Being proactive actually works
Since you cannot really see your remote team in person, the communication part of the job suffers a lot. It was much easier to communicate with your team if you worked in the same physical environment. To counter this issue, you must be proactive in communicating with your remote working team and always stay approachable for them so they can easily communicate about work-related matters, or otherwise as well. In the words of Courtney Underwood, “To compensate, leaders must communicate early and often, leading with transparency to encourage accountability and engagement; Seemingly small gestures, like checking in with team members first thing in the morning, speak volumes.”
Start having everyday calls to discuss daily targets
Make it a habit of having a call every day with your team to discuss the agenda for the day, and ask for feedback, if any. This is a great way to start the day as it allows you and your team to identify key areas and prioritize them over other issues so that no important thing gets missed out. This is a great way of building a team working spirit as it allows your team to help each other in any way possible and helps them connect so they can collaborate better. Jill Pioter stresses this habit and says, “Make sure you’re taking time at the beginning of meetings to check in on people’s personal lives. When a team feels connected, they’ll be better collaborators,”
Try not to micromanage your remote team
You might feel the need to closely watch what your team is doing and indulge in unnecessary and repeated video calls during the day. However, this results in distractions as the employee has to time and again take a break from the work to attend to your calls for communication. It also instills a culture where the employees feel that they are not trusted by their respective team leaders, which demotivates them to take any initiative for the work assigned to them. It is believed by the majority of the organizations that over-communication might cause troubles, instead of helping your remote teams. Just ask your employees to follow this simple rule: ‘Do what you said you are going to do’. And if they do so, it would solve most of your problems as you would not need to constantly monitor their work.
Pay close attention to the way you are communicating with your team
It cannot be denied that body language and facial expressions communicate much more than one can with his or her words. It gives an impression to the people that words cannot deliver. Since you do not have the privilege of meeting someone face to face, always keep it in mind to be sure of what you are trying to convey and it is understood in the same context. People tend to misunderstand what you are trying to say when the communication is taking place on chat. There are various tools available online, like Grammarly that help you check the tone of your emails and messages and help you to make appropriate changes to it. Take their help to have a better idea of how your email might seem to the other person.
Employ a good tech support setup
Technical difficulties can be a huge roadblock for your remote employees since technology is the only way through which any sort of communication occurs between you and your team. Some of the technical issues are inevitable, like power cuts or internet problems. Such issues cannot be avoided, but other problems like software updates or technical glitches in the app that you are using or maybe your device is not compatible with the software. Such problems may be avoided if you take help of the tech support before starting your day. This is why having a good tech support team is essential for all remote working organizations to avoid any huge problems or losses due to petty technical problems that can be solved by troubleshooting.
Start having personal meetings with the teammates
One-on-one meetings would help you have a better idea of how things are going with your remote team. The group meetings are essential to discuss the agenda and brainstorm ideas but these one-to-one meetings help you understand the work culture at the grass-root level. These meetings could be video conferences or on the chat box of the tool that may be used in your organization. Another way could be to start a feedback system where the employees can freely submit their feedback, knowing that this information would remain between them and their manager only so you can have an open communication between you and your employees.
Instill the feeling of belongingness in the employees
Supporting your teammates is an essential part of remote working, maybe more than it was during the in-office environment. Try your level best to intentionally build loyalty in your organization’s employees so they learn how to prioritize group goals over their personal goals. Always be fair and just with your employees no matter how tempted you are to choose your favorite employee, but DO NOT DO SO. This might create a negative working environment and disrupt the lines of communication. Also trying to connect with your employees on a personal level would help them feel like part of an extended family and instill the feeling of belongingness amongst them.
Try to understand the condition and situation of your remote team
The lack of personal touch due to the present pandemic might have caused a lot of mental stress for the employees. They might be suffering much more than what you can see; especially in a time when people are losing their loved ones to the virus. Hence it is important to be sympathetic towards your employees at this time and always remember to give them the benefit of the doubt when they are not able to complete their deadlines, instead of blaming them for their failures. Allow them some level of flexibility with regards to the working hours, make them understand the importance of a proper sleep cycle and exercise, and don’t forget to occasionally check in on your remote teams. Practice the art of listening more than speaking, so the employees can open up to you about their problems and communicate freely. This would not only create a positive work culture but would also instill feelings of belongingness in your remote team.
Instill teamwork spirit in your team
Working in teams and collaboration is an essential part of the remote work process. If the employees are not able to work in teams and cooperate with each other, they would neither be able to fulfill their personal goals, nor the organizational goals. The fact that they are working from their homes, in a different physical environment than their teammates makes it a little difficult to connect as compared to the time when they could just stand next to the other person’s desk and discuss things. This is why communication plays a much more important role in your remote teams.
Work upon the lines of communication and ask the teams to have open communication about their professional, as well as personal lives by organizing weekly events and games. Water cooler talks during the pre-pandemic times are used to help employees relieve the stress of their ongoing projects and blow off some steam. Be it break rooms, or parking lots, unofficial communication between the employees make them feel much more connected. Substitute this with weekly happy hours, or movie nights, after the work hours where the employees can communicate on a personal level.
Having a good communicative culture would help increase productivity, improve trust amongst the teammates, and help them to work towards achieving organizational goals with a much more motivated attitude.
Do not neglect your employee’s preferences
Your organization might be using Skype as their primary tool for communication, but your employees might feel much more comfortable on Slack. You may have a culture of communicating through written messages, but your employees might be more comfortable with video calls. The point here is that the mode of communication or the tool used is not important, but the fact that communication takes place smoothly and without any interruptions. Try to use the method and app that is more suitable to your team as a whole, so they can comfortably communicate with you and amongst each other. Know your employee’s goals and preferences. For instance, if most of the communication takes place through written messages, your employees might have mastered themselves with the art of writing clearly, and asking them to switch to video calls might make them feel as if all of their efforts went into the drain. To improve the level of communication, try to stick to the main agenda and not wander otherwise to unimportant things. Being concise and crisp should be your priority.
Conclusion
Always remember that your employees tend to walk under your guidance. If you are loyal and committed to your organization, it would surely motivate them to do the same. If you are tempted towards playing that last game of Ludo instead of working, then you cannot expect any loyalty from your employees. Maintaining a good work-life balance is no doubt a huge problem in remote working culture, but a few steps and the urge to stay motivated towards working can go a long way. Having open lines of communication in your organization helps to relieve a great deal of stress and aids in creating a comfortable work environment for your employees so they can work with a much more motivated and driven attitude.
