5 Tips for managing remote employees and ensure efficient task management

Remote work has become extremely common than before due to several factors. This includes introduction of new technologies, COVID-19 pandemic, and new corporate policies. In that case, if you are a leader, there are chances that you might get asked to manage remote employees anytime soon.

Speaking about remote work, it offers huge benefits for both the leader and employees, but it comes with several challenges for the team leaders.

This guide is all about a few tips that you can adopt in order to manage remote employees and ensure effective work.

1. Communication:

Engage with your employees. Take out a moment to communicate directly with them once a day. It can be through a message, video call, phone call, or email. Do not make the remote employees feel that they have no one behind them. This might disengage them from their work. Once they feel left out and disengaged, you will have a poor turnover. Consistent communication with each of the team members motivates them and makes them feel valued.

2. Set clear expectations:

Set your expectations clearly. Let your remote employees know their check-in time, break time, and know if you track their time. Making your team clear about what you want from them will create a sense of clarity among your remote employees.

In fact, you can document your communication procedure as well. Outline the sort of questions necessary for group meetings. Provide them with the details of time and work. Let them know how soon you want their response through mails or working hours.

3. Arrange regular team meetings:

Regardless of the nature of your workforce, it is extremely important to set group meetings regularly. It can be in the form of team building activities or virtual events. This makes the bond and unity between the employees stronger. By knowing each other, employees will feel good cooperating and getting the job done in no time.

In fact, you can get excellent ideas, as, in team meetings, remote workers can contribute their thoughts and ideas, and details.

4. Clarity:

Employees are attracted to those leaders who know how to behave well in the workplace. If you behave well and are honest with them, there are 99% chances that the remote employees will be the same as you. 

By creating this transparency in your behavior, your employees feel trusted and secure. They feel confident and comfortable in sharing any questions or queries with you. A sinful nature or behavior might create a sense of the same in their mind as well. This can take your business down as it may create irresponsibility among employees. 

Do not be biased. Treat everyone equally.

No one should question their existence.

5. Make use of technology:

There are a few technologies and tools that you will need in order to manage remote employees. This includes team collaboration tools such as Slack, screen sharing tools, project management software, video conferencing system software, time tracking apps, etc.

These tools are quite helpful in project management. You can use more of them to have face to face interactions, create online forums, and messenger channels where your employees can freely discuss non-work-related kinds of stuff during breaks.

Create a remote version of each thing that you practice locally. If an employee has his birthday, make sure you gather the whole team in a video call and sing a song for him.

Things like this keep them inclined towards the organization.

How to do task management? 

Generally, the productivity of remote employees depended on several factors. This involves the nature of work, their comfortability, the number of distractions at their home, their work preference, and personality.

However, you can improve your employees' productivity by setting smart aims, encouraging them to take breaks, creating bigger opportunities for the team, connecting socially, and offering work stipends to pay for the office setup at home.

In order to ensure efficient work and bring out the best from them, you can offer them any training opportunity regarding work from home, give recognition and regular feedback, communicate regularly, create a path for their career development, and make your goals clear.