The Future of WFH: Insights into Successfully Managing Remote Employees

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, only about six percent of American employees regularly worked from home. However, thanks to advancements in technology, work flexibility needs during the pandemic period, and the sheer logistics of keeping staff together in one place safely, it’s estimated that over thirty-six point two million US citizens will be working away from the office by 2025 – an eighty-seven percentage increase from pre-pandemic numbers.

Neglecting to adopt ideal methods for managing remote team members could lead to feelings of isolation and detachment in those individuals. If your enterprise possesses five to five hundred remote workers, understanding how to administer them competently and avoid professional alienation is critical.

Adopting and preserving these remote worker best practices will allow your organization to develop its standing as a superior work environment, appeal to premium job applicants internationally, and secure the remarkable professionals already within your distributed crew. Managing remote employees eventually comes down to connecting and cooperating.

What is a Remote Employee?

A remote employee refers to someone who works outside the traditional office setting, usually from their location, such as their home, coworking space, coffee shop, or any other suitable location.

They communicate with colleagues through digital collaboration tools like video call and conferencing platforms, instant messaging apps, shared documents, and cloud storage solutions. While telecommuting may once have been associated with low productivity, today’s technological advances allow remote workers to stay connected with their teams and remain engaged in company goals while being physically removed from the main hub of activity.

A typical remote job description would include specific hours required each week and expectations regarding attendance at virtual meetings or presentations for remote employees. Virtual events are also held throughout the year, where all employees gather in person to network and reconnect with each other.

For businesses concerned about loss of control due to remote work, various monitoring techniques are available such as screen capture software or keystroke logging programs.

With remote work becoming increasingly common due to safety concerns, companies must balance respect for privacy with oversight duties. So, Managing remote employees has become a huge task for companies. A remote work environment should clearly outline what activities or communications are permissible without prior approval so employees understand boundaries.

7 Best Practices for Managing Remote Teams

Due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, remote work has transitioned from being viewed as a privilege to a necessity for numerous employees. With the right technology, such as video conferencing, remote working has many benefits.

1. Set Clear Productivity Standards for Remote Employees

Setting clear productivity standards is essential when managing remote employees or remote teams. These standards should be tailored to each job and reflect overall company expectations. Productivity metrics could include timelines for specific tasks or several completed projects within certain timeframes.

By establishing these standards for those who work remotely, you can quickly identify potential issues and provide targeted support where needed. This approach promotes professional growth and helps prevent burnout among your remote staff. Documenting these standards can aid in identifying patterns and improving overall efficiency throughout the organization.

In summary, clear expectations of productivity standards contribute to successful virtual operations by fostering goal attainment, enhancing communication, and bolstering job satisfaction in remote environments.

2. Understand the Issues Related To Onboarding & Managing Remote Employees

When onboarding remote workers, there are specific hurdles to overcome compared to in-office employees. Compared to their counterparts, remote team members miss out on fully integrating into company culture due to physical distance and limited opportunities for casual interactions with co-workers.

Building professional bonds may prove more complicated, demanding extra effort and attention.

Employers must establish proper guidelines and extend appropriate assistance to welcome remote recruits successfully. This entails providing state-of-the-art technological equipment accompanied by thorough guidance on its utilization.

Furthermore, newly inducted personnel deserve insight into corporate customs through education programs structured around this purpose. One approach could involve matching each fresh hire with a seasoned coworker serving as a mentor during the initial adjustment period.

Proactive supervision by managers, ensuring accessibility and assistance where needed, is equally indispensable. Ultimately, these measures contribute significantly toward successfully assimilating remote employees into their roles and work environments.

That is how successful managers work to manage remote work environments.

3. Invest in the Right Tools to Manage Remote Employees

Managing remote workers requires providing them with the proper tools and equipment to enable them to work effectively.

Here’s how to ensure project teams get everything they need in remote environment:

Policy and Procedure Manuals: Access to up-to-date policies and procedures is crucial for all employees. They must receive this information ahead of their start date so they understand the rules and guidelines. The Human Resource Management department should send policy and procedure manuals via email.

Presentational Templates and Supplies: Employees creating presentations and handouts should receive PowerPoint and Word design templates. Mail supplies include corporate letterhead, business cards, mailing labels, etc., all stored in a cloud folder organized by department.

Remote Work Technology: When it comes to Managing remote employees – Assign a tech specialist or manager who works with mobile devices, including cell phones, smart watches, tablets, laptops/netbooks, wearables, and other hardware used with mobile plans offering international roaming, VPN usage, and data transfer capabilities.

