How to Effectively Manage Digital Nomads: 7 Tips for Employers

Updated August 2024

More and more millennials are trading traditional career advancement for digital nomadism. For the first time in history, being a digital nomad has made it possible to travel comfortably on your own terms without running out of funds or turning to credit cards. It’s no surprise that 27% of surveyed workers said they plan on pursuing the nomad career path in the next two-to-three years. Nevertheless, this work arrangement can be a difficult concept for employers to grasp, even as the digital nomad horde continues to grow.

Therefore, a productive avenue for hiring managers and remote employers isn’t to ask why these workers don’t want career advancement in traditional methods. It’s to find out ways to use each nomad’s strengths and diversity to streamline business processes and increase the bottom line. Here are some tips for finding, managing, and retaining digital nomads as an integral part of your team.

1. Know What Traits to Look for When Hiring a Digital Nomad

Before you worry about managing a team of digital nomads, you first need to find them. But that’s not as hard as you might think. Many digital nomads have a strong online presence to bolster their freelance career or employment opportunities. Through LinkedIn, Facebook, or personal websites, you can see a nomad’s portfolio, testimonials, work experience, and personality. These mediums are a superb starting point when you begin the search-and-hire process.

Beneficial Digital Nomad Traits

Not everyone that hits the digital nomad trail finds success. Some suffer from loneliness or the fear of missing out (FOMO). Others don’t find work-life balance and ultimately burn out. Many more can’t make the transition for a myriad of other reasons. That’s why, as a manager or employer, you need to dig deep to find the true personality and beneficial traits of your nomad applicants. These characteristics often include:

Self-awareness: It’s the “why” of a digital nomad. Why are they doing what they do? Is it to stave off responsibility and reality? Or is it to grow both personally and professionally?
Time Management: The ability to adhere to deadlines or take on extra work on short notice is a godsend. Instead of relying on employees who only work 9 to 5, you can find a person who’s willing to work at off-hours to get the job done. Plus, you always want to know if a person can complete projects on time.
Resourcefulness: Newbie digital nomads may not possess the resourcefulness you need to warrant hiring them. In an office setting, workers can ask another department to help them with tech issues or other troubleshooting. This option is far less likely for digital nomads. For this reason, you need someone who can use their resourcefulness to present solutions instead of excuses or problems.
Adaptable: When a client changes what they want at the last minute, you don’t need excuses. You need solutions. You need a digital nomad who can roll with the punches. The more adaptable they are, the more inherent value they provide to your company.

This isn’t a clear-cut or exhaustive list of all the beneficial attributes of a digital nomad, but it gives you a viable starting point. Use your company culture and job description to help you discover other traits you seek in a digital nomad employee, contractor, or freelancer. This will result in a trustworthy, malleable troop of manageable digital nomads.

Questions to Ask

Once you’ve identified a potential candidate, take it a step further and organize an interview. During the interview process, ensure that the digital nomad is a team player and someone you can count on in the long term. Make sure to ask individuals some variation of these questions in your initial screening or interview process:

What are your strengths and weaknesses? (This may seem like a cliché question, but their response can help you gauge their critical thinking and problem-solving prowess.)
Have you worked on deadlines before?
Where are you located? What time zone is that in?
What is your niche within the industry?
Do you have any other work-related experience that’s relevant to the job?
How long have you been a digital nomad/remote worker?
What do you like to do in your free time?

By asking these questions, you assess a candidate’s skills as both a worker and a digital nomad. You also get a better picture of how they fit the role you are looking to fill. Personal questions, such as what they like to do in their free time, can also help you see if they are in tune with your company culture. It may be a digital office, but the importance of gelling in an online forum or office is every bit as crucial as brick-and-mortar workplaces. Also, don’t forget to brush-up on questions that digital nomads may ask you. Having a satisfactory answer may mean the difference between landing a preferred candidate or missing out on the opportunity.

