Are you feeling the pressure to go remote but don’t know how to impose flexible management onto your workers? Well, you’re not alone. A study done by Findstack shows that 62 percent of employees now work remotely. But before you can enjoy the freedom and flexibility of a remote workforce, you need to put some systems in place.
The traditional nine-to-five workday is becoming increasingly outdated, and more businesses embrace flexible scheduling and working from home arrangements. While there are several benefits to the WFH arrangements, such as improved work/life balance and increased productivity, there can also be challenges, such as managing a team of remote workers.
Luckily, there are a few key ways to impose flexible management successfully. Read on to find ways to impose adjustable control on your remote workers.
1. Establish Trust and Respect
If CEOs want their enterprises to succeed and workers wish to continue working hard at them, they must work together to develop trust in these new digital offices. Teams that work in the same location benefit from face-to-face encounters, which can help to foster team bonding and trust. On the other hand, remote teams must invest even more time and effort into establishing those connections.
Here are a few ways to establish trust and respect within the remote workplace:
- Don’t be afraid to be vulnerable. A straightforward technique to maintain focus during your 1:1s and meetings is to conduct personal check-ins at the start of each session. While someone is speaking, be mentally present by being courageous in revealing your problems.
- Don’t micromanage. Keeping track of your employees every minute might cause suspicion. To establish trust in remote working environments, businesses must provide employees freedom, demand accountability for outcomes, and focus their effort.
- Create a connection. By sharing wins and highlights across the company, you’re helping to build transparency – it keeps everyone informed. Providing ways for people to connect on non-work topics is essential, and businesses that give a sense of togetherness will have cultures that attract and keep talent.
- Communicate effectively. Employers are expected to educate their staff on effectively communicating to build trust in a remote work environment. Setting a fixed time to check in or leaving a note in the team chat letting people know when you’re taking a break and when you’ll be back online are examples of communication skills that can help you establish rapport with others more easily.
2. Define Clear Expectations
As a manager of remote workers, it is essential to define clear expectations regarding what you expect from your team members. This can include setting flexible work schedules and routines, and communicating targets and deadlines.
In addition, it is essential to provide regular feedback, both positive and negative, to keep remote workers on track and aligned with their goals. By establishing clear guidelines and expectations, managers can help ensure that their remote team members have the tools to succeed.
It is also imperative to ask yourself the following questions: What hours are expected to be worked? What tasks need to be completed? What is the guideline for requesting a day off or flexible hours? By clearly communicating your expectations to your team, you can avoid misunderstandings and ensure everyone is on the same page.
Ultimately, this approach will benefit the company and its employees by paving the way for flexible management and an effective remote workforce.
3. Encourage Communication and Collaboration.
One of the difficulties in managing a remote workforce is fostering communication and collaboration among employees. Besides, face-to-face interaction ensures that everyone is on the same page.
Fortunately, there are several things that managers can do to encourage communication and collaboration within a remote workforce. First, it is essential to be flexible in your management style. Not all employees work best in a traditional 9-5 environment, so giving people the freedom to set their schedules can go a long way toward fostering a sense of trust and responsibility. Additionally, regular check-ins via video conferencing or phone calls can help to keep everyone connected and informed.
Finally, providing opportunities for social interaction outside of work can help to build relationships and foster a sense of community. Whether it’s organizing virtual happy hours or arranging group outings, taking the time to invest in your team will pay off in the form of a more cohesive and productive workforce.
4. Facilitate Team-Building Activities
Creating a sense of oneness within your remote workers may be difficult. The critical elements of excellent communication, support, common goals, and fun is usually put aside when you do not see each other face-to-face.
Managers need to look for new steps to engage remote team members. This includes building and maintaining solid connections within the team, no matter where they are. The following are a few ways to do just that:
- Organize your company’s events virtually. When every member of the organization participates in company-wide events and gatherings, they feel like a team. Virtual events should be handled the same way as traditional ones – with a specific objective, an organizer, guest speakers, and the opportunity to ask questions. The only distinction is that everyone participates via video instead of meeting in person.
- Set fun and healthy competitions. Competition from time to time has done little harm, and it’s helped keep teams together. Create goals for your teams to achieve together.
- Make “regular snapshots” a thing. Encourage your team members to share a picture of something each day. Crews may then respond to the photographs and start a discussion. It’s a must-have method to have a non-work-related conversation every day while also promoting team bonding through a regular insight into their lives.
5. Promote Work/Life Balance
It can often be challenging to strike a good work/life balance in today’s fast-paced work environment. This hurdle can be more significant in a remote work setup since employees are not physically present at the office and may not have as much face-time with their managers. Luckily, there are strategies that employers and employees alike can implement to promote better work/life balance in a remote setting.
One crucial way to promote work/life balance in a remote environment is to implement flexible management practices. This could involve flexible scheduling, flexible vacation allowances, or flexible job roles so that everyone has the opportunity to take time off when needed and focus on other priorities outside of work.
By focusing on these strategies, organizations can help their remote workers prioritize their well-being and achieve a more outstanding work-life balance.
Wrapping Up
Here at CEO Hangout, we are all about helping entrepreneurs and business owners succeed. This is why we offer many resources on our blog to help you overcome these challenges. Our team has amassed five tips to help you impose flexible management on your remote workforce and increase productivity.
We hope you enjoyed this post! If you have any queries or are looking for more information, contact us today. We would love to hear from you!