Thanks to improved technology, a growing number of employees are able to accomplish most or all of their work from home. Smartphones, tablet computers, teleconferencing, and WiFi-equipped bookstores and coffee shops have made this achievable. This presents a huge advantage for employers: the more employees that work at home, the less money companies have to spend. Many companies, for example, do not have assigned computers and desks for each of their workers since so much of their workforce is working remotely. In addition, employees working remotely are frequently more productive; they’re not wasting time and energy driving to work every day. And they are not exchanging office gossip in front of the water cooler when in the office.
Remote Worker Challenges
A major concern for most managers when choosing to have remote workers is, how do you monitor their work? How do you know that they’re actually working and not simply watching movies all day?
One easy way to keep track of the amount of work being completed by remote workers is to set sensible goals that they need to hit. This puts the focus on the end result and prevents the manager from worrying about it, so long as the goals are being met. This also gives the employee freedom to work within the hours they are most fruitful.
Setting Remote Worker Deadlines
Setting deadlines is the simplest way to monitor the work being done by remote workers. Managers can set short-term and long-term goals or make something due every Friday. In addition, a manger could have a weekly or biweekly meeting via cellphone or video chat to catch up on the progress of projects. This can put the supervisor and employee at ease.
Off-Site Not a Permanent Condition
While many individuals may have the personal discipline and time management skills to successfully work remotely, some don’t. So, if an employee doesn’t work well remotely, and that has grown to be clear, remote working doesn’t have to stay permanent, it can easily be revoked. Ultimately, trust within the employee/employer relationship is one of the key elements of a successful remote working relationship. The worker needs to maintain that trust by hitting deadlines and delivering excellent work.