Management of remote employees

Nowadays it is common that companies have whole departments or divisions of employees that are based remotely / work from home and who will rarely set foot in the office. These remote employees create new challenges for companies as they need to be managed and engaged in different ways to employees that are physically present in the same office as their colleagues and team / line manager.

One of the main challenges that remote employees’ face is that it is easy to feel and be cut off from the rest of the team, department and company. Therefore, it is important that a culture of belonging and team spirit is created and supported in these employees. As if they feel engaged, invested and connected to their team, department and company then they will be more effective.

One way is for these employees to feel engaged, invested and connected to their team, department and company is to have regular meetings with their team / line manager, teammates and colleagues via teleconference and collaboration tools (Skype, Microsoft Teams, Webex).

I have found that the following meeting schedule to result in a high level of engagement in remote employees –

Week 1 of the month – Monthly Team Meeting
The Team / Line manager hosts a meeting with their whole team to share and communicate messages, aims and objectives from the organisation’s leadership as well as team aims and objectives.

Week 2 of the month – 1:1 call – status of work and projects
The Team / Line manager hosts a 1:1 meeting to go through their team member’s workload and to discuss their progress with projects etc. Plus, this is an opportunity for the line manager to give coaching advice or best practice or act as a point of escalation and support.

Week 3 of the month – monthly virtual coffee call
This is a monthly virtual coffee call for all remote employees who are in same / similar role e.g. project and program managers. The aim of this informal (no line management to attend) meeting is for colleagues to share knowledge and best practices amongst themselves. It can also be used as a safe space for everyone to let off steam and to take comfort that others may be facing the same challenges, so no one feels alone.

Week 4 of the month – 1:1 call – how are you call
The Team / Line manager hosts a 1:1 meeting where they focus on their team member’s wellbeing and career development.

Everyone has their own favoured approach for how they would want to be managed by their team / line manager, but I believe that the above schedule is a good place to start.