Covid-19 \u00a0forced the awareness that some work can be performed remotely. Some businesses are contemplating having remote working arrangements on a permanent basis. There are many issues bubbling up. \u00a0\u00a0We were all figuring things out last year. Now there are organizational, operational, and employee management issues popping up with the decision to have remote workers long term.<\/p>\n
New models require new ways to lead.\u00a0 How do you maintain culture and vision without physical connection?\u00a0 If team interaction is necessary, long-term physical separation may take its toll.\u00a0 Leaders can only transition to a new model by the willingness to rethink their global model of communication and show a \u201ccan do\u201d attitude to incorporating new ideas.\u00a0 Leaders need to communicate the new way to achieve initiates and be willing to train managers on how to communicate clear expectations and collaboration between remote workers.<\/p>\n
Operationally, managing workers remotely is a whole new deal.\u00a0 Are managers preparing a weekly agenda and distributing it to team members before the meetings?\u00a0 Managers should be prepared to listen to workers to flush out any customer concerns so workers can respond correctly.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0Some staff should be contacted daily.<\/p>\n
And it\u2019s also not a bad idea to give all remote workers a session Zoom skills and virtual etiquette. Turning off the Zoom camera is adding to call fatigue.\u00a0 We need visuals.\u00a0 Cameras on should be requested at all times.\u00a0 Do you offer Zoom instruction to your employees or are you assuming they are all technically competent?\u00a0 Do they know about the mute\/unmute space bar?\u00a0 How do I shut off the Cat filter?<\/p>\n
Remember, this is a substitute for physical interaction.\u00a0 Would you come to an office meeting in sweats or pajamas?\u00a0 Would you normally wash your face and comb your hair before a meeting with the boss?\u00a0 Would you call a meeting in your bed or in the bathroom?\u00a0 Well those things apply to virtual meetings.\u00a0 Think about what you may be communicating.\u00a0 \u201cThis virtual meeting isn\u2019t as important to me as a \u201creal\u201d meeting?\u201d or worst yet, \u201cI\u2019m not really working.\u201d<\/p>\n
On the risk side, employers may find they suddenly have multiple state workers, who have moved in with family or at their vacation homes.\u00a0 There may be employment tax and employment law issues that must be addressed if the employee has permanently relocated to another state. \u00a0Is the home office OSHA compliant?\u00a0 A picture of a laptop on a stack of books could be used as Exhibit A against the employer.\u00a0\u00a0 Also, collecting actual hours worked accurately is still a challenge.<\/p>\n
Companies need to scour all current policies, procedures and process that referred to and relied on physical contact.\u00a0 How do you onboard someone in Florida?\u00a0 How do they get supplies? Staffing firms report applicants are asking employers what is their remote working policy.<\/p>\n
For the long haul, there are growing concerns regarding engagement and career development.\u00a0 How do you identify which top talent rises in a remote culture?\u00a0 Hosting video conference calls between manager and employee will assist with the growth of top employees.\u00a0 Perhaps host \u201cstudy sessions\u201d among teams. This fosters increased and open conversations that mimic the office culture. Encourage questions and discussions. \u00a0Using the \u201cbreakout room\u201d feature in Zoom where the software creates small groups to discuss topics or customer issues with one another. \u00a0If an employee is struggling, managers still need to address productivity issues immediately.<\/p>\n
You can still create a culture of appreciation virtually too.\u00a0 Consider virtual rewards, badges, or establish internal success stories at all-hands meetings.\u00a0 Employee engagement surveys are becoming increasingly helpful in remote-work cultures. This allows businesses to \u201ctake the pulse\u201d of worker sentiment and discover areas that need improvement.<\/p>\n
A final thought about relationships. \u00a0Relationships are hard to develop in cyberspace.\u00a0 Find creative ways to have company outings remotely such as virtual tours of each others\u2019 homes or having a cooking class online. \u00a0Don\u2019t forget to acknowledge the pets and the children. Create ways for staff to connect cross-departments. Try to create a prompt pop-up to address a certain business problem from which you want to elicit diverse solutions.<\/p>\n
Some employers are keeping the remote working model long term. The important thing is to acknowledge that new models require re-engineered thinking.\u00a0 Managing remote workers can be a positive and productive experience that keep workers engaged and their careers on track.\u00a0 \u00a0They continue to need good managers, clear direction, communication, career opportunities and recognition.\u00a0 Zoom, zoom.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Covid-19 \u00a0forced the awareness that some work can be performed remotely. Some businesses are contemplating having remote working arrangements on a permanent basis. There are many issues bubbling up. \u00a0\u00a0We were all figuring things out last year. Now there are organizational, operational, and employee management issues popping up with the decision to have remote workers […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":10844,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[266],"tags":[],"post_folder":[268],"class_list":["post-11150","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-consulting-services"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11150","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11150"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11150\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11151,"href":"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11150\/revisions\/11151"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10844"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11150"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11150"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11150"},{"taxonomy":"post_folder","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post_folder?post=11150"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}