With increasing businesses offering flexible work conditions such as working from home, remotely, or hybrid workforces, performance management is likely to meet some new challenges. However, with these tips, you can stay connected with your teams, manage performance and build a culture of communication.
Set clear expectations
The key to any type of performance management is to set clear expectations. These expectations can be around behaviour, performance, working hours, and their role. Staff who clearly understand what’s expected are typically more engaged and focused on their own performance. This goes both ways, though, as staff members should be able to discuss their expectations for you as a manager.
Use available technology
So much technology is around now to assist businesses in managing remote workers. Especially in the sales field, CRMs are terrific for streamlining business processes. They usually also include a range of communication and collaboration tools. Most people are familiar with Zoom by now, but plenty of alternatives exist. Invest in quality technology that makes it easier to stay connected.
Check in with staff members regularly
While you don’t need to conduct lengthy performance reviews every day or week, checking in with your people is important. Every day, make an effort to check in with each staff member to discuss their workload, current projects, whether you can do anything to make their job easier, and, of course, just to see how they’re doing. When performance becomes part of daily discussions, your performance culture starts to grow.
Establish relevant performance metrics
If your company is new to the remote work game, it’s okay not to know everything immediately. In reality, remote work has been a steep learning curve for employers and employees all over the world. One of the things to consider is the metrics you use to measure employee performance.
In a remote work situation, expectations may differ. For example, you may begin focussing more on the number of sales your employee makes in a day rather than how many hours they are logged into their computer.
Give team members the tools they need
Covid-19 and the resulting work-from-home requirements caught a lot of companies off guard. But now that we understand the landscape a lot better, giving your staff the tools they need to succeed is crucial. This can include technical tools such as software, telephony and more. Cloud technology makes it much easier to access systems from anywhere, so ensure you have the right tools for your employees to do the job.
Create a culture of communication
Perhaps one of the most important aspects of managing remote workers and teams is communication. It’s usually the first thing to fall away when team members aren’t together in one place, so it’s important to build a culture of communication. Collaboration and teamwork should be encouraged at every opportunity, even if people work from home or remotely.
As a leader, ensure that you’re responsive to staff emails, calls and messages. This sets an example that communication within your organisation should be open, easy and not restricted to certain times.
Invest in quality training
Even before the Covid-19 pandemic, organisations were moving away from traditional meeting rooms or classroom-based training in favour of electronic methods. Learning Management Systems have become increasingly available, allowing businesses to create their own internal training courses. In addition, many training organisations offer packages allowing businesses to access a range of common business and personal development training modules online.
Training is a crucial part of any business, and in a remote work setting, it’s important to maintain a focus on learning, developing and upskilling wherever possible.
Offer flexibility
Some might feel that the opportunity to work from home or remotely is already a good thing for employees. In most cases, it is, and most remote workers maintain this style of work because they prefer it. But there may be some staff members who’d like a little more time in the office. The social and collaborative side of the workplace can be hard to replicate in remote or hybrid work settings, but by allowing employees the flexibility to work in the office from time to time, you foster a stronger connection between your employees.In the case of people working from overseas or in different time zones, it’s equally important to offer flexibility. Working hours may look different for everybody, but as we mentioned earlier, it shouldn’t be about how many hours someone sits at desk. It’s about how effective they are at performing their role.
Encourage regular feedback
Feedback should never be a one-way street. So, once you’ve worked out a smooth system for managing employee performance remotely, it’s time to consider the reverse. Employees should feel comfortable giving you feedback, too. This doesn’t need to be a negative thing. Rather, it’s a chance for you to identify things you could do better to support your remote workers.
This often comes down to your own communication skills and whether you’ve fostered a culture that encourages feedback, communication and performance.If you’d like to know more about managing remote workers, Salexo is here to help. Contact our friendly team today, and let us help you get more from your remote staff relationships.
