Businesses are forced to manage remote employees through work from home, due to the coronavirus pandemic lockdown in most of the countries. Tracking and managing accountability, productivity, and priorities can become extremely difficult when employees are working remotely. Here are 6 must follow steps to manage remote employees.
Hire Employees Willing to Work Remotely
Working remotely isn’t for everyone. Some people enjoy the socializing aspect of an office and need that type of environment to be productive. Others might believe they work better from home, but need to be carefully monitored in order to be productive. Some people just can’t stay focused in the presence of multiple distractions.
Read More : Why It Benefits for a Business to Manage a Remote Team
When hiring candidates, make sure to be detailed about the role and expectations you’ll have while they’re telecommuting. Ask them if they’ve held other remote roles, and be clear and upfront about how you’re planning on measuring their outcomes. Work out a schedule that works for both of you and stick to it.
Use Remote Work Management Tools
Your remote team will not survive on prehistoric tools like weekly status meetings and emails. Without the ability to simply walk over to someone’s desk to briefly touch base before a call, there needs to be a way to collaborate quickly and efficiently.
Also Read : 5 Must Know Challenges in Managing a Remote Team
Simplify your collaboration by adopting a work management solution so communication is always accessible and seamless. Remote Work management tools make it easy to edit, review, and approve documents in real time. Therefore, eliminating the need to attach and pass documents back and forth via email.
Track Productivity
One of the most common fears among managers when their employees work remotely is tracking productivity. Not being close to them in proximity means not knowing if their fingers are on the keyboard or on the TV remote. In truth, there’s no way to prevent this from happening, but there is a way to set goals and track productivity.
Having visibility into your team’s workload is crucial to measuring outcomes. With a clear view of all your team’s tasks for the week, you can track task progress and see who’s overloaded and who’s got some free time. With an understanding that your remote employees have their work cut out for them, and visibility into the progress of that work, you can rest easy.
Building Trust
Building trust to manage remote employees is an absolute necessity to running efficiently. If you’re hovering over your team and constantly asking them what they’re working on right now, you’re simply cutting into their productivity and concentration.
Learn More : 10 Best Practices to Manage Your Remote Team
Make sure you divide one-on-ones and status meetings and take time to give each remote employee some personal attention. Schedule calls to touch base and check in on how you can help make them more productive. Are they too overloaded? What skills do they wish to strengthen? When addressing their concerns not only as a team but at the individual level, your remote employees will feel much more comfortable coming to you with questions as well as care more about their output.
Work on Team Building
You don’t always need to be together physically to work on team building. In fact, it’s probably more important to prioritize team building when you’re remote, since there aren’t many opportunities to spend time together. Have a video hangout session to act in place of the water cooler chats. It’s a great way to learn about people’s non-work interests and personalities. Encourage them to play online multiplayer games or even do an online karaoke party.
Even if only a few of your employees are working remotely, it’s important to make sure they’re getting the same amount of attention as your in-office employees. Take the time to hire employees willing to work remotely; Use remote work management tools and build trust both ways. If you do, you’ll soon see productivity soar with everyone working in tandem; plus a significant boost in happiness with the ease and flexibility of working from home or anywhere!
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