The corporate world has been witnessing a major shift toward remote working and hybrid workplace models for the past many months now. The employees and the leadership of businesses are required to make lasting adjustments for that purpose to try to achieve long-term successes.
67% of companies expect their implemented work-from-home policies to remain in place permanently, or at least for the long term, according to a survey. In this article, we will discuss some useful tips that can help the managers and leaders of an organization in leading a remote workforce effectively. But before that, let us look at some benefits of a hybrid workplace model and challenges that arise during the management of a remote workforce.
Challenges of Remote Working
There are several issues that the leadership of businesses, especially SMEs, that are working remotely need to remediate.
- Employees tend to feel uncertain about their work without their managers’ in-person support and help. They are also likely to feel demotivated, thinking that their hard work and performance are not being noticed.
- If your organization does not have an efficient communication system in place, employees’ time might get wasted trying to chase down people for documents or information.
- Slow internet, buggy computers, and other such issues of technology can hinder employees’ productivity.
- Your remote workforce may feel socially isolated and face distractions while working from home.
While it is true that these and many other challenges have introduced new stresses for the leadership of businesses and their employees, there are several advantages of having a remote workforce as well. Some of them are increased savings due to better disaster preparedness, diminished turnover and absenteeism, lower costs of real estate, increased productivity, etc., reduced carbon emissions, availability of extra time in the day, etc.
Tips for Efficient Remote Workforce Management
Re-Conceptualize Hybrid Workplace Model Principles From the Ground Up
All organizations, especially medium and small businesses, need to sit down and evaluate the needs and challenges of the employees, as well as the managers, before launching an environment for remote working that is utilitarian for everyone. Corporations need to equip their employees with the necessary tools and resources required to communicate and work effectively, the needed training to operate in isolation, and team-building activities for enhanced engagement.
Trust: A Two-Way Street
In a brick-and-mortar setting, close supervision was a workplace normality that does not translate in an environment with a remote workforce. Remote leaders and managers need to trust their employees and give them space to work. In a remote or hybrid workplace, the leadership should provide their employees with opportunities to prove themselves and assign them the responsibility to be accountable. When you trust your remote workforce, you equip your teams with confidence, consequently making them trust your decisions in return.
Technology Vs. Human Touch
It is not right for leadership to look at technology as the answer to every remote work problem. Some elements require the personal involvement of the management, and no tool can replace that need. You can find technological resources for most components of remote work, from communication platforms for a virtual coffee or smoke break to mental health apps. However, these tools cannot solve all the issues that your remote workforce faces, and you need to ensure frequent on-on-one virtual meetings or phone check-ins.
Involve Your Employees
The leaders and managers of an organization need to try to find common ground by shifting the focus away from the issue and towards collaboration. We all know that communication is one of the most instrumental components when it comes to a remote working environment. The leadership of a company should involve its teams when turning the chapter in its business or solving a problem. The four ‘we-based’ questions that are highly useful in this regard are:
- What is working well?
- What do we care about?
- What do we want or need more of?
- What do we think are the possibilities as of now?
People Before Process
The best thing that the leaders and managers of a business can do is not just to acknowledge but appreciate what employees bring to the business, be it their ingenious ideas or hard work. When the leadership of a business puts its people before its processes, the staffers help the company grow by functioning in ways that are highly meaningful to its customers.
Be cognizant of the problems and obstacles your employees are facing, empathize with them, find ways to foster mutual respect and connect and allow them to take advantage of the ease that a remote or hybrid workplace model offers.
Some other things a corporate leadership can do to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of its remote workforce management are:
- Redirect the saved time towards improving customer relationships.
- Respect the work-life balance of your employees.
- Ensure proactive connection creation.
- Set clear goals and expectations.
- Familiarize yourself with nonverbal cues.
- Track progress in a constant manner.
Our Final Thoughts
Like every other work model, a remote or hybrid workplace model also comes with its own set of challenges. The impact of these obstacles gets amplified when it comes to SMEs due to their lack of resources. The above-mentioned best practices for remote workforce management help the leadership of an organization to remediate and mitigate remote workplace issues and enhance the productivity of the business.
Happy and satisfied employees function and perform much better, resulting in stress reduction for managers and leaders. While it is crucial to leverage the available technology to support the operations and activities of a remote workforce, a human touch is also of paramount importance. With that said, the employees of a business also have a major role to play in ensuring that operations of the company run smoothly and its targets are achieved. To equip your enterprise with exceptional and highly-skilled talent, get in touch with DTG Consulting Solutions, Inc., a specialized, industry-leading, and highly experienced staffing company.