Tips on Managing Remote Employee For Better Productivity

Struggling to manage your remote team? Read these thirteen best tips for managing remote employees.

At the time of the COVID-19 pandemic, employees were compelled to work from home worldwide. The good news is that working remotely is not an entirely new method. Many companies are supporting remote-workforce and managing remote employees for ages.👨‍💼

In a global survey conducted with CIOs, about 15 to 16 percentage participants stated they worked remotely in their company before the COVID-19 pandemic. Moreover, 36% of the participants expected to work in a hybrid workforce model permanently in the future. Hence, you may need to upgrade your remote workforce management methods to manage the increasing number of remote workers.

This blog post will offer thirteen useful tips for managing remote workers that will make you a better remote workforce manager.

Common Challenges

Before we go to the tips for managing remote workers, let me tell you some common challenges that all remote employees may face while working remotely.

• Juggling between deadlines and home commitments
• A feeling of social isolation
• Screen fatigue
• Limited access to resources
• Home distractions
• Burnout

13 Ultimate Tips For Managing Remote Employees

1. Know Your Role and Responsibility
2. Set Virtual Meetings Daily
3. Set Remote Training
4. Provide Enough Resources
5. Occasionally Set Physical Meetings
6. Include Every Employee
7. Always Welcome Social Interaction
8. Prioritize Results Over Hours
9. Avoid Micromanagement
10. Be Ready For Technical Issues
11. Do Not Set Time Boundaries For One-on-One Conversations
12. Choose The Right Tool For Remote Project Management
13. Don’t Forget to Appreciate Every Goal Achieved

1. Know Your Role and Responsibility

Before you can learn what is expected from remote workers, you should learn what is expected from you as a remote team manager or leader. By leveraging cutting-edge tools for employee management, tailored specifically for remote teams, you can effectively overcome the unique challenges associated with decentralized work environments. You must be crystal clear about your role and responsibility in the company to deliver the best of you.

2. Set Virtual Meetings Daily

Communicating and conveying any message is very easy if you work with your team in one place. Since you are leading a remote workforce, setting up a virtual meeting and communicating daily with your remote team members is crucial. You can know the assigned task’s progress and remind them of the deadline for the same. You can update them with the company’s new policy and resource availability. Remote employees can also ask for guidance if they face work-related problems.

One of the best tips for managing remote employees is to use a good communication channel for setting up a virtual meeting. There are many video meeting apps available that you can use, such as Zoom, Skype for Business, Slack, BigBlueButton, BlueJeans, Cisco WebEx, and GoToMeeting.

3. Set Remote Training

Remote employees are part of your company and are as important as employees working in your physical office. You need to set up remote training sessions from time to time and train them for essential skills required to work in a remote environment. You can also train them to use new tools and resources.

4. Provide Enough Resources

Sometimes, remote employees have limited access to the company database and other essential resources. It will restrict them from working to their full potential, and they may have to depend on others to complete the task. They are in a new work environment and may hesitate to ask for resources and access, resulting in delayed task completion and incomplete work. Ensure remote employees are provided with all the essential resources and access to the company database according to their role in the company.

5. Occasionally Set Physical Meetings

You should set physical meetings for better remote team management. It can be a great opportunity to get to know each other by putting them under one roof. It can also create a bond between remote team members and make them more comfortable working remotely.

6. Include Every Employee

Even in the office, you will always find some employees may always prefer to stay in the shadows. If you are not careful in the remote workforce, you will also face the same situation here. Ensure all your remote team members be present in every regular meeting and fully involved in the conversation. It does not always have to be work-related. You can make a social conversation to engage them.

7. Always Welcome Social Interaction

You need to make sure none of your remote employees will suffer from social isolation; to do that, you should get help from technology. You can create a virtual water cooler where remote employees can engage and share the news. I.e., Coffee Break.

You can also create employee resource groups (ERGs) to increase social interaction, like learning new things, having fun, and hanging out.

8. Prioritize Results Over Hours

Remote employees are often found juggling between work and home life in the remote work scenario. You should be flexible and not prioritize working hours rather than achieving results. Let them do their assigned task at their convenience, focus on their output, and help them find the balance they are looking for.

9. Avoid Micromanagement

One of the most important tips for managing remote employees is to avoid micromanagement!

Are you always looking over your employee’s shoulders in the office? Then you shouldn’t do it for your remote workers too. If your remote workers are achieving their assigned tasks, they are using their resources effectively and being productive, there is no need to micromanage them.

10. Be Ready For Technical Issues

Most companies have an in-house technical team that helps with technical bottlenecks. As for the remote workforce, you must also make special arrangements to address the employee’s technical issues. If you are managing a remote team, it’s your role to see all the remote employees meet their goals without technical issues. You must devise a quick solution if they are facing any technical issues.

11. Do Not Set Time Boundaries For One-on-One Conversations

In the case of managing remote workers, you may find it difficult to have a one-on-one conversation with all your remote team members. You have to consider their convenient time and be available for conversations at that time. Do not set time boundaries like 9 to 6 office hours to make one-to-one conversations.

12. Choose The Right Tool For Remote Project Management

Project management software provides a central place where all your remote employees can update the progress of a task that has been assigned to them, which can determine overall project progress. It is vital to use secure and user-friendly project management tools for the sake of your company’s project data and remote employees’ ease of use.

13. Don’t Forget to Appreciate Every Goal Achieved

Being a remote team manager, you must appreciate every remote worker for achieving their goals. Whether it is a big or a small goal, you must appreciate them. You can send them a thumbs up or write a few lines of appreciation in the group for their good work. It can increase employees’ morale and encourage them to work effortlessly to achieve more. Appreciating an individual remote employee can motivate other remote team members too.

Wrapping Up

Every remote workforce and environment is unique, so their managing methods may differ. Understand the common challenges remote employees may face and apply the tips provided to create an opportunity to evolve the approach to remote work. These tips for managing remote employees can help you to ensure that your remote employee is productive. Good Luck.🙂