Managing Remote Employees | Tips To Build Your Remote Work Team

November 11, 2020

Managing Remote Employees | Tips To Build Your Remote Work Team

The concept of remote work is flourishing. Some analytics show that 80% of global employees want to work from home at least some of the time. However, working from home is not prefered by most managers. But, they can learn a few tips to manage their employees in a better way.

Research shows that nearly 71% of employees are finding it difficult to adapt to telework. It is a scary situation for many managers when they can’t keep their employees engaged. This is because it removes personal context that helps in connecting people.

Remote work can create feelings of isolation among employees. It can reduce their morale and keenness to work as a team. Fortunately, there are some tips that you can use to help manage your remote employees effectively.

Common Challenges Faced By Managers In Remote Work

Although employees like the idea of remote work, there are some serious challenges faced by managers such as:

  • Lack of face-to-face communication
  • Feeling of isolation
  • Distractions at home
  • Bad internet connection
  • Miscommunication of information
  • Lack of direct supervision
  • Late deliverables
  • Limited information flow
  • Unprofessionalism

It becomes crucial to ease these challenges with useful tips.

Stay Organized And Flexible

Having a concrete plan is crucial to maintain the rules of a company. However, today, the thing that matters the most to managers is the delivery of the work. Thus, you should be flexible enough to manage the working hours of your employees. It should not matter whether they are working in the morning or evening.

You should remain open to adjusting strategies as needed. As long as they are delivering quality work, this should not be a problem for you. Staying organized and flexible will increase productivity and work delivery.

Have Daily Check-ins

A daily one-on-one call with employees is necessary to ensure that the team is collaborative. Maintain regular meeting times and calls to consult your daily tasks. This also gives employees a sense of confidence that their issues will be addressed.

Set Clear Expectations

Set new goals every day. Upload tasks along with clear boundaries, priorities, and expectations. Your employees need to be able to ask you questions. Make sure that you can be accessible to them and answer related queries. It’s also important to request feedback from them to create a sense of communication.

State the reasons as to why you are assigning them this task and what the results should be. Moreover, you can engage with them by keeping them up-to-date on staffing and policy changes.

Take Advantage Technology

The availability of multiple softwares today has made it much easier to manage remote working teams. Email alone is insufficient. Tools such as Trello, Zoho, Google Hangouts, and more allow smart team management.

It may be uncomfortable at first and difficult to adapt. But, once you fully adapt to these tools, you will realize that there is no better way to manage your remote workers.

Appreciate Communication

Two-way communication is crucial to maintain a healthy working environment. Communicate with your employees often and encourage them to ask any questions that they may have.

To enhance communication with your employees, you can:

  • Create an opportunity to talk to them, and it doesn’t necessarily have to be work-related
  • Ask for their feedback at least once a month
  • Use multiple channels for communication. For example, Slack for chat or Skype for video calls
  • Schedule weekly calls or daily meetings with the whole team

Also, keep on adding new things that can improve communication. Surveys and net-promoter score will also help to give an idea of how your employees feel about your firm.

Increase Recognition

Employees want recognition. And that desire increases by 30% during remote work. Make sure to provide recognition for their work. Remote employees get less of a chance to engage with the rest of the team. You can use direct reports to find areas of recognition.

This can help you identify elements of recognition and appreciate their work. Appreciating the work that they have done will make them feel appreciated and drive them to work harder and with even more dedication.

About Worktually

Worktually aims to change the face of employment and provide employees with a more flexible work environment. We help global companies hire competent remote workers and virtual assistants. Contact us for further details.

Get started with Worktually today

Experience AI-powered talent matchmaking with Worktually and hire the best remote workers for your company.

cta-image