Here are Bregar's top tips for making remote working effective:
Create a trusting environment
Trust is essential for any business that allows remote working, so the ‘rules’ should be clearly defined so everyone can understand them. If you don’t trust your staff, you need to question whether there is a problem – either with them, or the culture of your business.
Don’t fall into the trap of wondering if your remote employees are getting distracted watching TV or browsing Facebook all day, judge them on their input to tasks and contribution to the wider company objectives. Working remotely does give people more freedom to work at times that may suit them better, early in the morning for example, this doesn’t matter and can actually improve productivity, as long as they are doing the job and are available when they should be.
One size fits all
If you introduce a remote working policy it has to be available for everyone, not just staff that have a young family, for example. If you’re seen to give some people preferential treatment, this could create internal friction, particularly when the staff that are seemingly being ‘punished’ are often the ones that can commit themselves wholeheartedly to work. It is now the law in the UK that all employees who have been with a company for at least 26 weeks have the right to request flexible working, regardless of their circumstances.
Don’t stop communicating
Just because someone is working from home, doesn’t mean you can forget them. They are still part of your team, despite the fact they may not be physically located in the same building. Remote workers can sometimes end up feeling lonely and disconnected from their colleagues and the projects they’re working on if they are not communicated to effectively.
It is not enough to just cc’ people into emails. Too many emails are a major distraction and it’s easy to ignore messages not directly sent to you. In order to make a team working in lots of different locations feel cohesive, setting up some sort of cloud-based workspace is ideal. That way everyone can log into the same space, access what they need and collaborate without missing out on things.
A regular catch-up when people are in the office, or using things like Skype, will help keep face-to-face relationships going – we are all human and arranging a physical meeting every now and again can bring everyone together. Remote working is about giving people the flexibility to work in the way that is most beneficial to their productivity and happiness, and that usually involves a balance that includes some face-to-face interaction to share ideas and feel part of the wider company.
Bostjan Bregar is the co-founder and CEO of The 4th Office, a structured cloud workspace that enables teams to collaborate remotely. For further information or a free trial for your business visit 4thoffice.com
