Remote Work Requires a Change in Mindset

Although working from home vs. working in an office setting may be out of your control right now, your team’s attitude and productivity are something that managers and business owners do have control over.

Working in a remote setting is very different from working in an office environment. When working from home, it's even more important for teams to have a shared mindset and a positive attitude, as these will help draw your team together. Keep reading to learn four tips that will help your team thrive while working remotely.

Tips for Working Remotely

1. Build Trust By Increasing Communication 

When it comes to working remotely, there's no such thing as overcommunicating.

When you're in an office setting, your team might feel it more comfortable to stop in and ask you a quick question or turn to a college and ask them for help. While working remotely, the exact opposite is true. It can feel harder to get the help and support needed to complete a task and team members may feel as though they are working on an island alone.

That's why increasing communication is important for keeping your employees feeling engaged. An example of increasing communication could be sending out daily or weekly videos to your team letting them know any updates. It's more critical now than ever to make sure your employees feel like your virtual door is always open! 

2. Schedule Regular Virtual Meetings 

Unlike working in an office, in a remote setting, face-to-face interaction must be planned. Scheduling regular virtual meetings  is essential to keeping the team engaged. These regular virtual meetings could include a 1:1 call with each of team member, monthly calls with the entire team to share some updates, or small group calls for specific accounts. These calls will give your team members a sense of normalcy and increase positivity and engagement when run correctly. These calls should feel productive but also allow team members to share ideas, collaborate, and enjoy each other’s company. 

3. Get the Right Tools and Use Them Creatively

When you're in an office setting, you may not need a lot of communication tools. However,  virtual communication tools have become more important than ever while working from home. A few examples of communication tools include:

• Virtual game/quiz platforms

• Team chat platforms

• Virtual meeting rooms

Some of the ways you can use these tools to increase engagement could be running some quizzes and online games in your next meeting, sending your team a video update one time every week, or even hosting a virtual happy hour or social. Regardless of the tools you buy or how you use them, investing in these tools will be vital in fostering a positive culture, whether working in an office or working from home. 

4. Maintain a Consistent Routine 

Whether you're working from home or working in an office, your team’s routines should remain the same. This means if you have a 1:1 meeting with staff members every week, you should keep those, just do them virtually!

If you spend the morning prospecting or following up on emails, the same should be done at home. The most important thing is that your team feels that sense of normalcy that we are all craving. Even if they are not in the office, daily routines and processes should not change – they may just look a little different now. 

Hopefully with the help of these four tips, your team will be able to feel more confident and comfortable working from home. Changing your mindset and adapting to the times is critical for success in a remote environment. Successful teams will continue to be successful from home with the right plan in place to make it happen.