Author: Adam_Admin

As the majority of the workforce transitions to working from home and we rely on the digital world to connect with our colleagues – employers and employees alike – we should consider the future possibilities for recruitment and a digital workplace. A few terms like “remote team” and “virtual team” are constantly being thrown around but what exactly do they mean and how can you incorporate them into your own workplace?

What is a remote team?

A remote team is composed of workers who work together on one project while geographically distanced either one another or the rest of the business. This does not have to mean that remote teams and workers are working from home, rather includes people working from different cities and even countries.

A remote team of workers is beneficial for businesses which are looking to improve employee retention – as employees are more likely to stay at a business where they can conveniently get to work. Opening up your recruitment process to form a remote team also means you have a wider range of talent to choose from as you are no longer limited to your local area as you would with commuting employees.

However, remote teams may pose a problem if your business does not have the adequate technology, coordination system and monitoring facilities to reproduce or surpass the productivity levels that you otherwise would have with in-house employees. When looking to incorporate a remote team into your business, be mindful of how they will communicate with each other as well as your in-house employees, and fit into your established business process.

What is a virtual team?

A virtual team consists of team members who report to different team managers or team leaders, whether working remotely or not. The term “virtual” refers to a defined system rather than anything digitalised.

Instead of a hierarchy system, virtual teams are more collaborative and are led through influence rather than a traditional up-down system. Virtual teams foster an interdependent workplace culture, where a business decision does not depend on any one person but becomes more of a unified process. Businesses which have a number of different virtual teams with a group of co-located team leaders are more cooperative and united in nature, although some may struggle with the lack of authoritative work culture in “horizontal” cross-functioning teams.

Key difference

The key difference between remote teams and virtual teams is where their members work from. Remote workers are always working away from the main company body, whereas this is not necessarily the case for virtual workers. Despite working geographically apart, remote teams operate as employees would in a traditional workplace system, in that there is some form of hierarchy. Virtual teams however refer to the concept of being an effective team with a horizontal approach, where workers can work both in-house or remotely.

Businesses now working from home can take the opportunity for employers to learn from the experience and consider new work structures coming out of COVID-19. This could mean increased flexibility for employees when it comes to working remotely. Here’s why you should consider flexible work arrangements with your employees.

Increase productivity

Flexible work arrangements can increase the productivity of employees by allowing them to work when they feel most motivated. Some people may naturally be more productive at night time and do their work then, which would not be possible with regular office hour restrictions. Remote work also saves time on excessive staff chatter and workplace distractions, such as ringing telephones and colleague drop-ins. Offering flexible work arrangements can show your employees that their lives are valued, which can lead to higher levels of performance and hard work to justify the flexible arrangements.

Reduced expenses

When employees are working from home more frequently, it means that your office doesn’t have to sustain as many people and you can reduce rent and utility expenses. This doesn’t mean that your employees have to pay too much more; the ATO has introduced an easier way of deducting work from home costs during the COVID-19 period called the ‘shortcut method.’ This allows employees to deduct 80c per hour they work from home to compensate for running expenses.

Attract talent

When your business exclusively depends on employees being physically present, it’s possible that you’re missing out on great workers who live too far or require more flexible arrangements. Modern job seekers are often on the lookout for positions that offer greater flexibility, rather than the regular 9 to 5 in the office. Highlighting workplace flexibility in your job advertisements can attract more prospective talent as physical barriers are eliminated.

Improved wellbeing

Remote work can improve the overall physical and mental wellbeing of your employees. One perk is that they may be able to be better rested and eat a proper breakfast in replacement of the morning commute. Work flexibility will also enable them to work around family commitments, which can boost their quality of life and happiness. This can raise morale and improve their quality of work by reducing the risks of fatigue and burnout.

Employee retention

Workplaces that allow employees to maintain a healthy work-life balance are more likely to retain their employees for long terms. This can benefit businesses by reducing the frequency of hiring and training periods, which can save a lot of m

Businesses with employees working remotely must consider digital security measures to protect their business assets and the safety of their employees. Phishing scams are a particularly prominent security issue, especially for employees working with their personal devices and networks that may be insecure. Phishing scams are designed to steal information through mediums such as emails or social media posts, using hackers posing as a legitimate and trustworthy source that asks for your personal details. To protect your staff from these attacks, consider the following measures:

Identification of phishing attacks
Awareness is a key factor in identifying and avoiding phishing attacks. Some key characteristics of phishing scams to look out for are:

• They are asking you to verify your bank account details and password via a link and website.
• They are asking you to confirm your details for a maintenance upgrade or as part of a security check.
• Their email or text message includes spelling or grammatical errors.
• A bank or financial institution is asking you to verify your bank account details even though you are not a customer.
• They do not include your full name in their email or text message, or have no specific addressee.

