Working remotely is slowly becoming a global trend. In Australia, remote work has gained a lot of popularity in recent months or even years. Whether it’s due to the pandemic or technological advancements, a lot of people work remotely for different organizations.
Remote work has many benefits for your organization and your employees. However, this innovative type of work comes with its challenges. Whether your organization can tackle those obstacles mostly depends on how you equip your employees for remote work.
Many think that having a computer and Wi-Fi is enough to work from home. However, when you run a successful business, you need to prepare your team for remote work. How can you do so?
1.Introduce your employees to tech and productivity tools
One of the crucial things about working from home is efficiency. How can your employees be effective if they work far away from each other? The answer is simple: online communication. We live in a world where connecting with another person has never been easier. Yet most people aren’t aware of the handy tools that can help them do their job more productively.
Many dedicated developers worked hard to provide us with various online tools. These tools include programs and apps such as project management tracking, chat messaging, video calls, and online conference apps. Programs and apps like these allow you to track their progress, assign them tasks, and keep in touch with your employees. Similarly, your employees can use those tools to stay in touch with one another and combat challenges of remote work together.
2.Set clear guidelines for expectations and tasks
If you can’t openly communicate with your employees, working remotely might turn out to be disastrous instead of relaxing and fun. Open communication is essential if you want to run a productive and functional team. If you can’t clearly express your expectations and set responsibilities, who will?
By setting guidelines, you’re communicating your expectations on what should be done and how. Your employees need to understand what you want them to do. Whether you assign them tasks via mail, chat app, or face to face via some of the video calling apps, you need to be as precise as possible. Mark work hours and other responsibilities ought to be followed. Always be open to compromises and consider your team’s point of view.
3.IT security
Working remotely comes with some risks. A lot of companies work with confidential data. Having their data hacked or leaked in the online world can jeopardize employees, managers, and the entire organization. Office computers usually have some sort of protection. What happens to the desktop and laptop devices employees use for remote work?
Instead of waiting for a disaster to happen, you need to secure your business. Try installing mandatory and reliable anti-viruses to your employees’ computers. Besides that, you need to find reliable programs that will help you keep the data safe while working from home. As a final resort, confidential data and information should be trusted to the reliable and responsible employees only.
4.Organize regular check-ups
Even if you trust your employees to do their job efficiently, you should organize weekly or daily check-ups. Check-ups don’t have to be work-related only. A simple good morning text, followed by the tasks and responsibilities, is the right way to kickstart their day. Don’t forget to ask your employees about the struggles they are facing while working remotely. Talking about the challenges and possible solutions is useful, but you should pay attention to mental health as well.
Due to social isolation and drastic changes in the way your organization operates, many employees may have mental wellness struggles. They may feel sad, confused, or even disconnected from the world. So, make sure you are there to offer emotional and practical support. You should look for the signs of burn out as well, and try to find a way to minimize the stress and pressure you put on your employees.
5.Don’t neglect their physical health
Besides mental, physical health is vital as well. Due to the popularisation of mental health in Australia, many employers are focused on employees’ wellbeing. This results in overlooking physical health, especially if the company operates remotely. You need to put an end to this “out of sight, out of mind” principle and implement regular physical health check-ups.
Remote workers tend to sit a lot. Their workday revolves around sitting in front of a screen which keeps them chained to their desk and chair.
Therefore, it’s no coincidence many remote workers all around the world have back and neck problems. Aussies are one of them as well, and that’s why they turn to the best physio in Canberra to treat this issue. Employers can be proactive and offer physiotherapy in their health insurance to help their employees prevent and treat physical injuries. Professionals who provide comprehensive physiotherapies will ensure that your employees are healthy and properly treated. With their long-term successes, these experts will keep your employees in the right hands.
6.Provide self-care tips
You don’t have to be a medical expert to worry about your teams’ overall health. Besides providing support, you can also provide them with some useful everyday self-care tips they can use to prevent feeling exhausted.
To teach your employees to practice self-care while working from home highlights the importance of work-life balance. Having a work plan and a routine is also an amazing way to stay on track, remain productive, and have time for life outside of the work. Make sure your employees know how to distinguish work hours from “home hours” to keep their mental health on a high level. In addition to that, you should also encourage physical activity for improved immunity, creativity, and focus.
7.Improve internet speed via a business broadband
When working remotely, you’re mostly dependent on the internet. Most people when working from home manage their work from their computer, and most of the tasks likely require the internet, such as Skype meetings, emails, searching for information, accessing documents, and so on… With that said, if you are going to work from home and manage your work properly, it is of utmost importance to have good internet speed to avoid being interrupted mid-work with speed and connection issues.
Conclusion
Organizing a remote work isn’t easier than at-office work. You need to pay more attention to your employees and listen to their opinions and needs. That requires a lot of time spent on check-ups, thorough planning, and clear guidelines. If you openly communicate with your team, you will have no problem shifting from the offices to the remote work environment.
