How to Manage Out-Of-Office Employees Effectively

Sometimes, having teams that work for you outside the office is inevitable. You might not always have the workspace or even the resources to keep all your members of staff under one roof. And this leads to having to have out of office teams that work offsite.

This can be very effective if you must manage resources and thus only must worry about paying a salary at the end of the month. However, no matter how effective it may seem, it can come with its own pitfalls. Your teams could end up slacking off because they’re working off-site and become lazy since they’re not working under your watchful eye.

So how do you balance both worlds? How do you make sure your team gets all their tasks done while they work off-site? We have a few helpful and practical tips to help you get this sorted.

Communication is Key

Effective communication is absolutely important if you want to have a successful business. And when it comes to working with employees based out of the office, it is even more important.

Your ability to let your employees know what you’re thinking, what is expected of them etc. is imperative, and you need to create an open line of communication. You could use work tools like Slack which is great for communicating and sharing information smoothly with members of your organization no matter where they are. Another great way is by opening a WhatsApp group. This way you can have an open line of communication where you can contact your employees and vice versa.

You could also have a virtual meeting by signing up on conference platforms like Zoom where you can have meetings virtually with employees’ home and abroad. No matter what route you decide to take, remember that having effective communication is very important in carrying everyone along and achieving results.

Set Deliverables

Another great way to make sure you have effective out-of-office employees is by setting targets on deliverables. This basically means each employee will have a set time to achieve set goals or deliverables. This proves effective because the employee then knows that they have a job to get done by a set date which will prompt them to get the work done.

You could try putting weekly deliverables on set projects to ensure projects are carried out effectively and productively. For example, if you have assigned an employee with the task of reaching out to potential customers via e-mail marketing, you could set a target of ‘communicating with 100 potentials in a week’. The employee will have the task of strategically planning his/her time effectively to make sure they reach their goals.

An important aspect you need to remember is to set realistic goals. It is very easy to assign too much work hoping to get more done, however you could end up straining your employees and asking too much of them. Look at the tasks and targets set and add/remove where you need to.

Meet often to discuss projects

Your employees may be working out-of-office, but that doesn’t mean you cannot meet occasionally to have a physical meeting. Organizing a physical meeting allows you to get a personal feel of what stage your project is in and have more meaningful conversations. Granted, you might not be able to do this all the time, however, having it now and again will go a long way.

Take out time to liaise with your out-of-office employees to figure out a conducive time to meet and discuss the state of projects they’re handling. I would suggest an informal setting to create a comfortable atmosphere where everyone can be open enough to get the most out of the meeting. A more formal setting will introduce tension which might decrease the potential of making progress at the meeting.

Check-in

This is perhaps one of the most important strategies to implement in having an effective out-of-office employee. In working with them daily, it is everyone’s job to consistently check-in. You can set a standing rule that at the close of business every other day, each employee must send in an update on projects. Their job is to let you know how projects are going, and it is your job to consistently ask them for updates on the various stages of work.

Just like the points above, there are strategies for checking in. It is important that you do not overwhelm your employees with the number of check-ins you do weekly or caution will be thrown to the wind. Ensure you establish with the team that the check-ins are mandatory and will reflect on how well they’re doing their job. Also, it would help if you note that they must reply to any and every e-mail sent. This verifies the sent information and ensures there is a free, consistent and understandable flow of information among all employees.

Showcase Cause & Effect

This is where you must adjust your BOSS hat and lay down the rules. Putting rules in place is mandatory for effective working experience for you and your employees. This is even more important for employees who do not work from your office. They need to not only hear about your rules but see them in action.

Ensure you reward out-of-office employees that obey your rules and have a consistent and productive attitude towards work. Give incentives like salary bonuses, free lunches, or even a public acknowledgement. These positive actions show the hard workers that they’re doing a good job and you see them and show others what they’ll get if they follow suit.

For out-of-office employees who break the rules consistently, it is important to let them know their actions have not gone unnoticed. Sanctions should be administered according to your company’s discretion to set a good example of what will happen to rule breakers.

 A lot of employers shy away from hiring employees to work out-of-office for fear of unproductivity, but by administering the right set of rules and using the right strategy you can get as much productivity out of your remote employees as though they were working right beside you.