Three years ago, I tried to hire a frontend developer for a project in Ballarat. I posted the role as “on-site only” and got exactly two applications. When I reposted as “remote-friendly, based in regional Victoria,” I had fourteen quality candidates within a week. That was the moment I stopped thinking of remote work as a compromise and started treating it as a strategy.

If you’re running a business anywhere from Geelong to Mildura and you need tech talent, here’s how to actually make remote teams work. Not the fluffy LinkedIn version - the real stuff I’ve learned from doing it.

Get Your Internet Sorted First

Nothing else matters if your connection drops during a client demo. I’ve been there - it’s embarrassing and it costs you credibility.

Here’s what you need as a minimum:

• Download speed: 50 Mbps per person for comfortable video calls and file sharing
• Upload speed: At least 20 Mbps (this is the one people forget, and it kills video quality)
• Backup connection: A 4G/5G mobile hotspot as failover. Non-negotiable.

The NBN Co business plans are decent now, and most of Ballarat, Bendigo, and Geelong have access to fibre or fixed wireless that does the job. If you’re further out - Ararat, Horsham, the Wimmera - check your actual speeds before you commit to anything. Run tests at different times of day. Peak-hour congestion is still a thing in some areas.

One tip: hardwire your main workstation with ethernet. Wi-Fi is fine for browsing, but when you’re screen-sharing a design review with five people, that wired connection makes a noticeable difference.

Pick Your Tools (and Don’t Overcomplicate It)

I’ve watched businesses burn weeks evaluating project management platforms when they could’ve just started with the basics. Here’s what actually works for a small-to-medium remote team:

• Communication: Slack or Microsoft Teams. Pick one, stick with it.
• Video calls: Zoom or Google Meet. Make sure everyone has a decent microphone - the built-in laptop ones are terrible.
• Project management: Linear, Notion, or even a shared Trello board. The tool matters less than the habit of updating it daily.
• Code and files: GitHub for code, Google Drive for documents.

The key principle: fewer tools, used consistently, beats a dozen apps that nobody opens.

Attracting Melbourne Talent to Regional Areas

This is where it gets interesting. Melbourne developers are expensive - $120k to $160k is standard for mid-level roles. But many of them are tired of commuting, tired of renting tiny apartments, tired of paying $6 for coffee.

Here’s how you pitch regional Victoria to them:

Lead with lifestyle, not salary. You probably can’t match Melbourne salaries dollar-for-dollar, but you can point out that a $110k salary in Ballarat goes further than $140k in Fitzroy. Show them property listings. Show them the commute time (ten minutes versus ninety).

Offer flexibility. Maybe they come to the office two days a week and work from home three. Build the arrangement around what works, not a policy someone copied from Google.

Don’t hide the downsides. Be upfront that Ballarat isn’t Melbourne. The restaurant scene is smaller, the nightlife is quieter. Honesty builds trust, and the people who move knowing the trade-offs tend to stay.

The Business Victoria employer resources have useful guides on structuring remote work arrangements and your obligations under Victorian employment law.

Managing Remote Workers Without Micromanaging

The biggest mistake I see regional businesses make is treating remote workers like they need constant supervision. If you hired someone you don’t trust to work unsupervised, you hired the wrong person.

What works instead:

• Daily standups - fifteen minutes max, either on video or async in Slack. What did you do yesterday? What are you doing today? Any blockers?
• Weekly one-on-ones - thirty minutes with each team member. Not status updates - actual conversations about how they’re going.
• Clear deliverables - define what “done” looks like for every task. If both sides agree on the outcome, you don’t need to monitor the process.
• Regular in-person time - bring the team together at least once a month. A lunch in Ballarat or a co-working day in Bendigo goes a long way for cohesion.

When to Bring in Specialist Help

Not everything can be handled by your in-house team, especially in emerging areas like machine learning or automation. It’s often smarter to get expert guidance rather than having your team spend months figuring things out from scratch. For more complex AI projects, working with team400.ai can save you months of trial and error.

Similarly, don’t be afraid to hire contractors for short-term needs. A freelance UX designer for a six-week project is often better value than a full-time hire you can’t fully occupy.

The Regional Advantage Nobody Talks About

Here’s something I’ve noticed after years of doing this: remote teams in regional Victoria tend to have lower turnover. In Melbourne, your developer gets headhunted every three months. In Ballarat or Bendigo, people who’ve chosen to be here aren’t looking to leave. They’ve made a lifestyle decision, and that creates loyalty you can’t buy.

That stability is worth real money. Every developer you replace costs three to six months of productivity in recruitment and ramp-up. Regional Victoria isn’t a backup option for building tech teams. For a growing number of businesses, it’s the first choice.

Dave.