The Difference of Having a Remote Team During a Virus Outbreak

The world is experiencing an unprecedented slowdown in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. Numerous companies have temporarily closed, sending employees home to self-quarantine and prevent the further spread of the virus. The economic impact of coronavirus has put the world on a standstill. Companies are on shutdown, airlines are having massive layoffs, sales and marketing efforts are on pause, causing a global economic crisis, with an expected loss of at least $1 trillion.

But not all businesses can afford to go on shutdown as countless companies and industries rely on them. Outsourcing companies and remote teams provide essential services such as customer service, communications, medical insurance processing and others that are critical at this time. As such, having an integrated remote team helping your business with specific operations is crucial to ensuring productivity and seamless service for your customers.

Remote teams support business continuity

Building a remote team is a strategic initiative to avoid redundancies within your Australian business. By reducing your expenses, you can retain critical staff and remain efficient and fully operational.

Employing a remote team is beneficial to most businesses, big or small, as remote staff help them continue operations. A remote team operates in a different site across the world, at strategic working hours for a smooth transition of responsibilities. Should one site be compromised by the coronavirus, another site in a different country could still support operations without much disruption.

ASW’s remote teams allow businesses all over the world the flexibility to continue operating, preventing further loss. These teams are comprised of results-oriented professionals who share the common goal of meeting deadlines, standards and high-quality service. Despite the economic impact of coronavirus, we’re thrilled our remote teams have been able to power through and maintain business continuity.

ASW offices are equipped with state-of-the-art technology, software, and project management systems to accomplish all given tasks. Various communication tools enable collaboration and deliver results within reasonable timeframes and differ depending on the client’s needs.

Has there ever been a better time to review your operational costs and leverage capability?

One of the advantages we’ve seen from the virus outbreak is many businesses adopting a work from home policy. There is big upside to this — aside from the risk mitigation from the virus, the opportunity for staff to spend more time with family, less time commuting, reduced fuel and parking costs whilst also giving credibility to scaling down the commercial footprint in the office. It could be a great time to consider sub-letting the office.

The other advantage is adopting cutting-edge technology and ensuring businesses move to the cloud, allowing for a more agile working environment. The ability to connect via video conferencing tools such as Zoom, Teams, Slack and Skype has never been easier. It’s now also a time to identify which key functions in the business are critical revenue generators and how to optimize these functions to ensure they run more efficiently.

On the other hand, it also means looking at the functions that are cost inhibitors. Do these need to be superseded by new technology or more cost-effective staffing solutions? Interestingly 90% of ASW clients have managed to scale their Australian team size by leveraging from cost-effective remote talent. In a world where everyone is talking about reducing headcount, ASW is of the strong belief that we’re able to increase the Australian working landscape by helping businesses sustain cost-effective operational costs — the challenge we now face is keeping Australian business open so they have the opportunity to scale up again locally when the storm passes.

Safety and security measures for remote teams

Everyone is susceptible to contracting the virus, and companies like ASW are committed to implementing cleanliness and safety measures to protect your remote team.

Mandatory temperature checks are found at building entrances to identify any persons who have symptoms of the virus. These people are immediately sent to medical consultation to address medical needs and rule out the possibility of an infection.

All ASW offices have the necessary hygiene staples including, alcohol, tissue, soaps, and sanitising liquids, especially in high traffic common areas. All office spaces are sanitised and disinfected before and after every shift.

Remote teams are also advised to perform all precautions to stay safe – practice social distancing, remain indoors as much as possible, wash their hands, and wear masks when necessary. We also have in-house medical practitioners to attend to any immediate health concerns and prescribe medicine at any time. More importantly, there are contingency plans in place in the event of an emergency.

The ASW Commitment

ASW is dedicated to providing a premium service to our partners and helping cushion the economic impact of the coronavirus on Australian businesses. Our remote teams provide long-term solutions and add value to our partners, allowing them to save on labour costs for high quality performance, and cope and recover during these challenging times. We know that operations need to continue so your customers get the same excellent service they normally would. Likewise, we are also committed to protecting our remote teams so they can continue to work and live as normally and safely as possible.

Future proof your business by building your own remote team. Contact ASW Global today.