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Working from home is becoming the new norm with some estimates showing that there will be around 10 million remote workers by 2030. With this rapid increase organizations are wondering how they can manage their employees when working from home.
Setting the ground rules, communicating consistently with your staff, setting them up with the right technology, and setting time-sensitive deadlines are the best things employers can do to help manage their employees working from home. Failing to do so will result in a more unproductive team costing businesses thousands per employee.
So what are the tips that you can follow to help manage your employees working from home? How can you communicate with them when they work from home and how can you ensure they are staying productive? Keep reading to find out more.
(Just a heads up a lot of people reading my blog are in the process of designing their own home office. If you want to save some of the painstaking time I did in designing my office, you can find my recommended products here)
Communicate constantly
One of the things we all think we’re pretty good at is communicating, I mean our anecdotes always kill at parties right?
The truth of the matter is that most people are just genuinely bad at communicating with around $62 million per year.
As such communicating constantly with your employees is going to be vital in order to make working from home a success for your company.
I found the best way to do this for your employees is to communicate with them across different channels.
Whilst zoom meetings have become our go-to, I found mixing up different forms of communication, such as phone calls, slack email or even sending videos to each other will increase quality data exchanges when communicating.
Ensure you have the structures in place
One of the biggest surprises during the COVID-19 pandemic was how unprepared a lot of organizations were for working from home.
Whilst remote working will become the new normal over time, sadly there was no structure in place for organizations meaning that a lot of companies spend a lot of time getting their employees set up working from home.
The solution to this then is to have a plan of action if your employees work from home.
Ask your employees about their home lives, if they have a strong internet connection, if they have the right technology to help support their work from home, and what they would need in order to do their jobs successfully at home too.
Whilst it might sound simple, doing something like this will help set your company up for the future as it starts to enter the world of remote work.
Set ground rules
Human beings are creatures of habits and the same goes for your employees.
As such we like to try and use the path of least resistance in order to achieve our goals.
For any organization new to working from home, this means things like your employees not starting work when they are supposed to or relaxing on aspects of their job they used to be very good at.
The best way to manage this then is to set up a clear set of ground rules that are expected from your employees when they work from home.
Now, before you turn into a dictator and decide to check up on everything your employees do, try to work with them around what these rules should consist of as they will more likely be followed.
Common rules include things like your employees need to attend a meeting every morning, get dressed when they are at home, or even things such as taking breaks away from their computers.
Doing so will make their home environment feel more professional and will make the process of managing them when they work from home easier.
Train your employees and managers
Also one of the things that too many organizations are reactive.
We wait for external circumstances to make us change our way of thinking as opposed to being proactive in tackling problems.
Whilst none of us would have predicted the shift to home working back in 2018 some of the signs were there.
For example, the trends to remote working are increasing rapidly in google search and according to the stars, remote working had increased by around 40% per year over the past 5 years.
The best thing then, to counteract this is to train your managers and employees on a regular basis.
Employees can be trained up on things like how to deal with common tech issues when working from home or what to do if they hear nothing back from their colleagues.
Managers can be tasked with training up on how to deal with employee burnout or what to do if they suspect that their employees are procrastinating.
Short consistent training sessions like these once a week will pay off nicely in the long term.
Be flexible
One of the things that all managers and organizations need to be aware of when letting their employees work from home so that they need to be flexible.
Whilst your employees will be saving time on their commute, often the lines between their personal and work life will become blended, meaning that other tasks such as doing the chores at the start to add to the lack of wellbeing for your staff.
As such it’s so important that you are flexible with your employees and allow them to spend a few minutes of their workday catching up on their work-life or set their own hours on some occasions.
Organizations who do not trust their employees have lower levels of staff retention which can add up massively as an expense for your business so treat your employees like people instead of machines and you will find that they will go above and beyond for you.
Adapt your meeting lengths
There is nothing worse as an employee than starting your journey working from home only to find that your diary has been filled with countless meetings that could have been covered during an e-mail.
Now don’t get me wrong, you should be constantly communicating with your employees but be mindful that on top of all the additional communication they still have a day job to do.
A good option then would be to adjust the length of your meetings.
