How to leverage technology solutions for an e-commerce remote business

The days when remote work opportunities were a privilege offered to a handful of select employees are long gone.

According to statistics, 18% of people work remotely full-time. Remote work is expected to continue through 2021, with more than 26% of the workforce working fully remotely within a period of one year.

For businesses, this means that they no longer need a centralised physical location in order to be successful. By making strategic choices about which technology solutions to take advantage of, entrepreneurs can start, operate, and grow a successful business anywhere in the world.

Here are five ways you can leverage technology to keep your remote workers motivated, boost productivity levels, and scale your e-commerce business.

1. Video conferencing

If you’re starting a remote business, ensuring frictionless communication should be one of the first things you’ll need to think about.

With team members scattered across different locations and time zones, outdated means of communication like phone conferencing are out of the question. Today, when it comes to having meetings with remote employees, video conferencing is the best tech solution.

Using video conferencing tools promotes face-to-face interactions, helps reduce distractions, and, as a result, increases remote employee engagement. Tools like Zoom, Skype, and Google Hangouts allow remote employees to feel as if they are in the meeting room with their in-office counterparts.

2. Project management tools

Project management tools give your remote team members a way to communicate and collaborate on projects by sharing timelines, documents, and status updates. They help improve productivity and assist teams in discussing issues in real-time.

There are general project management tools such as Trello, Monday, and Asana, as well as ones that are specific to different business areas, for instance, Jira and GitHub are for software development projects.

Regardless of your niche and the type of remote team you are working with, using an efficient project management tool will help you stay organised while planning and executing projects.

3. Expense management software

All companies need to keep track of the cost of doing business, which includes employee expense management.

Employees need to submit expense reports to be reimbursed for out-of-pocket business expenses. The finance team needs to approve these expenses, determine how much the company is spending on T&E, and record everything for tax purposes.

While bigger organisations typically have dedicated accounting departments that take care of managing expenses, smaller companies are more likely to operate on tighter budgets and, as a result, hold on to inefficient manual systems and processes.

This can have serious consequences, ranging from reimbursement delays to cash flow problems as a result of accounting errors or expense fraud.

Using expense management software makes the process much faster and simpler by eliminating paper and automatically routing expense reports.

It also helps your employees eliminate time consuming tasks such as manual expense reporting, and helps increase compliance with corporate policy while helping increase finance efficiency.

4. Virtual team bonding activities

The workplace, be it physical or virtual, can be a challenging environment consisting of repetitive routines and tight deadlines.

In some cases, even organisations that pay high salaries face increased employee turnover rates. This is because a high salary by itself can’t meet an employee’s personal needs for fulfillment.

If you want to improve your employee retention rates, you need to focus on boosting your employee satisfaction rates first. And in order to achieve this, you should consider conducting fun team building events as a reward for your employees’ efforts and hard work.

One of the best options for remote companies is organising a virtual happy hour. What is a virtual happy hour for remote teams?

It is exactly what it sounds like: choose a platform, create a meeting time, and send out invites to your remote team members. Then, gather together for a snack or drink and start chatting or playing games.

5. Remote employee training programmes

The modern workforce considers development and training to be crucial for long-term employment with an organisation. Providing continuous learning opportunities to your remote team members can help boost their engagement and motivate them to perform better.

Digital conferences, webinars, virtual sessions, and events can all be used to expand your employees’ knowledge and sharpen their skills. You can also make learning interactive by incorporating elements like videos or immersive learning technologies like virtual and augmented reality.

Another option is to take the strategy to the next level by adding elements of gamification and/or offering rewards-driven training through mobile apps.

Final thoughts

Running a remote business allows for a great level of flexibility, gives you access to a wider pool of talent, and helps you save money. However, it is very important to have the right resources and the right mindset in order to make the best use of this strategy.

Technology solutions can help bridge the gap between your remote team members and help them realise their full potential, no matter where they’re working from.

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