Due to the recent pandemic, many companies have had to make changes to their business plans. This has included letting many of their employees work from home in order to maintain social distancing and follow current restrictions.
While this has been a challenging time, there are many benefits to allowing remote work that is important to think about. Now more than ever, we have to stand by each other, so that we can cope with the changing times.
Click here to read about an individual’s struggles with working in the office and her companies refusal of remote work during the pandemic. With the rise of the Great Resignation, the need for companies to reevaluate their remote policies is growing.
In this article, we are going to discuss how to embrace remote work in your business. Let’s get started.
Learn about the advantages
While you might not think it, there are many advantages to allowing your team to work from home. By learning about them, you’ll be one step closer to embracing it as part of your new business plan. For example, research has shown that remote workers can actually be more productive. They were even more satisfied with their income and work roles. It’s certainly something you should take into consideration.
Alongside this, having a certain number of remote workers can actually save companies money. You have the opportunity to downsize on real estate and supply expenses and work towards a more sustainable office space. You’re also opening yourself up to a broader pool of applicants, which bring with them beneficial skills and experience.
Decide how to incorporate it into your workplace
Once you’ve become more aware of how remote working can benefit your business, you need to decide whether or not you will be full-time or part-time remote. This will ultimately depend on your business’s size and whether or not you have enough staff who’s work can be done in a home environment.
Another thing that you will need to consider is the security of your data. Will you offer your employees protective software and devices or allow them to use their own systems? The last thing you want is to have your client/customers’ information stolen.
Set up online training
Online training is a great way to keep your employees motivated and informed of any of the new changes your company may be facing. Staff can easily log on, watch training videos, and take quizzes about various topics while you can monitor the results. This extra training is a great way to stop any fear you may have of remote workers missing out on important information.
It’s also essential to make sure all of your workers have access to the same information. Otherwise, this lack of communication can affect your business’s productivity. LMS Consulting on sites like elearningindustry.com is a great place to start if you are thinking of setting up a system.
Utilize communication software
Communication software is one of the best ways to keep everyone together and set deadlines. When relying on remote workers, it’s highly essential; otherwise, information and tasks can get lost and forgotten.
The main benefit of this software is that members can collaborate, ask for advice, and schedule video meetings to discuss recent projects. Platforms such as Slack are great for this, but there are a variety of different options out there such as google hangouts, dropbox, and Hubspot.
Give out clear roles and responsibilities
If you find that your remote workers are struggling with tasks, it can be wise to spend some time giving clear roles and responsibilities to all of your employees. For example, try and provide everyone with a schedule or set of tasks for each day. This way, they are focused, know what needs to be done, and will spend less time on unnecessary projects.
While it is easy to get caught up in other things, you have to remember that your remote workers shouldn’t be forgotten about. They need to have an understanding of each project so that they can work independently. Utilize zoom meetings and other video platforms so that you can speak to everyone together as a team. It will save time and improve efficiency.
Establish trust between the team
When you first think about going remote, you might be concerned about how you are going to monitor if your employees are spending their time wisely. However, establishing trust is highly important, and becoming too cautious can damage your employee relationships.
Try and find software that lets you monitor work without overstepping your team’s privacy. Your staff need to know that they won’t be micromanaged and are able to complete their tasks with freedom and respect. It might take a little getting used to but try and think about what things would be like in a typical office situation. You wouldn’t be walking over and checking their screens every five minutes, would you?
Incorporate the use of cloud-based systems
One of the biggest concerns that many companies have about remote working is the inability to collaborate on projects. However, cloud computing is a way to store all of your documents in one format. Your employees can all access these files through the internet, share, collaborate, and make changes easily. It makes remote working much more manageable and has other benefits such as cost reduction, data security, and scalability.
Focus on keeping morale high
Due to these uncertain times, it’s essential to focus on keeping morale high in the workplace. You have to remember that remote workers aren’t available all the time. Just because they work from home doesn’t mean they will answer your call at 9 pm. It would be best if you still encouraged your workers to take regular breaks and, most importantly, maintain a work-life balance. This will help establish relationships between you and your employees.
Another great idea to keep morale high is to organize some team building activities. Online trivia games, show and tell and even a mini comedy show are all great ways to bond together with your team and boost interaction between employees.
And that’s it! By following the above, your business will be able to start embracing remote work rather than fearing it. Always remember, by working as a team and caring for each other, we can get through this pandemic together.
Good luck!
