Get used to the video conferencing culture
Since is the only sane way of seeing each other face to face without putting our safety in danger, the video call culture has seen a massive rise since the start of the pandemic. Equip your remote teams with appropriate video conferencing software that matches the requirement of your organization and suits your operations. Almost all of the tools like Zoom or Microsoft Teams have many features like whiteboards, polls, screen sharing options to enrich your video conferencing experience. Video conferences are preferred over the written mode of communication because it is far more convenient and conveys the information in a much clearer way. It helps to connect more than one individual and makes communication more effective by increasing attention and productivity.
Work upon the onboarding process of your organization
The onboarding process plays a very important role in the new hire’s first impression of the organization. One must acknowledge the fact they must modify the onboarding process to match the differential mode of working to make it more suitable, satisfying, and engaging the remote employees. This must include the basic information of the organization, what it does, its values and missions, and the long-term goals that the company wishes to fulfill. It is better to a more spread plan like 2 weeks plan so the new employees have ample time to get acquainted with everything; this might have been easier in the physical work environment but takes a long time for the remote employees to be set in the culture. Give them smaller and easier tasks to check their skills and interests. An important thing here is to include the feedback system which would help you improve your onboarding process for future employees.
Define the organizational goals to the remote employees
There are two goals that an employee wishes to fulfill during his or her tenure in any organization. These could be the personal goals and the organizational goals and both of them are interdependent on each other. Making the employees aware of the organizational goals has become all the more important in today’s changing work cultures as these form the base for the company’s vision and mission. If these goals have been defined, employees can understand how they could add value to it.
Do not underestimate the importance of communication
The importance of communication cannot be stressed enough! Especially for remote working teams, communication stands in the first place to make your remote working experience a success. You must understand that your team might have differential needs of communication and try to comprehend them in your work culture. Since remote working allows for a level of flexibility and some of the employees may be from a different country, they might not have the same shifts. The problem of the timely gap between the employees is one of the many problems that hinder a good communication system in your organization. As a manager, you must always be available for your employees for work-related or any other issues that they may face. Setting up frequent check-ins with your remote teams would help you stay updated about their work if they are facing any problems and if they are doing well psychologically. Allow them to have open and clear communication with you and their other teammates to foster a positive work environment.
Try to enroll your remote employees in mentorship programs
Remote mentoring programs help the employees to learn and grow as an intellect, as an employee, and also as a group. Incorporate a culture of performance review and identify the key metrics that make such performance possible. If they know about each person’s goals and aspirations, they can help aid in their journey. This helps them understand the importance of mutual trust and builds a sense of belongingness in a remote team so they can work together with a motivated spirit to achieve the organizational goals. This results in better communication and innovative participation of the employees in their present and future projects.
Make your teams understand the importance of team working spirit
Team working is like a new-age problem for a manager heading a remote team. Due to the physical and mental barrier between the teammates they might face problems like lack of cooperation or issues of collaborating. You must address such issues on a priority basis and make sure that it does not hamper their productivity. Try to culture a working environment where the employees can trust each other and depend upon each other for psychological support. This can be done by organizing informal meets outside the work hours through video conferencing where they can form friendly relations to be able to work cooperatively and comfortably.
Celebrate smallest of accomplishments
Trust us, your employees need every sort of celebration to help them take a little break from their monotonous everyday work life. Keeping a track of their birthdays, anniversaries or any such small events in their lives would help them connect with their teammates at a personal level and feel valued in the organization. Celebrating any sort of milestone or achievement in one’s life, be it personal or professional would be a really good chance as it would lighten the mood and give employees a chance to enjoy each other’s companies. It would help to motivate them to perform better by keeping their morale up and creating a positive environment in the organization.
Stress upon the importance of mental health
Mental health is something that has been ignored for quite some time but has recently started to create a lot of problems for the employees in their professional, as well as personal lives. It needs just as much attention and care as your physical health does. People seem to avoid early signs of stress and related disorders. Psychological wellness problems can be weakening, and workers who experience the ill effects of them merit backing and consolation. Problems such as Depression and Anxiety may be the result of isolates working conditions and might increase if not handled within the appropriate time. Burnout is another recognized issue that affects the mental health of employees and affects their productivity. The sedentary lifestyle that has become our permanent partner because of the whole work-from-home situation might just add to all the mental trauma by making you physically unfit and lethargic. These issues can cause repeated stress-related problems. Create an environment where your employees to communicate and share if they are facing any such issues. Organize virtual workshops and conferences where the employees can understand how important it is to share and address such issues on a priority basis. If your remote team is mentally and physically fit, it is only them that they can contribute to achieving organizational goals.
Do not overlook your employee’s need for growth
Growth is an inevitable part of any individual’s life. They need to know that the organization that they are working for offers them ample growth opportunities, both personally and professionally. Employers tend to focus on the bigger picture and neglect the needs and aspirations of the employees. To keep your employees motivated, try to get them enrolled for career advancement and skill development opportunities where they can fulfill their need for growth. There are various e-learning platforms and tools available on the web that could come in handy in such a situation. Some organizations even offer scholarships for their employees to pursue higher education as it benefits the employee who feels valued and the organization by adding value to it.
Work upon your company’s culture as a whole
A company’s culture says a lot about how the employees are treated, how they feel, opportunities for growth, amongst other things. It allows employees to connect on the level of their interests, attitudes, and goals. Always make it a point to communicate the values and missions of the organization to the employees right after they have joined. Creating a culture that focused on the mental health and psychological capabilities of an employee helps to build trust and belongingness in the minds of the remote teams. Try to indulge employees in having inter-personal connections amongst themselves so they can relieve the stress of work and blow off some steam. One of the most important things that are overlooked by managers is that they must not over-burden the remote employees with work and targets that are incapable of being achieved to avoid employee burnout. Effective alignment is rare, even on teams that share the same physical space, but that doesn’t make it any less essential. The leadership of the organization needs to reduce friction that can occur when working from home and, wherever possible, make the transition as seamless as possible
Employee good technology for your remote employees
This is the last but the most important thing to ensure that your remote team has a great working experience. Technology is what the employees depend on for working outside the physical environment of their homes. Therefore, they must be given appropriate tools and collaborative platforms that make their job easier and ensures smooth working. Platforms such as Microsoft Teams or Slack can be used by the employees to exchange written thoughts and Skype or Zoom helps to have a good video conferencing experience. Other tools like Microsoft share-point are also essential as they allow for sharing of files and collaborative working.
Creating a work environment for your employees to have a positive remote working experience might be difficult. But since we are all stuck here together in this pandemic, it is important to move forward and progress no matter what.
