A manager, or in my company’s case, MY primary responsibility is to steer the company in a direction that leads to a healthy profit. To do that, managers or owners must juggle several plates to keep a business running smoothly. Daily decisions need to be made, new products tested, and employees’ performance must be monitored and motivated. On top of that, when matters such as COVID-19 arise, businesses have to act fast by changing business processes to accommodate new rules and regulations. While we’ve always had to support remote workers with Haute in Texas, the pandemic has brought this idea to the mainstream within a matter of months. Through this article we’ll focus on supporting owners to manage employees who have suddenly been instructed to work from home.
Technical Support
IT plays a large part in most large companies, but with smaller companies it may be a department of you, yourself and I. While in a traditional office you may have specific software, and an IT team on-site to take care of technical problems, at home employees are no longer a short walk away from the resident IT technician.
This poses complications for employees’ productivity, when, for example, a laptop stops working, or the internet connection fails. To support multiple employees who need to work from anywhere except the workplace, hiring a technical support team with the skills and software to help employees in their own homes is the best thing you can do.
One to One Meetings
Workers at home need support. And not just resources, and an IT team on-hand (although these are important). They need help from management to uplift their well-being.
Organizing one to one sessions and checking in with workers from time to time allows you to encourage them and praise their work. A small moment to talk about how well they’re doing, while also offering the chance to talk through any issues they might be having working away from the office. Will help boost their confidence and ease anxieties.
Correct Resources
Ideally, employees will have a quiet space at home, preferably a home office, with a desk and chair to complete their work. However, this isn’t always the case. To increase employees’ productivity at home, check what equipment they do and don’t have, and think about whether you could fund, or send any missing equipment to them. In doing so, you’ll help them set up a better work environment to complete projects.
Social Gathering
Socializing is a fundamental part of maintaining a healthy well being. However, employees working from home may not be able to get the interaction they once did at the office, agency, shop, etc.
For this reason, it helps to organize digital gatherings. For everyone to mingle and talk about things that aren’t work-related. Such as sprucing up the house, managing childcare while working from home, or a new hobby they’ve taken up.
Some of your workers will adore working from home and may wish to make it a permanent thing. Others, who prefer the workplace buzz, will be eager to get back to the workspace. As a manager, it’s important to incorporate flexibility to accommodate each employee’s needs. In doing so, your workers will be a lot happier and be much more productive.
P.S. This post is a paid collaboration.
