{"id":10070,"date":"2017-02-16T06:51:24","date_gmt":"2017-02-16T14:51:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/recruitloop.com\/blog\/?p=10070"},"modified":"2017-02-16T07:52:54","modified_gmt":"2017-02-16T15:52:54","slug":"10-essential-qualities-spot-effective-remote-workers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.zippia.com\/employer\/10-essential-qualities-spot-effective-remote-workers\/","title":{"rendered":"10 Essential Qualities to Spot in Effective Remote Workers"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em><strong>Editor\u2019s Note:\u00a0<\/strong>This is a guest post by blogger and freelance writer Sophia Anderson. Her opinions are her own.<\/em><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What responsibilities do we have as accountable, grown-up human beings? Family comes first, right? Right, unless the job does. Sometimes, you never seem to find the right balance between these two aspects of life. Your home demands a lot, but so does your profession. The solution comes in the form of a simple practice: <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.zippia.com\/employer\/7-ways-to-have-long-hours-productivity-and-fun\/\" target=\"_blank\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">telecommuting<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. It\u2019s not something that\u2019s possible for every single position. For some jobs, you just need to move your butt away from that couch.<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Nevertheless, telecommuting is a trend we can\u2019t neglect. Any job based on online communication can be done from home (or from anywhere actually!). We\u2019re seeing web designers, photographers, writers, and translators working from their homes. Exclusively. That\u2019s a great thing for organizations, too!<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The organizational culture at Dell is based on the <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">connected workplace<\/span><\/i> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">principle, which is proven to provide better work-life balance for their remote workers. People can do their best work in a way that works best for them. \u00a0<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Jacob Lee, a recruiting manager from <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">EssaysOnTime<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, shares his experience with remote employment: \u201c<em>If I had to describe this method with one word, it would be <\/em><\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">flexible<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><em>. If you organize your time well, you have space for everything. Yoga in the morning? Done. Making sandwiches for the kids? Sure. Working for five hours straight without being disturbed? That can be done, too. For recruiters, however, there\u2019s a problem: it\u2019s not easy to find people who can organize their time that well. When you manage to build a nice team and you teach them how to be responsible about the job, you\u2019re not gonna miss the daily face-to-face communication with them.<\/em>\u201d<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Now we\u2019re getting somewhere. So how do you identify truly committed remote workers? Here are 10 essential qualities to identify during the recruitment process.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2 id=\"1-highly-driven-personality\">1. Highly driven personality<\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Only a motivated person can handle the pressure of working from home. You need people who can discipline themselves. Otherwise, you\u2019ll end up with missed deadlines and below-average work (and more than likely\u00a0a very clean house!). <\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">How do you recognize a highly-driven personality? <\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When you <a href=\"https:\/\/www.zippia.com\/employer\/how-to-manage-remote-teams\/\" target=\"_blank\">interview people for a remote position<\/a>, do it via email. Send the messages during working hours (pay attention it\u2019s <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">their<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> working hours if they are positioned in a different time zone). Are they prompt with the responses? Do they clearly convey their ideas? <\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Note their passion. Highly-driven people are clearly passionate about the work they do. <\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ask about their schedule. Ask how many hours a day they can devote to the work and what volume of tasks they can cover within that timeframe. Ask for a realistic estimation and give them a test period of one week. If they perform well, you can offer a part-time or full-time position.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 id=\"2-strong-written-communication-skills\">2. Strong written communication skills<\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you\u2019re going to have a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.zippia.com\/employer\/building-remote-teams\/\" target=\"_blank\">long-distance relationship with your workers<\/a>, you\u2019ll be mostly communicating via email. Let\u2019s face it: you can\u2019t have Skype conferences every single day, simply because you want them to live with flexibility. You don\u2019t want them being bound to 2 hours skyping when they have work to do. <\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Since you\u2019ll communicate in writing, you need to make sure they understand you. For that purpose, you\u2019ll need to work on your own writing skills. However, you also need people who can respond clearly. This skill is easy to recognize <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.zippia.com\/employer\/why-recruiting-should-be-just-as-much-about-candidates-interviewing-you-about-your-business\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">during the hiring process<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, so pay attention to it. <\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You\u2019ll be getting emails from remote workers on a daily basis. The last thing you need is one incomprehensive message after another.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2 id=\"3-independent-decision-making-capacity\">3. Independent decision making capacity<\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Of course you want your workers to follow instructions. You\u2019ll provide clear instructions. Then what? Do you want getting endless messages because the workers aren\u2019t able to make a simple decision by themselves?