The COVID-19 pandemic has completely changed the landscape of how businesses operate now. With much of the workforce being forced to operate remotely, there is a growing fear among employers that it is not sustainable long term. At the office, employers can always keep a close eye on team members and readily be on hand to provide information and support.
However, the truth is, even before the pandemic started businesses had already begun transitioning to replace the traditional office with a virtual one. The traditional 9-to-5 workday just does not cut it anymore for the modern workforce, because most millennials crave the opportunity to find a job that provides flexibility and saves time and money. Research shows that remote workers are significantly more happy, productive, and tend to stick with the company for the long haul.
According to this year’s Buffer survey, a whopping 98% of remote workers said they want to continue working remotely for the rest of their careers.
It All Begins with Trust
It is natural for managers to become overly anxious when their team members work remotely. After all who knows what is happening behind the scenes? They could be binging on Netflix’s Tiger King with a bowl of popcorn or riding the waves at the beach instead of working on that important report due at the end of the week.
It takes a leap of faith to believe every team member will keep to their duties even if they are not sitting at the computer all the time. A strong leader needs to accept this reality and learn how to adapt to it.
A Virtual Conference Room
With today’s modern business tools, a collaborative project can be done just as effectively as if everyone was sitting physically in the conference room. Hosting weekly team meetings or daily stand-ups has never been easier thanks to the virtual conference platforms available today, such as Zoom.
Although Zoom was popular before the pandemic with 10 daily meeting participants in Dec. 2019. Over the course of March and April 2020, that number has grown to over 300 million and 2.13 million downloads a day.
Using an organizational tool such as Slack or Telegram provides immediate value to team collaboration and project management. These software cloud-based platforms provide much more than just the ability to instant message. The ability to share files, document important business decisions, and post daily status updates are just a few of the many things these team collaboration programs provide.
Clear Expectations
An effective remote manager must communicate clearly what the expectations are regarding work performance, deadlines, corporate policies, and communication channels. Double-check or even triple check if necessary, to make sure every team member understands their responsibilities and is fully equipped with the resources to complete the task.
Remember that expectations are a two-way way street. There are certain expectations the team expects from their leader, such as being open to feedback and being readily available when problems arise.
Check-Ins
One of the most attractive elements of working from home is not having punch in at 9 and check out at 5. Nevertheless, a manager needs to provide some structure for the team when everyone is working at different times throughout the day. For each member to customize schedules according to their needs, timeframes for when projects are due, and when meetings are scheduled must be provided at the onset of the assignment. This will ensure that everyone is all in the same lane despite driving at different speeds.
Many successful team leaders establish a specific time to check-in on their team members daily to see how the work is progressing and to address any problems. With the communication technology available today, there is no excuse to just send an email to fulfill this important responsibility. Daily check-ins should be done via video chat or a phone call, but if those options are not available than using a messaging platform such as WhatsApp is better than not checking in at all. If the project needs to be discussed collaboratively than online video conferencing platforms are the best method to get the whole team together at once.
Lastly, be careful to not cancel any regularly scheduled meeting unless absolutely necessary, and in that case, reschedule it. Canceling appointments shows unreliability and lowers the expectations set out from the beginning.
Remote Work Is Here to Stay
How far the corporate world will transition to a virtual office after the COVID-19 pandemic ends is yet to be seen, but one thing is certain – remote work is here to stay. Now that employers are coming on board with the idea, the pressure falls on managers to lead their teams to success. It is intimidating, but if trust becomes the norm and today’s collaboration technologies are taken advantage of, then that fear will quickly turn into excitement.