The practice of working remotely is already well known and has become the new normal for many companies, as well as for individuals such as employees who have switched to fully remote operations due to the covid pandemic of the last two years.
Currently, even those companies that are still considering making the transition to working online often express dissatisfaction with the difficulties they are having in adapting to this new work paradigm.
With the continual change we are experiencing towards the new “normal” in terms of the way we work, the most realistic way to find what works best for individuals who are looking to establish a form of remote work is to try different strategies and see what works best for your company.
However, in addition to the fact that testing different ideas are a time-consuming process, you will still have to make an extra effort to get each of your employees used to these new work policies. But regardless of your company’s area of activity, the tips below will help you establish an effective virtual work environment:
Best Technologies for Remote Work
When your employees work remotely, technological innovations become an essential part of your business, as it is impossible to force individuals to perform at their best if they do not have the right tools to do so.
Fortunately, as a result of the massive growth in the number of remote workers over the last 2 years, countless technologies are more accessible than ever for companies of all sizes.
When creating and organizing your company’s virtual work environment, make sure you have all the necessary communication technology (internal and external), in addition to the best technologies for managing and monitoring the activities carried out in your company.
Technologies for project management
Identify the project management solutions you will be using and put them into action as soon as possible! The sooner you start using a project management system, the sooner your team will get used to this technology, which is indispensable for managing work and remote activities.
The days of printing paper documents and schedules are gone; nowadays, everything is (and should be) done digitally! A variety of project management tools such as Zoho, Asana, Microsoft Project, and Trello are available on the market to help teams get organized successfully.
Each team sets its schedule, is aware of the tasks it is starting to work on and keeps a record of all its accomplishments and failures. The administration or management team can also set deadlines and track progress without having to interact directly with their employees.
Cloud-based phone system
If your coworkers tend to work from several different places, or from their respective homes, cloud communication services are an ideal alternative. Both for your communication with customers and suppliers and for your company’s internal communication.
Choosing the best corporate phone system is an important decision, as this decision directly affects your company, your partners/suppliers, and your customers. ULTATEL, Grasshopper, and 8×8 are the best VoIP providers for small businesses.
Especially in companies that employ workers from different locations, an online phone system can be very helpful.
And not only for internal communication, but cloud telephony services also allow your company to provide a virtual phone number that you can use for local business calls. Employees of companies that have access to this virtual number can receive business phone calls from wherever they are. Eighter on their work desktop phone, on their personal computers, or even on their mobile devices, all they need is decent internet access, and you’re ready to work.
Software to manage working times
People who work remotely are sometimes led to believe that they have plenty of time to complete their tasks. There is no doubt that remote workers save a significant amount of time as they no longer have to make long daily commutes to and from their workplaces.
While this additional time can be valuable to workers, it can also be wasted by them if they are not careful about how much time they are working on each activity and are unnecessarily distracted.
These systems automatically notify staff when a job deadline is approaching, as well as when a meeting or event is scheduled in the near future.
Not only does this type of software help in the personal organization of workers, but it also allows management to control their uptime. Apps like Hubstaff let companies know exactly how many hours their workers worked per week, and pay them accordingly.
The weekly or monthly budget can also be accomplished through the use of software that controls the schedule of tasks with specific periods of time worked.
Principles for Hiring Remote Workers
Few people have successfully navigated the challenges of working remotely in recent months. However, companies that have successfully made this transition have already spoken about their tactics for keeping their workers happy and productive while operating their respective functions remotely.
By adopting these principles into your company’s daily routine, you will be able to establish a higher level of quality for your company’s remote workforce:
Communication policies and procedures must be described in a document or SOP
Every business owner who works with remote workers will tell you that communication (both internal and external) is one of the most important pillars you can do to succeed.
Your company is at risk of failure if it doesn’t have well-established communication standards and processes. Communication is vital for remote workers to be able to do their jobs efficiently.
When in doubt as to where to begin, start by structuring what you think you need to ensure processes are understood, particularly as this will provide the framework for how employees should engage with their leadership and other employees during their work routine at your company.
It will be much easier for everyone to get their jobs done quickly and effectively if effective communication tactics and processes are established from the start.
The most important thing that companies must understand in relation to creating documents and SOPs about the activities performed internally, is that the time your team will spend to create these SOPs will be much less than the time wasted with processes performed incorrectly or with individual training. for each employee.
Hire the most suitable staff for remote work
The team members you employ play a crucial role in the success of your organization. Administrators and managers often assume that they must be able to do all the jobs on their own because, unfortunately, they have no faith in the ability of their employees.
For example, when CEOs hire people who are clearly unprepared for virtual or hybrid work, they make this mistake!
To hire the most qualified individuals and establish a strong and efficient workforce, you must conduct good interviews, ask the necessary questions about past remote work experiences, and most importantly, pay attention to the soft skills of your future employees.
Schedule face-to-face meetings with your employees
Face-to-face meetings can and should be scheduled from time to time to improve your team’s interactions.
Non-verbal communication is facilitated through these meetings, and remote workers benefit from them by developing a more trusting relationship between their bosses and their coworkers. develop a personal connection with them.
The responsibility for scheduling face-to-face meetings between team members who work in different locations is often placed under the responsibility of the supervisor or manager. However, if you wish, you can also take the first step and organize real meetings with at least one or more members of your mobile workforce.
Conclusion
With greater flexibility provided to workers through remote work, the work-from-home trend is gaining traction at an incredibly fast pace, already being considered the new “normal” for many companies.
Furthermore, most experts believe that remote work is the way forward in today’s society and that we should all fully embrace this concept as a result.
To succeed and ensure efficiency in your company, even on remote or hybrid work, you need to follow the tips on working remotely that have been covered in this article. These practices will help you establish an effective remote working environment, making your company more productive and securing a strategic advantage over your competitors.
