How To Keep Your Staff Accountable and Engaged While Working Remotely

When working in an office, it’s much easier to gauge your team’s productivity. At home, you don’t have the proximity to check-in as easily and track everyone’s progress. 

One of the biggest questions managers have is, “How can I make sure my team is actually getting work done?” Well, allowing employees to work remotely requires a certain level of trust in your team. Beyond that, you need to implement a system that encourages productivity and engagement. Here are a few key things every manager should implement in their remote policies to generate a cohesive team.

Use Project Management Tools

If there’s one thing you want to have while working remotely, it’s a project management tool. Even when everyone is in the same space, it can be difficult to keep track of projects and get regular status updates from all teams involved. With a project management tool, you can see things progress in real-time.

It keeps everyone on the same page and can streamline processes company-wide. When using software like Jira, Asana (our favorite), Monday.com, managers can:

• Delegate tasks.
• Track everyone’s progress.
• Estimate completion dates.

Collaboration is also much easier on a project management platform. No more wondering if someone has completed a task, who’s working on it now and where to find it — with a glance, you can understand everything that’s going on. 

Set KPIs 

One way to keep your staff productive is by setting regular key performance indicators (KPIs). Depending on the role, you can set them on a daily and/or weekly basis. It sets the expectations early on and keeps everyone accountable for their responsibilities.

In a sales team, for instance, a KPI could be completing a certain number of calls or emails in a day. In IT, this can be reaching a certain phase in the project. When every team member has clear outcomes, it allows you to gauge individual progress without having to micromanage.  

Have Regular Meetings While Working Remotely

In offices, there’s always a discussion about how many meetings become too many. When working remotely, there’s the opposite struggle. Meetings may become far and few between, as employees are quite literally left to their own devices. 

However, it’s important to have daily meetings where team members gather to discuss project updates and obstacles. Morning meetings usually work best to get everyone on the same page and to discuss daily outcomes. 

Chat on Internal Messaging Systems

One of the downsides of working remotely is isolation. Many employees feel disconnected from their team and struggle to stay motivated. One way to keep your staff engaged is by having an internal messaging platform. 

It’s the one place where all employees can get together virtually and have conversations. Platforms like Slack allow you to have multiple channels, which can be broken down by team, project, or interest. It removes the need for endless email chains and facilitates communication. 

When used in conjunction with a project management tool, this can have an incredible impact on your team’s efficiency. It’s also a good platform for “water cooler” chats that keep employees connected. 

If you have any questions regarding team building, then align yourself with an IT staffing and recruiting expert!