The TASC organization was over 60% remote prior to the onset of the pandemic. But, that doesn’t mean our organization didn’t face challenges as even more employees were forced remote in the middle of 2019 but it did curb the shock.
Working remotely definitely has its upsides. The money saved by businesses when the traditional office is no longer a necessity is profound. Employers and employees can enjoy a new flexibility. Expenses related to commuting is drastically reduced if not eliminated and employees are able to spend more time focused on work and more time focused on family resulting in a better work life balance.
Organizations like TASC who were partially remote prior to the pandemic were already seeing these benefits to an extent but when an entire workforce if forced remote, the benefits become more prevalent.
With these benefits came additional challenges for both employees and employers.
One of the biggest challenges was creating or maintaining engagement among your teams and entire organization. In a remote workplace there is little to no interpersonal interaction among team members which can result in a less engaged and less dedicated workforce.
In this increasingly tech savvy world there are several tools and strategies you can implement to help your remote team feel more connected.
Provide pathways for employees to engage safely with each other. It’s not only good for you to provide tools for employees to communicate with each other easily and quickly, it’s good for them.
Tools like Skype, Microsoft Teams and more provide quick ways for employees to check in on each other and maintain a more personal level of engagement than they can over email. It also provides a pathway for work to be done at a faster pace.
Show your face. Incorporate tools that include video capabilities and encourage employees to turn that camera on. It’s far easier to make connections with employees and co-workers when you are face-to-face even if faces are on a screen.
One-on-One meetings. When we work in an office environment, it is easy and important to schedule one-on-one time with employees and team members. In a remote work environment, it’s easy to let that that slip. Out of sight, out of mind. It is more important than ever, when employees and team members are remote to schedule that one-on-one check in time. Making sure employees are set up for success and are heard is essential to success in remote work. This also allows managers and employees to touch base on performance, set expectations and maintain open lines of communication and opportunity for feedback.
Provide multiple methods and opportunities for feedback. It is essential to offer a safe space for employees to express their positive and negative feedback. Email, surveys, anonymous pathways for feedback are all important options to frequently offer to employees.
Streamline storage spaces. TASC utilizes The Cloud to allow streamlined editing and sharing of documents in a secure and succinct format. This is true for more remote based organizations and as many businesses continue to move to a more remote based workspace moving document storage to The Cloud provides a path for documents, spreadsheets, and presentations to be created, shared, edited, and stored.
Embrace flexibility. A number of studies including this one from Bloomberg, show working from home increases work productivity by 5% or more. Working from home reduces time for commute and employees are logging on earlier and able to remain logged in later. To make sure employees don’t experience burnout, promote a flexible mentality. Employees can be logged on and connected to work more so employers should be open to allowing for flexibility in terms of schedule and commitments.
As companies embrace the remote workplace for at least part of the workforce it is essential to foster and maintain an engaging workplace that provides ample opportunity for feedback, interaction, and flexibility. The remote workplace looks different than the traditional in-person work environment and adjustments must be made to account for this changing environment.
TASC CEO Blog 