Regular communication keeps your team in … The modern workplace is rapidly changing, and with it, your role as manager. Unsuitable reporting structure or lack of clarity surrounding reporting structure. As more organizations and employees embrace this remote work trend, we decided to revisit some tips from a classic Fuze blog on improving remote work engagement – as relevant now as it was when it first was written. 10. Jessica Higgins, COO at Gapingvoid Culture Design Group, shares strategies on how to manage a remote workforce. Ensure that you have established working schedules that everyone is aware of and encourage your team to stick to these working hours to maintain a healthy balance. Lack of clarity on employer expectations. Prioritize team building and engagement. At some point, once you’ve defined responsibilities, expectations, and deadlines, you must trust your team to follow through. Over 50% of employees have reported that their diet and exercise has deteriorated. Deadlines and commitments aren't always enough motivation.Still, employees who work from home continue to report loving their jobs more than those in their cubicle.Leadership IQ provides an online test that gathers data regarding an employee’s feeling toward their job based on the employ… To work successfully, virtual teams need their leaders to create a foundation of trust, and ensure important remote-working practices while at the same time guarding against several challenges/pitfalls that that could negatively impact a team member’s ability to work effectively with their virtual team. Degrees are earned and studies performed solely focused on the question of how to effectively manage groups of people. With the rise of millennials on the go and new digital platforms of communication, more and more businesses are gaining time and efficiency by working remotely and getting more done in less time. While you don’t want to seem invasive or breach respectful boundaries, it takes a little more effort to help your remote workforce feel seen as individuals. Relevant systems and procedures should be applied – in terms of sickness and absence. 10 Methods To Effectively Manage and Motivate a Remote Workforce Home / All / 10 Methods To Effectively Manage and Motivate a Remote Workforce Keeping remote workers engaged through a period of permanent or temporary home working can be challenging but there are simple steps that can be taken by both employers and employees to overcome the challenges. 3. After all, they aren’t running into each other in the bathroom or on the way to grab a cup of coffee and chatting about the unbelievable plot twist in that latest HBO episode. Taylor Bradley, Sr. Human Resources Business Partner, and Melissa Tesoro, Talent Acquisition Manager, hold an interactive discussion around the current climate's impact on the workplace and what you can do to maintain efficiency and productivity. As a manager, you’ll need to be intentional about creating those opportunities for interaction online. Provide opportunities for remote social interaction: One of the most essential steps a manager can take is to structure ways for employees to interact socially (that is, … 8. Eye strain – 40% of individuals have had an increase in eye strain. As a manager, when you focus your team on their potential and not just their performance, it opens both yourself and your remote workforce up to new opportunities. The first thing you must do is to integrate the utilization of top-notch, corporate communication software and tools. Keeping remote workers engaged through a period of permanent or temporary home working can be challenging but there are simple steps that can be taken by both employers and employees to overcome the challenges. Ensure targets are communicated clearly and reviewed with the employees’ managers. Even if you have an incredibly talented team with a dazzling skill set, they still need to stay challenged. Nothing beats getting everyone together face to face. Every remote role depends on technology first, and anything that gets in the way of that will only set your productivity back. They have too much communication with back to back video conferencing. And, here's what you can tell your remote workers to keep them motivated. Each employee may have a different outlook on communication, which is why you must have a flexible management style when managing remote workers. Remote employees need email, video conferencing tools, a direct messaging platform, and a way to share and download files. You have successfully subscribed to our newsletter. 10. Get together face to face at least once a year. Alternatively, if you would like to benefit from one-to-one expert advice, contact HR Team today: hello@hrteamgroup.com or call: +353 1 695 0749 (from Ireland) or +44 2871 271882 (from NI/UK). A flexible schedule is an advantage for remote employees, but if you need your workforce responsive and engaged during certain hours, communicate that expectation clearly. Provide security information in relation to data protection. 7. Review your job descriptions to ensure they are relevant to each employee’s current circumstance. While the lure of working from home is exciting for many workers, the exuberance of producing from the humble abode can wear off over time. Managers should support team members who take risks to stretch their confidence and grow professionally. Teams scattered across the country or even the continent are the new corporate normal with nearly 70% of the global workforce telecommuting at least once a week. As a starting point, all employees should understand that working from home is a temporary arrangement, it is important to put this in writing and follow up with verbal confirmation.” There are number of issues employers are being faced with regarding working from home office staff, such as: Ms McAuley says: “Some employees are completely isolated due to a lack of communication, regular briefings and meetings. Best Practices for Managing a Remote Workforce Set clear expectations. “On the other hand, we have employees that are burned out. Encouraging achievement through accomplishment rather than emphasising activity is vital, and it keeps the spotlight where it belongs—on the contributions your team makes to a successful, thriving business. Overhaul your approach with these tips to ensure you’re aligned with your team to maximise their talent and potential and catapult productivity to the next level. Certainly, as a manager of a remote workforce, you need to go the extra mile to provide the right tools and support at a distance. Discuss progress and provide feedback to employees on a regular basis. In this webinar you will learn how to effectively manage and motivate your remote workforce Ensure your health and safety obligations are adhered to. Successful remote working – for employers and employees – doesn’t happen in a vacuum. Track productivity systems by measuring how many clients are being responded to, how many projects have been achieved. 