Internet Connection: A stable home broadband connection is vital. If your budget allows, offer high-speed fiber optic connections instead of DSL service in their area.

Businesses also use remote employee management software as an employee management tool.

In managing remote staff, One must ensure that remote workers have the necessary tools to perform their jobs efficiently is essential. By equipping them with chat and collaboration tools such as Google Hangouts and Slack, along with video calling and screen sharing capabilities, you facilitate effective communication among team members.

Implementing project management systems like Asana and Wrike enables better task allocation and tracking progress.

4. Implement Effective Communication Strategies for Remote Team Members

To effectively manage a remote workforce, efficient collaboration techniques must be implemented to ensure seamless interaction among team members regardless of their physical location.

Integrating advanced technology is crucial in promoting effective communication and boosting productivity among remote workers. Recognizing that remote work is becoming increasingly prevalent, improved communication ranks highest among organizations comprising less than five hundred employees, whereas enhanced collaboration prioritizes larger enterprises.

However, excessive reliance on video conferencing can lead to “video fatigue,” impacting cognition during virtual meetings. This can also disturb the employee’s work.

Even as a manager, too many virtual meetings will lead to failure in managing remote staff.

Therefore while managing remote employees, thoughtful planning is required when scheduling video conferences for remote teams. Evaluating whether in-person meetings are mandatory, grouping video sessions into blocks, limiting participation to essential personnel, providing flexible options like phone calls instead of live videos, and acknowledging potential distractions in non-traditional settings can enhance overall effectiveness and adaptability within remote collaborative frameworks.

Finally, utilizing tools designed explicitly for virtual employee management streamlines monitoring and tracking progress for optimal remote employee performance.

5. Manage Your Remote Staff’s Expenses Fairly

As a remote team manager, handling the expenses of your individual employee (remote) requires careful consideration since their costs may vary substantially compared to those who operate out of a conventional office setting.

To maintain fairness, factor in amenities provided to in-house employees, such as refreshments or snacks. Determine what expenses you wish to cover for remote workers based on similar benefits received by those operating primarily from headquarters facilities. Ensure compliance with local regulations regarding reimbursements before executing any plans.

6. Know Your Team Members Inside Out

Employee engagement presents unique challenges due to limited opportunities for face-to-face interactions for team building. Therefore, it’s imperative to implement strategies tailored to engage remote employees fully.

Establish regular checkpoints for meaningful discussions to facilitate understanding of individual personalities at remote workplaces. It’s also helpful to gain insight into cultural norms and values affecting international employees.

Fostering open lines of communication (one on one calls) and emphasizing mutual respect encourages a harmonious environment conducive to achieving common goals. Ultimately, embracing innovative approaches fosters an inclusive corporate culture accommodating diverse perspectives through shared experiences and cross-cultural competence development.

It also helps employees work remotely and stay in a positive environment. On the other hand, poor communication can affect job performance.

7. Ensure Accessible and Prompt Communication with Remote Teams

As a manager responsible for directing a remote workforce or virtual teams spread across multiple locations, staying responsive to every individual becomes challenging due to varying geographical settings and scheduling constraints. This presents unique difficulties compared to onsite interactions, where physical gatherings occur effortlessly by default.

Ensuring timely reactions to digital exchanges necessitates adapting to diverse situations while developing expectations for mutual convenience. Scheduled conversations within typical working intervals foster synchronous dialogues while managing virtual employees.

However, asynchronous communication channels such as instant messaging applications instead of conference calls are beneficial for handling sporadic interactions beyond routine hours. Provisioning these services is vital to achieving competent management of virtual employees.

Consequently, managers should designate specific periods when queries will obtain answers or feedback instead of assuming reactions happen instantly during nonworking hours merely because both parties possess internet connections.

While managing virtual employees, establishing norms ensures clarity around attendance requirements and eliminates guesswork when unscheduled electronic transmissions materialize outside regular office work hours. Adhering to consistent principles eradicates any ambiguities about attending to online messages received outside conventional business hours.

The Importance of Effective Remote Work Management

Effective remote work management is crucial for many businesses nowadays since many employees prefer virtual work arrangements to traditional ones at physical offices. When executed correctly, these models can improve home life and desk time harmony while providing opportunities for personal growth and increased productivity.

Additionally, regular face-to-face interactions should still occur to maintain solid interpersonal connections throughout the team, even if most of the work is done remotely.

The rise of remote work has been a permanent fixture in today’s modern business landscape, and there’s no denying its significance. Successful remote team management results in numerous advantages, such as increased productivity from satisfied and committed personnel, whose mental and physical state improves significantly.

