It’s obvious that due to the coronavirus outbreak, you’re starting to change your staff from office workers into a remote team. This means your activities, calls and other day to day affairs are typically managed through apps and remotely and you’re probably starting to get used to a new style of office management.
What happens though if you start remoting? Would that mean some of your employees would have lesser satisfaction? Or would they tend to slack off because you can no longer manage them from the office. Your workers and leaders need the right set of guidelines but here are some of the things you can do as well to motivate them.
Have regular online calls
You can use Zoom or Skype other apps if you want to call them. It’s important to check on how they are doing because a successful remote team depends on you checking on them and ensuring that their activities are in check. If you want, you can also regularly chat with them on apps such as Slack or Skype itself
Share pictures of food
It’s good to break the ice once in awhile. Your remote management style can very well include many more homely strategies to help accommodate you group members during the Covid-19 pandemic. You can share pictures of food and even share recipes occasionally so that your team will not feel like they are left out and that this global pandemic will get the best of them.
Meet with them in a coffee shop — if you can
Have coffee with them. With all your workers, local and remote it’s also vital to facilitate a meetup in a coffee shop or something if it is within lockdown parameters or rules in your area. If not, then you better use Online Calls because you don’t want to violate centers for disease control and prevention or CDC. However, top notch team management means you care enough about being hands on with them.
If it’s possible for several of you to physically meet once in awhile, or maybe gather in the household of someone who is available, and isn’t on lockdown, then that might be a better arrangement.
However, because of the coronavirus, don’t overdo this and it’s still important to stay at home.
Have one on one sessions with some workers
If you’ve got some developers or customer service agents on the team, it’s important to also provide them one on one sessions together. You don’t want them left to their own devices and you need to be able to coach them on how these facets are helping your bottom line.
Nothing matters more than checking their performance yet also giving them personal tips on communication and on reaching your goals. Hybrid teams can also have online calls together to check the QA on their metrics and performance. Communication is key to these strategies.
Compliment performance
It’s vital not to be condescending but offer them some compliments if they’ve done a job well. They are already going fully remote so if it is possible, let them know their successful efforts are contributing to your firm. Make sure that they take pride and ownership in selling your products online and keeping them motivated is absolutely paramount.
Flexible work arrangements
If it’s even better so they can attend to their household chores then have flexible work arrangements. Put their schedules in order yet track their time in order for them to render the necessary number of work hours. Yet if you have a customer service team, it’s better if you standardize their working schedules. Communication is key to having an efficient team.
Provide them Tech Support
If you want them to go remote, then you need to provide them the gadgets and tech support that they require such as PC’s, UPS’s and other power cables. If they’re used to working with your large monitors in your office, it makes sense to still allow them to be productive enough through using many of the gadgets you have at the office.
Don’t forget your checklist of items though and haves these cleared through your HR or your IT departments.
Allow them to use their Sick Leaves
If your department must undergo a temporary closure or structuring, then you can allow them to use their leaves if they are regular employees. Inform them right away as soon as their work is needed again and make sure that they are always up to date with any changes in your local or online operations.
Share YouTube videos
Share music and YouTube videos about the virus, comedy, anything large or small that can once in awhile help them divert from any anxiety about the coronavirus. While you do want to work on the clock and you do want your Customer Service objectives focused, managing a remote team requires you to also include some ice breakers once in awhile. YouTube videos, life hacks and other clips can help break the ice and then increase their productivity.
Improve your Telesales
Improving your telesales and overall digital marketing pipeline is important. If you let them know your business is gonna stay afloat no matter what, that would invariably motivated your Accountants, SEO, Data Entry, Customer Service, Copy Writers and Graphic Designers to use their talents but shift to remote. It’s critical that brick and mortar practices are gonna shift to ecommerce. So if your employees know you are going to stay afloat, then that would obviously mean they are going to be motivated to help you and a remote team that takes ownership of your firm obviously are gonna aim for top notch performance.
This isn’t a rule of law to implement all of these tips. But far, far better than YouTube videos or in Skype messing around, your employees would be motivated if they knew the full nature of your operations. That’s right, communication is key and in the new day and age of going remote, you’re gonna have to tell them the truth. Keep them up to date with your marketing strategies. Simply let them know that through you are keeping the company afloat.