A company’s success is in the hands of the employees and its leaders and how they work together with the right synchronization and attitude. Keeping employees and remote workers happy and satisfied in the workplace is challenging and needs constant effort. And the secret to this is to build a healthy work relationship with your workforce.
The world of work has changed tremendously. Post Covid-19, remote work has taken center stage. With the surge of the Great Resignation, more and more people are shifting jobs remotely. It is a good cultural change since you can hire talents from diverse locations. The challenge is to engage your remote workers and build a solid work relationship with them for better productivity.
The fundamentals of building any working relationship are more or less the same. Your actions must direct towards trust and respect among each other and provide a great work culture and employee experience for them to thrive and be engaged. But how to do that successfully for your remote workers?
This article shares these tips/ways to do it efficiently. Keep reading!
1. EFFECTIVE REMOTE COMMUNICATION
We everyday stay connected to our friends and family with digital tools. We call, send texts, do video conferencing, etc. But in a formal or professional setting, the communication tools we use can be overwhelming.
Since the only mode of communication for remote workers is digital, it’s crucial to put a system where people can communicate well. Put a system in place and ask your employees which mode of communication they are more comfortable in. Create groups for each team to communicate in either texts or audio and video calls.
Do intentional check-ins with your teammates to know how they are doing and if you can help them with anything. Create a structure where the communication is open and transparent to all, and they don’t feel like missing out on anything.
Clear, open, timely, and frequent communication are key components of a successful working relationship here. Since remote workers communicate mostly through emails and chats, the message mustn’t be misinterpreted or misunderstood. It’s important to communicate clearly and concisely. Don’t use complicated language or jargon.
If possible, fix a time every day or once a week where team members can come together to share updates and daily tasks to create a sync for the team and build camaraderie and productivity.
2. EMPLOYEE FEEDBACK
Employee feedback is so crucial to keeping employees satisfied and motivated. To understand their perspectives and what they think about their employee experience. In any onsite work environment, it is easier to understand the employees’ mindsets and have one-on-one conversations if something is bothering them. But your remote workers might miss out on those and feel neglected by the organization, which eventually hampers the work relationships.
Therefore, it is important to continuously conduct employee feedback channels to understand your remote workers’ pulse and then work on the insights you collect from the feedback to build a better employee experience for all.
3. HAVE IMPROMPTU FUN SESSIONS
It is easy to become fatigued by work and commitments. Schedule some fun time, too.
Have impromptu fun sessions to know the human side of remote workers. It could be any fun-filled virtual team-building activity. Or any icebreaker question session when your team is new or in general. It will allow your team to open up to other team members and build camaraderie and healthy work relationships among each other.
This could include anything from taking a tour of each others’ homes to playing online trivia games, creating a bucket list together, or telling a story together.
The other positive side of these activities is that it allows people to understand each other’s traits and eventually help in problem-solving and decision-making at work. The better you know your team members, the better you collaborate and sync together.
4. MEET IN REAL LIFE
Make arrangements for your remote teams to meet quarterly or twice a year. It could be a town hall meeting or just regular team meet-ups for real-life interactions. You could also sponsor your remote team members for an outing or adventure sports to rejuvenate and connect at a personal level.
Also, if your teammates live nearby, you can plan an impromptu meeting to hang out and get to know each other better. Little human gestures and social interactions play a strong role in building solid work relationships.
5. THE CORE OF REMOTE WORK IS TRUST
Without trust, we don’t truly collaborate; we merely coordinate or, at best, cooperate. It is trust that transforms a group of people into a team. ~ Stephen M.R. Covey
Trust is the backbone of any relationship. And workplace relationships are no different. If your employees do not trust you enough or you cannot imbibe trust in themselves, you will not sustain a healthy workplace culture.
Mutual trust between you, the manager, and your remote workers is crucial to the success of your remote team. As your remote worker is not walking into the office every day, you cannot keep an eye on her, so you must trust them.
With remote teams, you may often encounter issues with miscommunication or even missed deadlines. It is for you to understand that your remote teams have other personal commitments, too, or they might have technical issues. Since we are clueless about the conditions your workers are in, give them the benefit of the doubt and communicate empathetically to understand their problem before jumping to any conclusions.
Give the flexibility and trust in them to do their job. If you give your remote teams enough support, feedback, and guidance throughout, they will not disappoint you.
CONCLUSION
As the saying goes, teamwork makes the dream work. And for that to happen, you must invest in your team to build a healthy work relationship with them. The more you motivate and provide a great employee experience, the more you will build a productive remote team that will thrive. Since the whole remote work culture is relatively new, do keep an agile process in place and look for ways to connect your team members more effectively.
GUEST POST CONTRIBUTOR:
This article was written by Braja Deepon Roy. He is a Senior Content Marketing Specialist at Vantage Circle. He actively participates in the growth of corporate culture and keeps himself updated in this space.
