Shifting to a remote work environment has been necessary for many businesses in the past couple of years. While some companies are eager to return to a traditional work setting, others are devoted to a remote-only workforce going forward.
Keeping employees happy and engaged is essential for success when working remotely. However, being in separate areas presents new challenges in HR and management.Â
Here’s how you can adapt the best solutions for your remote workers to ensure continued success for all.
Choose the Right Tools
When most businesses pivoted to remote work in March 2020, management implemented tools to support the shift as quickly as possible. Many of those tools were selected as a stop-gap measure with a temporary mindset; they may no longer be the best option for a permanent remote set-up.
Take the time to audit your tools and identify gaps in your current tech stack. For example, your legacy system might not be optimized for hours tracking in a remote environment. Looking into GoCo Solutions for PTO management and other HR functions can solve those challenges and start the shift to remote-friendly systems.
This is also the ideal time to re-evaluate your tools for project management and communications. Investing in tools that support employee morale and team-building will help cultivate a healthy remote work team.
Prioritize Teambuilding and Connectivity
One of the biggest struggles for employees shifting to a remote-only work environment is the lack of camaraderie and connection. They no longer have the opportunity to take a quick break and catch up at the coffee machine or pop out for a spontaneous lunch.Â
Leadership can help employees adapt by allowing time to catch up and communicate about non-work topics. Some teams have a virtual happy hour to end the day on Friday or use the RandomCoffee app to randomize employee pairings for team-building one-on-one sessions. One of the perks of the pivot to remote work is that everyone has an opportunity to learn more about each other’s roles within the team. Take advantage of this change to create a collaborative environment.
Rethink Your Workflow and Structure
If your office was a 9-5 hours-based workspace, it’s time to reconsider your approach. If the pandemic and remote work has taught us anything, it’s that the traditional workweek is archaic and doesn’t encourage a healthy work-life balance.
Consider shifting to a project or task-based work structure, allowing flexibility as needed. While there might be a few scheduled meetings and hard deadlines, allowing people to adjust their work schedule to suit their new work-from-home lifestyle will encourage better engagement and morale. Track progress in projects or tasks rather than focusing on set hours.
Set Clear Communications and Expectations
Communication is challenging even in a traditional workplace setting. Having everyone work from separate locations adds complexity that’s hard to overcome. Text-only communication is often misconstrued, as it removes tone and body language from the equation.Â
Be sure that everyone knows their roles and responsibilities, and empower your people to communicate their boundaries— just because you choose to check your emails after hours doesn’t mean everyone should.
Set clear guidelines about managing your online presence and the best way for everyone to get in contact with one another.Â
Make Meetings Matter
While it’s important to have face-to-face time when working remotely, every meeting should have clear intentions. Create more structure around meetings, ensuring there’s an agenda, time limits, and clarity around action items and responsibilities. Before scheduling meetings, consider that maybe it should just be a Slack message or email.
Keep Security in Mind
Finally, revisit your cybersecurity tools and policies. The overnight shift to remote work put a lot of businesses at risk for data loss and breaches. If you haven’t already revisited your cybersecurity systems and best practices, it’s time.
With these solutions, you can adapt your employees to remote work. Having the right tools and practices can make all the difference in the new normal.
