Best Practices For Communicating With Remote Employees
Are you new to managing a remote workforce? Or, looking for ways to improve your communication practices with your remote employees?
Here is a quick list of proven best practices for communicating with your remote workers.
1) Master the Technology. Zoom, Slack, and Microsoft Teams, are just a few of the most popular remote employee communication platforms. Each platform has a number of ways to engage with workers, such as instant messaging, writing on a simulated white board, meeting in virtual “rooms” etc. Get to know the technology you are working with so you can leverage the platform to maximize worker communications and engagement.
2) Communicate More Often. With COVID-19, many teams were forced to move online within a matter of days and without having formal structures set up for team and individual communications. Until you get to know your employees remote work patterns and communication preferences, it’s important to communicate more often than you normally would. Whether it be a quck check-in each morning via Zoom, a weekly team meeting, or a daily email or phone call, it’s important to keep your employees informed and let them know you are there for them, albeit virtually.
3) Discover Your Employee’s Individual Communication Preferences. Meet 1:1 with each of your employees to discuss scheduling, availability, and communication expectations, including your expectations of employees as well as their expectations of you. It’s a good idea to send a follow up email after this conversation to highlight and ensure clarity of what was discussed. Communication agreements and expectations can also be included in an “individual remote work agreement,” which outlines the individual employee’s remote work arrangment including communications, expectations, equipment, safety, and more.
4) Start with a Policy. It’s always a good idea to start with a solid work-from-home policy that outlines communications and availability expectations, and make sure employees have an opportunity to sign-off on and provide input on the policy. Keep in mind that policies and individual work arrangments are dynamic and not always set in stone. Circumstances might change so it’s important to build flexibility into your policies and processes.
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