Remote work is becoming more and more common each year. With surveys reporting that the percentage of employees who have put in remote work hours is now hovering around 70%, it’s apparent that almost every company has employees that telecommute at least once a week. In this new office landscape, how can you ensure that your employees are staying engaged in their work?
While remote work may be convenient, it can be difficult to get your remote employees on the same page if you can’t directly communicate with them in person. If you’d like to improve communication with your remote employees, here are a few measures you can take to make it happen.
1. Choose Communication Methods Wisely
Not all communication channels perform alike. In order to reach remote workers effectively, you may have to carefully pick and choose what tools you use to speak with them.
Using channels like video streaming and phone calls can allow you to gain back some of that “in-person” feeling that’s lost by working remotely. You’ll be able to better communicate with members, and build up a better employer-worker relationship while doing it.
Similarly, online messaging platforms like Slack and Google Hangouts can allow you 24/7 communication with any remote workers you have. You can send files, host group messages, and better facilitate collaboration on work assignments.
2. Document Work Expectations
When you don’t necessarily have the luxury of holding in-office meetings with your workers, you need to make sure work expectations aren’t lost in translation when communicating.
By documenting your remote workers’ goals and objectives, you can regularly check in with this document to make sure assignments are completed as planned. This way, neither you nor your remote employee misunderstands the work that needs to be executed and the deadlines for completion, helping you better manage your team.
Using task management software like Asana can help you set due dates on tasks and collaborate with your remote workers in real-time to get things done. This is great for any larger projects you may have that need to be broken down into multiple tasks.
3. Build Staff Relations
You should never take company culture and staff bonding for granted. If you aren’t fostering a healthy relationship between all of your staff—remote and in-office—you could be alienating those workers who telework.
Consider connecting your remote workers into your in-office conferences and meetings using a video conference software service. This way, remote employees can see their coworkers, communicating with them and getting a sense of their influence on the company.
You should also host team building events and invite remote workers who are available to come along. By meeting outside of the office, you’ll have the chance to get everyone together and build a stronger team relationship.
Everyone should feel connected, whether working remotely or in-office, so encourage staff to communicate via Slack, email, phone call, or however they prefer. Promoting this type of communication will help everyone collaborate on projects seamlessly, increasing work efficiency in the process.
4. Provide Virtual Tours
Finally, for those remote workers who have never had a chance to visit your brick and mortar office, it could be beneficial to show them around virtually.
Giving remote workers a virtual tour of your office and workspace can give them a better understanding of your company’s culture, values, and overall feel. It also gives you a chance to “introduce” remote employees to your office staff, putting faces to names.
If you’re onboarding a new remote employee, you may want to include this as a step in the welcoming process. It’s a great way to get new employees to feel more at home with your company.
Using these 4 tips, you can foster a better relationship with your remote employees and get them on their way to producing efficiently for your company.