Currently, remote work is growing vastly in popularity. This is mainly due to the onset of the global pandemic. However, what many are ill aware of is the fact that this trend was present even before the outbreak of the virus. Of course, not to the large extent that the growth is currently experience, but nonetheless, remote work has been a relatively popular, albeit underreported, mode of work. A study even found out that around 33% of American workers engaged in some form of distance based employment, even if that meant they only worked form home one day of the week. However, currently, the rate at which companies are adopting this strategy is through the roof. Indeed, it cannot be denied that such strategies have become (even more) popular. If your company aims to incorporate a work from home plan within your business, then here are the 4 most important tips you should be aware of:
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- Rethinking your company’s culture
Throughout the history of remote work strategies, it has been indicated that strategies put into place within in-office settings probably do not translate well into a remote working environment. In this regard, managers should include their workers in the reshaping of company culture and protocols; this can be doing by implementing a more hands on approach in regards to the company workforce. Ask for employee feedback when major decisions are going to be made about certain policies. This way, by having staff engage more thoroughly in the daily activities of the office, they will be or involved due to being more invested in the success or failure of the business.
When certain projects fail, worry not, but uses these experiences to gain better feedback from those involved; have employee’s evaluate the task process and use that information to apply a better strategy next time. But always remember, remote work should be a team effort that should take into consideration the input of everyone involved.
- Schedule regular meetings with your employees
Due to the nature of remote work, those engaged in it will be in a situation that is potentially socially straining. A remote work strategy can indeed be liberating in many ways, as well as effective (after all, that’s why so many companies are widely adopting this mode of work). However, because every remote worker, by definition, will be engaged in their work away from every one of their coworkers and managers, this can indeed result in a kind of social constraint that may, depending on the individual, leave one’s sanity compromised. Of course, this is for the direst cases; most people can handle a little isolation.
Having said that, it may be necessary to plan out meetings every day, or if you want, every other day. This is for two reasons: firstly, due to the distance between everyone, it can be easy for individuals to forget their responsibilities. Of course, this is why one of the entries in this list will advise you to solidify and make clear the rules of the company, so that lateness and sluggishness can be evaluated against a very clear standard. However, at the same time, scheduling meetings also helps in this regard, as it lets everyone know that managers care about the employee’s current status and are willing to discuss matters regularly.
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The second reason this is necessary harkens back to the previous point: social isolation. Even though this point is in regards to discussing work related matter, it still helps to talk about something, anything, even on a virtual basis, with other people. This point tempers the distance being put between everyone working in the company.
- Make the rules clear and objective
This is a particularly important one; due to the nature of remote work, managers will be unable to simply walk to the end of the office to John’s cubicle and ask him about his work. Indeed, remote work strategies allow for a certain amount of freedom and independence to each and every employee. In most cases, people abide by the rules and get their work done, despite not having someone push them. However, in the case that there are individuals who feel it necessary to abuse the freedom given to them, it should be made clear that by doing so, there are clear cut and unambiguous consequences for such behavior. This is why the rules need to be plain as day: if one does not hand in their work by a certain time, for example, they will be reprimanded. Or, every worker needs to complete a certain number of hours by a specific time before they can have a break. In regards to the last example, it might be handy to employ a HRIS application so that individual working hours can be recorded and tracked by the HR department.
- Conduct everyday assessments of performances
This is required do the inherent nature of remote working strategies. Trust is a difficult thing give to someone, let alone a whole cohort of workers. In most cases, workers respect the rules and use the freedom given to them through distance based employment to better stabilize their work-life balance. However, in the case that there are individuals who use their work-from-home benefits to slack off, it si always important to have someone in the office specialized in monitoring worker habits. This is not only in regards to finding those failing in their duties, mind you. If someone is engaged in very irregular working hours or is overworking, then that person might be having some mental health issues. Therefore, it is important, for all these reasons, to have someone preferably within the HR team, to conduct everyway reviews of worker performances.
