Thought Leadership in Action

Remote workforces are becoming increasingly popular. According to Global Workplace Analytics, the population of work-at-home employees has more than doubled in the past 10 years. About 3.7 million employees, or 2.5 percent of the workforce, works from home at least half of the time, according to Global Workplace Analytics.

More employers are looking at remote workforces because of the benefits they bring: Employing a remote workforce can save money on office space, boost productivity and keep morale high. Employees enjoy remote work because of the flexibility it offers. On the other hand, it can also be a disaster if you don’t manage it properly, resulting in unfinished work and blown deadlines. This white paper will look at seven things you’ll need to do to successfully manage a remote workforce.

Establish Clear Expectations

One of the most important things managers of remote workers must do is ensure their direct reports understand their deliverables every day. “If you have clear short-term measurables that a remote employee knows they are expected to hit, you will both have a concrete way to discuss performance — or lack thereof,” says Casey Halloran, co-founder and CEO of Costa Rica Vacations, which employs remote workers. By establishing very clear, measurable key performance indicators (KPIs) early on, managers can create a baseline that employees must meet and can reduce the need for micromanaging, Halloran says. “When they understand the rules and rewards, internally motivated individuals manage themselves.”

Halloran says managers and employees at Costa Rica Vacations talk about performance indicators regularly across several channels: in group settings, in one-on-ones, in quarterly email reports and, when applicable, in person. “We are very much KPI-driven, but we also do our best to not suck all the fun out of work,” Halloran says. “We discuss KPIs formally at the beginning of each fiscal year when establishing financial targets. We formally review KPIs every quarter. Occasionally, targets need to be revised.”

Pick the Right Technology

If you have remote employees, you’re going to need different platforms to keep in touch, share work and track projects. This may be a trial-and-error system until you discover what works best for your business, but know that at the very least, you’ll need software that makes it possible to generate and share work, communicate about the work, and track productivity and time. “You need modern productivity tools that allow managers to clarify priorities and offer visibility into the remote worker's progress,” Halloran says. “Even something as simple as Google Docs or

Spreadsheets is superior to long email chains.”

Remote employees at NowMoveMe document as much as possible in shared Google Docs that

track everything from progress to strategy, says Jens Midthun, head of marketing and product development. “The real-time collaboration feature allows multiple people to work on the same document at once so we can make changes to something while on a team call.”

Cloud-based systems are a huge boon to remote employees, but the key is using them. “Everything must be done online and shared. I cannot stress enough how important it is that information is not in someone’s personal inbox, notebook or on a whiteboard in a meeting-room corner,” says Kaili Kleemeier, founder and CEO of Deekit. “To make remote work work, all information must be available to everyone at all times. For a manager, your nightmare is that Joel in the U.K. is waiting for a reply from Mike in the U.S. for half a day.”

Check in Regularly

There’s rarely such a thing as too much communication when it comes to remote employees. Hold regular one-on-ones with your team members — more often with junior or new employees, Kleemeier says. Connect with your remote employees and give some feedback on their work, but be careful about the approach you take. “Don’t make the one-on-one into a brutal feedback session. If someone could do things better and you haven’t told them immediately, then something is already wrong there.”

Take time to talk about the long term periodically, as well, Kleemeier says. Remote employees can get too focused on hitting day-to-day production requirements at the expense of their career goals. Set up regular performance reviews, just as you would for on-site employees, to discuss company goals and where the employee fits in on the team.

Hire for Trust

You know which of your direct reports need a little bit more hands-on managing than others. If you’re looking to build a remote workforce, you’ll need to find employees you can rely on to get the job done without checking in to ensure it’s happening. “Above all, you need high-quality individuals who are self-motivated and have a good work ethic. Nothing can replace this,” Halloran says.

Don’t let high-maintenance employees work remotely until you’ve found they’re capable of delivering expert results consistently without a lot of help. Some warning signs that a remote employee situation isn’t working out include metrics that are repeatedly missed, a lag time in responsiveness or regular communication miscues, Halloran says. If the results of a project aren’t what you expected or wires are frequently getting crossed, it might be time to revisit the remote arrangement.

Be as Inclusive as Possible

Remote employees who get the job done can be easy to “set and forget.” After all, if all you have to do is check in regularly and collect their work, why worry about them? But this can be isolating, Kleemeier says. “Remote work is a team effort, and as a manager, you should care about making it part of your culture. If you have only one member working remotely, then it is so easy to leave them out of the loop and people to continue those watercooler conversations without them,” Kleemeier says.

If you have several employees spread out across the country or world, keeping track of their schedules is a good way to ensure they don’t feel isolated, says Megan Shroy, founder of Approach PR & Marketing. A geographically widespread employee population means you may have a very short window to schedule meetings with the whole team, for example. “I always try to be sensitive to time zones and not schedule appointments outside of someone's workday. If this is unavoidable, rotate the times for meetings each week to ensure West Coast team members are not always waking up early for meetings and that East Coast employees are not staying on too late.”

Hold Group Discussions

Build a sense of connection by regularly “meeting” as a group. Keep these meetings short, Kleemeier recommends, and include everyone. These active conversations help ensure that everyone is on the same page as far as the direction of the company, big projects that are coming up, schedule changes and other important information. Hold these meetings via Skype or conference call so everyone can participate.

“Without face-to-face contact, it is even more important to be clear in communications and to have regular check-ins with team members,” Midthun says. His company also uses Slack to create a more constant, spontaneous kind of communication to chat about topics beyond work goals. “It feels less official than email.”

Invest in Real-Life Connections

Leaders at remote companies recommend getting the team together periodically to maintain a strong connection to each other. “When your team is located all over the country, it can be expensive to get everyone together. But I find that the benefit that comes from this face-to-face social time far outweighs the cost,” Shroy says. Remote workers might not have summer or holiday parties, but they can meet at least once a year to stay in touch.

“I try to get my entire team in the same room at least once a year, and I invest in social time whenever I'm with teammates in person,” Shroy says. “Whether it's taking everyone out for dinner or rewarding success with a team-building leisure activity, I think investing in socializing will pay off when you're only going to be communicating virtually for months in-between. I believe building relationships is critical to success, and while it's tricky to do working remotely, it's not impossible.”

“Unless you know each other as human beings and spend time to get to know one another, remote work is a true pain,” Kleemeier says. For remote teams, having a deeper personal relationship can be even more critical. Team retreats can be a time for groups to do long-term planning and grow closer to each other.

Conclusion

As the rate of remote working continues to grow, employers who decide to employ some workers off-site will need to pay attention to the special considerations remote workers need to get the job done. Knowing how to manage a remote workforce will help your organization reap the benefits.