Tips For Managing Remote Employees

Remote employees can be valuable assets to any engineering team. Opening yourself up to remote workers allows you to draw from a much broader talent pool and can help boost productivity and morale. However, managing remote employees does come with some challenges and requires you to adjust your approach. Here are tips to help you successfully manage your remote employees.

Choose The Right Tools

In-house teams are at a distinct advantage when it comes to communication and collaboration, as team members are just steps away. Remote workers do not have that advantage and it can be difficult for them to find ways to get clarifying information, collaborate on ideas, or feel like a contributing member to the group.

Digital communication tools can help create those opportunities for remote employees. Have a variety of tools in place including chat platforms, video conferencing, screen sharing, project management tools and cloud-based document collaboration tools. The easier you make it for remote team members to communicate, the more connected they will feel.

Work On Team Building

Lack of proximity can make remote workers feel like they are not part of the team. They miss out on the daily banter and team-building events like birthday celebrations, lunches and happy hours. To help them feel like they are part of the group, it’s important to create situations where they can feel included:

  • Invite remote workers to the office for major meetings, events and corporate parties.
  • Make sure to include them in every meeting, even if it is last-minute.
  • Celebrate their successes in newsletters, emails or in group meetings.
  • Check in regularly to gather ideas from remote workers themselves on how they can be more included.

Create Standardized Processes

In the office, it’s easy to see who is following defined processes, but remote workers can quickly fall into their own habits and methods for getting things done. Those individual “processes” could make it difficult for team leaders to manage workflow.  Be sure to have standard processes in place and to train remote workers on those processes from day one. Keeping those processes stored in a central location on the server or on a company wiki ensures everyone has access and cannot claim ignorance.

Check In Regularly

Micromanagement is counter-productive and you should trust your remote workers to get their jobs done, but it is important to check on progress regularly and to check in with remote team members to provide feedback, solicit feedback and let them know that their work is important to current projects.

Hire The Right Remote Workers

Remote work is everyone’s dream, but in reality, not everyone is cut out for remote work situations. It is important to know what to look for when hiring remote workers to ensure you’re working with the best. If you are looking for talented engineers who can help your organization achieve its goals, contact the experts at Selectek today to learn how can help you connect with the engineering talent you need.