Businesses globally are trying out new solutions and continuously improvising to make remote work easy and manage remote teams better.
According to Monster, 69% of employees are experiencing burnout symptoms while working from home. Remote work will not fade away any sooner.
Ultimately, it comes down to the employees to adapt to the new work environment. To dive deeper let’s quickly look at the rewards and challenges in store for remote workers.
Rewards:
- Getting ready on one’s own convenience
- Not in a rush for the Bart, metro or bus
- Good riddance from traffic stress
- Eating healthy (for most)
- Getting to spend some extra time with family
- Savings – both money and time
And the challenges:
- Lots of loneliness
- A feeling of disconnectedness
- Lack of communication with coworkers/no socializing
- Overwhelmed with work, leading to psychological stress
While the benefits here are great, the challenges really need immediate attention. Businesses do not require to reinvent themselves, but they need to adapt to new situations, new skills and new policy.
The last one here is inevitable. It is time for the leadership, management, and HR to put together a remote work policy which empowers remote teams and remote workers.
For most businesses it was quite easy to empower employees on site through face to face interactions and regular chit chats and “live” happy hours.
Now it is all the more necessary for businesses to go an extra mile to take care of their employees, to build and nurture commitment towards their work and company. These remote employee engagement tips will be helpful for management and hr.
Communication is the key here. If you cannot sit next to the person, it becomes more important to communicate with them regularly. Virtual meetings do not necessarily need to form virtual relations. They could be real connections.
Having the technology to manage communications is now a necessity for businesses. Feedbacks, one on one’s, OKRs and rewards need to be an integral part of internal communication policy.
Work hours
Traditionally employees were paid for the number of hours they were in office. But it cannot be denied that employees used to come back home and complete their work in their quiet space and with less noise around.
Basically remotely. Remote workers technically are working on and off the entire day and are ultimately more productive.
An HR policy which allows flexible work hours will not only empower employees but will be a stepping stone to build a solid team culture. While unlimited vacation policy has found a place in many work cultures, flexible work hours could be a more difficult one.
Team meetings and one on one’s
Both are important. Team meetings help to foster connection and create an understanding that they are not the only one who has work (lots) on their plate. It also helps team members to ask for suggestions and brainstorm to come up with brilliant ideas.
To boost employee morale and feel supported, one on one’s are extremely important for remote workers. If you have too many teams or several direct reports, team meetings and one on one’s could become extremely difficult without the right set of tools.
Providing the right infrastructure can aid clear communication and be more productive which ultimately helps to carve a solid ground for trust, empathy, and team spirit.
Help employees grow both professionally and personally. Your employees need time and training to adapt to the work environment and accomplish goals. If you support your employees by giving them access and resources to build their knowledge base, they evolve in unexpected ways.
Personally, employees must be given avenues to grow their soft skills and develop their emotional quotient, to make them rise higher in their career chart. While most big companies were doing this , it is now necessary to make it an integral part of HR policy.
Networking
One of the biggest drawbacks of the remote work culture is the lack of networking and social connection with colleagues. This is a major factor which stimulates loneliness among workers.
Our team trusts CoffeeConnect which connects employees over slack and they get to know each other better. Tools like CoffeeConnect go a long way to help employees build strong relations across the company and keep them motivated.
Send your remote teams for virtual coffee and help them know more about each other with Rapid-fire quiz and interesting ice-breakers.
Prevent Isolation & Reduce Burn-out
Praise your employees and have fun with them. None can deny that work life can be serious and stressful. But there are ways to come out of this exhaustion. Rewards go an extra mile to keep your employees committed and so does fun times.
Bringing your true nature to work and developing authentic connections even at workplace can be the best way to motivate yourself, your peers and remote teams.
“Very often, a change of self is needed more than a change of scene”. —A.C. Benson
Finally, only when your employees feel connected and confident about themselves can they be more productive. Taking the right steps and investing in the right technology can ensure the right direction to keep your employees happy.
