How to keep your team motivated while working remotely
Why Do People Work Remotely?
Working from home is no longer an isolated concept. According to a survey conducted by Global Workplace Analytics in 2016, nearly 3.7 million employees in America have taken advantage of remote working or freelance opportunities at least once in their careers, and today the rates of people wanting to work at home continue on the rise. Working from home is more than a reality today. It has come to a necessity. However, remote working does not come without challenges.
One of the biggest fears remote workers have is losing the sense of being part of a team, which entails feeling disconnected from their project and remote coworkers. In fact, some people think that remote work can actually encourage withdrawal behaviors such as procrastination or lack of commitment because remote workers feel they are no longer directly monitored at work.
It is estimated that the number of people who work remotely is about 20 – 30% of the total workforce. With remote work becoming more and more popular, there is a debate about the impact remote work has on productivity and team effectiveness. So how can small teams create a sense of connectivity to prevent remote workers from feeling disconnected?
How to Keep the Team Motivated to Work Remotely
In remote work, remote teams must have clear expectations from the get-go. In fact, even small teams need to set out remote-specific guidelines and operating procedures from the start to avoid miscommunication during projects.
For instance, encourage your remote team members to start team meetings, brainstorming sessions, or virtual stand-ups early in small projects to establish remote-specific guidelines and operating procedures.
These remote-specific guidelines and operating procedures could be "how often should you do reports?" or "what time would be the best time for our remote team members to meet?".
You can also set remote-specific guidelines and operating procedures for the remote team members to follow, such as:
Schedule remote meetings accordingly. If remote workers work on the same project, try to schedule meetings at a time when remote team members can connect with each other without causing any distractions.
Set meeting reminders. Provide remote team members with remote meeting reminders, such as "Do not forget to do remote stand-up at 9:00 am tomorrow".
Encourage remote collaboration. If some sections of the project can be done on a group basis, consider getting all remote workers together to do so (e.g., remote brainstorming session, project planning).
Encourage remote communication. Communication is key in remote projects, so encourage remote team members to keep each other posted on the project progress (e.g., set up a chat group via Slack)
Another way you can improve your remote work connection is to create some kind of incentive for your remote team members.
Of course, financial incentives are great, but remote workers could also be motivated and inspired by non-monetary rewards such as:
Flexible work hours. Remote team members can become more productive when given flexible remote work hours that consider their individual needs. For example, they might need to check in while children are at school, remote team members may need to take remote-specific hours for projects.)
Rest at home days. Although remote workers are part of the whole team, they could also take breaks one or two days every other month (e.g.: remote company's anniversary), so remote workers feel like they are still taking time off from work duties.
Fun remote team-building activities. Remote team members can get to know each other better during remote company retreats, remote conferences, or online games (e.g., online trivia games.)
In general, remote work may be an excellent alternative for employees because of its impact and improved work-life balance, so keep in mind that your remote team members should be motivated to enjoy their work, even if it is from home.
Challenges While Directing a Team Remotely
Before remote work became popular, it was sometimes difficult for leaders to keep remote workers motivated. Even nowadays the most common challenges that leaders handle are:
Feeling remote workers don't receive enough recognition for their solo projects.
Significant time zone differences between remote team members (e.g.: Team A in the USA and Team B in Australia.)
Lack of remote socializing: remote workers may not have the same kind of remote socializing as a local team member.
Long-distance communication: It can sometimes be difficult for leaders and remote workers to communicate effectively using long-distance phone calls or video conferencing.
Remote work distractions: Sometimes working from home can cause unnecessary distractions, such as a TV in the background, a pet at home, or a nearby construction project.
These are some of the many challenges that you could potentially face as a leader while directing a team remotely, however with proper planning and motivation, these can certainly be prevented.
In some cases, remote teams would experience difficulties when working because of a lack of proper guidelines and operating procedures from project managers in the distance, thus resulting in unnecessary miscommunication.
Remote team members may have different opinions from remote workers, so be prepared to discuss and find the best solutions that work for everybody without compromising your goals. People who are more introverted or extroverted may handle working remotely differently from others, so keep in mind that some people will do.
