Managing Remote Workers Effectively and Improving Business Performance
2020-05-05How to Manage Remote Workers Effectively?
As the novel coronavirus outbreak spreads throughout the world, more and more countries are taking precautions against its onslaught. NBA games have been cancelled, schools are suspending classes, and while workplaces cannot shut down completely, they can instead opt to have their employees work remotely. This not only ensures that business operations continue rather than cease, but more importantly, this ensures that your workers are safe and secure.
Not all businesses have measures in place to help them manage a remote workforce. It’s for these businesses that this article is geared to help. So, what are the things you need to keep in mind in order to handle your remote workers effectively?
Use Team Collaboration-Oriented Programs and Apps
The very first concern you need to address is on how you’re going to maintain collaboration with your team while you’re working remotely. Communication tools such as Skype and Slack are going to help you maintain communication with your team, while cloud-based apps such as Google Docs and Google Sheets can help maintain a semblance or cohesiveness as you work online.
Establish Online Payment Systems
It’s also important to establish alternate payment methods, especially if you won’t be able to hand out cheques to your employees. Bank transfers are fine, but if you want to be more secure, you might also want to consider online payment methods like Esewa, Khalti, I- or Epay, IME Pay and Qpay, or you might even want to outsource finance functions for maximum convenience.
Set Clear Expectations
It’s difficult to maintain discipline over a remote team. You have to expect that they aren’t going to perform exactly the same way that they do in an office setting. But be that as it may, it’s still important to make your expectations known so that your team knows what their roles are, and what is expected of them. When working with remote teams, the only thing that matters is that results are achieved, so long as the means to get those results do not damage the business in any way.
Set and Update Project Milestones
It’s also important to set deadlines and a schedule of milestones for your team. This not only helps keep your team goals in mind, but it also ensures that members of your team have a definite schedule to follow. This allows them to allocate their time properly, which is often the most challenging aspect of working remotely.
It’s also important to give regular updates as well as to ask for regular updates on progress so that the members of your team are aware of how a particular project is going and so they can make the necessary adjustments to minimize the risk of failure. This ensures that you team members know that there are tasks to complete, and this will allow them to dedicate their time and resources to accomplish the task.
Even when your business is not affected by the epidemic, you might want to consider implementing a contingency plan where your employees would still be able to keep operations running, even from their homes. The coronavirus won’t be the only situation where you might want your team to work remotely. We have the technology to run businesses online, we might as well make good use of that technology.
5 Tips to Improve Business Efficiency
The way you manage your company will have a significant impact on your growth and overall business success. Running an efficient business offers many benefits including lower operational costs, improved customer relations, and higher profits. To help you achieve your business objectives, here are five tips to improve business efficiency today.
1. Hire a Skilled Team
One of the first steps to running an efficient business is to hire a team of skilled employees. Keep in mind that your staff will play an essential role in business growth and revenue. You should therefore invest in recruitment strategies to attract the top talent to your business. Here are some useful tips on how to hire the best team for your business:
Get your current employees involved in the recruitment process by offering attractive referral schemes with rewards like bonuses or extra vacation time.
Use professional social media networks like LinkedIn to connect with quality candidates online.
Attend candidate-focused networking events.
Offer attractive job perks like free gym memberships or flexible working hours.
2. Provide Quality Training
Employees who receive high-quality training will have the skills and knowledge to carry out their job tasks efficiently. Having the right skills and equipment to perform their work duties should also have a positive impact on employee morale in the workplace, which should further boost productivity within your company.
According to experts, some of the most popular work-based training methods include online courses, interactive videos, mentoring programs, and on-the-job training. Make sure that your company has a quality training program in place to educate staff, boost employee skills, and increase motivation and engagement in the workplace.
3. Invest in Management Software
All companies have to juggle various business tasks and responsibilities which can lead to human errors and missed deadlines. Fortunately, task management software can be used to manage multiple activities and greatly improve business efficiency. In particular, task management software can be utilized to enhance internal and external communication, automate core business activities, monitor productivity, and reduce business costs. The best part of management software is that it can be customized to suit your exact business needs and requirements.
4. Improve Communication in the Workplace
Miscommunication can harm business productivity and lead to time-consuming mistakes. You can help your company become more efficient by improving communication in the workplace. Firstly, encourage employees to speak face-to-face rather than through email or other messages platforms. This should help minimize the risk of confusion and errors due to unclear messages. Alternative ways to improve communication in the workplace include checking in on staff members regularly, creating a strong internal communication strategy, and having an “open door” policy.
5. Use Outsourcing Services
When done correctly, outsourcing can be an excellent way to save time and make your business run more efficiently. To be successful, you should try and only outsource non-core activities of your business such as payroll and data processing. This means that you will have more time to focus on key areas of your company while having peace of mind that any outsourced tasks are being managed by specialists.
-Dr. Sanjeev Pradhan
The Author is MBA's Academic Professor at KFA Business School & IT for Organizational Behavior
