Nearly one-third of all working adults work remotely. This number significantly increased after the pandemic of 2020, and it might continue rising due to the perks of remote work.
Working from home is beneficial to employees, reducing their commute expenses, but it’s also helpful to companies. The downside is that managing remote employees is more challenging.
Yet, managing your at-home workers is crucial for your business. So, how do you manage people who work from home?
If you’re interested in learning how to manage people who work from their homes, you can learn by reading this guide. This guide explains the top tips to manage your remote workers.
Learn and Understand the Challenges of Remote Work
If you want to learn how to be a good people manager, you might want to start by learning about the challenges of remote work.
However, learning them is not enough. You’ll also need to understand and accept these challenges.
Working from home is something many people enjoy. They like the freedom it offers and the money they save by not filling up their gas tanks.
The downside is that some people don’t have enough self-discipline to complete their work. Some people become distracted quickly, while others might feel pressured to work on home things instead of their job tasks.
When employees aren’t driving to work to clock in by a specific time, they might sleep longer and move more slowly each morning. These are just a few challenges people experience when working from home.
As a people manager, you must understand these things and learn how to address them in the best ways.
Set Clear Work Standards and Hours
One method you can use to address the challenges is to set clear work standards and hours. People management is easier when you have clear guidelines for your remote employees to follow.
In fact, your employees will prefer having written standards to follow, and they’ll be more inclined to follow them when they know what they are. Therefore, you should begin with this step.
For example, do you want your employees to be available during specific hours? If so, write this on the standard report. You should also include other standards that you expect them to follow.
When you complete this document, you can pass it out to your remote workers and ask them to sign it after reviewing it. Their signature is evidence that they know what you expect from them.
Develop Measurable Employee Productivity
Additionally, you might want to develop productivity measurements for your workers. As a people manager, this is also a helpful tool.
When creating it, you should include objectives you can measure. For example, if you require that your employees work from 9 to 5, you can use time-clock software to monitor when they clock in and out.
You can measure this metric easily as the software tracks it. So while you won’t know if they’re actually working during these hours, you will know that they clocked in at the correct times.
You can also use other metrics, such as sales reports and daily work logs. Practical management skills are necessary when monitoring the work performance of remote employees, and this tip is beneficial.
Host Virtual Meetings Regularly
As you learn how to manage people at work, you might also discover the importance of hosting virtual meetings. You might even want to have in-person meetings monthly.
Virtual meetings are simple and effective, and your employees can attend them from anywhere. You can plan these meetings weekly or as often as you deem necessary.
You’ll have to notify the employees about the meeting times and methods and require that they attend. You can keep a log of their attendance as part of your people management records.
When hosting virtual meetings, you should have a clear agenda. For example, you might start by praising the employees for their recent milestones or accomplishments.
Next, you might open it up to allow each person to discuss their goals or objectives for the week. After that, you can discuss challenges or issues you see. You can also include goals for each person for the upcoming week.
Your employees will stay more engaged with their jobs through these meetings, so you should plan them regularly.
Perform Employee Reviews
Another vital tip when learning how to manage people remotely is to perform employee reviews. You canlearn here about evaluating your employees as you develop your review plans.
An employee review offers a chance for you to evaluate each person’s work habits and performance. You can use this time to highlight the positive traits of each person and the areas where they need work.
You can also use this time to learn what your employees think, feel, and need. You’ll need good listening skills for these reviews and an open mind.
You’ll also need to be open with your employees about the challenges and issues you notice.
Reward Success
Finally, you might want to develop a plan for rewarding success. When employees receive rewards for hard work, they might be more motivated to continue working hard.
You might want to give regular pay raises, time off work, or other perks as part of your reward system. You should have a clear system of rewards that your employees understand, as this helps them know what to do.
Learn How to Manage People Working Remotely
Remote work might be the new normal. Therefore, learning how to manage people who work from home is crucial for your company’s success.
You can use these tips and others to improve your company’s productivity with remote workers.
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