Managing remote workers needs different strategies to address their unique challenges to ensure that they are productive and performing optimally.
Work life balance
- Establish good practices of working from home, including number of working hours and days; such as the 40 hours/week expectation at 37signals.
- Prioritize tasks
- Recognize that remote workers need frequent communication and time management help
Work place isolation
- Check in informally, one-on-one meetings and even in person
- Promote social interaction and team building activities with remote workers by celebrating birthdays, bringing team members in for conferences and workshops
- Create a buddy system where a remote worker and an on site office worker or a more experienced remote worker are paired up in a mentoring relationship
- Facilitate new worker entry by providing a list of employees with contact information and pictures
Lack of face to face communication
- Arrange for face to face meetings on a regular basis
- Use technology to communicate more informally that builds relationships
Lack of visibility
- Share information about individual and team achievements to the rest of the organization
- Be open and encourage both formal and informal communication
- Develop training for remote workers that addresses the unique challenges of working remotely
Warning signs that your remote workers are neglecting work:
(Read the complete article by HRWorld)✔ Their productivity goes down
✔ They are unresponsive
✔ Their answers are suspiciously polished
✔ They constantly have computer or technical difficulties
✔ They would rather enter data than take on large projects
✔ They repeated reschedule phone calls or meeting with managers
✔ You hear background noises that do not sound like they belong in the work environment
✔ They are indifferent to company news
✔ They have increasing excuses for not meeting deadlines
✔ They complain about their workload
5 ways to energize and keep a remote team engaged.
Explore other management strategies on the pages below:
What other strategies do you apply to manage and support remote workers? Or if you are a remote worker, how do you think your manager can support you better? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
Going Remote 