2. Set Clear Expectations When Managing Digital Nomads

Nothing’s worse for the digital nomad-employer relationship than a lack of expectations. If your nomad lacks direction and drive, the outlook for your success is not so good. Before you post job vacancies, determine what expectations you may have of potential candidates and write them down. Written expectations are far more concrete and straightforward than verbal ones made over the phone or a video chat. This will make managing digital nomads easier before you even begin the onboarding process.

3. Improve Your Communication

Managing any remote worker, let alone a digital nomad, requires constant communication. You need a regular routine when it comes to communication, or you risk losing control of the situation. Thankfully, technology makes this easier than ever. Through instant messaging and collaboration tools such as Slack or Asana, you can provide pertinent information on the status of projects or any changes to the status quo. Videoconferencing on a regular basis, provided your team isn’t too big, can also allow you to put faces to names and connect on a more individualized basis. The key to communication is to make it as routine as possible. Bringing digital nomads into the fold will allow them to blossom and feel like they’re part of something bigger, even if you never meet face to face.

4. Respond to Digital Nomads You’re Managing in a Timely Fashion

When digital nomads are in a time zone that makes instant communication difficult, try your best to respond in a timely fashion, even if you’re experiencing a 12-hour time difference. The idea here is that your digital nomad crew will feel more welcome if you treat them as you would any other employee. In other instances, the information is crucial for the completion of a project.

If you blow them off for other priorities, it could possibly deter them from taking the next step. This puts them in a black hole where they can’t finish a task, and they aren’t getting the answers they need without the thought in the back of their mind that they’re bugging you. Whenever possible, prioritize messages and emails from digital nomads. This two-way communication enables them to work more diligently while you enjoy heightened productivity from your free-spirited adventurer.

5. Understand the Digital Nomad Situation

Managing digital nomads when you don’t understand the digital nomad lifestyle is tantamount to a parent who reprimands their child for dyeing their hair. Instead of trying to rationalize the scenario, realize that a person who makes such a leap of faith has a tremendous upside. They’re hard-working risk-takers, who must often put aside adventure to take the reins of their professional career. Try to be supportive. You never quite know what is going on in their lives or where they are currently located.

6. Keep an Eye on Them…But Don’t Micro-Manage

Digital nomads have a certain laissez-faire attitude to them, but that doesn’t mean they’re poor workers. What digital nomads don’t want or need is for you to micro-manage them at every turn. The idea is to remain fully aware of how you’re managing them. If you’re emailing or messaging your team of nomads about every little detail, you may want to pump the brakes.

Conversely, you should also keep a watchful eye. Wanderlust can strike many digital nomads, causing them to fall behind on projects or scramble to finish a task at the last minute, which both result in sub-par work. This may be the exception to the rule in most cases, but like with any employee, you can reduce your own level of stress by getting updates from your workers. Collaborative software can make this even easier, allowing you to get real-time updates as employees or contractors move along on a project.

7. Make Digital Nomads You’re Managing Feel Like They Are Part of the Team

Loneliness is a major downfall for many digital nomads. For months or years, they may have no co-workers or contacts outside of a handful of email addresses or a few instant messages. While you could look at this situation as one of their own choosing, inclusion is a far better option. Giving them positive feedback and letting them share in the spirit of successes or holidays will have a profound effect on their views, and possibly, their work ethic toward your company. Just a note, a gift, or congratulations should enable you to foster a healthy, productive, and long-term work relationship.

As the demand for work-life balance continues to grow, the digital nomad workforce will expand. For managers, employers, and team leaders, discovering how effectively managing digital nomads looks for their companies is a revelation that can reap plenty of benefits. Rather than fight the change, embrace it. You may just find your army of digital nomads is every bit as capable as onsite workers, and often, at a fraction of the price. That’s a win-win for everybody.

What are your tips for managing digital nomads? Connect with Virtual Vocations on Facebook, X (formerly known as Twitter), LinkedIn, Instagram, and YouTube to share your thoughts and tips. We’d love to hear from you!