Teach staff what to do
After your employees have identified the phishing attacks, make sure that they:

• Don’t click on any suspicious links sent to them.
• Never give away their personal or business information to sources that aren’t verified.
• Block the sender of phishing emails or text messages to prevent future attacks.

Use antivirus software
Signing up for antivirus software for your employees’ devices may prove to be a worthwhile investment. Antivirus software can prevent phishing attacks from escalating and becoming damaging. When using antivirus software, it is important to keep up with regular updates to ensure security measures are up to scratch.

Encourage communication
To decrease the risks of an employee giving confidential information to phishing scammers, encourage open dialogue between staff about third party emails. If employees double-check email addresses and links amongst each other, it can help them identify what is legitimate or not. Employees can also alert other staff members when they receive a suspicious email asking for business information to spread caution.

Contracts, sales or purchases are bound to be cancelled with financial uncertainty plaguing the economy as a result of COVID-19. To help you get through this, the ATO recommends making a goods and services tax (GST) adjustment when cancellations do occur.

In the event of contracts, sales or purchase cancellation, you can make a GST decreasing adjustment. A GST decreasing adjustment refers to when you originally paid for a product or service more than the amount payable after taking in an adjustment event into account. This also means you pay less GST for the reporting period.

For further clarification, the adjustment amount is a decreasing adjustment if you claimed less for the purchase in the earlier tax period than the amount you could have claimed if the adjustment event had been taken into account.

According to the ATO, GST adjustments can be made when:

• The price of a taxable sale or purchase changes;
• Taxable sales or a purchase you’re entitled to a GST credit for is cancelled;
• You write off or recover a previously written-off bad debt, or
• The actual usage purpose of a sales or purchase differs from your personal intended usage.

To make a GST adjustment, first look over your previous BAS and paid invoices and check if you paid GST, how much you paid in GST and when you paid. After that, you can make your adjustments for the amount paid in each previously lodged activity statement, provided that you are accounting for GST on a cash basis. In the case that you account for your GST on an accruals basis, make your adjustment during the activity statement period when you become aware of it.

When you become aware of a GST adjustment opportunity, you should report it in your activity statement for your current reporting period. The ATO provides you with adjustment reporting assistance in the form of worksheets designed for purchase recording purposes (for sales, purchases, bad debts and creditable purpose) and also brief guides on their website.

Keep in mind that you only need to adjust GST if the contract, sale or purchase was reported in a previous business activity statement. There’s no need to report an adjustment if your contract, sale or purchase occurred within your current business reporting period.

Communication is a huge part of business productivity, however, businesses who have made a recent shift from face-to-face work to working remotely can find it difficult to adapt and maintain effective communication. But just because you no longer see your staff face-to-face doesn’t mean that your communication has to suffer.

Have a communication plan

Whether it’s having a set schedule for work calls and virtual meetings, or requiring employees to provide reports or updates at certain times, having a clear communication plan can help keep your staff on track with their work and with each other. It’s a good idea to keep a record of this in writing by using tools such as shared calendars or reminders.

Utilise messaging tools

Messages are a great way to communicate with your staff and keep a written account of tasks and ideas. If your business relies on teamwork, then having group messaging chats are essential to keeping everyone on the same page, otherwise, miscommunication and confusion are huge risks. This will also give employees the opportunity to chat amongst each other in a group setting as they would normally do in the workplace, and can help them retain a positive work attitude through providing a sense of collegiality and normalcy.

Provide performance feedback

With everyone working remotely, it can be hard to monitor the performance and quality of your employees. Providing performance feedback fortnightly or monthly can help your employees continue to learn and improve, as well as keeping them productive knowing that their work will be reviewed.

Recognition

Providing a positive and encouraging comment in the office seems very natural and easy to do, but when it comes to remote workers, it is easy for employers and managers to forget about taking the time to show recognition for the work employees are doing. Just like anyone else, remote employees should receive adequate praise and recognition for the high-quality work they do; without it they are likely to become disengaged.