If your meeting can’t be done in ten minutes you’re probably over-communicating the point of it so try to work on reducing the length of these meetings and take things from there.
Track your employee’s progress
Tracking your employees as they work remotely is always a contentious issue.
Whilst employees don’t like being micro-managed or looked over, it’s important that organizations get a general understanding of the amount of work their employees are doing.
Whilst I would never recommend something like a screen watcher that tells you the amount of time your employees spend on their work laptops I would suggest something that works for all parties.
This could be as simple as reporting back at the end of the day as to what was accomplished or something more complicated such as using CRM platforms such as salesforce to get an idea of the work that was completed.
This will allow you to see who is struggling to work from home and then allow you to help train them further.
Consider employee engagement platforms
Employee engagement organizations are a relatively new type of business.
Over the past ten years, companies like reward gateway have specialized in helping companies and their HR teams engage their employees through areas like reward, recognition, communications, wellbeing, and benefits.
This has proved especially useful if your employees work from home as these are all usually managed through a centralized data hub that acts as the virtual arm of your organization.
This means that employees can recognize each other, or be communicated updates across the business and with your company’s values and branding, making them feel like they are still, a part of the organization despite working from a home office.
Be sure to listen to your employees
What’s the old saying, you have two ears and one mouth?
Sadly, with a lot of organizations, the communication is usually one way, coming down from management for the lower-level employees to action.
The truth is that when working from home, communication is more important than ever and so having a place where you can listen to your employees, and act upon this can be great.
This can be done in a number of ways such as:
- Anonymous employee forums
- Regular town hall meetings
- Slack channels
- Shared documents
- Anonymous suggestion posts
- Employee engagement surveys
Doing this will make your employees feel like they have a genuine stake in the success of the business.
Word of warning however it’s important as an organization that this is not just a bit of lip service to your employees and instead take genuine action on the back of what your employees say.
Manage employee isolation
Easily one of the biggest challenges when it comes to working from home is the loneliness and isolation you feel.
This is especially apparent if you live by yourself and so employers need to take note and understand the mental state a lot of their employees might be feeling.
It’s not uncommon for employees to feel more isolated with around 45% of employees who work from home feeling somewhat lonely when compared to working from an office?
So how can you help your employees overcome this? Well luckily I’ve written an entire blog post talking all about isolation this which you can check out here but a few quick tips include:
- Make sure your employees go out on your lunch break
- Set up fun activities like online quizzes to engage your employees
- Allow your employees to invite their friends or families to work from home with them
Help your employees manage their time
Whilst people who work from home are more productive than their office-based counterparts, working 16.8 days more per year, the truth of the matter is that poor time management is a major problem we remote workers face.
The biggest reason why is that a lot of us feel as though we have to overwork in order to appease our employers so the privilege of working from home won’t be taken away from us.
The best thing you can do then as an employer would be to reassure your employers to finish the workday when they normally would.
Sometimes stating the fact that working from home is more productive coming from an employer will reassure your employees and help manage them more effectively.
I’d also recommend getting your employees to read Eat That Frog by Brian Tracy which will help your employees to do their most important tasks at the start of the day.
Help create an office space
Another challenge I faced when I first started working from home was that I had nowhere to work from.
A lot of employers when they allow their employees to work from home underestimate their employees’ home setup. As such, it is super important to help to contribute towards a home office set up.
This can be as simple as giving a chair and desk or go a lot more in-depth and giving each employee a set fund to spend on their employees.
So what are some of the minimum bits of equipment you should invest in when working from home? I recommend the following:
Manage technology problems
Let’s face it, we’ve all been there, a super important meeting or call needs to take place, and then boom technology problems leave you feeling frustrated and unable to do your job.
This can be incredibly frustrating for employees causing resentment to the organization that they work for.
According to CNET, around 33% of people who work from home have regular problems with technology and the internet when working from home.
Poor technology was one of the major reasons that employers act as not letting their employees work from home.
So how do we get over technology problems when working from home?
The simple answer, to be prepared.
Whenever I have anything super important to do with work that requires technology I make a list of all the items I will use (wifi router laptop, monitor, my funky LED Lights) and then come up with a backup plan for each of these.