<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Here\u2019s a test for you to make: give the candidates a test job with one link that doesn\u2019t work because you removed one character from it. If some of the candidates are able to find the same source of content online and include it in the way you instructed \u2013 those are the ones who have ability for troubleshooting, problem solving, and decision making.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2 id=\"4-organisational-skills\">4. Organisational skills<\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Here\u2019s another test you can give during the hiring process: ask the candidates to complete an extremely urgent task, which is rather large. Give them a deadline that\u2019s shorter than the one you usually give for these kinds of tasks. Instruct them to keep track of the way they spend their time. Some of them will make it. <\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ask them to send you a sample of their working day. If you get a clear plan that shows the working progress through stages, that\u2019s your perfect remote worker right there.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2 id=\"5-ability-to-prioritise\">5. Ability to prioritise<\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When you give a few tasks to a remote worker, they have to organize their time and meet the damn deadlines. The problem is: sometimes <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">everything <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">is important. The worker\u2019s child may get sick and, of course, treating them will be a priority. In a situation like that, you need them to stay focused and tell you about their inability to handle the tasks ASAP. They should do everything in their power to cover the gap in work.<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Tell your workers that whatever problems they encounter, they can count on you. Ask them to inform you about their inability to cover the work as soon as they find out about it.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2 id=\"6-attention-to-detail\">6. Attention to detail<\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This quality is easy to spot. Send a task description that\u2019s extremely long and demanding. If, for example, you\u2019re asking a freelance writer to complete content for the blog, make sure to describe the style you want. Throw in an unusual demand, such as right-aligned images in left-aligned text. Then, pay attention to the way they followed the instructions. <\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Also, check the way they formatted the document. Don\u2019t instruct them on anything; just note if they make it clean and visually appealing.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2 id=\"7-accountability\">7. Accountability<\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Chances are, you\u2019ll have a request for revisions at one point or another. That\u2019s why you need workers who take responsibility about the quality they deliver. If they don\u2019t meet your expectations, they should stand behind their work and improve it.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2 id=\"8-reliability\">8. Reliability<\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Remote workers should be visible to you. Even if they have an entire month to complete a task, that doesn\u2019t mean they shouldn\u2019t respond to your messages and accept an additional urgent task when necessary. <\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It\u2019s even more important for them to be <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">there<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> for the team. If one of the team members is not able to complete their work for any reason, another team member should step forward and accept the additional payment. Needless to say, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.zippia.com\/employer\/7-effective-ways-to-reward-your-employees\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">you\u2019ll reward them well<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> for being reliable.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2 id=\"9-tech-saviness\">9. Tech saviness<\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Even if you\u2019re not hiring remote workers for web design, you still need them to be sharp and informed when it comes to technology. When hiring someone, make sure they can manage to complete the task without having an IT department right by their side. And make sure they are comfortable using at least a few of the plethora of cloud based communication tools out there.<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ask them to list specific technical skills, such as mastery of HTML, CSS, WordPress, or any other program that\u2019s important for the job. Then, give them a trial task to test those skills.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2 id=\"10-resourcefulness\">10. Resourcefulness<\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You don\u2019t need stiff, rigid remote workers who only stick to what they know. Sure, these people can follow instructions, but they don\u2019t bring a breath of fresh air along with their\u00a0work. You need people with a passion for learning. They should be motivated to educate themselves and work on their professional development every single day. They don\u2019t have to commute to work, so they have that extra time needed for personal growth. <\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Why is this important? When you have workers who are constantly learning, it means you have <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">resourceful<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> people. They find creative ways to bring new knowledge into the same old tasks they complete. <\/span><\/p>\n<p>Do you think there are other important qualities that a remote worker should possess? Share your wisdom; we all want to get more insights.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>How do you identify truly committed remote workers? Here are 10 essential qualities to identify during the recruitment process.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":279,"featured_media":10072,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[23,15,73,10],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v20.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>10 Essential Qualities to Spot in Effective Remote Workers<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"How do you identify truly committed remote workers? 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