Due to the current pandemic, most companies are encouraging their
employees to work remotely as a means of limiting and reducing the spread
of COVID-19, and other germs and viruses. No matter how seasoned a manager
may be, managing a remote team of workers can be a difficult task that can
take lots of time and energy to perfect.
Luckily, many businesses have been able to overcome the obstacles that
tend to plague businesses and professionals who are new to remote learning
by taking tips from seasoned professionals. Given that effective
communication is the foundation of any successful situation, focusing on
facilitating effective communication is one of the best methods of
creating a well-functioning team of remote workers. With that in mind, the
following is a list of tips and tricks from some experts at Mars
International that are designed to help you do just that.
Rather than being able to simply walk into the next room or call an
employee into your office when you have an issue to discuss, working from
home makes it all the more difficult for companies to establish grounds
for effective communication. Below are a few topics to keep in mind when
managing your team offsite.
Intra-team vs. Inter-team
First and foremost, we need to make note of the fact that there are two
different types of communication you will be focusing on in terms of
establishing communication among your employees. Inter-team communication
is communication between two different teams of employees, while
intra-team communication is communication between employees who are
working on the same team. When establishing an effective communication
network, each of these types of communication is equally important.
However, when you are establishing an effective communication network,
communication across teams seems to be a source of confusion for companies
of all kinds. Therefore, once the teams have learned to communicate
effectively among themselves, managers must then focus on facilitating
effective communication across teams.
Managing responsibilities and expectations
Another major method of creating an effective communication network among
remote workers is openly communicating the responsibilities and
expectations for both intra-team and inter-team collaborations. For
instance, if a worker will be taking some time off, it is very important
for them to communicate this with their team members. On the other hand,
if one team has fallen behind or is otherwise experiencing difficulties in
terms of meeting a goal, this should be communicated with the other teams
immediately.
Response times
Given that all communication is being done online or via phone, there must
be a reasonable response time established. To eliminate issues, managers
must establish a window of time that allows each employee enough time to
provide a useful response or to let them know when they will be able to
provide such a response.
Defining vacations
Although working from home allows each employee to essentially work around
their own schedule, whenever an employee is unavailable to answer within
the established response time, this counts as vacation time. This
eliminates issues with non-responsiveness, which can manifest into larger
communication issues over time.
Contact Us
We implement these effective communication techniques internally which
have ultimately allowed us to continue our services during the pandemic,
while most importantly, keeping our employees and customers safe. Mars
International is a global contract manufacturer, delivering electrical and
mechanical assemblies and finished goods. Contact us online or by phone at
908.233.0101