Tips for managing a remote workforce

As much of our workforce has moved to work from home, the way we manage our employees has changed. Keeping track of sick days, holidays, and unexplained absences are important. Finding ways to monitor employee activity without micromanaging is also essential for a remote workforce.

For workers who work alone, having a lone worker monitoring and check-in system in place will ensure their safety.

Here are some tips for managing a remote workforce:

Engage with your remote workers

Working from home is very different than working at the office. For one thing, the lack of daily interaction with their co-workers can hurt mood and productivity. Finding ways to engage with your remote workforce regularly is essential.

Having daily or weekly team meetings on a video conferencing program like Zoom or Google Meet can help your team collaborate, with team building, and give the human connection we need to work towards common goals. Encourage your team to be present and to turn on their cameras.

Review activity, but be flexible

Don’t worry about monitoring desktops and tracking internet usage to ensure your staff is being productive while working at home. Be transparent about your expectations of them, but be flexible too.

Each team member needs to know how they fit in and what they need to deliver to help get the job done. Depending on your type of business, you might not have to worry about how or when they do their work. Instead, set goals, deadlines for projects, or require a daily or weekly report summary. These techniques can keep staff motivated. Report summaries can help identify strengths, areas that need improvement and ensure everyone is on the right track.

Everyone is still adjusting to this, but transparency and empathy from their manager can help them succeed.

For large companies, outsource roster management

If you are operating a large business, tracking and managing a roster is a challenge at the best of times. With all or portions of your workforce now working remotely, managing your employees’ contact information and daily schedule can be a full-time job. Outsourcing roster management can take this task off your plate.

You provide The CommAlert Group with a list of your employees and schedules. Our trained agents will keep track of attendance, sick days, missed days, vacation time, and other schedule changes. We can set up a phone number for your employees to call when there are schedule changes.

Outsourcing roster management can help you keep track of overtime when employees are on-call and can include lone worker monitoring. You get a report – daily, weekly, or monthly, for your review.

Local call centre services can help with business continuity

As the way we do business changes, the processes change with it. Teaming up with a locally owned and operated call centre can help you adjust to those changes. As a business continuity tool, we can help answer calls, schedule appointments, complete administrative tasks, and manage your remote workforce’s roster.

Please browse our website to learn more, or even better, give us a call. 1-877-304-8725