Across industries, employers are beginning to learn about the myriad benefits of allowing their employees to work remotely. This trend has accelerated during the COVID-19 pandemic, which has forced millions of businesses across the US to transition to a distributed workforce model.
Of course, it isn’t always easy to manage a group of remote employees. As the distance between your individual team members increases, so does the number of logistical and communication challenges that will need to be overcome. In particular, many employers who oversee remote employees frequently struggle to maintain a feeling of camaraderie and group identity amongst their teams. Remote employees, for their part, commonly struggle with feelings of isolation. Thankfully, communication technologies have advanced to the degree that employers can now address these problems without spending significant amounts of time, effort, or money.
In this article, we’ll highlight three effective ways to increase communication and cooperation amongst your remote employees.
Three Tips for Maximizing Communication Amongst Your Remote Employees
The communication barrier that separates your remote employees from one another can be intimidating, but it isn’t insurmountable. As employers, there are a variety of strategies that we can adopt to make sure that your remote employees keep in close contact with each other. Furthermore, these strategies will ensure that your team retains a strong sense of companionship and a common purpose.
With those ideas in mind, here are three tips for maximizing communication amongst your remote employees:
Establish daily check-ins. Leveraging remote conferencing platforms such as Skype or Zoom to have brief, regular meetings with your team can have a significant impact. It will give everyone within your team an opportunity to reconnect with their colleagues and build rapport. It will also provide you with a chance to find out if (and where) any of your employees are encountering hurdles in their work. If any such barriers are identified, these daily video check-ins are the perfect chance for your team to put their heads together, find a solution, and nurture a stronger feeling of mutual trust.
Provide your team with a healthy degree of autonomy. Especially in the early phases of overseeing a remote team, it can be tempting to micromanage your employees’ workflow. This will sometimes be necessary, but you should also make it your goal to gradually step back and encourage your employees to communicate with one another in their ongoing efforts to solve day-to-day problems. In this way, you’ll help to foster a stronger network of communication and collaboration amongst your remote employees.
Keep your workplace culture alive. Every workplace has certain rituals, quirks, and routines that set it apart from the crowd, and that endow it with its own, unique character. When your employees are working under one roof, it’s relatively easy to engage with them and build a healthy and vibrant workplace culture. Things can be a bit more complicated when your workforce starts working remotely, but that doesn’t mean it’s impossible to connect with your remote employees in fun and creative ways. For example, you might consider putting some time aside each month for your employees to connect via Skype and participate in a group cooking class, yoga tutorial, or trivia night. Check out this article for some more fun ideas about how to build rapport with your remote employees!
Add Top Talent to Your Workforce Today
Are you looking for talented employees to add to your remote workforce? If so, Tri-Starr Group can connect you with individuals whose skills and background will be a perfect fit for your company’s goals and culture. Contact our office today to start your search!
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