Tips to manage REMOTE workers
Patrick Donlin
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Remote working has become normal and am personally learning every day how best navigate this change. The national average for vacant office space has increased to 16% currently and many organizations have made the shift to a hybrid or a remote work environment. While this is new for other departments, IT has been focused on working a multi location scenario for years.?This causes an adjustment by each company, but no one is impacted as much as the manager. A Gallup survey in June of 2022 found that?8 in 10 people are working hybrid or remote, while only 2 in 10 are entirely on-site. And an AT&T study found the hybrid work model is expected to grow from 42% in 2021 to 81% in 2024. Employees are eager to continue working remotely or hybrid.
5 biggest challenges managers face with remote work
1)????More difficult to hands on manage people in various locations compared to single office location
2)????More difficult to collaborate as a team, while video is an option, it isn’t as effective as in person
3)????Finding motivation for each employee, professionally, and building that to exceed performance. Make it human.
4)????Managing each person with unique requests while following corporate guidance
5)????Hiring quality talent that fits culture.?Has the culture changed?
While these challenges can individually be overcome for the success of each individual and the team, the manager needs to adjust.?You can see COMMUNICATION is a consistent thread of challenges and the area that manager/employee need to work together to overcome and create a successful work environment remotely.
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5 tips for managing remote employees
1)????Engage remote employees every day with corporate office.?This is most effective done via video or via phone calls, an email doesn’t count. It doesn’t have to be the manager, it can be anyone. Make it human.
2)????Pro-actively schedule office visits, team training, team lunch and engage remote employees for these times.?Ideally, you want to host more team collaboration while remote employees are in town.
3)????Schedule consistent communication.?Having this consistency enables each person to focus on their individual work while staying connected. Planning the day is important.
4)????Understand their work space.?What tools are needed to be successful, do they have an office or a quiet area in their home to reduce potential distractions?
5)????Understand why the prefer to work from home? What can be encouraged about work from home to create more employee engagement.
Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, remote work is now more common than ever. As of 2022,?26% of U.S. employees now work remotely, which is four times the number who worked remotely before. By 2025, there could be as many as 36.2 million Americans working remotely. It is the right time to determine your near and long term strategy to manage people successfully in the modern world.?The most important theme, if you want one, is to focus on the communication between manager and remote employee to put everyone in a position for success.?The human connection has to be re-established with each person and not forgotten. Companies/employees giving notice via text isn't human, we can all do better!
Sr. Director Global IT Supply Chain and Operations Systems
2 年Rather than opinion, I'll start by sharing my experience - I have been a remote worker for my entire career while focused on Oracle Applications (JDE, PSFT, EBS, Oracle SaaS). A good part of that career was during the times when all projects were delivered onsite (mandatory). I remember being grateful that I didn't have to go to an office on the days I wasn't onsite and that the projects were finite in length. The pandemic has changed that from all angles. Companies and employees had to embrace new changes (and yes challenges) when remote was the only way. I believe that personal circumstances dictate what is best for each individual and that the circumstances can change with those situations. I love every opportunity I get to see my coworkers and my clients in person but I also appreciate the flexibility I've enjoyed for so many years. Post pandemic, we have to understand the full picture, from all perspectives, for the company and for the employees and make the best decisions for the best outcomes. Each company has a choice as does each individual on what is best for them. If they don't match, then we adjust as individuals or, like for any other reasons we seek out new opportunities, we can do that as well.
??Senior Delivery Partner, Multi-Cloud | Pre-Sales | Churn Reduction | Retention | Customer Success | Director, Professional Services | Delivery Director
2 年While a few technical, some tech/functional, and a few consulting and PM delivery roles can be done effectively remotely, overall professional services delivery performance has dramatically deteriorated since Covid put this paradigm shift in motion. Today’s modern high-performing delivery teams are a hybrid mix with the blend leaning toward on-site to build lasting customer relationships, and at the critical inflection points along the way to successful completion.
? Big to Alichia ? Goal Park Board Member ? Advisory Solution Consultant, Employee Workflows ? Houston Enthusiast ?
2 年I have worked remotely my entire career. I personally love it! I commented on a post a few weeks ago and I said I like working remotely because I feel like a more productive human being in general. Not just a more productive worker. However, pre-COVID remote work was much more enjoyable that current times. My meetings multiplied overnight and now it is hard to leave my desk. One thing I think we often forget is that not everyone has a great remote workspace. Maybe they live in a studio apartment. Maybe they have spotty internet. Maybe they have multiple kids at home. Maybe a spouse also works remotely and they are on the phone a lot. Or maybe they just hate working remotely (e.g. my husband). This touches on #4 "Understand their work space.?What tools are needed to be successful, do they have an office or a quiet area in their home to reduce potential distractions?" Additionally, as a society we are incredibly isolated and we are seeing the impact of this isolation and loneliness. Real connection is not on a screen. We are human beings. If you are not involved with much outside of work (e.g. have a family, religion, community, volunteering), working solely remotely is pretty soul crushing, in my opinion.
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2 年This article has some good tips!