How to Communicate Effectively in a Virtual Environment?
At times, remote teams might find it difficult to communicate properly and efficiently, especially if the remote team members don't know how to work in a virtual environment.
Many companies think that "video conferences" will do the trick (e.g.: Zoom), but this is not always true because video conferencing can sometimes make effective communication and remote team management difficult.
Although video conferencing is effective after practical training and remote company guidelines, it can often be challenging to schedule effective video conference meetings with remote team members because of the different time zones around the world.
Thus, virtual environment communication should always start with effective planning such as:
Creating a shared central space for effective virtual environment communication: To make effective virtual environment communication effective, all remote team members should be able to easily access a workspace where they can create documents and chat with each other. This space can often be a "virtual meeting room", or even a simple Google Docs document that is created by the remote team leader.
You can also consider using credible collaboration tools such as Slack, which is a very effective communication tool that will allow remote team members to chat and discuss current projects in an easy and accessible way.
Take into consideration different time zones: Remember that effective time zones can cause communication challenges. For effective virtual environment communication, you should always schedule your video conferences in feasible ways that take the different time zones into consideration.
One of the most effective things that a leader should do when managing remote teams is to create effective leadership strategies by understanding different personality types and social styles. Not everyone is cut out to work in a virtual environment, so it's important that you get to know your team members by understanding their personality type.
If someone is an introvert then they might have trouble performing during video conference meetings; make sure to create a comfortable environment even if it is virtual so they can do their job well.
Creating communication guidelines: Similar to effective communication strategies, effective communication guidelines for effective virtual environments should include different rules and effective ways to communicate with each other in an effective virtual environment.
Be clear about what you want and expect from effective virtual environment communication. An effective manager should always be clear about his goals for the projects and what he wants to achieve through virtual environment communication.
For example, if you schedule influential video conferences, make sure to list down compelling takeaways for each meeting, so that remote team members know what you expect from them so they can schedule their tasks according to the content need.
Leading remote teams will always include some challenges, but it is essential to ensure that those challenges are productive and not destructive.
Improving Communication Skills and Getting the Most Out of Working Remotely
In today's world, people are more inclined to work remotely because of the convenience that it offers. According to the 2021 PWC Survey, over half of employees (55%) would prefer to be remote at least three days a week once pandemic concerns recede.
If a company wants to remain competitive, it needs to embrace the change and get its best out of it by making good virtual environment communication strategies.
In the end, working remotely has a lot of different benefits, which is why many companies around the world have employees who work this way:
Increased productivity:
People tend to be more productive when they're working from home because they don't feel stressed out by office politics and other distractions such as noisy co-workers or gossiping at the water cooler.
A better work/life balance:
Because people get to choose where they want to work, it helps improve their quality of life because they get to avoid unhealthy relationships, traffic jams, and other hassles that come with commuting in big cities.
Less expensive:
Working remotely can save companies money because people don't have to rent an office or hire more staff.
More engaged employees:
People who work onsite tend to be less engaged than those who work remotely, according to a study by Gallup, which found that 51% of employees who work off-site are engaged in their jobs compared with only 30 percent of those on-site."
The above-mentioned points show why working remotely has become so popular, but if you want your remote team members to be productive and deliver quality results, make sure to keep in mind that communication is very important. For that reason, you will need to develop effective ways of communication that work for all types of virtual environments.
For that reason, you will need to develop effective ways of communication that work for all types of virtual environments; keep in mind that every aspect of the team's virtual environment communication is important, from setting up online meeting platforms to creating a project management tool.
So make sure to know each member of the team, their skills, and talents, as well as their strengths and weaknesses before structuring the process. Every single individual is essential for the success of the company, so making sure to lead with respect is very important.
It's All About the Team
One of the most important things to remember when building a remote team is to make sure everyone on board has what it takes to do their job well.
Remember: A company can hire extremely talented people, but if they aren't self-driven or don't have strong communication skills, then chances are they won't be as productive because they'll be struggling to share ideas and get input from others.
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