Consider Telecommuting an Effective Part of your Coronavirus Contingency Plan

Even if your company culture has never embraced remote work options, infectious disease outbreak planning has many employers considering telecommuting as part of their company’s contingency plan, should COVID-19 (aka coronavirus) become more widespread.

In response to the outbreak, big tech companies like Twitter, Google, Microsoft, Facebook, and Amazon have allowed employees in affected areas to work from home. If your organization has the resources and ability to allow employees to work from home (check with an HR or legal expert, should you need to clarify your policies), but your managers don’t feel fully prepared to lead off-site teams, consider the how the right skills, good communication, and clear objectives and present successful telecommuting strategies.

As a manager, you’ll want to be sure that your remote employees have the rights skills to work from home. These skills include self-motivation and discipline, time and project management, and strong communication. Consider adding soft skills training to your learning and development programs to upskill your employees.

Leaders who manage remote employees must also communicate and trust their off-site employees. This starts by outlining all goals upfront. Then use technology to make reporting, communicating, and collaborating easy.

Ongoing dialogue with and among remote workers helps to build trust. You can do this by asking for input and feedback and being available to answer questions. As a manager, showing your remote employees how important they are to the team will help ensure success.

One challenge for managers is gauging the productivity of their remote employees. You will not be able to gauge by appearance, so clearly defined goals are important.  Instead, measure accomplishments, set deadlines, and stick to them. Your communication with your employees will determine how projects are progressing. Also, remember that business is not static — your communication is critical to determining if there is a problem outside your employee’s control and there needs to be an adjustment to the goal.

Although there are many advantages to allowing employees to work remotely, collaboration, trust, and training is key to a strong, effective off-site workforce.

Learn more on how to effectively supervise off-site employees with a one-hour, newly updated webcast on the key approaches and tools you’ll need to get the most from your remote workforce.