TECHNOLOGY
Managing a remote workforce
Helen Livesey, senior business director at Hays Payroll Management , provides helpful tips
M anaging a workforce comes with its challenges even when everyone is working under one roof, let alone when individuals are based remotely as many of us are now. Looking after a team under these circumstances is a unique challenge – so here are six tips to guide you through this new era of work and ensure you offer the management your staff need. ● Cater for different personalities – No two professionals work in the same way, so account for different requirements and cater to different personalities. Some will be contacting you more to seek support, while others will be less forthcoming and work more independently. Encourage more two-way communication, so it’s not always just you approaching your staff and vice versa. You want them to come to you when it’s required, but to also feel empowered and self-motivated working remotely. Another consideration is that some will struggle more with their time management as a consequence of not having a regimented routine. See if you can pin down the reason they’re struggling to manage their time and then arrange a plan or schedule together to help them adapt to working remotely. ● Establish your methods of communication – Never has regular communication with your workforce been as important as it is now. Establishing the methods for communicating with your team should be a top priority if you haven’t already done this. Look at tools like Skype, Microsoft Teams, BlueJeans and Slack to enable instant messaging and video communications. It’s all well and good putting these methods in place, but ensure everyone has access to and is confident using them. This may require training and tutorials for current staff and should also
be a consideration when onboarding new professionals. Video calls really are the next best thing to talking in person, so prioritise this way of communication with your workforce. Talking while seeing each other will help your staff both adapt to a remote way of working and to stay connected and motivated. ● Be transparent – Working remotely can easily lead to feeling disconnected from colleagues and the wider business. It is a principle responsibility as a leader to keep your team(s) informed about what is happening in your organisation, so that no- one loses sight of the wider business goals and aims – particularly when working in constantly changing and unsettling times. ...harder to separate home and work life, leaving many susceptible to burnout Ensure you regularly share updates on how your organisation is managing the crisis and what its priorities are. Knowing this will be positively reflected in the work of your people and help them stay engaged and loyal to your organisation. ● Proactively maintain a work-life balance – Although the wonders of today’s technology makes working remotely achievable, it also means that it’s harder to separate home and work life, leaving many susceptible to burnout. Neglecting wellbeing is detrimental to mental and physical health, not to mention making us far less productive at work. Looking after your own wellbeing is paramount, but as a leader you also hold some responsibility for the wellbeing of your staff. At a very minimum, talk to
your people about how they are coping with a new way of working and whether they need any reasonable adjustments to maintain their work-life balance. Arrange team-building exercises and social occasions like virtual quizzes to raise spirits, and encourage them to finish the working day at a reasonable time. Just because you are all working from home, doesn’t mean you can’t have fun too. ● Flexibility will go a long way – Remember that there will be many in your workforce who aren’t finding it easy to adapt to working remotely. Lots of us either don’t have the luxury of a spare room or study to work in or may be juggling working from home with childcare or caring for elderly relatives. Therefore, being flexible with schedules and expectations will go a long way. You can keep deadlines clear and non- negotiable – but invite your staff to have open discussions with you about adjusting working hours or shifting responsibilities to ensure that they’re able to continue working to the best of their ability. ● Delegate and trust – Don’t be shy of delegating where you need to and in trusting your team to get on with the job. It can be tempting to try and manage this single-handedly, especially if you like a challenge – but these are demanding times and if you’re feeling strained, you won’t be the only one. Delegating not only frees your time to focus on higher level issues, but helps others upskill and feel empowered with greater responsibility. The Covid-19 crisis presents a new situation for us all and the challenge of managing remotely is something many managers won’t have experience of. By taking on board the tips, hopefully you’ll be able to keep up the successful management of your team and help them thrive while working remotely. n
| Professional in Payroll, Pensions and Reward | June 2020 | Issue 61 44
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