With many non-essential businesses offering work-from-home, it can feel somewhat overwhelming if you haven’t managed telecommuters, or a whole team of them, before. How do you combat decreased morale, motivation, and feelings of team cohesiveness? How can you make sure that projects are being completed and that good work habits/ethic are being practiced? What do you do when employees are not being productive?
Touching Base & Face Time:
- One-on-Ones should be a given if you manage staff. These are especially important when working virtually.
- While a call might seem sufficient, video meetings can be more effective in order to have a more “physical” presence with each other and to more easily read body language.
- Be sure to ask how each of your team members are doing, if there’s anything they need or want from you, and what you can do to best support them.
- These meetings can offer the stability they are used to in the physical workplace, encourages them to communicate, and helps them focus on their work.
- Team Meetings are another staple to be continued virtually via video conferences.
- They boost feelings of connection, social interaction, and team cohesion.
- Encourage your team to interact as a group, discuss tasks and projects together, and provide support to or ask for help from one another.
- For you, it’s another way to provide stability and guidance as well as keep them informed of team, department, or company status.
Setting Work Expectations:
- Don’t expect that everyone is at the same level of motivation and organization.
- Be sure to outline the expectations you have for their work, time frames/deadlines, quality, and quantity.
- Additionally, communicate or reiterate particular policies such as a telecommuting policy if you think there is a need.
- If there is not a telecommuting policy already in place, one should be created to provide clear guidelines.
Provide Appropriate Equipment:
- If your company implements work-from-home, it needs to have a plan for providing the equipment and tools employees need to succeed.
- In addition to a computer/laptop other needs might include reimbursements for personal phone usage for work and internet line access.
- Ensure employees have all the software they will need to only to complete their primary work, but also to communicate and coordinate. Audio and video conferencing software (Skype/Zoom) as well as task/project management software (Trello/Asana) can bring your virtual team operations to the next level.
Address Performance Problems:
- As soon as you recognize a performance issue, address it as soon as possible.
- Just as you would in the physical environment, it is your responsibility to provide guidance and support to enable your employees to do their best.
- If corrective action documentation is needed there are a few choices:
- If you have access to digital document software such as DocuSign, this can be an easy way to provide documentation and signed receipt (after the initial discussion)
- An alternative might be to follow-up the corrective action meeting with an email that requests the employee reply with confirmation of receipt
Ask us how we can help create or improve your telecommuting policy and practices!