Remote working best practices: the key to success

A recent study by Gartner found that 41% of employees work remotely at least some of the time. This trend is only expected to rise in the coming years.

There are many benefits to remote working. For employees, it can mean more flexibility and freedom. For businesses, it can mean saving money on office space and other overheads.

But as with anything, there are potential pitfalls if the correct procedures aren't in place. In this blog post, we'll address some of those challenges and look at some of the best practices for remote working so that you can take advantage of the #WorkFromAnywhere movement and make it work for you. 

What are the primary challenges of remote working?

Organizations need to be aware of a few primary challenges of remote working. These include:

• ‍Ensuring employees are productive when they're not in the office - One of the main concerns for organizations is how to ensure employees are productive when they're not in the office. ‍
• Fostering a sense of connection and belonging - Another challenge of remote working is struggling with feelings of isolation and fostering a sense of connection and belonging among employees. ‍
• Ensuring work-life balance - Ensuring employees have a good work-life balance is also a challenge when working remotely. ‍
• Managing employee well-being and engagement - It's important to address employee well-being and engagement as it can significantly impact productivity. ‍
• Maintaining company culture - Maintaining company culture can be challenging when you leverage the global talent pool. 
• ‍Keeping communication clear and efficient – Streamlining communications and goals with a remote team can be challenging. It can be especially difficult if your team is spread across different time zones. 

The good news is that these challenges are not insurmountable. When you follow remote working best practices, you can avoid these pitfalls and ensure your team stays productive and feels supported. 

Why is best practice important for remote working?

Aside from overcoming challenges, following best practices is all about establishing an effective strategy to ensure everything runs smoothly. When you learn the remote working best practices and incorporate them into your processes, there are many benefits, like: 

First, it helps to ensure everyone is on the same page.

Remote working can be a very isolating experience, and it is easy for employees to feel like they aren't part of the bigger picture. However, by following best practices, you can help everyone feel included and valued.

Second, it helps to create efficiencies and avoid potential problems down the road.

Not having a set way of doing things can often lead to confusion and frustration for employees and employers. By having best practices in place, you can avoid these issues and ensure that everyone knows exactly what is expected of them.

Finally, it helps to build trust and respect among team members.

If employees feel like they are working in an environment where they are valued, and their contributions are appreciated, they will be more likely to respect and trust their colleagues. This can lead to a more positive work environment overall.

Putting remote working best practices in place can be a great way to improve communication and collaboration within your team. By doing so, you can set your team up for success.

Six best practices for successful remote working

Here's how to set your team up for success when working remotely. 

Establish clear communication channels and protocols

Make sure that everyone has the tools they need to communicate with each other. From video conferencing software and communication channels like Slack to trusted tools like phone calls, email or instant messaging, your team must have the tools they need to communicate with ease.  

Set up a daily or weekly check-in

Let everyone know you're available to answer questions and consider establishing standing meetings. Regular check-ins help ensure everyone stays on the same page and keeps anyone from feeling isolated. 

Create a work schedule

One of the advantages of remote work is that employees have more flexibility in terms of when they work. However, this can also lead to a feeling of constantly being "on call" and never really having any time off. To combat this, consider creating a work schedule or requiring dedicated off-hours. 

Keep projects organized

Use project management tools to track what needs to be done and who's responsible for each task. This will help ensure that everyone knows what needs to be done. Examples of project management tools include Trello, Asana, and Jira.

Set expectations and deadlines

Set clear expectations and deadlines for tasks and projects to avoid confusion and ensure everyone is moving towards the same goal. Clear expectations are useful in every work environment, but they're absolutely essential in the remote working world. 

Keep communicating

One of the most vital parts of working on a team is communication. If someone is unclear on a task or has a problem, they must feel comfortable enough to speak up and address the issue. Fostering an environment that encourages open communication helps build trust and respect among team members and makes it easy to keep communication flowing. 

How Outstaffer can help you excel at remote work by giving you access to the best global talent

Following best practices is a straightforward way to ensure remote working works for your organization. However, there are other ways to take advantage of the new #WorkFromAnywhere world. 

One of the biggest advantages of remote working is the ability to tackle skill shortages and wage inflation by leveraging the global talent pool. In other words, when you take advantage of #WorkFromAnywhere, you can #HireFromAnywhere, too. 

At Outstaffer.com, we make it easy for you to recruit, hire and employ the best talent from around the world. We take care of all the compliance, payroll, taxes, HR admin and IT issues so you can focus on what you do best - running your business.

Want to learn more about how Outstaffer.com helps you leverage global talent? Contact us today. 

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