The pandemic has completely changed workplace dynamics for good, as working from home becomes the more acceptable work culture. It has many advantages for all parties involved and is no longer the second-best choice. Employers can choose a more affordable package and reduce the cost of Spectrum net billing for a hybrid office, reduce rent and parking space expenditure, and can save other logistical costs as well. We can manage remote employees under different circumstances. Employees can also enjoy a more relaxed environment that boosts their work-life balance.
However, remote employees can be difficult to manage if you don’t know what you’re doing. There are many challenges such as miscommunication and technical issues. But if the management follows these tips, they can overcome the difficulties and engage their employees in a successful remote setup.
We Discuss How to Manage Remote Employees Step by Step
1: Use Remote Communication Tools
When your employees shift to remote work, there will likely be a lot less verbal or one-on-one communication. Management should expect that the employees may lose focus and be less engaged than when they were when working from the office. So, before that even happens, you should plan to use effective management tools to make sure nothing gets lost in translation. There are many live chat apps that can help assign tasks, delegate duties, and effectively communicate work updates. Some of the most popular apps include Slack, Microsoft Teams, Skype, Zoom, Asana, etc.
2: Trust Your Team
Employers need to trust that their team members will finish the assigned tasks even when they’re not being supervised. Micro-management can hurt more than it fixes things and employees can feel disgruntled and demoralized. If managers keep asking for updates, employees will sense a level of distrust and won’t be motivated to work passionately on their own. A little freedom to work in their own time can do wonders and your employees may end up being more productive.
3: Run Weekly Team Huddles
Communicating over video calls with individual team members is important. However, keeping the team in touch as a group can be equally significant. Managers should make sure that their entire tea gets together in a huddle at least once a week. It could be to talk about ongoing assignments, important updates, announcements, or just share ideas with other teammates. Weekly huddles can be as formal or informal as you like. Informal meetings can help employees keep the break-room talk alive even when working from home.
4: Discuss Availability Hours
Many employers don’t expect their resources to stay online and available for calls throughout the entire workday and only focus on outputs. So, if your team doesn’t need to be online all the time, you should discuss availability hours in advance. This way, you can get in touch with your employees when you need them during set hours. Not only does it save time for everyone involved, but it can also help you and your employees to plan the workday effectively.
5: Use Productivity Management Tools
There are many time and productivity tracking tools in the market that can help employers manage remote employees. They can tell you when and for how many hours an employee was active and understand their routine in a better way. Such tools can help assure that your remote team while working independently, is still being as productive as they can. Any slumps will be caught and you can easily distribute work hours between projects and tasks as well. Time management tools often provide weekly and monthly reports for each employee as well.
6: Ensure Accountability
If an employee isn’t using their remote work time effectively, they should be held accountable for it. You can start by sending out generalized email warnings to the entire team without mentioning anyone. However, if that doesn’t help, you may have to directly confront the team member. Each employee should understand what tasks they are responsible for during the day. Any delays in task delivery should be communicated to the manager well in advance.
7: Don’t Forget to Socialize
Working remotely doesn’t mean that your team can’t socialize or meet up after work. If most of your teammates are from the same city you can plan a dinner or drinks with them. Video conferencing calls can be informal but nothing beats an after-work gathering. Managers should also sometimes join the team for lunch hours or a social gathering. It can help make individual players a team and make them more involved with work and their lives.
8: Keep Morale High
When working on their own, teammates can often feel disenfranchised or lonely. This can affect morale and productivity. So, managers should encourage all employees to work harder by appreciating their efforts in a group chat or team huddle. A little appreciation and formal recognition of your work can make employees feel a
