5 Tips for Effective Management of Remote Employees

According to Global Workplace Analytics, nearly 50% of the workforce works in some sort of telecommuting role and even more employees have stated that they would like working remotely at least part-time. Considering this, offering remote opportunities is a good way to gain more productive workers. Below are a few tips for the effective management of a remote workforce.

Set Clear Expectations

It is important you set clear expectations for what you expect, whether you show examples of what you expect to be done or define what “quickly” means to you. The better you prepare your workers, the better they will serve your company.

Regularly Engage

Engage with your remote workers on a regular basis through some sort of communication. If possible, schedule regular face-to-face meetings as well, perhaps weekly, monthly, or annually. Regular interaction and engagement with workers help them to feel included and valued.

Focus on Goals Over Activity

When working with a remote team, it is more important to manage expectations around goals rather than what is being done to attain those goals. Focus more on what is being accomplished. If the goals are being met, great! If goals are being missed, then it may be time to look into activity.

Avoid Multitasking

Find ways to avoid multitasking – especially where communication is concerned. Encourage everyone to stay in working mode but avoiding extensive email trails. Need to talk about something important? Use video conferences instead to keep productivity moving forward.

Treat Remote Workers as Locals

Treat your remote team members as you would those who are local and vice versa. Give remote team members access to you just as those working on-site have. Remote people can start to feel distant without regular communication. Be sure to respond to them quickly when possible and not leave them hanging.