Utilizing Conference Calls to Manage Remote Employees

In today’s world there are many highly skilled and talented people in cities all around the world. It is gradually becoming more common for businesses to recruit people from other cities and even from other counties. While it can be very challenging to have remote employees and managing a remote team, managing them successfully can potentially save a business a lot of money.

The following article details the main points of managing your remote team of employees efficiently and effectively.

Make Your Expectations Clear

Each week hold a status meeting with your team of remote employees. Go through the tasks you expect from each employee and set them clear goals. Create a timeline and provide feedback to the employees regarding their progress. Establish a process to review an employee’s performance because if an employee is not aware of how well they are or aren’t performing they cannot motivate themselves to improve on a consistent basis.

Make Them Feel Part of Your Team

Show your remote employees that you care about them and remember them. Develop a rapport with them and make the effort to get to know each employee on a personal level. During holidays send them gifts. To help make them feel that they are a valued member of the team send them regular newsletters detailing the latest news about the company. If it is possible, invite all of your remote employees to the head office to get together once a year as one team.

Use a Tracking System

Rather than micromanaging your remote teams utilize a tracking system to give the employees the flexibility they require without being left to feel completely on their own. If you remote employees are being paid hourly you can get them to input their working hours into the tracking software. The tracking software will confirm if they have actually worked the hours stated or spent their time on social media or surfing the internet.

Utilize a Document Management System

Utilize a document management system to make it easier for team members to share files and documents. Online tools such as Dropbox, Mediafire, and Google Drive are ideal for this. Emails are not suitable for this purpose because they can get lost and can be difficult to track the latest version of the document or file. Giving your team the right tools can help them work more efficiently and make sure every team member is on board with them. There’s a wide variety of online tools available to help and assist remote teams to work more effectively and efficiently.

Communicate Clearly with Your Team

It is important to communicate clearly and concisely with your remote employees. Where possible, utilize visual communication techniques to help when communicating such as video conferencing. During meetings share your screen. When sending emails use diagrams or screenshots to help explain what you require them to do. When holding a discussion with your teams utilize a chat platform and have a general chit chat with them once the work-related business has been covered.See how our conference call features can help benefit your conferencing needs.