Remote working took the world by storm in 2020 and looks like it’s here to stay, so for businesses to see the most success, it’s essential to understand how to manage remote workers effectively. This method can bring better outcomes than traditional office work when used correctly. However, there are also large chances of failure without the right strategy in place. So we’re discussing some of the main areas that could take a hit when diving into remote working and how to best approach them.

Wellbeing

Whether your employees are fully remote or hybrid working, their wellbeing may be harder to monitor and maintain. Caring for employees is much easier when you’re all in the same environment on a daily basis, so we must change how we do things to show our care digitally. Using video call platforms helps ensure employees can still socialise and will not become lonely and isolated. In addition to this, coming together as a team for team-building activities or fun events outside of work hours can help nurture valuable work relationships and make people happier in their roles.

Connectivity

Remaining efficient can be a change for some due to a lack of collaboration and connectivity between teams. Ensuring you have a suitable tech stack is vital to keeping your workforce connected in a remote setting. Applications that many have seen success using include Trello, Slack and Microsoft teams. These messaging, planning and video platforms make communication especially clear and relatively simple. These allow you to create dedicated workspaces with certain team members, replicating an office, except over these channels. 

Accountability

We’ve all seen individuals who have taken working from home for granted and used the time to relax, so you must get it right. One way of combatting this is asking employees to create reports and offer proof of what they have achieved in their allocated time. There are many tools available which can support these efforts, such as toggle, the popular time-tracking app. Toggle allows you to list your daily task and create PDF reports consolidating all information on your hours worked.

Quality  

There are several reasons for quality to be monitored when switching to a remote working model. Some may feel less motivated, struggle without direct supervision or become more distracted. Motivation can be lifted by encouraging employees to change their surroundings, whether it’s a different room in their house or taking a trip to a coffee shop. This could also help with managing any distractions that would not be in place within an office.

Hybrid vs Fully remote

Hybrid working has stemmed from the working-from-home initiative, helping businesses to reap the benefits of flexible working without losing too much control. Working in a business location a few times a week and working from home the remaining. This gives the opportunity to catch up with colleagues fully and eliminate any issues. 

A fully remote workforce could help you save further costs as a business but will take much more thought, as shown by the discussion points above. This way of working is not less effective than hybrid working, but it could be beneficial to start with a hybrid approach to determine whether it would be something suitable for your business.

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