Remote work is a new up and coming trend in business. You may have used it in the past to a small extent with online video call meetings. Remote working simply means that your employees all work from the comfort of wherever they may be right now But how exactly do you make remote working effective?
The Best Ways To Make Remote Working Effective
You should take note that remote working isn’t for every business. Some businesses will struggle with it because of the nature of their industry. But if your business can take advantage of it, you can greatly increase productivity and lower your overhead costs like rent.
So to help you figure out how to make remote work more effective, we’ve made a great compilation of things that you can do to make your business remote work friendly.
Utilize Tools To Monitor Remote Working Productivity
The most common complaint about remote working is that employers can’t monitor their staff. However, this is far from the truth. You actually have a large number of tools that let you keep an eye on your staff and how well they’re doing at their job. They can come with a suite of tools like:
Time trackers
Time trackers are present even out of remote working situations. They ensure that your employees come in on time and clock out on time. Not earlier or later. Time trackers are even more important for remote workers as you don’t physically see them in an office. With a proper time tracker, you can monitor when they clock in and out in real time.
Screenshot tools
A big concern when employees are working remotely is that they can end up being distracted. Social media is a common distraction that employers have to deal with. A great solution is making sure that your employees’ screens are monitored at all times. Screenshot tools can keep an eye on whatever is on your employees screens. Some will even document the active browsers and processes on their computer.
Automated Warning Tools
Automated warning tools are some of the best ways you can improve the productivity of your remote employees. They give you a heads up whenever an employee does something that isn’t allowed during their work hours. The best part is that automated warning tools usually come bundled with time trackers or screenshot tools so you don’t have to invest in a separate application for it.
Do Not Neglect Communication
Communication is key whenever you’re in the office. Whether it be for work itself, or for small talk and social interaction, communicating is an important part of any work environment. However, it is much harder when you and your employees are not physically together. Remote work can make your employees feel isolated. However, there are two distinct ways you can improve your communication problems.
Message Boards Like Slack and Even A Social Media Group
One of the most simple ways you can let your employees interact is to open a message board. They can more openly share their thoughts with each other through these message boards. You can compare it to your usual break room small talk in the office. These are great for employee morale and are a decent substitute for your usual meetings.
Video conferences, Meetings and Social Events Through Voice Or Video Chat
Exclusively messaging each other can become tedious and isn’t for everybody. Luckily there are other great ways to communicate and that’s through video or voice calls. Video conferences, meetings and social events all become possible in a work environment because of voice and video chat. The best part about having a video chat option is that they are all recorded and can be accessed by you and employees later on in case a meeting needs to be revisited.
Change or Create New Company Policies To Fit With Remote Working
One of the things you’re going to notice immediately when your business partially or fully transitions to remote work is that some of your company policies may not match up. These can be policies about interaction with other workers, when your employees take their breaks, and even the dress code. You may even need to implement new policies like data protection and security policies that prevent the leaking of company sensitive data.
Changing older policies and creating new policies to match remote work can be a great way to ensure that you and your employees are more effective.
Make Sure Your Employees Are Ready For The Transition
Remote working can be a major shock to some of your employees. Being unprepared could mean that your employees will spend more time figuring things out rather than doing their jobs. So it is important that you prepare them for the transition. Ensure that you train and instruct them on how to use the new tools you will be using, give them a heads up of the new rules and policies, and ensure that they can handle the culture shift.
If they’re prepared effectively, they will be able to start working earlier and more effectively rather than spending the first few weeks or even months figuring things out and losing out on productivity.
Be Prepared For Under-performing Employees and Resignations
Not everyone is going to be able to easily handle the shift from working in an office to working in the comfort of their homes. Some of these employees may end up under performing or even resigning because of it.
An under-performing employee can always be trained to be better. It is made easier with how many training tools are available for employees and employers. However if an employee resigns, you have no choice but to replace them. A great way to find a replacement is by using internet job boards for candidates. But if you need a more specific employee with tenure, you can try utilizing a staffing company like Advocates Denver to find one for you.
Final Thoughts
Remote work can be a challenge for most businesses. However, instead of being a detriment, it can become an advantage that you can utilize. You just need to make sure that you’re constantly taking the time to improve your remote work effectiveness.