43% of American workers now cite working remotely some of the time. While an increase in remote workers has allowed for some positive outcomes (employees can spend more time with their family, less office space means less rent to pay, etc), there have been some difficulties that have come alongside this change of pace. One of these challenges is keeping employee engagement numbers high amongst workers who aren’t in the office regularly.

 The good news is that there are many technology tools available to help make the process easier. But even with the best technology, it’s important to remember that keeping your remote workers engaged is still an art form. Here are some remote worker best practices that will make sure everyone feels connected and inspired.

What are the 9 Best Ways to Manage Remote Workers?

1. Set Expectations
   One of the most important remote worker best practices is setting clear expectations. Outline how you two will communicate and how their success will be measured. For example, do you want weekly status updates or daily? What is the deadline on a specific project? Plan ahead so everyone knows what they are getting into—and ensure there is no confusion about their roles within your team.
2. Promote Work/Life Balance
   Implementing a work life balance is important for any employee, but it’s especially crucial for remote workers. With that in mind, we recommend setting aside time each week for your team where everyone can share what they’ve been up to outside of work and give feedback on how they’re feeling. This will help keep everyone involved with one another while also encouraging them to take care of themselves outside of the office.
3. Initiate Regular Check-Ins
   Check-ins are an important part of a remote workforce strategy. It can be difficult to feel like you’re a member of the team if you don’t have regular one-on-one meetings with your manager or teammates. However, check-ins don’t have to happen in person—they can also be done over video chat or on the phone.

   At the same time, keep in mind that new employees need more frequent check-ins than more seasoned ones. If you’re hiring a new remote worker, consider scheduling weekly check-ins for at least three months after they start working for you. Then you can adjust the schedule, if needed, after that.

4. Build a Buddy System
   The buddy system is an incredibly useful tool for remote workers. It provides a support network, helps with training, can help with problem solving and morale—all things that are important for keeping remote workers engaged.

   The buddy system gives you the opportunity to train your remote worker(s) on the best practices of their work environment. This allows the company to stay consistent in its processes across all employees, no matter where they are located.

   It also makes sure that all employees know how things are done in a way that’s culturally appropriate for each region or country where they’re working from. By building this kind of consistency into your culture from the start, it will be much easier to train new hires later on as well as retain existing ones who may move into new roles within your organization but still need some guidance every now and then

5. Create an Employee Engagement Program
   An employee engagement program is among the great remote worker best practices. Employee engagement programs are more important for remote employees, but can still be used for in-office workers as well. An employee engagement program is a strategy that an employer implements to help boost employee performance and satisfaction with the company.

   Employee engagement programs are typically customized to the needs of each individual employee and their job function. For example, a sales manager may give out awards annually at lunchtime meetings while an IT technician may use candy or other treats during breaks in order to keep employees happy at work. For teams with remote employees, try playing a short, engaging virtual game if a meeting ends sooner than expected.

   Like any other business tool like marketing or advertising, it’s important that these remote worker best practices don’t become stale after just one implementation—they need ongoing investment and support from leadership so they remain effective over time!

6. Get Personal with Your Employees
   One of the most effective ways to improve employee engagement is by getting appropriately personal with your employees. It’s important for leaders to understand their employees’ needs, goals and motivations in order to give them opportunities for growth. Also, include fun questions in your regular check-ins, like “Pineapple pizza. Yay or nay?”
7. Encourage Employee Blog Posts and Video Posts
   Encourage your remote employees to share their thoughts and ideas with the rest of the team as a part of your remote workforce strategy. Your remote workers may have a lot to say, but they may be hesitant to share their thoughts with their colleagues. Encouraging them to blog or create video posts will provide an outlet for those ideas. These posts can then be shared with the teams via your internal social platform—you might even want to consider setting up separate channels for each team so that communication remains focused!

   Whether your team is large or small, blogging and video posts are a great way for employees who aren’t in close proximity to connect with one another in new ways. You’ll also see that these activities help keep everyone motivated by creating opportunities for collaboration across distance.

8. Offer Mentorship Opportunities
   Mentorship is the second to last of our list of great remote worker best practices. A mentor should have been in the same position as their mentee, so they can offer advice on how to navigate the work environment and help with career development, making the remote worker feel more included.
9. Find Ways to Spread the Office Culture
   Make it fun. Show that you care about your remote workers and their personal lives, and they’ll be more likely to feel engaged with the company.
   Of course, use technology to your advantage. With today’s technology, there are plenty of ways for remote employees to stay in touch with one another and feel like they’re a part of the team.
   Use social media as a platform for collaboration, feedback and learning opportunities for both remote teams and office-based teams alike!

Conclusion

If a remote worker is happy and engaged, they’ll do their best work. And if they’re not, it can be a huge drain on your company’s overall productivity. The good news is that there are lots of remote worker best practices that you can do to make sure your remote employees are feeling supported—and the results will show up in their work product.

FAQs

What are the best practices when working remotely?

The best practices when working remotely are:

-Be respectful of everyone’s time.

-Make sure you have a clear understanding of the deliverables and expectations.

-Don’t be afraid to ask for help if needed!

What are five 5 techniques for effective collaboration in the context of a remote team working environment?

1. Make sure that everyone knows they’re on the same team, and that they’re working towards the same goals.
2. Make sure you’re clear about what your roles are, so that everyone knows their responsibilities and can do their best work.
3. Create a culture where it’s okay to ask questions, and hold team members accountable for doing so.
4. Set up one-on-one meetings with every remote worker to make sure you understand how each person is feeling about the project as a whole, and how they’re feeling about their role in it.
5. Be willing to be flexible with your schedule so that if someone has an emergency come up (or simply needs some time off), you can work around it without throwing the whole process off track