The number of people working in remote jobs has increased in the last decades. Many employers have realized the additional benefits of small jobs. The employee’s happiness and satisfaction have shown significant improvement when working remotely.
The current unprecedented times have changed the way people work entirely. Remote working is the new normal, and the ongoing covid 19 pandemic has shown how this is the way to adapt. With the shrinking opportunities, it's essential to guide your team to work from home effectively. This can be done through a strategy that ensures efficiency and promotes time management. These times are unsafe, and you must shift to work from home today with the risk of spreading viruses.
Work from home has several perks, and everyone in your company will benefit from it when done effectively.
Here's how you can transition your team to work from home.
Lay Down a Practical Work From Home Strategy for Your Teams
Before you begin shifting your team for work from home, it's essential to layout a remote work policy. This, in detail, will cover all the terms and conditions that should be met while working remotely. Set up boundaries and effectively. This is important as it will define the working hours, work ethics, software use, and expected productivity. It helps in setting a bar for your team, which needs to be managed continuously. Get in conversation with the company leaders, investors, and stakeholders. Draw up a work from home policy that will be efficient for the company.
Update your Hiring Policies
The next step to guiding your team to work from home is to update your hiring policies. Work from home has its own set of challenges, and you need to have a set hiring policy for your employees so that your expectations are met. The skills to look upon are self-motivation, communication skills, efficient work pace, etc. that will add value to your team. Hire only those people who can work effectively remotely and don't slack during work hours.
Invest in Efficient Work From Home Tools
For effectively transitioning your team for work from home, invest in good work from home tools. Look at various options and draw a list of all the softwares needed by your team. Draw a list of your requirements and list down the number of people in your group. Work efficiently to give access to each member of your team so that workflow is streamlined. It's also necessary to host sessions that demonstrate how to use these softwares and work smoothly. These tools include project management tools, collaboration tools, cloud service, video conferencing tools, and time tracking softwares. You can contact managed IT service providers in Toronto and get the best solutions.
Motivate Your Team to Get Started
The current times can be stressful, and shifting to a new model of work can be scary. As a team leader, remember to lead your team and motivate them to get started. Set a good example and guide them through the transition. A good working and coping strategy can go a long way for the productivity of your team. Remember always to keep updating your team with new development and set up a system of good communication. Effectively set your goals and targets to be achieved and keep encouraging them. Transitions can often disrupt routines, so you must help your team members. Create a way to structure work days and hours. It's vital to highlight the break timings and ways to avoid screen stress.
Maintain Your Company Culture
An important thing to do to transition your team for work from home is to create a positive company culture. Company culture can be a reason for employee satisfaction, and productivity since going remote brings its own set of challenges. Do something so that your company culture won't suffer. Create a positive atmosphere for all your employees and maintain effective communication to satisfy everyone in the company. You can also create sessions that enhance creativity and problem-solving skills. The money saved from working in the office can be used to provide extra facilities to your employees. Regular video conferencing, appraisals, gift cards, casual chat nights, etc. may be an excellent way to ensure the work and fun are taken care of.
Establish Daily Check-In Systems to Manage Your Remote Employees
Create a regular talking system via one-on-one calls with your employees to effectively increase your team’s collaborative efforts. Also, create a plan to regularly communicate their concerns with you, which will help them be satisfied and efficient at their job. Remote work comes with a set of challenges for managers and training them is very important to make things run smoothly.
Provide Several Communication Technology Options for All Your Remote Employees
While transitioning to work from home, it's essential to realize that email alone cannot serve efficiently for communication. You need many more facilities that include videoconferencing. This will allow a face to face communication and reduce the sense of isolation. Video can help recognize visual cues and have much more idea about what your employees feel.
Encourage Emotional Support and Sharing Opportunities.
The current times are tough, and adapting to work from home can prove challenging for many employees. Create a positive space that provides encouragement and emotional support for everyone in your company. Unofficial company sessions can help vent out to prevent any mental stress and rejuvenate everyone working for you.
Schedule regular meetings where you can openly talk about struggles and the challenges of work from home. Emotional support and motivation go a long way in defining your company’s productivity, and everyone can use a helping hand in these troubled times. Also, remember not to overboard your employees with extra work. It is essential to balance working hours and home pleasure to deal with stress to meet deadlines.
The covid-19 pandemic has led to a shift in work methods. Work from home is the new normal. Follow this strategy and effectively guide your team to transition to work from home.
