Remote teams are on the rise as professionals are deriving benefits from workplace flexibility. Many companies find that employees who work remotely at least some days of the week are less stressed, more efficient and generally happier than those who never do. This is great for organizations because there is less turnover and their departments with remote workers are more productive.
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However, working remotely isn’t for everyone. How can you find the right kind of employee who can work effectively remotely, and manage them to promote growth? There are a few ways you can leverage various management skills to do this.
Keep an open mind. The idea of working remotely may seem unattainable for your department, but that could just be because you haven’t tried it yet. If an employee has approached you about working remotely, don’t just brush them off. While you should be honest about your concerns about remote work being feasible, ask them to draft up a schedule and what they could actually accomplish if they worked remotely. Once they have drafted a plan, schedule a meeting to talk about the logistics. You may be surprised to find some remote work would be possible.
On the other hand, you may already be looking for employees who would want to work a few days a week remotely to save on expenses in your department. You may decide to start by offering this to those who are already working at your organization. Make sure to choose employees wisely. Ask yourself the following about the employee who is interested in working remotely:
— Do they thrive more when they work alone or with people?
— Are they able to accomplish tasks diligently without constant supervision?
— Are they trustworthy and dependable?
— Are they more productive when they work with others?
These kinds of questions can help you to evaluate if the employee has the right kind of personality for working remotely. They need to be self-driven and content to work alone to feel fulfilled and successful.
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You may need to hire new employees for your remote team. You will most likely find that a job listing offering remote work will have a high volume of interested applicants. Approach job candidates as you would for a regular in-house position, keeping in mind that you will want to look for the qualities mentioned above.
Test things out. In all of the above cases, offer a trial run before totally committing to them working remotely. The trial could be for a month or two to gauge how the employee feels, if their productivity levels drop, if their efficiency levels rise and if the work is actually getting done well.
Once you have assembled your remote team, it’s important to foment communication. For your remote team to work well together, this will require good communication from you as a leader. Make sure that your remote team gets to know at least the basics about each other if they haven’t met in person. There are different ways to do this. For example:
— Some teams meet weekly via online video or audio calls.
— Others use programs or apps with chat capabilities to always be available for their remote workers.
— Others still collaborate on projects virtually using different platforms specifically designed for remote teams.
It’s also important to make sure instructions, priorities and deadlines are clearly identified. The kind of communication you need will depend on your industry and size of your remote team.
No matter how you decide to keep in touch on the days when your employees work remotely, it’s important to make sure they still feel included and part of a team.
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Nurture your remote workers individually. Remote workers are sometimes overlooked on an individual level. However, just as you might have meetings with your in-house employees throughout the year to assess their progress, it’s beneficial to do the same with your remote employees. You may find it helpful to meet with remote workers on an individual level from time to time to check in and see how they are doing, to address any items that may be unclear or just to commend them for their good work. Your remote employees will feel included and cared for.
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How to Build and Manage a Remote Team originally appeared on usnews.com
