Joshua Chin—CEO and Co-Founder of Chronos Agency—was interviewed on the How We Solve podcast where eCommerce entrepreneurs share their experiences in the world of digital marketing. In this episode, the topic revolved around the misunderstood simplicity of remote team management and how beneficial it is when done right.
Here, Josh shared his experience in bringing his team together and building his company from scratch. How did Josh find the talents he needed? And how is he able to manage his many—and mostly remote—teams? You’ll learn all about this in his interview.
From a Side Hustle to More than 60-Strong in just 3 Years
When it came to recruiting the dream team, Josh didn’t put up ads or distribute flyers in crowded intersections. Instead, he went out of his way. He personally searched for the talents who were the best fit to join him on his email marketing escapade. Josh started by focusing on where he was, what regions were within reach, and how far he could reach.
He first focused his talent search efforts within his local region. Through this, he was able to build a small team. Later, he expanded his efforts. He started building a solid remote workforce. This decision was born from a practical need—minimum cost. He also highlighted that this opened up a whole new pool of talents to fish in.
Josh was able to efficiently search for the talents he was looking for through hiring portals like LinkedIn and Facebook. And over time, his employment efforts have expanded out of his home country, Singapore, to Malaysia, the Philippines, and just recently to the far west like North America.
Your talent pool expands significantly when you aren’t tied to geography.
—Joshua Chin
Keeping a Remote Team on Track
Josh pointed out that managing a remote team is not far from managing an office-based team. The only major difference was the acquisition of talents.
According to Josh, his decision to expand into remote employment minimized the costs of having and maintaining an office. Currently though, Chronos Agency has two physical offices (one in Singapore and one in Malaysia). That’s how much Chronos has grown since 2017!
So when it comes to remote team management, Josh implemented the KPI system. This gives his remote teams clear objectives they need to meet within a given time period. This emphasizes his point earlier on how a remote team is no different from an office-based one.
Other than KPI tracking, project and time management tools like Click Up and Google Calendar streamlined the remote team management experience even further. Each department down to each individual would track their own tasks through Click Up. While Google Calendar helped with synchronizing different teams from different regions to important appointments like company-wide meetings, team meetings, and 1-on-1s.
Overcommunication is key
Communication is also key to maintaining coordination between remote teams from different regions in the world. Josh’s favorite application for company communication is Slack. In fact, he has used it since the beginning and it is still used today by the whole company.
Regular video meetings via Zoom would also take place. Even company-wide meetings, team meetings, and even intimate 1-on-1 meetings are done through video calls. Other than the usual planning and updates, these video chat meetings are necessary for maintaining intimate interaction among team members.
Josh emphasized that having remote teams is not as complicated as it may seem. With the help of Louis Teo—COO and Co-Founder of Chronos Agency—along with the talents he hired to help with team management, his role has evolved into being more of the advisor of the company, the overseer of KPIs, and the seeker of more partnership opportunities.
Managing a remote team is actually more freeing for entrepreneurs—because it enable them to manage objectives & KPIs.
—Joshua Chin
Now, Chronos Agency continues to grow. Other household brands like Klaviyo and Clutch are starting to recognize Chronos Agency as a global leader in the email marketing industry.
So if you need help with your email marketing strategies, don’t hesitate to schedule a free 30-minute strategy meeting with us!
Are you looking for the whole episode? You can listen to the whole interview on the How We Solve podcast by clicking here.