For example, let’s say my wifi cuts out when working from home ( which is a lot more common than you might think) I’ll make sure I invest in a decent wifi booster ( click on the link to find my recommendation ) or ensure that I have enough data on my phone to tether to my laptop if needs be.
If my laptop breaks down I have a cheaper, older, inexpensive laptop set up on the side ready to go.
As an employer, get your employees to make a list of all their potential tech problems and then come up with contingencies for each situation.
Navigate security Issues
Another major challenge for employers letting their employees work from home is security issues.
One of the benefits of working from a traditional office is that offices are designed for security, your information security team will ensure that you meet the IT and security regulation required in order for you to do your job.
Employers then need to take precautions and steps to ensure their employees are up to date on security.
This can cover things like covering making sure you are IS020071 accredited to make a good start.
Other things employers can do is
- Ensure your employees have an antivirus installed and keep it updated
- Set up meetings with your employees and the information security team about how to set up your home workspace
- Invest in noise-canceling headphones for your employees which keep all the sensitive data that could be spoken about in meetings and calls to you only
- Communicate constantly with management if you feel there may have been a breach of security
Manage Increased distractions
Whilst traditional offices definitely have their distraction (I usually find the terrible choice in songs on the radio does it for me) working from home has a huge number of distractions to contend with.
I mean let’s face it, your home is set up for you to be comfortable and relaxing and so you’re surrounded by things to keep you away from work.
Some of the most common distraction I find when working from home are:
- The TV
- Netflix/other streaming services
- The internet
- Radio/music
- Bed
- A comfortable sofa
- The garden
- The people you live with
So how can you help your employees avoid these distractions?
Firstly, setting up a home office or specific workspace in your home will go a long way to getting rid of external distractions from your living space. If possible, keep it located away from where you spend your time to relax.
Now in terms of distractions caused by the people you live with, try to communicate with them letting them know when you can and can’t talk, I like to use an open door policy which is if the door is open come on in but if the door is closed it’s time to focus.
Now younger children might be a bit tougher to communicate to so if you are interested in finding out how to manage kids when working from home check out this blog post here.
Distractions caused by the internet or streaming platform are tough because they can be accessed from anywhere ( Work phone, laptop) and so I would consider investing in apps like Offtime or Moment For your employees which limit the amount of time you can spend on apps that can be distracting like Facebook or Instagram.
Maintain office culture
Ever laugh at a joke one of your friends said that you were too far away to hear?
Trying to manage office culture with remote employees can feel the same and is one of the biggest challenges employers face.
Great office culture can mean the difference between your employees going above and beyond for the companies they work for retaining their staff for longer vs doing the bare minimum and getting nothing done.
Workplace culture is so important because 92% of leaders from top-performing companies see culture as the difference between hitting financial goals and missing them.
So how can employers ensure that you have a strong office culture when most of your employees work from home?
Well according to employee engagement specialist Reward Gateway the following are great steps to follow:
- Ensure your values are visible – if you have strong values that are prompted in the office, use them on things like zoom calls, for example, if one of your company values is pushing the boundaries, in your team meeting ask everyone to bring one thing they did in the last week that helps push the boundaries
- Come up with alternative team-building exercises – Whilst the trip down to a pub or restaurant is most organizations way of engaging their employees, consider using alternative ways to engage your staff if they all work remotely, quizzes are a great way to help build up a sense of culture but consider things like an episode of cribs where everyone shows each other around the workstation to help raise morale
- Use power to peer recognition – Using a platform like Reward Gateways smart hub allows your employees to recognize each other through e-cards linked to your values, keep updated with the latest company news or even offer peer to peer monetary awards – a simple way to digitize your company culture no matter how long you’ve been working at home for.
Inconsistent pay
It can be incredibly frustrating as an employee if your organization decided to reduce your pay for the privilege of working from home.
This can happen if your role is usually done on a pro-rata or per hour basis as opposed to a yearly salary ( think zero-hour contracts)
Due to the nature of working from home a lot of the roles that people can do working remotely, such as copywriting, programming and proofreading are often done on a project by project basis leaving you with large gaps in between paychecks.
