Remote employee engagement is a hot-button issue for many companies that are trying to continue performing at a high level during the COVID-19 pandemic. If you think you’re alone with the challenge of keeping remote employees fully engaged during these uncertain times, keep in mind that many of your colleagues are experiencing the same challenges.
In this article, we’ll take a look at how your leadership practices can be revisited to promote more engagement, leading to better business success.
Increase the Frequency, Transparency, and Consistency of Your Communication
Employees that aren’t accustomed to working remotely may find themselves feeling disconnected from co-workers and leadership. This poses a problem when that disconnected feeling begins to impact engagement and performance.
To counteract this issue, increase the number of times per week you interact directly with each employee. If your standard practice has been to chat one-on-one with your team members once per week, increase the frequency to three or four times per week, in shorter bursts. Instead of the hour-long one-on-one Zoom calls each Friday, begin each day with some 15-minute one-on-ones that will help employees feel more grounded in their jobs and connected to the overall company missions and goals.
Be more transparent about issues than you may have been in the past, stay consistent with the times you meet with each employee, and share the message you share.
Ensure that Remote Teams Remain Productive and Engaged
The truth is that there isn’t a simple answer about the impact of working remotely when it comes to productivity and employee engagement. For tasks that don’t require much colleague coordination, remote work tends to boost employee productivity. However, with work that requires collaboration, the results are mixed.
Give your team a wide range of resources and cloud-based tools that are highly interactive. Then encourage each team member to share their personal best practices, tips, and tricks. Consider creating a collaborative platform where employees can share their own challenges and success stories with each other. This will help create a virtual environment of healthy and productive engagement.
Leading a Remote Team Requires a New Way of Managing
Managing an in-house team is very different from leading a remote team. By adjusting your leadership style, you’ll be able to stay ahead of the curve and keep your team engaged and productive.