There can be no doubt that remote working has taken the world by storm over the past few years. Although it has been somewhat accelerated as a necessity by the onset of the pandemic three years ago, remote working was already becoming far more popular as the dependence on digital work increased over the past half-decade.
Of course, this should come as little surprise. As congestion continues to blight major cities, towns, and highways, no one wants to sit in cars or on public transport for hours on end, trying to commute to and from a workplace every day.
Instead, remote work has theoretically made it possible for people to complete their tasks from anywhere in the world, within reason. However, while this is amazing news for workers, the onset of remote work presents a more complex challenge for businesses.
This is because it is difficult to keep track of remote employees, maintain effective communication, and blend both remote and normal staff into a hybrid workforce. To help, here are a few tips on how to efficiently implement a remote workforce into your business:
Make sure everyone has a strong and stable internet connection
If you are planning on integrating remote working into your business, then there are several key problems that you face. Many of them are actually quite obvious – such as making sure that your remote workers have access to a secure, stable, and fast internet connection.
Without this, they will not only be unable to complete their work, but they may actually endanger the rest of your network. Therefore, you should ensure that you have a dedicated internet line for your team to use at all times.
Have remote workers clock their hours
Another problem that you will face when you want to implement remote work into your business is how you keep track of remote workers and ensure that they are completing their working hours fully.
This is tricky to keep on top of because you are ultimately relying on the trustworthiness of your team. However, you can do your utmost to keep track of the situation by using dedicated time-clocking software and having your employees closely track their work sessions.
Of course, your remote employees may be working in a different time zone to the rest of your business or choose to work in dedicated batches of time – rather than as a linear working day.
If this is the case, ensure you know when they are going to be online so you know when to contact them.
Arrange regular conference calls
To ensure your business remains running at full efficiency – even with remote workers – it is paramount that you maintain clear channels of communication with your team. A fantastic way to do this is by hosting regular conference calls with your remote team to check in on their progress and ensure everyone is pulling in the same direction. To make sure these calls are worthwhile, set out an agenda at the start of the meeting and record notes from each call.
