In today’s episode, I am interviewing Nathan Hirsch about remote work; the challenges faced when working remotely, managing a remote team, and the tools used to do so. 

Nathan is the co-founder of FreeeUp - a marketplace that connects business owners with the very best virtual assistants. 

Nathan is also an entrepreneur, currently working on Outsourceschool.com, which is a course that will help business owners and entrepreneurs interview, hire, and train virtual assistants. 

What would you say is the biggest challenge most companies are facing because they’ve had to go remote? 04:29
Nathan says he looks at it in two parts; boundaries and communication. 
It’s important to realize that there are boundaries when working from home. It’s not acceptable to contact an employee or employer late at night or over weekends about something that could have waited until morning or Monday. 
The second point is communication; you need to sit down with your team and establish what channels of communication will be used, and how you will use them. 
He explains their way of communication; they use emails during business hours, and he expects a response within those hours. But if something is urgent, emails won't be effective. They use Slack as the day to day communication channel. 
They use slack for updates during the day, meetings, and basic communication. They use Whatsapp and Viber for emergencies; when you really need help and there is no other way of reaching the other person. 

What expectations have you set for employees, for them to be completely present? (11:25)
Nathan says for him, a quiet working environment is important. 
It comes down to being productive; he doesn’t care whether you’re sitting at a desk or on your couch, he just doesn’t want his employees to be distracted, especially during meetings and phone calls. 
There are companies that will come and check on your workspace at home, and it is their right to do so. Some companies are more serious than others, probably depending on where they are on the spectrum; whether they’re a corporate or a startup company. 
One thing they’ve noticed from virtual assistants, especially in the Philippines, is that you can’t take care of 4 children and still be productive. 
If you are working from home, you need someone to handle distractions, whether it be children or any other responsibilities, and you need to make that clear from the beginning. 

As an extrovert, how do you handle being alone all day? 16:11
Nathan says he actually considers himself an introvert, only because he doesn’t necessarily gain energy from big crowds. He usually needs to rest and recoup after interacting with a lot of people. 
His dogs made the transition very easy for him. Also, he has a business partner he enjoys working with, even though they both work remotely. He says his fiance is also home with him. 
However, when he was home alone, he was very strict on structure and routine; he worked from 7 AM to 9 AM, then went to the gym for an hour, came back and worked on podcasts or webinars. By the time that’s done he can wrap up his day, maybe finish off a project or have a meeting with his team. 
Working from home is not for everyone, but if you are up for the challenge you need to set a routine to keep your sanity. 

If someone was concerned about having important conversations, like having to fire a person, while not being in the same room as the other person, what would you tell them? (21:28)
Nathan says one of the things they teach in their course, is the correct way of letting an employee go. keep in mind that he is only referring to VA’s; if he were to break up a personal relationship he would take a whole different approach. 
When there is a situation like this with VA’s in the Philippines, he simply sends them a message. Before doing so, he gets into the right mentality; being upfront and professional, but still nice. 
He tells himself that regardless of the direction the conversation will go in, he sticks to his point. He handles the situation professionally but does so over Viber or Whatsapp as he removes this employee from the other channels. 
His recommendation would be to stick to the facts; be clear and direct, and let them know that the decision is final. Be a professional person and move on.

What tools have you used? What systems and boundaries do you have in place for working with a remote team? (26:14)
Nathan says they keep it very basic with Google docs and DropBox, and they are currently using Vimeo to film a course. 
You can give certain people access to view files while giving another person access to edit it. 
He is big on building trust and relationships, so he has given people access to credit cards and banking details. According to him, there is not much you can do with those details anyway; if you steal his credit card, he can file a charge, get the card, and the money-back and fire that person. 
The average virtual assistant is much more interested in building a relationship with you than they are with stealing or jeopardizing your information. 
He adds that you should definitely make use of something like LastPass, but in time you will have to build trust and grant access within reason. 

