If you’re a manager of employees who work remotely, you know how challenging it can be to ensure they stay engaged in their jobs. A remote team needs the same kind of attention as an office-based one—but those interactions can be harder to manage when you don’t get the chance to interact with your employees face-to-face. That’s why frequent communication and clear expectations are so important for keeping remote workers engaged.
You should make sure that your employees are always on the same page – with each other, and with leadership. Don’t assume everyone knows what management wants or expects from them. Communicate clearly and frequently, using a variety of methods, styles, and channels.
In addition to having regular (virtual) meetings with your team members, it’s important to stay in regular contact through other forms of communication: chatting over Slack or Teams, video conference calls, phone calls, emails – whatever it appropriate for your office culture.
To help your employees feel connected, you can create opportunities for socialization. For example, you could host regular in-person events such as potlucks or movie nights where employees get together outside of work. This will allow them to build relationships with each other and make it easier and more comfortable to reach out to each other during work hours.
You should also provide a space where employees can connect with each other on a personal level. The best way to do this is through shared interests – you should encourage sharing personal stories with coworkers so they know more about each other’s lives. Assigning someone in your office outside of management to be in charge of “fun” also creates organic opportunities for coworkers to connect. If someone at their level of the org chart is organizing a Virtual Happy Hour, it will feel more grassroots than mandatory-corporate-social-time. A dedicated Slack or Teams channel for casual conversation – like an office chatroom – can also serve as a virtual water cooler where employees can take a break, and get to know each other better.
The best way to stay connected with your team remote employees is through regular one-on-one meetings. These can be done in person or via video chat, but they should happen at least once a week. In these meetings, you’ll want to ask questions like “How’s everything going?”, “What’s working/not working?” and “What do you need from me right now?” You can also use these sessions as an opportunity for team building by having each employee share something positive about another person on the team; this helps create an environment where people feel valued and appreciated by their peers.
We hope you can use these tips to connect with your remote employees. The most important thing is to be authentic and genuine in your interactions with the team. Company culture is important, but will feel different with a remote workforce. It’s important to respect the level of participation that each employee is comfortable with – the key will always come back to the mission and vision you communicate as leadership.
