How can I help my staff who are working remotely?

Remote working used to be something that was fairly limited in availability but something that most of us have had to manage due to Covid-19.

Make sure that you keep in contact with your staff regularly.  Schedule one-to-one time over a video call with a coffee.  Ask them how they are doing and how they are feeling, along with anything that they are enjoying, struggling with or need guidance/training on.  It is more important than ever to take care of your staff’s mental health.  Some of your staff may be living on their own and don’t see anyone and could be feeling really isolated so a manager who checks in on them could be a life line and ensure that they stay with the company.

Give them feedback as to how they are performing where they are excelling and where they need to improve.

Make time for a video group chat with your team.  Try and have some structure around the meeting so that they know what to expect, i.e., that you would like to see their face, whether or not you would like them to mute their microphones at first and respect for one another etc.

Take time to understand what motivates your staff and make sure you can try and meet those motivators remotely.  (If you would like to learn more about your staff’s individual motivators, we can help with that – ask us about Motivational Maps and how they could help you).  It’s an inexpensive but really effective way to understand how to help your staff stay motivated and do a good job.

Ensure your staff have the right equipment etc and that they take breaks, even if it’s just to walk around the block or stop for 15 minutes of yoga etc when they have a break.

Do they know the hours that they should be working and that they are not expected to work outside of their normal working hours and that they should switch off their computers and come away from their work at a reasonable time.  Be a good manager and instruct them not to send emails to colleagues outside of working hours that might encourage them to be lured back into working (make sure you don’t do that either).

Check that your staff understand what to do if they feel unwell particularly if think they may have covid-19.  They should get a test and stay off work if they are unwell, so that they recover completely and don’t spread Coronavirus.  They are still able to claim SSP if you don’t have a more comprehensive sick pay system.

JobShop have a fantastic tool available for a small cost, that will help you and your staff understand how they are really feeling about working remotely.  A simple multiple-choice questionnaire that produces a report with suggestions on how to support your member of staff whilst they work remotely.  (insert contact form here).