Connect with Nathan on LinkedIn

In today&rsquo;s episode, I am interviewing Nathan Hirsch about remote work; the challenges faced when working remotely, managing a remote team, and the tools used to do so.&nbsp;
Nathan is the co-founder of FreeeUp - a marketplace that connects business owners with the very best virtual assistants.&nbsp;
Nathan is also an entrepreneur, currently working on Outsourceschool.com, which is a course that will help business owners and entrepreneurs interview, hire, and train virtual assistants.&nbsp;
What would you say is the biggest challenge most companies are facing because they&rsquo;ve had to go remote? 04:29
<ul>
<li>Nathan says he looks at it in two parts; boundaries and communication.&nbsp;</li>
<li>It&rsquo;s important to realize that there are boundaries when working from home. It&rsquo;s not acceptable to contact an employee or employer late at night or over weekends about something that could have waited until morning or Monday.&nbsp;</li>
<li>The second point is communication; you need to sit down with your team and establish what channels of communication will be used, and how you will use them.&nbsp;</li>
<li>He explains their way of communication; they use emails during business hours, and he expects a response within those hours. But if something is urgent, emails won't be effective. They use Slack as the day to day communication channel.&nbsp;</li>
<li>They use slack for updates during the day, meetings, and basic communication. They use Whatsapp and Viber for emergencies; when you really need help and there is no other way of reaching the other person.&nbsp;</li>
</ul>
What expectations have you set for employees, for them to be completely present? (11:25)
<ul>
<li>Nathan says for him, a quiet working environment is important.&nbsp;</li>
<li>It comes down to being productive; he doesn&rsquo;t care whether you&rsquo;re sitting at a desk or on your couch, he just doesn&rsquo;t want his employees to be distracted, especially during meetings and phone calls.&nbsp;</li>
<li>There are companies that will come and check on your workspace at home, and it is their right to do so. Some companies are more serious than others, probably depending on where they are on the spectrum; whether they&rsquo;re a corporate or a startup company.&nbsp;</li>
<li>One thing they&rsquo;ve noticed from virtual assistants, especially in the Philippines, is that you can&rsquo;t take care of 4 children and still be productive.&nbsp;</li>
<li>If you are working from home, you need someone to handle distractions, whether it be children or any other responsibilities, and you need to make that clear from the beginning.&nbsp;</li>
</ul>
As an extrovert, how do you handle being alone all day? 16:11
<ul>
<li>Nathan says he actually considers himself an introvert, only because he doesn&rsquo;t necessarily gain energy from big crowds. He usually needs to rest and recoup after interacting with a lot of people.&nbsp;</li>
<li>His dogs made the transition very easy for him. Also, he has a business partner he enjoys working with, even though they both work remotely. He says his fiance is also home with him.&nbsp;</li>
<li>However, when he was home alone, he was very strict on structure and routine; he worked from 7 AM to 9 AM, then went to the gym for an hour, came back and worked on podcasts or webinars. By the time that&rsquo;s done he can wrap up his day, maybe finish off a project or have a meeting with his team.&nbsp;</li>
<li>Working from home is not for everyone, but if you are up for the challenge you need to set a routine to keep your sanity.&nbsp;</li>
</ul>
If someone was concerned about having important conversations, like having to fire a person, while not being in the same room as the other person, what would you tell them? (21:28)
<ul>
<li>Nathan says one of the things they teach in their course, is the correct way of letting an employee go. keep in mind that he is only referring to VA&rsquo;s; if he were to break up a personal relationship he would take a whole different approach.&nbsp;</li>
<li>When there is a situation like this with VA&rsquo;s in the Philippines, he simply sends them a message. Before doing so, he gets into the right mentality; being upfront and professional, but still nice.&nbsp;</li>
<li>He tells himself that regardless of the direction the conversation will go in, he sticks to his point. He handles the situation professionally but does so over Viber or Whatsapp as he removes this employee from the other channels.&nbsp;</li>
<li>His recommendation would be to stick to the facts; be clear and direct, and let them know that the decision is final. Be a professional person and move on.</li>
</ul>
What tools have you used? What systems and boundaries do you have in place for working with a remote team? (26:14)
<ul>
<li>Nathan says they keep it very basic with Google docs and DropBox, and they are currently using Vimeo to film a course.&nbsp;</li>
<li>You can give certain people access to view files while giving another person access to edit it.&nbsp;</li>
<li>He is big on building trust and relationships, so he has given people access to credit cards and banking details. According to him, there is not much you can do with those details anyway; if you steal his credit card, he can file a charge, get the card, and the money-back and fire that person.&nbsp;</li>
<li>The average virtual assistant is much more interested in building a relationship with you than they are with stealing or jeopardizing your information.&nbsp;</li>
<li>He adds that you should definitely make use of something like LastPass, but in time you will have to build trust and grant access within reason.&nbsp;</li>
</ul>
Connect with Nathan on <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/nathanhirsch/">LinkedIn</a>

Automate, Delegate, Eliminate is a weekly podcast where we seek to educate entrepreneurs on the best ways to take back the time that can then be used for the things that can make a real impact in their businesses.

Host Will Christensen and his guests will pick apart the processes they use to decide whether a process needs to be automated, delegated, or simply eliminated from the business process altogether. Which of those processes worked, which needed some serious tweaking and which the guests are still working on today. 

Learn how some of the greatest minds in e-commerce are dealing with business issues, how they got to where they are today and some of the software they love to use.

Automate, Delegate, Eliminate is a weekly podcast where we seek to educate entrepreneurs on the best ways to take back the time that can then be used for the things that can make a real impact in their businesses.
Host Will Christensen and his guests will pick apart the processes they use to decide whether a process needs to be automated, delegated, or simply eliminated from the business process altogether. Which of those processes worked, which needed some serious tweaking and which the guests are still working on today.&nbsp;
Learn how some of the greatest minds in e-commerce are dealing with business issues, how they got to where they are today and some of the software they love to use.

Automate, Delegate, Eliminate

Automate, Delegate, Eliminate is a weekly podcast where we seek to educate entrepreneurs on the best ways to take back time that can then be used for the things that can make a real impact in their businesses.

Host Will Christensen and his guests will pick apart the processes they use to decide whether a process needs to be automated, delegated or simply eliminated from the business process altogether. Which of those processes worked, which needed some serious tweaking and which the guests are still working on today. 

Learn how some of the greatest minds in ecommerce are dealing with business issues, how they got to where they are today and some of the software they love to use.

Automate, Delegate, Eliminate is a weekly podcast where we seek to educate entrepreneurs on the best ways to take back time that can then be used for the things that can make a real impact in their businesses.
Host Will Christensen and his guests will pick apart the processes they use to decide whether a process needs to be automated, delegated or simply eliminated from the business process altogether. Which of those processes worked, which needed some serious tweaking and which the guests are still working on today.&nbsp;
Learn how some of the greatest minds in ecommerce are dealing with business issues, how they got to where they are today and some of the software they love to use.

In today’s episode, I am interviewing Nathan Hirsch about remote work; the challenges faced when working remotely, managing a remote team, and the tools used to do so.   Nathan is the co-founder of FreeeUp - a marketplace that connects business owners with the very best virtual assistants.

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