Over the past few years, businesses have undergone a major upheaval in how their employees work. The pandemic prompted most people to start working from home, but now many don’t want to return. In fact, as many as 96.7% of people are now calling for remote working to stay for good.
However, many people, including business owners, take time to adjust to this kind of working environment. It poses very different challenges than a typical office, and it can be hard to find the right balance.
One of the most important components of a successful remote setup is trusting your employees. In this article, we cover how you can build that trust with your remote team while still allowing them plenty of flexibility.
Schedule regular check-ins
Open communication with your team is key to succeeding when working remotely. Although allowing your employees to manage their own workload is important, regularly checking in with them is vital. As a team, it needs to be clear who’s working on any one project at a time. Particularly when deadlines are looming, everyone must know their responsibilities.
A good way to ensure everyone is on the same page is to schedule regular meetings, even if they seem unnecessary at first. Getting on a call together allows everyone to discuss what they’re working on, helping to ensure there’s no overlap and encouraging collaboration.
Make your expectations clear
Sometimes, when working remotely, your employees may not know what’s expected of them. Without the office environment and being able to watch others work, they may end up doing less than their colleagues without realising.
This is why setting clear expectations from the start is important. Explain when they should be working, how flexible they can be, when breaks are taken and for how long, and so on. If you do this over a call, it’s advisable to follow up with a summary email so they have something to refer back to.
Organise social gatherings
Trust among teams often grows naturally as everyone gets to know each other. With all the latest business communication tools and video conferencing, it’s easy to feel like you know someone, but there’s something different about seeing them in person.
Organising social events is a great way to get your employees talking and learning about each other. Make sure to try out some team-building activities, too. Tasks like escape rooms force your team to work together, rely on each other, and build trust.
Don’t micromanage
Most people who opt to work from home will expect flexibility to manage their own time and workload. This means allowing them to operate in a way that works for them as long as they meet their deadlines and performance goals.
As mentioned, checking in to see how they’re getting on is important, but don’t be tempted to start micromanaging every little task.
As a business owner, allowing your employees to work remotely requires a lot of trust, but it also comes with benefits. You’ll save on operational costs and reduce your environmental impact, though it requires investment in the right staff. Working from home isn’t for everyone, but if you take the time to build a team full of hardworking people, your business can thrive.
Discover the common characteristics of a high-performing remote team in our blog post here.