The concept of working remotely has been around for quite some time but when the coronavirus pandemic swept throughout the world, a lot of companies were forced to transition to this working model for their businesses to survive.
Several industries and lines of businesses that you never thought would consider the possibility, such as judicial arbitration mediation services or real estate agents, have all made the shift to remote work if only to stay safe and avoid contracting the virus.
As states have reopened a couple of months ago, physical distancing is still in effect which has left a lot of business owners no other choice but to make the necessary adjustments in keeping with the WHO and CDC’s COVID-19 protocols.
One of the ways employers are coping is transitioning a huge chunk of their workforce into work-from-home arrangements. If you’re one of those people overseeing and managing remote workers, here are a few ways that you can help your team become successful under this seemingly unusual employment arrangement.
6 Ways to Empower Your People for Remote Work
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Build a foundation of trust.
Knowing that you won’t be around to check on your workers’ daily progress can be nerve-racking, but you must show them that you trust them and you have confidence in them that they will accomplish their daily tasks to the best of their abilities.
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Communicate constantly with them and maintain transparency.
Inefficient and poor communication is one of the biggest challenges in the workplace. Imagine if that carries over to remote work. You need to develop a system that will encourage honest and open communications at work and build it into a culture that will seep into work-from-home set-ups.
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Ensure that they have easy access to important information all the time.
Speaking of communication, you need to have a proper channel of communication to provide crucial information to your employees. Minimize miscommunication and lack of it by making valuable info within your people’s reach.
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Hear them out.
If you want to have a company culture that promotes honesty and transparency, you need to learn how to listen to your employees. This helps build their trust and confidence in you and minimizes their frustrations that their concerns are often neglected, especially now that we’re facing extraordinary challenges. A lot of people are under an extreme amount of pressure and stress that can be relieved by a listening ear.
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Provide regular feedback and employee
engagement.
About 65% of employees look forward to hearing from management about their performance. Feedback is an essential part of any organization. It allows both the management and the employee to build better based on an objective evaluation of the worker’s performance. This lets them make the necessary adjustments to be better at their jobs. It also helps boost their confidence whenever they know they are doing things right.
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Stop them from working.
One of the disadvantages of remote work is the employee’s tendency to no longer have a clear delineation between work and personal time. Work overload makes up 39% of employee burnout. Prevent employee burnout by helping them unplug and log-off from work at the end of their shift.
As long as the coronavirus still looms over us, it is safe to say that the way we work will be limited to remote work for most of us. Let’s do all we can to make sure we all hit our goals and succeed as we work in the safety and comfort of our homes.
