Tips to Help You Manage Employees Working in a Remote Environment
There are companies that don’t gather their employees in one workplace. It’s possible to run your business even if some of your employees are working in a remote environment. The important thing is for you to take control of the situation, and ensure that everyone is doing the job well. These are some tips to help you manage your employees in this setup.
Create a group chat
You need to have a group chat where everyone can receive general updates at the same time. It doesn’t mean all conversations have to take place here, but it helps if you can send the same message at once. You guarantee that everyone will be on the same page especially if there are projects that need to be done.
Establish a good relationship
The difficult thing about not seeing your employees in person is that you don’t get the chance to have a relationship with them. You have no time to talk to them about their issues outside work. The good thing is that you can talk to them using messaging apps or email. Let them know that you also care about them on a personal level. Establishing a positive relationship with them helps build trust. It also ensures that you can be direct with them in expressing how you feel.
Always be clear with what you want
You can’t talk to these employees in person to explain what you want to happen. You will only have the chance to discuss projects and tasks with them online. Therefore, you need to be as clear and as detailed as possible. You have to put everything into writing. You want your employees to refer to this document when they feel confused. If there are changes, you also need to inform them right away. Otherwise, it will further cause confusions.
Require an activity log
You don’t want to constantly monitor your employees. Some of them prefer to work remotely since they can’t have a regular schedule. As long as they get the job done on time, it doesn’t matter. Whether they prefer working during the day when their kids are at school, or at night when everyone is asleep, it’s their call. The only thing you need to require is an activity log. You need to know what has been done throughout the week, and how close the employee is in the accomplishment of a required task. You will also know if you’re paying a reasonable amount based on the tasks accomplished.
Call for a regular meeting
You can still meet everyone through video conferencing. You don’t have to do it all the time, but it helps if you can find a way to get everyone on the same page. The meeting allows employees to know what’s going on, and at least see each other. You need to have a clear agenda during the meeting to make it fruitful and productive.
It’s not easy running a business with remote employees, but you can make it happen.
Photo Attribution:
1st and featured image from https://thumbor.forbes.com/thumbor/960×0/https%3A%2F%2Fspecials-images.forbesimg.com%2Fdam%2Fimageserve%2F1156782322%2F960x0.jpg%3Ffit%3Dscale
2nd image from https://smallbusiness.co.uk/managing-remote-staff-trust-2545723/
