With the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, companies are transitioning to remote work.
With the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, companies are transitioning to remote work. Generally, remote work is working outside the office space such as at home or in a coffice -- a workspace and a coffee shop in one.
Working remotely is now the future of work. To be better equipped with the remote work transition, here’s a list of things to help you prepare your company and employees.
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7 Tips to a Seamless Remote Work Transition
1. Communicate Clearly Company’s Remote Work Policies
It is crucial -- especially in the early stages of the transition -- to establish and communicate clearly the company’s remote work policies. This is to ensure efficiency and productivity is still in place even if staff members are not working in the office.
Company’s processes and rules must be established for strict compliance and the employees’ progress must be monitored keenly. For example, setting work hours, goals, and deadlines for every employee. This will ensure employees will remain dynamic and effective while being accountable for their duties and responsibilities.
2. Boost Employee Morale Through Effective Communication
Communication also plays a huge role in boosting employee morale. Having open communication can maximize the remote work setup and will yield a big difference in how employees view their company. Let your employees know you care about them.
Additionally, keeping your communication lines open is a positive step to push the company forward. On birthdays and work anniversaries, send out e-card greetings or company-wide emails so employees will feel recognized. Once in a while, try doing fun stuff such as hosting happy hours or team building activities virtually to create engagement and boost employee morale.
Avoid focusing on talking about the company struggles. Discuss steps on what the company is doing to alleviate these difficulties instead. Encouraging communication will also help your employees be guided through the hurdles of remote work transition.
3. Provide the Right Tools to Help Make Remote Work Easier
Transitioning to remote work means you need to be updated with the latest technology such as cloud-based technologies and software. By using these tools, employees can easily share and access information needed wherever they are working.
In addition, the latest technologies can address the company’s cyber security concerns. Cloud technologies can be implemented to ensure employees’ secure access to all company information and applications. In return, employers will be at peace knowing that company data is safe and secure.
The new technologies also offer companies the right tools for proper communication. Staying in touch with your team through communication apps such as Slack and Microsoft Teams will help the company avoid communication lag and track how and what employees are doing.
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4. Transition Staff to Remote Work by Acclimating Them First
It is also crucial to acclimate employees prior to transitioning to remote work. You can do a trial run to gauge how employees will respond to working remotely. A contingent workforce or department will be ideal in doing a trial run. Create a remote project for them to accomplish and track how they progress with the task. From there, you may determine how the output will translate to a larger workforce.
5. Give Psychological Safety and Support to Your Employees
Some employees might feel threatened when working remotely. It is important to make them feel they have a security of tenure even if they are on a remote work. Give your employees peace of mind so they can focus on doing their job.
Let them know that measures are in place, such as HR policies, to protect remote workers and their positions. With this, employees will feel secure and supported. Provide them with the same benefits an employee gets when working in an office, like paid time off and health care benefits.
Giving out additional perks such as utility allowance to cover the cost they spend while working is also a great idea to make your employees feel supported. If employees have psychological safety and support, they will remain committed to their jobs and encourage productivity.
6. Invest Resources for Virtual Meetings
Keep in mind that when working remotely, virtual meetings are crucial. With that said, investing resources for virtual meetings is important to do away with poorly-run meetings.
There are several meeting tools you can choose from such as Skype and Zoom. Showing visual cues to remote workers joining the virtual meeting is paramount to keep employees involved in the conference. In addition, seeing each other during a virtual meeting brings an impression that everyone is in the same room and helps prevent multitasking.
During virtual meetings, it is also best to have an agenda and clear guidelines. The agenda of the meeting should be given out to everyone joining the meeting before starting. Guidelines such as who will be speaking and put on mute when not speaking must be clear to everyone joining. Additionally, it is important to set and stick to meeting schedules.
7. Conduct Regular Employee Coaching or Check-Ins
Remote work eradicates chance meetings that happen in an office setting, so check-ins or coaching sessions must be conducted to let remote workers feel they are valued and not forgotten.
Conducting regular employee check-ins and coaching sessions also help remote employees professionally grow. Setting key performance indicators (KPI) and goals will give guidance to your employees in achieving their target.
Remote work is now the future of work settings. Companies and employees heading down this route might find that remote work challenges seem overwhelming. Equipping your company with the right tools and leadership can make a big difference.
