3 Simple Ways to Make Your Remote Contractors Feel like Part of Your Team

Unlike your remote employees, remote contractors enjoy full autonomy in selecting project parameters. They are more independent and often guided by a binding agreement. The one thing that can either be an advantage or a disadvantage with hiring a remote contractor is; they set their schedule and work methods to complete the assigned projects and meet deadlines. If your company relies on a feedback system, where specific teams have to complete an assignment before the next one can proceed with the same task, it could mean bringing the remote contractors on board.

This can be challenging as most of these contractors work with multiple companies at one time. You may want to customize your operations, so it favors both your remote contractors and your company employees. Below is how you can achieve that.

Understand their Situations

You don’t want to treat your remote contractors as your employees. They are two completely different entities, and your contractor’s terms of service will often differ with your employees’ work ethic. Therefore, it’s necessary to strike a deal that will close the gap for a win-win work relationship. One way of doing this is by giving them a flexible work schedule that won’t interrupt with their other commitments. You may also want to suggest those communication channels and tools that will bring them to the team regardless of the varying schedules, work shifts, or time zone differences. Here, asynchronous meetings will work just perfectly.

The best communication channel to leverage on is Weet. Your main goal is to enable cross-collaboration and flexibility across schedules between contractors and full time employees, Weet has collaboration features which are independent of time zones that will increase productivity and efficiency. Such features include sharing of asynchronous videos, use of emojis to express emotions and commenting at a particular timestamp to ask questions or provide feedback.

Build Trust and Connection

It’s weird how businesses have come up with several ways of building trust with customers, yet they have little to no clue how they can guarantee the same to their remote teams. A lack of close contact with your remote contractors inhibits the formation of trust, connection, and mutual purpose. They will feel left out of the company celebrations and wish they could connect with the other members during the Friday happy hour. A solution is to take a step and build rapport with your remote contractors. Take time to know each of them, and dedicate to a remote 1 on 1 session – once in a while.

Make Communication Better

You probably know how crucial communication is, but you want to make it even better. A simple emoji or animated gifs will go a long way in conveying emotions and brightening up a dull day. Maybe you want to psych up your remote contractors for a challenging task ahead, but you don’t want to sound too serious. Accompanying your message with relevant gifs and a couple of emojis will drive the point home. It also shows a different side of you that’s fun and approachable. Your remote contractors will love it, and they will be more spirited to deliver for the company.

Conclusion

It’s easy to assume that your remote contractors don’t need to be involved in your company’s progress. Maybe their contract is expiring in a couple of months, and you feel it’s a lot of work to introduce them to your firm’s remote work culture. The truth is, this mindset is a trap, and you want to avoid it by sticking with the tips we’ve highlighted above.