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Will office work go back to normal after the pandemic?
If you look at some tech companies, it seems like remote work will last longer than many expected. For example, Facebook employees are working from home for the rest of the year, while Twitter workers could do so indefinitely. There are also reports of some organizations letting a percentage of their employees work from home permanently or at least a few days a week.
Now, whether your company has always hired remote workers or this is your first time, it helps to know what common management mistakes to avoid. Here, we’ll talk about some of those mistakes so you can make the most of this arrangement.
1. Micromanaging
One of the reasons employees leave their office jobs to look for remote work is flexibility. They like the idea of having control over their schedule and respond better to managers who check in on them as needed.
On the other hand, there are also managers who don’t check in on their remote workers often enough. This can, of course, result in problems with productivity.
To help solve this issue of checking in too much (or too infrequently), consider using a project management tool such as Trello or Asana. These tools can help everyone collaborate, and you don’t have to worry about video calling your remote employees every day.
2. Being Inflexible
If you hire workers from other countries, you need to be mindful of different time zones. That means even if you’re used to a 9 to 5 work schedule, don’t expect your remote employees to be available to you at exactly those hours.
Consider giving lead times when assigning remote tasks so that your remote workers can meet the deadlines you set.
3. Not Walking the Talk
Do you always show up late to regular team meetings? Even if they’re virtual meetings, you have to respect your team members’ time. Remember, they’re looking to you to set the team’s culture.
Don’t have one set of standards for yourself and another for your remote team members.
4. Relying Too Much on E-Mail
There are different methods of communication you can use to touch base with your remote employees. E-mail is one of them, but some managers use them too much when a quick call can solve the problem faster.
This also applies to instant messages. It’s important you have the right communication systems in place, with everyone on the same page as to when and how often to use those tools.
5. Other Common Management Mistakes
Aside from what’s already mentioned, other common management mistakes to avoid include not having an internal knowledge base and hiring the wrong people. For the former, you need to have a sort of bible anyone in your team can access when they can’t reach you.
As for the latter, try not to hire someone just because you have to fill a position fast. Let’s say, you need to hire an IT consulting NJ that can work well with your in-house team. Don’t rush the process so you can find the right agency that can help your business operate at peak performance.
Need More Advice About Managing Remote Workers?
Now that you know the communication management mistakes to avoid when working with remote employees, don’t stop honing your management skills and getting pointers from a remote workforce management guide.
For more tips and advice on managing remote workers, check out our other posts.
