How to Evaluate Remote IT Workers
Posted May 16th, 2016
More companies are now allowing employees to work remotely. They are finding a number of benefits to the arrangement – increases in productivity, lower expenses, and better work-life balance.
Because of the nature of the tech industry, it is particularly suited to this kind of work arrangement. However, management experts in the IT industry caution that there are several factors you need to consider when hiring someone to work remotely.
Here are a few things to keep in mind.
1. The person’s suitability for remote work.
You will naturally question the person about his or her knowledge, skills and experience. But you need to find out how the person will handle remote work as well. For example, you would want to find out from a remote project manager how he keeps people on task, what his communication strategies are for handling disagreements, and what he does to keep up with current trends in the industry.
Ask for specific, concrete examples. You should also check references, and get names of people who worked for the person in the past and ask them, would you work for this person again?
2. Test their performance
Give the person a little project to do.
You can conduct it through email, if that will be the primary form of communication for the job. You can find out how well the person follows instructions, what kinds of questions they ask to clarify the task, how well the person understands the user sets, how the person organizes information, how well the person adheres to a schedule, and how well the person portrays the vision of the company into a user interface.
3. Write out what you expect
Goals and expectations may change, but you should still write them out so they are clear and definite. You should record the number of hours the person is expected to work each day, when and how often the person needs to check in, scheduling procedures, and especially what is expected as far as deadlines and quality of work.
4. Get a project management system
This will really help to keep things organized and under control. A project management system can help you track hours worked and efficiency of employees, send out reminders, check progress, help to share customer information, and integrate accounting software.
If your company is looking for science and technology professionals in the San Francisco Bay area who can do the job, you should contact Bayside Solutions. At Bayside, we specialize in the science and technology industry. We know what companies in this area need and how to evaluate people to provide the right fit. Give Bayside Solutions a call today.
