It is no surprise that working from home is officially the new normal. Flexjobs recently surveyed more than 2100 who worked remotely during the pandemic and found out the majority of employees want to continue working remotely well beyond the end of the pandemic.
It is also no secret that managers and HR teams have found the transition to the remote working model challenging when trying to navigate and ensure employees are productive, engaged and thriving in this new setup.
After developing our own processes to ensure remote working success, as well as helping a number of our clients navigate this new normal, we wanted to share our best tips for successfully managing a remote workforce.
Be organized and flexible
When it comes to working with remote teams, the key is to allow flexible hours to maintain consistency. Each employee’s WFH situation would be different and it is important to keep this in mind. From isolation to sharing the new workspace with other family members and managing work while having to home school children, it really is a juggle for some. Although a concrete plan is a must, you should be open to adjusting strategies as needed. Whether your employees choose to put in their hours in the morning or evening shouldn't matter, as long as the work gets completed and is of high quality.
Schedule regular check-ins.
This might sound like a no-brainer, but you would be surprised at how easily it can slip down the priority list. Not knowing how your staff are coping or not being able to effectively deliver training can be difficult. Video tools like Vieple can be used for all staff working remotely or needing additional training from home.
You can use Vieple to ask questions and get feedback in times of extra stress or to show a pre-prepared video. Additionally, you can put a case study to your staff and assess how they would handle a particular situation.
Adapt the length of your meetings
What works in the office may not work remotely. Instead of lengthy meetings, have short virtual huddles. Apply this thinking to team resourcing, scheduling, and action planning.
Focus on outcomes, not individual activities.
With less visibility into remote employees’ day-to-day tasks, measuring outcomes is the best way to evaluate their productivity. Remember, just because you can't see them working at their desk doesn't mean work isn't getting done. Trust the process.
Help employees feel connected to your culture.
Organize virtual, culturally engaging events so the whole team can get together beyond work. Things like group challenge, a weekly quiz of even a weekly virtual happy hour can give employees an opportunity to connect socially.
Celebrate Success
Managers should also look for opportunities to celebrate the same work milestones that would be celebrated in the office. Peer recognition is a great way to keep remote workers engaged in company success. Again, since remote staff don’t have the benefit of watercooler conversations where a co-worker might say, “Hey, I heard you landed that big contract–nice work,” or “I saw that brochure you designed. That thing is a work of art,” use technology instead. Social media is a great way to celebrate employee success and get them feeling valued.
There’s no doubt that managing remote workers can be a challenging. Shifting to a remote work environment can be difficult, especially for companies that are accustomed to the idea of presence being a job requirement.
Fortunately, there is a plethora of tools available to not only ease the transition but also help productivity soar in the process. If you would like to chat to our team about how you can use Vieple to keep your remote team motivated, get in touch!