Making sure remote working is…working

Remote working has been liberating, releasing us from the shackles of the office and helping us hone our own perfect environment and schedule. But while it can be freeing, it can also be isolating, can lead to communication issues and to feelings of detachment from our work and our colleagues.

Here’s six tips to make sure that remote working is…well, working for you and your colleagues.

Daily check-ins 

Credico recommends that all managers make sure their employees know that they have support and are aware that they are cared for every day.
Remote working can be challenging for many people due to the lack of interaction, so a daily five minute check-in call will make all the difference.

Over-communicate rather than under-communicate

Isolation can make working from home difficult, and communication and understanding can make things a lot harder.
Working remotely means you can miss out on the context of many projects that an employee in the office is more likely to see simply because they are in the workplace.

Managers must ensure that tasks are explained in greater detail because understanding is more challenging via text and devices, especially when tone of voice is hard to gauge.

Use technology to your advantage

Technology has progressed to allow better communication and planning; use all you have at the click of a mouse to make everyone's lives easier. There is no reason to talk back-and-forth over email when a 15-minute "face to face" video call can ensure direction is clear for all parties.

Outcomes matter more than activity

When in the office, organisations can often focus on hours over productivity as it is easier to measure. Still, when working from home, it is more challenging to see how many hours employees put into their work - whether it is more, less, or the same as their contracted hours.

Productivity may even increase when people are working from home. Therefore, employees and employers should focus on work outcomes and quality over the number of hours spent at a desk.

Encourage social interactions remotely

Isolation can become pretty bleak when working remotely. There is a lack of social interaction, so Credico recommends keeping up "social" calls and activities that the whole team, and even clients, can get involved in.

Mentorship over management

The final and most important tip is to be a mentor over and above being a manager for your employees. Research indicates declining rates of mental health over the last year (or two): "over half of those surveyed feel a pressure to disguise the sinking feeling that accompanies their difficulty in coping with both the stresses of the job and the stresses of the pandemic."

More than ever, employees need someone to lean on in addition to being a manager.