So how can you support your employees with pay when they work from home?
- Pay all your employees the same, regardless if they work from the office or not
- Ensure you have regular pay reviews every year that look at your employees quality of work and not their location
- Cover your employees’ expenses that have been attributed to a company such as increases in heating, energy, and internet bills.
Remove weaker perception of work
So this challenge is one that a lot of HR teams and managers would never admit.
Despite there being legislation in place to ensure employers treat all their employees equally, the truth of the matter is that not being in a traditional office, 9 to 5 means that a lot of your colleagues will perceive you to not be lazy and not working hard.
The challenge can be exacerbated if you are the only employee in your team who works from home, so how do you overcome a perception of being lazy when you work from home?
The truth is as an employer, you need to make a cultural change amongst your staff if not everyone works from home.
Sit them down to get an idea of how the world of work is changing to the managers who do not want to let their employees work from home and coach them in the realities of how the company sees the world of work.
Often you’ll find the front-line employees have no issue in working from home but that managers are the ones who will feel troubled about letting this be the case.
Managing kids
Managing your kids is difficult enough as it is let alone having to manage them when you work from home.
Noise, interruptions during the workday, and keeping an eye on kids are some of the biggest challenges employees have when working from home with kids and so it’s important as an employer that you get the right time in with them to avoid all of these.
I’ve actually written a blog post that you can check out talking all about these here however to summarize I would do the following:
- Ensure your kids get enough sleep
- Consider hiring a babysitter
- Look into daycare if you can afford it
- Set up a food and drink station
- Get them involved on your day to day basis
- Communicate effectively with your colleagues if you are struggling.
I’d also suggest as an employer if possible to set up a nursery scheme or childcare vouchers for your staff which can help take some of the burdens off your employees, giving them at least a few days a week where they can knuckle down and get there jobs done.
Managing employees pets
Similarly to children, pets have a habit of being super distracting when working from home and can prove a challenge or those of us who have had years working from home
Where kids grow old and become self-aware, pets can be incredibly difficult to manage with the lack of self-awareness never going away
To help overcome this challenge I’ve written a post talking all about it here but the best ways to manage your pet from home include
- Have a designated room for your pets away from your workspace
- Take your pets outside to get them some fresh
- Consider pets that are relatively low Maintenance like reptiles
- Tire your pets out by playing with them, the more time your pet stays asleep, the more time you can work
As an employer, I’d also recommend things like hiring a dog sitter if possible once per month to again give your employees a reprieve from their pets.
Set your employees a schedule
Whilst not having a set schedule when you work from home is fun at the beginning of your remote working journey (I mean who doesn’t like waking up a minute before your first meeting) not having a clear schedule can have a detrimental impact on your ability to complete your set out tasks.
With the increased distractions and getting pulled with your work and personal life, it’s super important to ensure that you have a set schedule.
I like to do this by planning out my week by doing the following:
- A week before I lay out a rough plan highlighting the big tasks I need to accomplish the next week, as well as the tasks that are set in stone every week such as meetings or making a set number of calls.
- A day before my next day I schedule out tasks that are essential to get done in that day, this is great for any last-minute projects that come up
- I always keep one hour spare, usually between 4 and 5 every day. This is great in case of tasks overrun. It being at the end of the day also means you can make a start on the next day’s work
- I set myself a hard deadline at 5, working well into the evening defeats the purpose of working from home.
As an employer, consider sending out calendar invites and having the same meetings in place every week to give some semblance of a schedule.
I’d also set up a quick catch up meetings at the beginning and the end of the day to have a clear start and end for your employees.
Ensure your employees don’t overwork
When working from home, a lot of us just don’t have a set schedule and tend to feel massive amounts of burnout due to overworking.
Overworking is a real challenge when working from home and can have some severe impacts including stress, poorer performance at work, and low morale.
The best thing to do then if you are feeling overworked when working from home is to communicate with your boss. Doing so will communicate how much work you can take on at once.
I would also recommend sticking to a strict schedule that benefits you. If you check your email in the middle of the night or first thing in the morning, get into the habit of avoiding this and take more time to be present.