6. That’s because whether you’re working from home or in an office building, you’ll still require the same things to be successful. It is the end result of proper remote workforce management: of technological integration, open lines of communication, fair expectations, and clear work-life boundaries. Even if you have an incredibly talented team with … This sets the basic foundation for working from home. Set specific and measurable targets and review these regularly. It’s extremely important to have regular interaction with employees and to be mindful that there is a significant difference between working from home and working at home. How to Motivate and Manage a Remote Workforce Watch as the Datto team discusses how to make the most of remote working and working from home. The best way to share problems is to open a two-way channel of communication via a great instant messaging application. Consider celebrating milestones or making announcements about achievements and recognition part of your daily managerial approach. One way managers can motivate a remote workforce is by focusing on both personal improvement and performance goals. Discuss progress and provide feedback to employees on a regular basis. Here are eight tips for keeping your remote workforce dialed in and focused on achievement, improvement, and supporting one another—no matter the time zone. Shifting away from the old school mindset of “you can’t manage it if you can’t see it” is another key element of effectively managing a remote workforce. But how do you keep a remote workforce motivated? Many remote employees choose jobs that offer telecommuting because that flexibility is critical to their quality of life and they’ll follow through to make sure that opportunity pays off for everyone involved. However, productivity often has more to do with process efficiency. Here’s few key insights that can help you manage and motivate your Digital and Tech workforce throughout Coronavirus-enforced remote working. While it's tempting to use text messaging to check in with remote employees to see how things are going, managers need to realize two things: one, texting is intrusive … However, the tools and strategies you use to create connection, keep the lines of communication open, and manage performance will need an upgrade to keep up with the challenges of the remote workplace. Lack of rewards, recognition for a job well done or other motivations. The more structure the manager can bring to home working the more effective and satisfying home working will be. Pick up the phone when you can, especially for situations which might be emotionally charged or stressful. Provide regular information – office-based employees could previously have asked a colleague for assistance, but this is now not the case for many. ... how to work remotely toward a focus on maintaining motivation and productivity for your remote workforce. Ensure there is regular communication, summarised progress, end of … Make It Feel Inclusive. Thank you! Encourage employees to allocate and calendar time when they’ll be online and available. Four Ways To Motivate Your Remote Workforce. Instead, zero in on whether your employees are meeting collective and personal performance goals. When the workforce is dispersed, building and maintaining … Provide a home working policy including break times, clarify hours of work, provide necessary equipment and structured communications. Specifically, in times of crisis, acknowledging an air of anxiety … Title: Effectively manage and motivate your remote workforce On-Demand Webinar Duration: 45 mins. Maintain Honesty and Transparency. Ensure there is regular communication, summarised progress, end of day reports, etc. Every day there are thousands of books purchased and millions of Google searches made on this very topic. 13 Inspiring Company Culture and Employee Engagement Quotes, 5 Things Successful Companies Do to Retain Their Top Talent, Top 10 Signs of a Bad Boss and How to Avoid Them, Top 4 Reasons Employees Don’t Believe in Your Mission, Vision, and Values (And What to Do About It). It is vitally important, where possible, to have daily face to face interactions. “This comes back to the fact that one size does not fit all, some employees may have taken very well to working from home, whereas others have not. 4. Once terms and conditions are agreed and signed off by the employee, ensure the employee is clear on the management and expectations of working from home. Also, encourage your team to invest in high-speed internet connections for their work (or have your company fund it) since few things are more frustrating than a video meeting where one or two employees’ devices glitch or delay when trying to discuss projects and goals. Outsource your HR services today – contact HR Team for a free quote. It’s never been easier to build a virtual community and stay connected. Level 1, The Chase, Sandyford, Dublin, D18 Y3X2, Catalyst Inc, Queens Road Belfast, BT3 9DT, Kemp House, 152 City Road, London, EC1V 2NX, Copyright 2012 - 2019 HR Team | All Rights Reserved |, 10 Methods To Effectively Manage and Motivate a Remote Workforce, Remote working law will boost staff retention and motivation says HR expert, Employers advised to ‘recommend not mandate’ Covid-19 vaccine, Helping Employees Overcome The 5 Challenges of Lockdown. It’s also time to practice and get comfortable with your onscreen presence because video calls and virtual meetings are a telecommuting necessity. Communicate frequently to offer positive feedback and show gratitude. Summary. Statistically, these employees are working an additional hour per day while there is no social interaction between meetings and they risk suffering a burn out.”, For expert HR consulting contact HR Team today. Stay Connected. To maximize productivity, you must understand the obstacles that stand … Try the four tactics above to … Taking away the social and support aspect of work and human interaction is gone. The majority of companies outsource without even realising – for example, by using an external bookkeeper or copywriter. Even using GIFs or the occasional emoji in informal chats can create comradery within your team and personalise communication. Prepared or not, you find yourself the manager of a fully remote team. Managing and motivating a remote workforce requires the same basic approach as a traditional office environment. If your team has critical commitments such as team or department meetings, hold employees accountable for attending and follow up on absences. People who understand the "why" behind the work they are doing and understand how important it is to the success of the company as a whole are more likely to be motivated to do their part (and do it well!) … Managing a team, regardless of size, can be difficult for even the most experienced professional. Poor job design – non-flexible when moving to remote working. Ineffective communication or lack of communication. How to manage communication in a remote workforce Be as responsive and available as you can Remote employees will benefit from having a manager that is equally as responsive to them as they would be to their in-house staff. 