By Stuart Cooke

The outbreak of COVID-19 has changed overnight how and where we go to work. Many managers are now having to quickly learn how to effectively manage and motivate their remote workers. Managing remotely is incredibly different from managing in person and as there hasn’t been a transition period, you are having to learn these skills right now. It’s important to ensure that during such an uncertain time, employers can help reassure staff and provide them with support in this transition from the office to working from home. 

With all of us currently in lockdown for the foreseeable future, these tips will help you ensure you can manage your team effectively during this crisis.

Accept that these are challenging-times

We are currently living in unprecedented times. There are many distractions for employees and moving to a remote working environment can be an adjustment. Your staff now find themselves confined to the home, their previous routine is now gone, and they don’t have a separation between their working and home life. Many will be sharing their office with a partner and also juggling their workload with home-schooling responsibilities. 

It’s important for companies to acknowledge that these are challenging times and that their staff are going through much upheaval which can impact on their productivity and focus. Developing skills to effectively work from home takes time and it’s your role as their employer to ensure they have the correct setup and can get into the flow of things. Effective management support is key to reassure staff and provide them with motivation during such an uncertain time.  

Rethink your priorities

Your priority is not just about profit and project margins, you need to prioritise your staff and their wellbeing over how much money you are making. Employees need to feel that they are supported during this time, how you treat them now will have a lasting impact on their feelings towards you as a manager and as a company. This is your chance to do it right and ensure employees experience a supportive, reassuring environment.

Communication and support is key

In this crisis it’s important to ensure that you create a sense of normalcy for your employees in such an abnormal situation. Your staff may be feeling overwhelmed, anxious and incredibly fearful right now, given what is happening in the world right now. As their manager you must stay calm and keep communication channels open at all times. If you are anxious or panic about the impact of this situation on your business, your employees will in return be anxious and this will affect their performance. 

There are a few ways you can help staff members that are experiencing stress and anxiety during this time. Signpost them to local charities and organisations that offer talking therapies or online support. There are also apps that can help employees manage their stress such as Head space, Calm or ClearFear. By helping to support your workforces mental health during such an uncertain time, you are keeping your workforce healthy and helping to ensure that your staff have a supportive working environment. 

Listen to your employees

Communication is important, but that’s not enough, you need to listen carefully to your employees right now. For some, remote working might be challenging, they might have the stress or anxiety of dealing with a sick family member or find juggling home-schooling their children whilst working remotely stressful. Companies need to understand that what their employees are going through is unlike anything before. It’s important to listen to all concerns and issues that staff members express and to ensure your staff have effective ways to contact you with these worries. Offering options such as flexible working hours is just another way you can enable your employees to feel heard during this time.

Daily check-ins

It is vital that you check-in with your staff every day. Working from home will be a big adjustment for many and some might feel overwhelmed. By checking in daily via email or a messaging app, you will be able to let your employees know what is expected of them, any current staff updates and also to reassure them about their responsibilities and job security. 

Utilise more than just email

Emailing one another is a good way to stay in contact in the office, but now with your staff working remotely it’s a better idea to utilize other ways to chat with your workforce and organise work projects and workload. 

Many companies are now utilizing applications such as Slack, which is an online messaging service offering an alternative to email. You can set up chat groups for each of your departments, including a general one for all workers. It also gives you the option to have all your conversations in one place and to chat with employees one on one. Instead of having to trail through emails, everything is there in one place and it is also an instant way you can chat with colleagues and help build worker morale. Why not add a joke thread? Or a meme thread? Slack offers your employees the opportunity to continue to be social in the office, all whilst working remotely.

Managing workload and projects can also be challenging. Many offices have now switched to using Trello to help communicate and effectively plan and organise projects that your staff are working on. It gives them a visual outline of what they need to do, allows them to directly communicate with others on the project and upload and edit work they have finished. Trello boards ensure you can see what is being worked on, by who and when it will be completed. It is another tool to help ensure communication is still flowing after the switch to remote working.

Reassure employees about the future

With talk of widespread redundancies and employees being made furloughed, it’s an uncertain time in business and your staff may well be left feeling uncertain about their future. Anxious employees will find it hard to concentrate and focus on being productive and it’s your job to reassure them and support them during this uncertain time. 

