6 Remote Work Best Practices to Keep Your Team Energized and Engaged
After taking the workplace by storm in 2020 and beyond (surprise, surprise), remote work is here to stay, folks. But remote work in is looking a little different than it has over the past few years. And like anything in business, it’ll change even more over time, too.
So, what remote work best practices should you focus on to keep your team energized, productive, and successful? Keep reading for tips on what has worked for my team.
Remote work best practices to implement
It’s safe to say that many business owners (including myself) were a little leery about this whole “work-from-home” trend. But the experiment taught us a lot about productivity and the perks of working remotely that include:
- Boosts productivity (77% of remote employees say they’re more productive when working from home
- Reduces turnover
- Improves work-life balance
- Lowers business expenses
- Increases employee satisfaction
Throughout the past couple of years, we’ve seen a lot evolve with the remote workplace. From new ways to communicate to virtual events, times have changed.
So, my fellow business owners and employers, pay attention to the following remote work best practices, because they will be critical in keeping your team safe, engaged, and successful.
1. Prioritizing mental health
If you want your remote employees to be productive, they need to be healthy. And I’m not just talking about getting sleep, eating balanced meals, etc. Your team’s mental health also has to be well maintained. Otherwise, your employees may suffer from burnout and struggle with productivity.
To show your team you care about their mental well-being and want to prioritize mental health in the remote workplace, you can:
- Encourage your team to take time off (even if it’s for a mental health day!)
- Give your team well-deserved team days and events
- Check in with them regularly
- Lead by example (this means signing off at a decent hour)
The bottom line is this: mental health matters. So, make sure your employees are taking mental breaks to let their brains relax every once in a while. That way, you can ensure your team isn’t fried and can perform to the best of their abilities.
2. Reducing meetings
Meetings are part of business. After all, you and your team need to have a way to discuss projects, issues, and more. But when your days get sucked up by unnecessary meetings, you could have a problem on your hands. Hence why a lot of remote businesses are ditching (some) meetings.
Roughly two-thirds of workers say that spending too much time in meetings distracts them from making an impact at work. Unproductive meetings can hurt your business in more ways than one. So this year, ditch unnecessary meetings and get back to business.
Before you have a meeting, ask yourself a few questions (and encourage others in your company to do the same). Here are some questions to consider before setting up that Zoom meeting:
- Is this meeting necessary?
- Can I sum up the main points in an email or chat?
- What are the goals of the meeting?
- Who actually needs to attend the meeting?
If a meeting is absolutely necessary, make sure you plan ahead. I’m talking about creating action items and talking points and setting a strict time limit. If you think the meeting can be avoided (a.k.a. summed up in a memo or short email), ditch it so you and your team can focus on bigger tasks.
3. Utilizing new communication tools
Zoom, Slack, and Google Hangouts . . . oh my! Along with remote work came communication tools to help employees stay connected while working from different cities or states. And, remote communication tools aren’t going anywhere.
By now, your team has probably started utilizing some new tools to stay in touch, like video conferencing platforms and messaging apps. And the more businesses that go remote, the more these communication tools evolve and grow.
Good communication is a critical best practice when your team is fully or even partially remote. To help you and your employees communicate throughout the remote workweek, use as many communication tools as necessary. And, keep your eyes peeled for new trends in communication to use at your remote business, like voice conferencing tools.
More articles from AllBusiness.com:
- Are You at Risk From a Cyber Attack? Here’s Why Your Business Needs a Cybersecurity Plan
- Data Privacy and Cybersecurity Issues in Mergers and Acquisitions: A Due Diligence Checklist to Assess Risk
- How to Effectively Manage Remote Employees: Lessons Learned From Apple and Google
- 7 Tips for Overcoming the Mental Health Challenges of Entrepreneurship
- 5 Cybersecurity Measures Every Small Business Should Take This Year
4. Enhancing cybersecurity
Remote work equals people working from their homes. Easy enough. But you know what it also means? Increased risk for cybersecurity attacks and threats. So, it’s no shocker that enhancing cybersecurity made this list of remote work best practices.
More and more businesses are beefing up their cybersecurity training and prevention methods to steer clear of cyberattacks. Why? Because not only are small businesses more at risk for cyber threats, but so are remote workers. A whopping 67% of cyberattacks target remote employees.
What’s a company to do to enhance cybersecurity? Here are a few ideas:
- Have employees complete routine cybersecurity training
- Encourage your team to use strong and unique passwords
- Set strict policies about using personal devices for work and vice versa
- Monitor employees’ remote work practices
- Encrypt sensitive information
- Have a go-to teammate who can answer employees' security questions
5. Taking virtual breaks as a team
In-person watercooler chitchat and group lunches are long gone for many companies—especially if they’re 100% remote with employees across multiple states. But that doesn’t mean your team can’t connect and kick back and relax with each other throughout the day in other ways. Introducing: virtual team breaks.
That’s right—virtual breaks and team-building events are on the rise. And, some companies are getting pretty creative with how they connect. At my company, we have virtual coffee/tea breaks every once in a while to help break up the day and boost employee morale.
Encourage your team to get together every once in a while for a virtual lunch or break. Not only does it add a little fun to their day, but it can also help improve communication, collaboration, and productivity (talk about a win-win!).
6. Using productivity tracking tools
We’ve talked about communication tools. Now, it’s time to touch on the best practice of using productivity tracking tools in the workplace.
Sure, a lot of employees have seen an increase in productivity since working from home. But that’s not the case for everyone. Regardless of the company, there’s always a chunk of employees who are less productive at home.
To help your team stay on track throughout the day and boost employee productivity, you can take advantage of productivity tracking tools. Productivity tracking tools can include time tracking apps and computer activity levels to ensure that employees keep themselves accountable.
If you aren’t quite ready to go the route of tracking tools, you can help employees be more productive by encouraging them to make lists, avoid multitasking, and limit personal distractions.
Implement a successful remote work strategy
By following these remote work best practices and keeping an eye out for more, you can help ensure your remote team is stronger than ever. And in turn, your employees can help push your business to the next level and achieve even more success.
