As your company shifts to working remotely, as everyone is staying home to lessen the curve, it’s understandable to feel uncertain about the impact it will have on how you manage your team and keep employees engaged. Working from home can become more flexible, technology is always evolving, along with the workforce. This unpredictable time spent at home can make you feel unprepared, there are tools and tactics that can help you and your team make the jump. At Ideal Office Solutions we’re here to support you in leading your remote workforce with actionable tips for each step of the way.
Maintain Your Team Culture And Office Community
Now more than ever, you want employees to feel connected—to you, to each other, and the team goals, and to the company’s culture and purpose. Remind your employees that just because you’re not together physically, it doesn’t mean you’re not just as strong. Keep an eye on your team’s working dynamics and support them as they adjust to collaborating with their new work methods. When everyone is working remotely, employees can start to feel isolated and lonely. This impacts team performance as much as employees’ personal wellbeing, so be sure to stay connected with your remote workers on a human level as well as a professional one.
Improve Communication
Communication is crucial to any team’s success when the team is virtual it’s even more essential to keep internal communications clear and intentional. Part of managing remote employees is helping to establish the most effective communication practices for your team. Encourage your team to share information, and regularly communicate priorities and progress reports in a rhythm that works best for your team. Clearly establish which communication channels serve what purpose, and ask employees to be specific with their updates and requests.
Facilitate Online Meetings
As you shift to remote work, some meetings might become irrelevant, others will need to be adapted, and you may discover the need for some you weren’t having before. Use video conferencing to online polling and virtual whiteboards to help facilitate remote collaboration. You don’t want to overwhelm your employees with tech, but you do want to ensure they’re set up with the tooling they need to collaborate effectively.
Encourage Work-Life Balance
When employees start working from home, the lines between “work” and “not work” can become blurred. It gets easier for employees to bring their laptops with them to the couch at the end of the day, only to realize that they’ve been ignoring their favorite Netflix show as they mindlessly sort through emails. Working remotely can give employees the opportunity to structure a personal wellness routine that enables more focus and higher productivity. By promoting this mentality on your team, you can help employees become more personally accountable to their engagement.
We know this is an unfortunate troubling time and social distancing is important! Staying home is important. Give us a call at Ideal Office Solutions to help your office design needs. Our dedicated team of experienced professionals will manage every aspect of your workplace needs and are still here to help!
