Many businesses are seeing the benefits of transitioning to exclusively remote work. It can help cut office rent and maintenance costs, and employees can benefit from better work-life balance and reduced costs for commuting.
It is essential to understand the challenges that remote working can present and develop methods to manage and improve your company’s processes. It is also a good idea to talk to your team regularly and get their thoughts on how your business could improve its practices and make your company a better place to work.
Provide The Right Equipment
As you would with an employee in the office, you should provide your team with equipment that will let them work productively and safely. You should ensure they have a suitable desk and ergonomic chair. Providing training on how to set up an effective home office can be beneficial. Your team will need laptops, monitors, webcams and accessories like a mouse and keyboard to ensure they get the most out of their home working environment.
Schedule Face To Face Time
Having face to face time can be invaluable for ensuring collaboration between colleagues and helping build interpersonal relationships. You could consider having a morning check-in meeting with your team to see if anyone has any questions and deliver any new company news.
Organize In-Person Social Events
It is crucial to see your co-workers in person when possible, and social events can be an ideal time to do so. You could organize a weekly Friday afternoon meal or drinks at a bar to help your employees get to know each other outside of the working day. Company parties over the summer or Christmastime can be an excellent option to help encourage workplace relations.
Make Daily Contact With Your Team
Take the time to reach out to your team at least once per day. This could be as simple as a quick message on your company’s direct messaging system to ask how they are and how they’re getting on with their tasks for the day.
Create Channels For Virtual Socializing
It is a good idea to create some channels on your business’s communication platform that will allow for watercooler talk. For instance, you could create a channel for followers of different sports, a book club channel, or a channel to discuss weekend plans.
Increase The Length Of One To Ones
With less face-to-face time, you’ll need to make your virtual meetings count. Extending the length of your one to ones with your team can be an excellent way to ensure you properly get to know each employee. This can be particularly beneficial for team members who have only worked remotely. Take the time to have an in-depth chat about their work, how they feel they’re progressing, and any ideas for training and development.
Use AI To Streamline Virtual Meetings
With everyone working remotely, it can be challenging to ensure that everyone is free to attend crucial meetings. You should look for technology that can gather and disseminate the information from a virtual meeting to all employees it may impact. This resource for virtual meetings from the experts at Anchor AI is an excellent example of what to look for.
Don’t Neglect Career Development
Ensure that you monitor your employees to identify talented individuals for future leadership roles. Discuss career development plans with your employees regularly and learn more about each member’s goals for their career and where they want to be in the future.
Research The Latest Technology
It is a good idea to keep one eye on the future of technology that could benefit your team and business. You could subscribe to publications focusing on technology in your industry and how you can apply it to remote work.
Provide Training Online
There is a vast wealth of online training resources that could benefit you, your team and the business. Look into signing your company up for a noted online academy like the Khan Academy, and encourage employees to spend downtime training in new areas.
Help Employees Manage Their Mental Health
Loneliness and isolation are two of the most common issues faced by people who work exclusively remotely. As a manager, you’ll need to find ways to help your employees manage their mental health and keep them productive and satisfied at work. Creating opportunities for social connection virtually is one way to help employees manage their mental health.
You could also provide resources and recommendations for places where employees can get professional help if they’re struggling with their mental health. Suggesting to higher management that your business’s healthcare insurance benefits include mental health care can also be invaluable.
Get Feedback
You should take the time to get feedback from your employees about how productive they are and any improvements they feel could be made. You could set up a regular anonymous survey to allow employees to voice their honest thoughts. You should also encourage employees to send you a message or email if something is bothering them or if they have an idea that may improve your business’s practices.
