How would you describe your current company culture? Is it one where everyone feels valued and appreciated? If you’re lucky enough to work somewhere that has both cultures at once, then congratulations! Now let’s talk about managing remote employees.
The term “remote employee” describes someone working remotely from their home office (or another location) instead of being physically present. This type of arrangement allows companies to save costs and reduce overhead expenses. But while many companies have embraced the benefits of remote working, many challenges are still involved. One such challenge is ensuring that employees have the technology they require to succeed, whether that includes laptops, tablets, smartphones, or something else entirely.
In addition, even if you don’t have an extensive set of collaboration tools available, you still need to ensure that employees have access to the technology they need to participate effectively in virtual meetings. And while most people understand that videoconferencing isn’t always ideal, they might not realize that it could be worse than face-to-face communication. How does your company manage its remote employees?
Table of Contents
Managing Remote Employees Best Practices
The things you should be doing when managing remote employees are pretty straightforward, but here are a few tips to ensure you’re getting the most out of remote workers.
1. Make sure you’re communicating well
Communication is key. You’ll want to establish clear expectations about communication styles, frequency, and methods. Inform all employees of policies, schedules, or other vital information changes. Doing so ensures that no one feels left out. If you don’t, your team might start feeling isolated.
2. Set up a system
You’ll need a system in place to ensure that you’re always aware of where each employee is located and what projects they’re working on. This helps you keep tabs on your team members and gives you visibility into their progress.
3. Create a culture of transparency
Transparency is another important aspect of effective remote work management. Be open about everything: schedule meetings, discuss problems, share files, etc. Transparency creates trust between managers and employees, which leads to better performance.
4. Have regular check-ins
Regular check-ins help managers understand how their employees are doing and if there’s anything they need to adjust or improve upon. Regular check-ins also give employees confidence that their manager will be available whenever they have questions or concerns.
5. Use tools to get feedback
Tools such as surveys, questionnaires, and polls allow you to gather employee feedback without talking directly to them. These tools provide insight into whether your employees feel included, respected, and valued.
6. Provide training
Training helps new hires become familiar with company processes and procedures. It also provides an opportunity to introduce yourself and build relationships.
7. Build trust
Trust takes time to develop. Start by making sure that your team knows how much you value them. Ensure they have access to resources like calendars, files, and communication tools. Then, be open and honest about your expectations. Let your team know that you’re available to help if they need anything but that you won’t always respond immediately.
8. Encourage collaboration
Collaboration is essential in today’s workplace. Remote teams often need to collaborate more than traditional teams because they typically aren’t co-located. Encouraging cooperation among your team members will lead to higher productivity and greater efficiency.
9. Be clear about expectations
You’ll want to start by defining expectations upfront. What does “remote” mean to you? Does it mean working from home every day or just during times of high demand? Do you expect everyone to come into the office regularly, or are you okay with occasional face time?
10. Focus on getting stuff done
With fewer distractions, remote teams tend to focus more on completing tasks rather than chatting online. So don’t waste time on social media, email, or video calls. Instead, use your time productively by spending 10 minutes per week reviewing emails and responding to messages. If you’re overwhelmed, try hiring someone else to handle some administrative duties.
11. Set boundaries
As a manager, you’re ultimately responsible for keeping your team productive. That means setting limits on when and where they work. For example, you might require that meetings happen only after hours or that they only communicate via Slack or Skype.
Remote Employee Technology
The technology you choose and how your team uses it will impact your communication ability. Here are some tips for choosing the right tools and some questions to ask yourself before doing so:
1. Team Meetings and Video Conferencing
How will you hold team meetings while being in different places? You won’t be having in-person meetings, so will they be video conferencing meetings? Phone calls? Skype? Zoom meetings?
Are you planning on holding regular meetings via Skype, Zoom, Google Hangouts, GoToMeeting, or any other web conference tool? It’s crucial to find a solution that suits all parties involved. Some teams prefer to hold daily meetings, while others prefer weekly meetings. Find out which schedule works best for your team.
We recommend 3CX Web meetings and Microsoft Teams to our customers because they have great features like screen sharing, video chat, instant messaging, file transfers, etc. The best parts about 3CX are its security, ease of use, and HD-capable video meetings.