This is where communication is key. Talk with your employees and help them address any concerns they may have. A good way to help them feel secure in the role is to discuss their goals and objectives, just as you would do if they were in an office setting. They may be feeling concerned as their previous goals might not be relevant, so work together to find new goals that will help them focus and work towards their objectives. 

If your company is experiencing a drop in business due to the virus, this could be the perfect opportunity to allow your staff to pursue online development courses. Some companies are offering discounts or even courses for free, this would be a great way to motivate your employees also whilst creating a more knowledgeable workforce. In these unknown times, it’s up to you as a manager to provide reassurance and support for your employees.

Establish engagement rules

It’s important to set rules of engagement with your employees before they begin to work remotely. Once they know what is expected of them, they will have something to motivate and work towards, but you have to clearly communicate this with them. Set achievable goals and targets that your employee can work towards. Build on their roles and workload prior to lockdown and see how you can engage with them to achieve and motivate them during this time. 

Working from home can be a hard adjustment, there are many distractions and with the current worry and anxiety of COVID-19 your employees might feel overwhelmed. It’s important to clearly outline what is expected of them, what goals they need to achieve and what their workload will be. It’s also important to outline their breaks and lunchtimes and a way that they can communicate that they are on a break or on lunch to their colleagues. 

By creating achievable goals and objectives, your employees will know what is required of them and will be motivated to complete their targets whilst being at home. Utilizing Trello and Slack will allow them to share their progress and check in on you if they have any questions or concerns.

Technology plays an important role

Employees need a smooth experience working with technology at home. Tech that doesn’t work, that is overcomplicated or needs visual demonstrations, maybe isn’t the best to use. If it doesn’t help your staff enhance their job performance, it isn’t worth investing in.

The deadlines to streamline remote working services are tight, with staff immediately having to work from home. Many organisations that didn’t have a remote working programme are left in the lurch, trying to implement this without experience. Companies whether they are huge conglomerates or small enterprises need to invest in technology that can support their employees. One of the best ways that a company can learn about what technology their staff needs, is simply by asking them! 

How to support your IT department

Understandably, not every company was prepared to shift their entire workforce to remote working. There was little notice and not all companies were able to set in place a plan, but now that this is becoming the new normal, it’s important to ensure that you have a long term remote working plan. This will put a huge strain on your IT department who now have to organise work from home laptops, set up IT systems and effectively solve any issues colleagues may have when working remotely. 

You need to support them by giving them resources and guidelines for certain situations that might arise. Speak to your IT employees and listen to their concerns around implementing this. They are your frontline workers and their feedback at this time is incredibly valuable. Make sure they are enabled to help solve problems but also feel confident that they can come to you with solutions. 

Organise ways to be social online

With everyone currently confined to the house and only being allowed outside for essential items or for one outing for daily exercise, a lot of people are going to be struggling with loneliness and isolation. Workers who live on their own or who live in a houseshare cannot now connect with friends and family outside of work. This can greatly impact mood and cabin fever can set in.

Many workplaces are incredibly social and outings and team building activities are an important part of employee bonding. Just because we are in lockdown doesn’t mean you can’t keep this up! Why not arrange work lunches via Zoom or Google Hangouts? An online interactive game night or even a weekly coffee morning where everyone can catch up and check in with one another via video chat.

Support remote workers at every step of the way

It’s your responsibility to ensure that your remote workers have enough support during this transition and that they stay productive and focused on their goals. It’s your responsibility to guide your employees, if you already have staff who have remote working experience, it would be a good idea to create a staff meeting or mentorship programme for staff who have no experience with this, so they can learn from other colleagues insight into how to get the most out of this new reality. 

Make sure their home office is set up with everything they need

You want your employees to have everything they need to carry out their duties just as they would in the workplace. It’s important to ensure they have the correct equipment such as laptops, monitors, headsets, mouse and keyboard. If you need to send your staff equipment to their home luggage shipping services are still available to ship goods. Luggage shipping companies like My Baggage are providing a vital service to help people get their items in a time when you cannot travel. This is a great option for companies whose staff are unable to collect their laptops or who are currently in self-isolation.