Are you currently in charge of a remote workforce? If so, congratulations on grabbing the digital age by the horns! After all, there are many reasons why you should let your workforce become remote, and it can be incredibly beneficial to everyone involved. However, that doesn’t mean the process goes off without a hitch! Sometimes it’s hard to adjust, and sometimes many of your employees just don’t seem to understand the new rules — it can be a mess, and that’s what this post is here to help out with.
So, here are our tips for moving past the most common problems of managing a remote workforce. You’re the boss, and it’s up to you to get these people working like a team again! And a mini tip before we properly get started: for the time being, try not to focus on the productivity element. Take your time in getting things ironed out, and ensuring everyone is comfortable with the way they work. Only then should you think about ramping up your office operations; a good foundation is essential!
Be Flexible with Office Hours
Office hours are usually 9 to 5 when you’re in the workplace, with only a couple of people working somewhat outside of these parameters. However, when you’re running a remote workforce, you should never force your team to keep to the same schedule. You’ve got to try to be more flexible here; the more leeway you give, the more will get done, even if you’re not working on a ‘traditional’ timescale.
But this is the modern, digital world, so who needs tradition?! And with a remote workforce, you’ve got the chance to maximise on your return — people can work different hours, say on 3 different timescales, and you’ve got a round-the-clock eye on the business. Everything gets done in the same 24 hours, but now your team has the chance to pick up their other responsibilities in a more timely manner as well.
So to defeat the problem here, collect some feedback on the way your team works when they’re at home. What schedule do they keep to? And what schedules are the most common? Now accommodate for those, set up a 24-hour messaging system (and many apps are suitable for that), and your team will thank you for the time you’ve given them.
Make Communication a Rule
Communication can often go out the window when you’re working remotely, and we all know it! People can miss messages, take their time in responding to something and hold the whole team up, and someone may not even bother to message at all. These are all problems we take to heart, and we know just how frustrating they are to deal with!
But that’s why communication should be made a rule. You have to talk to your colleagues, and even if you think you can make a decision without the need for outside input, making sure you’ve given forewarning is key. People need to know what’s about to happen within the workplace, and when you’re working as a team, transparency is a top priority.
Which means now’s the time to institute some rules. Make sure people say good morning when they log on, and make sure they say goodbye for the day when they log out, for example. That way you at least know who’s in today, and who’s currently at a desk and ready to receive word from anyone else. Also make a rule to check in every now and then — lead this yourself by sending out a message to ask how things are getting on round mid-morning and mid-afternoon.
Use Engagement Techniques
If you want to ensure your employees are always keen to get started with work, you’re going to need to come up with new ways to keep them engaged. After all, you can never quite be sure what the other person is doing on the end of the screen, but with a few engagement techniques on your side, that won’t be a problem at all!
So what can you do here? You’re not in person, you’re nowhere near an office, and that means your options are limited — or are they? Let’s face it, the digital world is full of endless possibilities, and even with just a Zoom connection, you can put together something like a daily coffee break for all members of your team. Make sure they’ve got something to drink and/or snack on in hand, and then sit down together over a conference call. What could be nicer?
And not only that, but you can also download some employee engagement software to use within your organization. A software set like this can help you to formally recognize the achievements of your remote working team, and ensure they’re rewarded appropriately. There’s no greater motivator than knowing you’re appreciated at work!
Hand Out Collaboration Tools
If you’re finding that your remote workforce doesn’t collaborate nearly as much as they should, it’s time to think about why. What’s stopping them? What could be getting in the way? Is it just that they don’t want to, or are they trying in earnest to connect like they used to? 9 times out of 10 it’s the latter situation! They just don’t have the tools or the resources to do so. And that’s where you come in.
You’ve got the chance to make your organization stronger than ever — you just need to be ready to hand out collaboration tools like they’re free candy. Your team needs the chance to be able to communicate and work together, even when they’re miles apart, and sometimes that’s just too much for an employee to manage on their own. They may not be able to afford that subscription you’ve asked them all to pay for, or they may not have the best WiFi signal, and their internet keeps dropping.
When moments like these strike, if you’re able to support their work for the time being, you’ll notice collaboration rates going up and up. Subsidize their need to use paid versions of software, or send them an internet dongle for use during work hours only, and you’ll notice their working prowess coming through like it used to.
Have a Weekly Check-in
Going on from the point about using a communication rule, you can also take this a step further by having a specific weekly check-in for all team members. You’re the one checking in here, so it’s up to you to arrange this, but it’s best to schedule in a little 5- to 10-minute meeting at the end of the week.
During this meeting, you’ve got the chance to see how people are getting on with the remote working setup. This is a free space for them to both air what they like and any potential grievances they have without fear of repercussion, so try to listen more than you talk here. Let them take the floor, let them talk about what they want, and make sure you note it all down. You’ll need something to act on later if you see a problem about to glue up the works!
And once you’ve set up the habit for a weekly check-in, it’ll become easier and easier to adjust to remote working. After all, you can be sure that at least once a week you’ll see each employee face to face. That’s a comforting thought if you’re just moving into a work-from-home situation, and it’s one of the best ways to remind employees that they’re still on company time, even if they’re not in the office.
Set Up a Coworking Space
Finally, if you find yourself hating remote work, you can go out of your way to set up a coworking space for those who’d benefit from it. Maybe you’ve got a separate office in your own home, or you know there’s a space to rent nearby? Either way, you can use this space to invite employees who live nearby to come and work in person, who will then get the benefit of an office mindset. After all, it might not just be you who’s struggling to get involved as a remote worker!
Employees can bring in their own tools, like laptops and headphones, but they’ve got the shared company space to put their talents to good use. And seeing as we’re still in a pandemic, if there’s a lockdown rule in your area, make sure there’s enough space for cubicles to be put 6 feet apart.
What to Remember
If you and your team are having trouble working from home, make sure you keep tips like those above in mind for the day ahead. You’ve got the chance to make a good change, and the novelty of working from home shouldn’t hold you back from that. Remote working doesn’t have to be perfect — it just has to be functional. Take the pressure off, be more flexible, and use tech to your advantage.
Working from home was never trouble for me, thanks to our team communication app Connecteam. Connecteam helps the team and me collaborate and communicate effectively; therefore, all our tasks are on the same track.