5 Ways to Recharge Your Offshore Team

Motivation is one of the biggest challenges for remote or offshore staff. The lack of face time can lead to detachment among offshore employees. They’re more of a chipped off fragment operating in a different time zone. Here are five ways to re-energize your offshore team:

Plant your company flag offshore.

Plan an itinerary of work and play with your offshore team. Don’t just visit and drop by to make your existence known, then whisk away to spend time with other executives. It’s good to touch base with your offshore partner. But it’s your people who make sure the job gets done even without onsite supervision.

Have an open mic session.

Assign a day for a meeting where there is no bad idea or limitation to a proposal. Discuss how processes can be fine-tuned to become more efficient. A sense of purpose is what drives an employee to stay loyal in the long run. Employees are more likely to stay if their contributions are valued and their existence as an employee is validated. The best solutions often come from a fresh perspective.

Break bread.

Food is a great icebreaker and the safest way to get people on-board. Your offshore team may feel awkward around you at first. But they’ll be more inclined to interact once you’re gathered around a table with a good meal. Host a cookout or book a cooking class.

Stir up some adrenaline.

Go for an adrenaline-pumping activity that requires some group strategy. White water rafting and paintball shootout are great team-building activities that will push your staff. These are better than the usual beach outing that your Philippine offshore staff have done numerous times already.

Encourage more collaboration.

Encourage more video calls or conferencing. Have more discussions instead of the usual email and Skype messages. This will encourage your offshore team to speak out, and you’ll be driven to pay more attention. It’s easy to adopt a set-and-forget attitude when it comes to offshore outsourcing. You don’t need to micromanage your offshore staff. Focus on outcomes and treat them more than just temps.

Offshore staffing comes with a set of challenges. But these can be solved when the offshore team is treated as an extension of a company, rather than just an offshoot operation.

5 Ways to Recharge Your Offshore Team