Implementation of remote working
Research findings, guidelines, tools and policy for remote transitionImplementation of remote working
Research findings, guidelines, tools and policy for remote transitionSamenvatting
Limacon is a marketing agency that provides services in marketing, sales, event management and business digitalization. The company consists of 21 employees, 5 of which are the managers of the five main departments of the company – marketing, sales, events, web and administration. The target customers of Limacon are in the B2B market with a focus on production and distribution, e-commerce and SaaS companies on the Bulgarian and the International market.
The monumental shifts of the past year towards remote working affected countries, industries, companies and individuals. Remote work is a new trend that creates a need for awareness, resources, tools, policies and new company operations (William, 2021). As a result of the global trends around remote working and the global pandemic that was a driving force to it, the management team of Limacon started to look for ways to embrace this shift and set a goal for the company to transition to fully remote working by 2022. The goal is to optimize Limacon’s processes, create a productive working environment for their employees and benefit their clients. This defines a need for findings on remote work for Bulgaria, supporting guidelines for optimizing the remote processes, digital tools to support remote operations and a way to organize the whole process in the form of a policy.
The research was drawn so that these needs are satisfied. The research consists of desk research, qualitative and quantitative research in the form of a survey with open-ended and close-ended question as well as interviews with the decision-making representatives of the management team of Limacon. 295 survey responses were collected and 3 interviews were conducted. The findings were designated according to the research questions based on the needs and the problem outlined.
The preliminary research outlined global and general context elements such as economic development, geographic location, cultural factors and activities’ potential, drivers in particular remote work trend, freelance workforce growth and the COVID-19 pandemic. Moreover, benefits for employers, employees and clients revolving around lower cost, employment attractiveness, personal gains and lower risk were outlined. Some challenges for remote work such as legal issues, communication and distraction, work performance and company culture were listed. While as per the field research statistical findings the Bulgarian trends for remote work match the global preliminary findings of the desk research.
The guidelines for both employers are setting goals, assigning responsibilities, communicating standard operation procedures (SOPs), ensuring regular checkups in order to overcome the main issues of remote working. The general guidelines for employees revolve around their workspace and technical conditions, preventing distractions and establishing habits.
A list of tools is suggested to support the remote working processes of the departments in Limacon. The suggestions are for Administration - document signing and scanning, for Human Resources - real-time and video communication as well as rewards and recognition, for Sales - engagement, sales dialer and remote prospecting, social media management software for Marketing, Customer Relationship Management software for CRM, for Project management - project management software, for IT – security tools, for Finance and accounting - remote accounting software and Additional suggestions to support remote operations.
A Remote Work Policy template was provided based on the needs of Limacon. The template is to be implemented by Limacon as well as provided to their partners and clients in cases when needed to further sport their business optimizations and further digitalization.
The best strategy for Limacon to transition smoothly to remote work is to increase the awareness on the topic of remote work within the company as well as among their partners and customers, provide supporting materials such as guidelines and tools, set up a remote working policy.
The suggestions given to the company based on the research findings are as follows:
(1) Increase awareness of remote working
The more the public especially the SMEs in Bulgaria are familiar with remote work the more they would be ready to embrace it and benefit from it. The campaign should be aimed towards SMEs as Limacon’s target clients and partners fall into this category and can be organized as a designated campaign by the marketing department of the company.
(2) Implement the guidelines and digital tools
The list of guidelines, resources and tools that benefit the remote processes in a company, provided by the research is to be implemented and put into a test run by the fully remote transition of Limacon in 2022.
(3) Set up a Remote Work Policy
Setting up a company-specific policy based on the template provided by this research would guarantee compliance with laws and regulations, would establish a company culture, structure and routine and would ensure quality of work.
(4) Create an event on the topic of remote work
Organizing an online event to present the findings of the research to the customers and partners of Limacon would be a considerable opportunity, a source of lead generation and a chance to present the expansion of the company’s expertise.
This recommendation has been already put in place, as an online event is in the process of being organized. The event aims to increase awareness on the topic and familiarize the public with this resource that Limacon would be providing to its customers.
(5) Create remote work operations service
A long term recommendation is to create a new service targeting companies in transition to remote work or completely remotely operating. This service is an entirely new business opportunity that would increase the customer potential, would increase the brand recognition beyond the current services and would give Limacon a bigger market share as well as better positioning in the national and international market.
The findings of the research have been presented to the company in the form of a Remote Work Guide. The guide is a 25 pages long PDF file that contains the context elements, drivers, benefits and challenges as well as the guidelines, tools and policy template. It is presented in an attractive visual form and intended to be shared with the team of Limacon, sent out to a designated list of survey participants and provided as an additional resource to current and future clients and partners.
Organisatie | HZ University of Applied Sciences |
Opleiding | International Business |
Afdeling | Domein Business, Vitality & Hospitality |
Partner | Limacon LTD, Plovdiv, Bulgarije |
Datum | 2021-06-22 |
Type | Bachelor |
Taal | Engels |