According to the latest statistics, 52% of global employees work from home each week and 80% of remote workers say that remote work is less stressful than the alternatives. Overall, 18% of people are now working remotely full time.
Still, 44% of companies around the world don’t offer the remote work possibility. While the other 56% do and have a strategic advantage when hiring.
Whether we like it or not, remote work here to stay.
Thankfully, remote work is not hard to handle. Actually, sourcing talent globally has never been easier and teams often have people from all over the world working together. Working remotely can help improve the work-life balance of your employees or reduce your fixed costs on office space and supplies.
Even companies like Spotify reduced turnover rates. With the option to work remotely, Spotify built trust with their employees by offering them the freedom to choose where they work.
With our help, we can ensure you join Spotify and the majority of other companies choosing workplace flexibility. , We’ve made a list of advice to help you make this transition.
Choose ONE platform to communicate
Don’t juggle your colleagues’ correspondence between different messengers. Pick one and communicate only there. This will prevent a big mess when it comes to finding ‘that one pdf’.
Established communication solutions like Slack, Microsoft Teams, Discord, are some of the best options. Still, you need to do your research to find the right fit for your company.
Our suggestion: arrange a focus group consisting of representatives from different departments and let them test various messengers. Your goal is to select the one that suits everybody.
Appoint a ‘Watchman’ for remote working employees
Ideally, you need some kind of office manager with knowledge of human psychology. This person should always help your remote employees to make their work safe and efficient. Their main responsibilities will be gathering employees’ feedback, ensuring proper internal communication, and keeping an eye on the colleagues’ conditions.
This role suits people who are good with internal communications, at organizing, and those who are tech-savvy. It would be worth hiring a specific person for this position if you don’t already have an appropriate staff member.
Stick to the meetings in the morning
It is crucial to follow your morning routine. This will prevent your employees from dropping out of the working schedule.
These morning meetings should set your company’s aims and tasks for each day. It’s like a 15-minute warm-up before a workout.
…but don’t overdo it during the day.
Meetings are great for synchronization, but your company shouldn’t spend all its time on meetings. . You should try to lower the number of meetings for the sake of work efficiency.
Always ask yourself a question: “Do I really need to bother Jennifer for small changes, or is it enough to simply text her?”.
Find the right balance of the deadlines
It’s compulsory to stick to the client’s deadlines. However, it’s not a problem when Luke sends his internal monthly report two days late because of his family trip.
Take it easy. Prioritize the tasks to make it clear to everyone what’s important, and what can wait for a while.
Encourage coworkers to give feedback
Make it sure it’s anonymous. That way you can get honest feedback from your remote employees. This will prevent burnouts, controversies, or resignations.
After understanding your employees’ needs better, you will be able to avoid difficulties in remote workflow organization.
Make it democratic
Do you want to change the platform of communication? Buy a subscription to
a new CRM? Try a new time management template? Ask your employees first, as they may suggest something more interesting or outline the disadvantages of your decisions.
Remember, it takes a lot of time to properly organize your remote workflow. However, we believe that our advice will help you build an efficient system that will maximize your opportunities and growth.