2. Effective Communication Methods and Tools
Do you use email, Slack, Teams, Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, Twitter, or other platforms for remote communication and team chats? If not, what do you plan on using? Email is still effective but doesn’t allow you to see facial expressions and body language. You may consider adding a messaging platform such as Slack or Teams. These platforms can help you share files, collaborate, and communicate more efficiently. They also provide real-time notifications when new messages arrive. You can also set up Teams and Slack channels for each department or project to separate things.
3. Security
How will you keep your team safe from hackers and cybercriminals? Will you use VPNs, encryption software, two-factor authentication, or something else? Make sure you know how to secure your data and communications. We recommend using SentinelOne’s autonomous AI endpoint security and IronScales to monitor your email. This combo is almost impenetrable!
4. File Sharing
If you’re looking to share documents, spreadsheets, presentations, videos, or anything else, you could use Dropbox, Teams, Google Drive, Evernote, or any other cloud storage service. Cloud services are convenient because you don’t need to worry about storing files locally. However, if you want to keep them secure, you should store them on an external hard drive.
5. Collaboration Software
If you need to share ideas and brainstorm sessions, we recommend Trello, BaseCamp, and Asana. They all have great features and do different things well. For example, BaseCamp has a calendar feature where you can add events and appointments. And Asana helps you manage projects by allowing you to assign tasks, track progress, and create milestones. Trello allows you to create boards with lists and cards. What’s great is your entire team can access these boards at once. You can even create private boards for different projects.
6. Project Management Software
We already talked about Basecamp and Asana, but plenty of alternatives are available. For example, you can use Zoho Projects to manage your team’s projects and tasks. It has many valuable features, including time tracking, task assignment, reporting, invoicing, etc.
6. Time Management
We highly recommend Toggl. It helps you track time spent on projects, meetings, and activities. It also provides insights into where you spend most of your time. You’ll want to pay attention to time zones if your employees are spread out.
7. Employee Engagement
Are you interested in employee engagement? Do you offer rewards programs, free lunches, flexible hours, or other perks? You can encourage your employees to work better by providing incentives. Please note that since employees are no longer coming to the office, some common challenges they may face could be feelings of isolation due to lack of social interaction, video fatigue, and burnout. To avoid this, make sure they have daily check-ins with their managers, so they stay connected.
8. Remote Desktop Services
Remote desktop services let you connect to a computer over the internet. This tool can view, edit, and work on files remotely. Several options are available, including LogMeIn, TeamViewer, Splashtop, VNC, and others. Some of these solutions are free, while others require a monthly subscription fee.
9. Screen Recording
Screen recording software allows you to record everything that happens on your screen. You can then save this file and send it to someone else. Several good options are available, including Camtasia Studio and ScreenFlow.
How To Choose The Right Remote Working Tools
There are two main types of remote working tools: software and hardware. Software includes everything from collaboration platforms to video conferencing programs. Hardware includes everything from laptops to tablets to smartphones. Here’s how to choose which one is right for you.
First, identify what you want your remote workforce to accomplish. What tasks do they need to complete while working remotely? How much support do they require? Do you want them to work independently or collaborate with colleagues? You’ll better understand how to set up your remote workforce by answering these questions.
Second, determine whether your organization already provides some of the items needed for remote workers. If so, great! But if not, you’ll need to decide where to start. For example, if your company doesn’t offer email accounts, you’ll likely need to purchase those separately. You might even want to look into cloud-based solutions like Office 365.
Third, establish guidelines for communication. One way to achieve this is by creating a list of expectations, policies, and procedures. A good starting point is to review your current workplace policies and procedures. Then, add additional rules specific to your remote workforce. These could include guidelines regarding technology use, dress codes, and social media etiquette.
Finally, keep in mind that one size does not fit all. While some companies may succeed with a fully remote workforce, others may struggle without face-to-face interaction. In addition, some types of businesses – tiny ones – may not be well suited for remote management. Therefore, it is essential to carefully evaluate a remote model’s benefits and drawbacks before deciding how to manage your remote employees.
In addition to the technological requirements, several legal considerations must be considered. For example, employers must ensure that remote workers do not violate federal labor laws, including the Fair Labor Standards Act. In addition, state employment law varies widely across the United States. Finally, employers must abide by HIPAA privacy regulations protecting patient data.
Wrapping Up
No matter your company goals, if your team is working offsite, you’ll need to consider our managing remote employees best practices list when setting up your remote workforce. We’ve provided an overview of the most important factors to consider when choosing the right tools for your virtual team to succeed. Send us a message, and let’s get started getting your team prepared to work remotely!
Recent Comments