It has been predicted that in as little as two years, at least half of the workforce for any given company will be doing their work remotely. The big driving force behind this trend is that working remotely is highly prized by employees, because it provides flexibility that makes life much easier to manage.
Many workers have indicated they would gladly leave their current jobs, just to have the opportunity to work from their own homes. This being the case, it becomes extremely important that workforce managers understand how to oversee their remote workforce employees. Here are some tips on best practices for interacting with your remote workers.
Get to know your remote workers
As a manager, it’s essential for you to understand what motivates your remote workers, and to build a relationship with them so you can accomplish that. For instance, you should know whether a specific employee is a morning person or an evening person, because this will help you reach them and provide motivation which they will actually respond to. Whatever an employee’s motivational triggers may be, you have to discover these, so that you can effectively keep your remote workers properly motivated.
Communicate regularly and effectively
Communication is obviously very important between a manager and a remote worker, but exactly how that communication is carried out is even more important. Many companies have already discovered that the most important tool for maintaining regular communications is a video call-in which occurs at least weekly, and preferably on a daily basis. Video call-ins make both parties take the meeting seriously, and to come prepared to discuss issues like the prior day’s activities, the current day’s agenda, and any issues which are hindering progress.
Be supportive
As important as it is for a manager of remote workers to motivate those individuals, it’s just as important to be supportive for them. You should remember that your remote workers are in fact operating in a vacuum, and they need reinforcement and support to know that they’re doing a good job and that their efforts are appreciated.
This doesn’t need to be a steady stream of congratulatory messages, but it should point out how work quality can be improved, if that is necessary. This kind of support can be offered through daily conference calls or even through emails, but it’s necessary to provide your remote workers with feedback they require to do their best work.
Measure performance by deliverables
Measuring the number of hours worked doesn’t really have much significance in the business world, because the bottom line is really more about what is delivered by your remote workers. That means a manager should not be so concerned with getting 40 hours of work from their employees, but should instead be focused on the quality and quantity of work which is delivered.
Make sure that your remote workers follow established company processes, and meet whatever deadlines are imposed on them. When your remote workers meet these expectations, you won’t need to be concerned about the number of hours they work, because your deliverables will have been met, and that should be your primary concern.
If you’d like to discuss whether remote workers would be a good fit for your business, Business Partner Alliance is here for you. We provide targeted coaching, consulting and business advisory services to help small and medium sized business owners achieve new heights. We put our passion and experience to work to help business people achieve their goals. Let’s meet for coffee to see how we can work together.
Emory Ware