The "stay at home" and "work from home" orders started going around as soon as the Covid-19 hit the main streets. Almost every business was brought down to its knees, and enterprises began to crumble under pressure to lose clients, sales, and profits. Many companies let their employees work remotely to reduce operational/overhead costs while maintaining productivity.
As more and more studies come in, it's clear that managers at countless enterprises are having a tough go of handling remote workers. Why is that? Well, working from home and in the office leads to a disconnect between the workforce and management. However, these few tips can help you manage remote workers better!
Tips to Coordinate Remote Workers Efficiently
Many remote workers and hybrid business experts agree that the following tips yield noticeable results for firms that implement them effectively. Of course, no two firms are the same, so every company must find the perfect strategy for its workforce to keep productivity consistent.
· Introduce Daily Video Check-Ins
Although it might seem like overkill, remote working requires managers and supervisors to regularly stay in touch with the workers under their domain. Rather than typing thousands of words worth of messages in a short time or audio calling each employee, managers can schedule daily check-ins at a specific time to get real-time updates from every remote worker at the same time. Video check-ins will save time and effort as communication will become easier.
· Boost Workforce Integration
The only difference between workers in the office and at home is their location, they ultimately aim to fulfill the same responsibilities or reach the same business goals. Try using technology to your advantage and introduce project management and video conferencing software tools so that your employees stay connected.
· Resist Micromanaging Urges
It might seem important to get updates from your remote workers, but doing so every hour could demoralize some while interrupting others as they make progress. The urge to micromanage every remote worker can be high for a manager or supervisor.
Since you don't look over your employees' shoulders in the office, you shouldn't be doing so when they're working remotely. It could introduce an air of lack of trust, reliability, and empowerment. Ultimately, meeting deadlines and completing work on time could become an impossible challenge.
· Protect Remote Workers
Being in the office keeps workers clear of many distractions, but that's not true for remote workers. They have to deal with distractions every minute, it seems. It could be kids getting home-schooled or running around the house.
The Amazon delivery guy might have found the correct address and rung the bell right when the meeting started, or worse, remote workers might start feeling emotionally and physically isolated. Protecting your remote workers from workplace fear, complexity, and undue pressure could keep their performance consistent and mental health stable.
Conclusion
Managers should celebrate milestones similarly for remote workers as they do for workers on the company floors. It will improve the overall workforce morale and prevent an unsatisfactory disconnect between both types of workers (in-office and remote). Experiment with the tips mentioned above and devise the perfect strategy to align your remote workers with productivity goals.
