which means that bringing
anybody onboard isn’t always a “lifelong” commitment for us, nor a
forty-hour-a-week responsibility for them.
Flexibility is without doubt one of the reasons riding the
shift from normal work, however we’ve realized that the absence of a usual
organization-employee relationship can create many colors of gray.
To create extra clarity, we make certain our roles are
designated and defined. A freelancer will have more than one tasks on the go at
a time, or other life commitments, so there’s worth in settling on the
obligations and expectations associated with their function.
We also stay in normal contact, in most cases utilizing
Skype or electronic mail in situation of in-character communique.
Start with good-defined jobs, then test
There is no better predictor of how any individual will
perform on your workforce than having him or her complete associated tasks as a
part of the recruitment approach. Preschooler has embraced the philosophy of
hiring exams. We’ve determined such testing may also eliminate any individual
biases, guaranteeing the nice candidates upward thrust to the highest.
ODesk presents satisfactory advice as a beginning point for
hiring exams:
Consider by means of all of the tasks you want your new hire
to take on, and check out to attract an entire picture on your [job] submit. Is
that this a full-time position, or an element-time one? A strategic position,
or pushed by execution? How will you measure the success of this position? Will
they be working closely with other staff participants? Does this function
require technical potential, advertising and marketing acumen or super
quantity-crunching potential? Is familiarity with special applications or
languages wanted?
If you are uncertain which expertise to ask for, you should
assess out different an identical job listings to get a sense of what standards
are renowned for jobs like yours. Even supposing you make a decision to keep
some small print out of your released job list, jot down a couple of notes
concerning the ideal rent for this role – reviewing these before interviewing
will aid you separate the winners from the wannabes.
Centered on the job definition, Preschooler will frequently
take one of the most extra complex or tricky parts of the job to make use of
because the test. ODesk has released different scan examples for advertising
jobs, as well as a range of different positions.
A little training creates a number of bliss
As with any new member of your staff, a remote freelancer
will want guidance and help as they get began. This will likely require more
checking in up-entrance, but over time he or she will come to be more
self-ample.
How much training and support will a freelancer need? That
relies on your organization and the programs you use.
At Preschooler, we use cloud-based methods to control our
industry; these variety from the Google Spreadsheets we use to manipulate
assignment assignments, to the CRM process we use to track contact with
prospective shoppers.
We've got documented all of the strategies, vital
capabilities and techniques for every position. We’ve found that, when they’re
up and walking, team individuals can quite often support on the methods we have
already got in position.
Hold dispensed teams engaged
As our crew has grown, so has our need to maintain everyone
engaged and motivated. We’ve determined that sharing our lengthy-term ambitions
and providing incentives have helped our far flung group realize how they fit
into our higher operations and how predominant their work is.
For instance, we offer small bonuses to freelancers who
initiatives on time table. We’ve created online communities through Google Plus
and Google agencies where our crew communicates with each other; we will also
use these networks to share company updates.
In many circumstances, these companies support build a way
of camaraderie and contributed to a sense of engagement. We’ve just lately
started sharing our enterprise’s development plans with our most valued
employees, and the function they might have in this expansion. This has itself
created pleasure and is proving to be a priceless software.
How do YOU leverage oDesk?
For preschooler, oDesk has enabled a brave new world for
work—if person who we’re no longer used to. How we hire, and the way we
preserve our far flung staff supported and engaged for the long run, all
contribute to our staff’s—as good as our corporation’s—success.
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