Working a set deadline per day will force you to get the tasks done in the time that you’re given, at the end of the day, your work will always be there for you to complete.
Not getting enough exercise
It’s recommended that people get 150 minutes of exercise per week however working from home really stops a lot of us from getting out and exercising,
As an employer, having a healthier workforce will mean your employees will take fewer sick days and be more energized as they go about their workdays.
A great option then would be to do things like group workout sessions, encourage your employees to go on walks during their lunch breaks, and communicate about doing this over things like zoom.
Improving your employees’ diet
The pantry is all too easy to wander off to in the middle of your workday and if you don’t watch what you eat when working from home, your waistline will soon pay the price.
Similar to not getting enough exercise then, not eating right can have an impact on your employees well being productivity, and overall focus.
The best thing to do to manage this as an employer is to offer things like virtual cooking classes or digital recipes for your employees to follow.
Sharing the food that your employees are making can also be a great way to promote your company culture over social media with pictures of your employees working together virtually to make their own culinary classics.
Alternatively, people spend about 61 minutes per day preparing their food so why not encourage your employees to prepare their food in advance.
Make sure your employees finish work
This challenge is one of the ones that most of us hate to admit to.
You’d think working from home means that you would have more time to hang out with your family and build upon existing bonds with your loved ones.
The truth of the matter is that working from home often means overworking, working late into the night, or not taking advantage of your time away from your desk.
If you find that your employees tend to work well into the night and are working more than they would normally, it’s time to look out for this.
My suggestions would be to set up an end of day meeting to avoid your employees working beyond that.
Some employers have even gone to some extreme lengths such as not letting their employees have access to their work laptops or certain apps like email outside of their normal office hours.
Too much screen time
So according to my iPhone, my screen time has been up about 20% since I’ve started working from home.
With no colleagues to distract you, it’s not uncommon to work for hours on end in front of a laptop when working from home.
This can cause some serious health issues for your eyes.
The solution? Encourage your employees to take 15 minutes away from your screen and look away and consider investing in eye protection (you can find my recommendation on eye gear here),
Potential lack of career
Let’s call a spade a spade, working from home can potentially harm your career.
A lot of HR teams would never admit to this but if they see a history of working from home on your resume, they might feel as though you are difficult to work with or not a team player and so may overlook you for certain roles.
The best way to overcome this is to be open and honest.
Give the reason why it is you worked from home previously. Consider things like LinkedIn recommendations from your colleagues that talk about how well you managed or communicated with them when working from home and this should help overcome any objections.
As an employer, come up with clear career paths if possible for all your employees, where you see them going over the next 2 years, and reassure them that they have a place in the company despite the fact that they work from home.
Fear of missing out
Finally, there is the fear of missing out or FOMO.
If you’re the only one working from home and the rest of your colleagues are in, you may miss some of the benefits that come with a normal office such as cake on your colleague’s birthday or the random jokes that come about working from an office space.
As an employer then, it’s vital to make your remote employees feel like a part of the company.
This could cover things like paying for their travel when they come down to visit the office, using a platform like Reward Gateway to digitize the company culture or ensuring that any meetings that take place are digital-friendly.
Is working from home more productive for your employees?
In essence, employees who work from home are more productive than other employees. A recent study by Airtasker found that employees who work from home on a regular basis, on average work 16.8 days more than their office-based counterparts. This averages out to 1.4 days per month.
That being said staying focused and productive can still prove challenging for a lot of us working from home.
A lot of the time it’s a mind game, you see whilst we are more productive working from home, we tend to remember things with rose-tinted glasses and a lot of us feel as though we are more productive in a traditional office.
If you are struggling with staying productive when working from home there are a few key tips that I would follow:
- Take regular breaks
- Do your most difficult task first
- Get time away from your screen
- Keep one hour free every day in case of work or personal emergencies
- Finish your workday as you would in the office
Also, a lot of people are curious about how I make money when working from home whilst working full time. To find out what I recommend checking out my passive income course recommendations here.
The content on this site has been written by Fehed Nicass who has over a decade worth of experience in sales and has worked remotely for the past 2 years.