When leaders think about onboarding remote employees, there is a lot of effort that they need to consider putting in. To keep the remote workers engaged it is not useful to only talk to them about technology. The remote workers need access to tools that can keep them engaged. High-speed internet service keeps them working effectively and tools that help them remain informed of their job requirements. For in-office workers, they need to feel engaged becomes a voluntary effort. They are valued, heard, and feel connected.
However, with introducing a hybrid work model, the leaders in the organizations have to work through creating a balance between in-office workers and remote workers. Without achieving a balance between the treatments of these employees, it will be hard for companies to establish a successful hybrid work model. Following are some tips from Forbes Coaches Council that can help leaders support remote team members in a better way:
Inquire What Matters to Them
If you want to support remote working employees or if you want them to feel that you have their back at all times, you need to step up and start questioning. Take time out on daily basis and establish a one-on-one meeting with your members. Ask them questions like what is important to them in their career. You can also inquire about the ways they feel valued. Question them about what factor brings their genuine interest in their career. These questions can lead to a deeper heart connection, which lessens the isolation that remote workers feel all the time. Also, this conversation can only be successful if you are not only sympathetic but also show your empathy. Make sure you share your struggles and vulnerabilities with your team members to make them understand that they are not alone.
Circulate with Purpose
To enhance the virtual environment for remote employees, leaders need to develop skills for circulating with purpose. These skills when built into the leadership frame to attain the desired results. In this era of remote working, it is shocking how the mind can fill up so much into the communication gap, which eventually results in a big disaster. It is easy for employees to fill the gaps with curiosity, suspicion, and all sorts of negativity. If you want your employees to have trust in the organization’s approach then you need to start working towards circulating with a purpose. A simple phone call, notes, or even a small catch-up meeting to let the employees know about the company’s status and, where the situation is heading is good enough to implement this approach.
Culture of Psychological Safety
A psychologically safe and healthy virtual working culture is established when everyone is certain that they won’t be ridiculed or talked over while sharing their ideas, mistakes, and concerns. The remote working members often feel isolated, discouraged, and not appreciated. If a leader wants to create an environment where all the remote working members can participate without feeling hesitant, then they need to make sure they address everyone participating in team meetings. The managers should create an environment where everyone feels supported and safe. Only by doing this, organizations can march towards having a successful hybrid work policy implemented.
Importance of a Strong Team Spirit
Almost all work can be done remotely with the same degree of dedication and quality. All a remote worker needs for effective work is a high-speed internet service, like from Hughes satellite internet. However, the hardest thing to replicate from a traditional office is the team spirit. The relationship between team members can often get sabotaged due to geographical distance. The usual water cooler conversation or lunch chitchats are nearly impossible to recreate in a virtual working environment.
Organizations should manage to create opportunities where remote employees can catch up with the other team members. By introducing virtual lunch hours or virtual game sessions, organizations can create chances for reviving the lost team spirit.
The Well-Being Sessions
It is important to reintroduce the social element to those working remotely. As a human, we all know that we are social animals. But with remote working schedules, it is hard to not feel isolated. Organizational leaders need to use channels like Slack for talking about no-work-related topics and encourage more participation of team members into discussing random things.
Trust Employees
As an organization leader, there is a lot that you can do to support remote working employees but then, in the end, you have to trust them with their job. Do not pressure them into being social, competitive, and out there.
