Remote working has come in for a lot of flak over the last couple of years. There are still so many business owners who will tell you that you are never going to get the same quality of work done when your team is spread out all over the country, working from their own homes. But the fact is that we are now at a point where remote working, or at least hybrid working, is the norm. More and more companies are seeing that there are major benefits to be had, and more and more employees are demanding it as an option. There may still be a lot of arguing left to come but it looks like the results are in.
But it makes sense that you may have some concerns about whether a remote or hybrid working setup is the right option for your business. If you have always worked in an office, you may be used to more straightforward communication. If you have been a one-person operation to this point and you are bringing on more help, you be feeling anxious about how you can manage a team effectively when you can’t pop your head over their desks.
Look For The Best People Available
Let’s start by highlighting one of the major advantages of operating a remote business. You can hire the best employees from anywhere in the country. You don’t need to worry about how they are going to relocate, or if you are going to have to offer to subsidise their public transport. You can simply focus on finding the best people for your business. It’s also worth remembering that studies have shown that people are actively looking for remote or hybrid working opportunities. Employees have had a taste of the flexibility that working from home offers now, and they do not want to go back.
Invest In Good IT Support
One of the biggest worries that a lot of bosses have about people working from home is: what happens when something goes wrong? There’s no head of IT a few desks down, after all. This is were good IT support is absolutely crucial. They can monitor situations and provide excellent advice and fixes in real time for hardware, software, and security. That last part is particularly important given everything that we have seen about the ongoing threat of cybercrime. Even if you trust your staff to be smart enough to not click a suspicious link, you can’t put a price on peace of mind. If you’re looking for IT support in London, you need to find a company that offers rapid and reliable service. Totality Services is there to help you with IT support for the workplace. They will make sure that they understand your operations and that they can handle everything.
Look For Ways To Boost Team Spirit
Here’s another common complaint from the people who would rather everyone went back to the office. For their money, it’s impossible to create an atmosphere of team spirit and community when everyone is working from home. But this is just not true. There are plenty of ways that you can show your employees that you are invested in their well-being and that they are part of a real team. You’ll just have to get a bit more creative than suggesting that everyone goes to the pub together on a Friday afternoon (although that is still an option). Think about organising in-person events for those that can make it and remote ones for those that can’t. Make sure that you have regular meetings and encourage people to share about their personal lives. Above all, think about how you can provide support to anyone who is struggling with responsibilities or health issues outside of work.
Make Open Communication A Priority
Following on from the point above, there are times when communication can start to slip when you are working remotely. One of the best ways that you can avoid this issue is by making it easy for people to raise their concerns or ask a question. Talk to your team members and make sure that they understand who they need to be speaking to about any given issue, and what the best way to do it is. As a business owner, you need to tell them that they should feel free to come to you with anything, and you need to follow through on that commitment by making yourself available. You could also think about the tools that you have provided them with. Good project management software is a great way for everyone to stay up to speed with every task. It is up to you which work chat programme you use, but make sure everyone is on the same one.
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