9. Higher motivation among your remote workforce can lead to greater productivity and employee performance. Below are a few ways managers can motivate, engage, and support their remote teams to achieve meaningful results throughout the organization. Outside influences which may be hampering performance. Ms McAuley states: “Home working was a rapid adjustment for many, which is significantly different to managing someone face to face. Remote working in virtual teams has quickly become our new norm. 5. Whether you invest time in a spreadsheet that tracks progress over time or produce a PDF of fancy graphs that represents quarterly goals, choose a consistent method easy to digest for your entire team. Whether it’s for a flexible schedule, better work-life balance, diversifying the talent pool, or cutting the cost of overhead, employees are increasingly joining a remote workforce to drive performance at a distance. Many high-quality solutions to support online collaboration and teamwork are free or relatively inexpensive. Yet the fact… Too often, it's easy to just relegate remote staff to secondary consideration. Collaboration is a crucial ingredient of a successful team, but you can’t communicate effectively with employees who aren’t connected. … This approach relies on a growth mindset, and it encompasses the idea that no matter where you are in your career, from the front lines of service to executive leadership, you always have room to stretch for more. Strong relationships and a positive culture can be more difficult to foster at a distance, but both are still vital aspects of employing and retaining a talented and engaged team. When we operate within our comfort zone, we usually succeed at what we’re already good at and fail to widen our skillset. To help motivate your employees, focus on helping them tackle challenges that are a slight stretch. Be responsive … Employees not receiving effective training or induction into the workplace. Working from home can be a distraction for some, but micromanaging seat time is one of the least effective ways to keep your remote workforce on task. But a great deal of the formula for success with a talented workforce is simply to motivate and then get out of the way. Sign up to receive employee engagement and company culture articles by email. Your tone of voice is a much better communicator of emotion than email. Part of a growth mindset, however, is also embracing failure as a learning experience. In this article, HR Team co-director, Martina McAuley, provides her expert advice on optimising performance while working from home. Budget for updated, reliable technology—nothing kills your team’s motivation faster than a laptop crashing or slow programs that trudge through daily tasks. Choose tools that are easy to use, with an emphasis on the basics. With a remote team, it is important for each person to understand their job function, and how it fits into the larger function of the organization. Provide regular information – office-based employees could previously have asked a colleague for assistance, but this is now not the case for many. To watch Ms McAuley’s webinar on homeworking and managing employee motivation and mental health, please click here. Creating a visual that represents progress not only motivates employees with a competitive streak but also clarifies key performance indicators and priorities for the entire team. Where feasible, provide remote employees with communication channels they can use when they need to get in touch right away. Especially in the initial stages of growing a business, you may need to call upon the services of a number of experts – these can range from marketing gurus, SEO specialists and web developers. Establish regular check-in calls to help your remote workforce feel included, but also encourage the use of platforms for instant messaging and chat that allow informal conversations between colleagues to flourish. 1. How to Manage a Remote Team Effectively. Clarify if telephone and internet costs will be reimbursed. 2. Because there is no "managing by walking around" when supervising a remote workforce, managers need to figure out ways to communicate throughout the day. Make sure that specialised roles like project managers, designers, and others also have access to the right workflow apps they need to be successful. Periodically check in to ensure schedules align with any persistent challenges like time zone differences or client needs. Although 43% of employed Americans say they spend at … While managing and motivating a remote workforce takes a proactive approach, its goals are not remarkably different from what you’d do to support employees in a traditional workplace. Set aside a dedicated time during weekly or monthly meetings to update the scoreboard and periodically realign to be sure the data you’re measuring reflects your business’s initiatives. A flexible schedule is an advantage for remote employees, but if you need your workforce... Foster a growth mindset. Mental health issues – it is very important to have a structure from working from. Use all the tools at your disposal to keep communicating regularly with your colleagues. Getting started: Hiring a remote workforce. How Managers Communicate With Remote Workers. Motivating Your Workforce Remotely It’s important that you set clear expectations and stay connected with your remote team . The person in the cube next to the manager may spend 10 hours a day in the office, but are they catching up on sports, shopping online or planning their next vacation? It’s likely you have never worked 100%-remote, let alone managed a team in this setting. 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