Taking The Office To Homes

As more properties in the UK are receiving broadband it is becoming common for people to work from home.

The government's Digital Britain campaign aims to increase this number of houses connected to the internet, which means more and more people will have access to high speed broadband connections. Companies are realising that they can save money by allowing staff to remain in their houses and conduct their working day from the comfort of their own homes.

An increasing number of job roles include a home-working option that appeals to those who prefer not to commute across cities to get to work. However, as a manager of a remote team you are still responsible for your staff and workloads but because you may not interact directly with your colleagues you may encounter unique issues that can hamper productivity and relations.

One of the major barriers you may face as a leader of a remote team is ease of communication with your employees. Instead of relying on face-to-face talks, backed up with the odd email or phone call, you now become fully reliant on the internet and telephones for conversing with staff.

Some managers like to attend Professional Skills training courses that can supply you with tips on the best ways to maintain open communication with your colleagues. For instance, there are a large number of software programmes that can help unite your remote team so you can effectively keep an eye on the running of current projects, while also being on hand to support staff if necessary.

Many remote managers keep in touch using Microsoft Outlook for instance, which allows you to pass important information to your team. In addition, you may also like to use the services of Microsoft SharePoint servers that give your colleagues a dedicated internet space so they can be updated on developments. Having a shared space on the web may also strengthen the working relationships of your team, which may help to boost communication and morale of your employees.

Making your workers feel connected to your company can be a great aid in the performance of a remote team, for instance you may like to include them in video-conference calls or invite them to listen to meetings held via telephones. As well as providing a virtual world for your colleagues to connect to, you may also like to pick up tips on the best ways to structure their working days.

For instance, it may be wise for you to put guidelines in place that let your colleagues know how quickly you would like them to respond to emails. This can help to keep your virtual team in touch with head office and informed on events happening within the company. Publishing responsibilities of your team can also remind workers of their tasks and can help your employees meet their objectives.

Research has shown that colleagues who work from home have higher levels of productivity and are less likely to be off sick. In order to maintain this, it is important that you build trust between you and your colleagues. As you delegate tasks you will need to set appropriate goals so that projects are completed in a sufficient time to a good standard.

Asking colleagues to report on their progress is an effective way of making sure tasks are completed on time, though getting the correct balance is advised so remote workers do not spend too much time updating you on current projects.