Moreover, you gain access to a larger talent pool through flexible hiring options for human resources. Conversely, better handling of remote work could lead to discontented workers, high employee turnover rates, and strong performance outputs.

This can affect business culture too!

As with any skill, proficient remote work administration necessitates a proactive and adaptive frame of mind for all parties involved. To achieve optimal outcomes, remote employees, too, must learn new capabilities to excel within their home office setup. Collaboration between employers and their staff would bring remarkable returns from this method of labor organization.

Common Challenges in Managing Work From Home Employees

When managing employees working remotely, there are several common challenges faced by most organizations. Some of these challenges include:

Employee Engagement

While Managing remote employees and working remotely requires strong communication skills, and regular check-ins must occur throughout the day to keep every team member engaged. Only some enjoy being managed closely. Frequent catch-ups could be seen as micromanagement or interruptions. It’s essential that the entire company, and especially the direct manager, communicate effectively to find a balance that works for them.

Employees Working Independently

Since people aren’t physically present together every day anymore, independent work styles differ dramatically from person to person.

The same problem exists now with multiple generations working together, such as Baby Boomers vs. GenX vs. Millennials. One generation tends to favor traditional workstyles, whereas another leans towards agile thinking. That means leaders have to cater to all preferences equally.

Team Building

Traditional water cooler chats happen naturally face-to-face but do not exist virtually. People enjoy socializing around food and drink. Team members need to take advantage of those opportunities. Instead, you need to encourage different types of activities which are harder to organize.

Scheduling becomes more complex and requires some creativity. Try including family members if possible to reduce loneliness.

Meeting Efficiency

Ensure people attend teleconferences regularly. Encourage active involvement rather than just listening. Prepare an agenda ahead of time with action items delegated evenly among all participants so no one feels left out. Share notes afterward summarizing decisions made during the call. This keeps everyone accountable and on track.

Work Schedule Flexibility

Allow flexible schedules considering the different time zones involved globally. Everyone should feel included in project planning whether or not they are located nearby headquarters. Otherwise, it creates resentment. Discuss different options and make adjustments accordingly.

Keeping everyone informed about timelines improves overall morale. Knowing everyone’s input matters.

Pros of Remote Work

Better Work-Life Balance: Allows employees to maintain a healthy balance between their personal and professional lives, increasing job satisfaction and retention.

Lower Costs: Reduced expenses related to commuting, office space rental, and other overhead costs associated with physical offices.

Improved Absenteeism Rates: Fewer sick days taken due to illness or bad weather conditions.

Higher Productivity Levels: Better ability to focus on tasks and ignore interruptions from colleagues or background noise.

Increased Access to Talent Pools: The increased opportunity to hire the best and brightest from all across the globe.

Enhanced Job Performance: Efficiency is increased with the help of cutting-edge technology because of the accelerated flow of data and the simplification of routine tasks.

Sustainability Benefits: Reducing one’s energy use and carbon output has environmental benefits.

Cons of Remote Work

Monitoring and Supervising Remote Workers: Problems may develop in maintaining effective management and supervision of distant workers.

Social Network and Collaboration Issues: Challenges stemming from a lack of chances for employees to get to know one another and form strong bonds on the job.

Cultural Barrier Challenges: Unfavorable effects brought on by cultural variations in globally dispersed teams.

Cybersecurity Risks: Increased dependence on electronic communication and storage systems increases the risks connected with such systems.

Increased Reliance on Technology Support: If you rely heavily on technology, you run the danger of having your job interrupted by outages or malfunctions.

Limited Facetime and Communication Opportunities: As a result, people have less opportunity to hear and consider other points of view.

Ultimately, whether or not remote work or remote workplace will prove beneficial depends heavily on your organization’s particular situation and weighing the strengths against the weaknesses before making any final determinations regarding its implementation.

Switching to an online tool is the key for managing a remote workforce as it enables the employees thrive.

Moon HRM – Best Remote Workers Management Software

Our goal at Moon Apps is to reinvent HRM software by developing cutting-edge tools for mobile to manage remote employees. Moon HRM Employee Management Software is our flagship product, and it has all the tools you need to manage your staff efficiently and adapt to the modern, mobile work environment.

With user-friendly interfaces, smooth integrations, and state-of-the-art features like time and attendance monitoring, biometric access control, daily work reports, and leave management.

It can be linked with Basecamp for easy task management. Also, it has features such as no idle time which shoots email to the employee while the laptop or desktop is idle for more than 5-10 minutes.

To effectively and efficiently maintain communication with the remote team, contemporary company executives turn to Moon HRM. Come see how Moon HRM can help your virtual business thrive and change the way you do business today.

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