Is your company consider switching to a mobile worker? There are many benefits of allowing your employees to work remote. Yet many managers seem to get intimidated by the idea of free-roaming employees.
Managers think of the worst-case scenarios like out of control employees. Some are afraid of those who choose to take advantage of the working remote. Truth is, it's not as bad as you might think.
There are ways you can protect yourself and your company from the bad apples. We're going to face this topic head on. Here's a list of the top eight challenges of managing mobile workers!
A mobile worker needs to be a person that is trustworthy. While they are away from the office, they still represent your brand and company. You don't want to hire on someone onto your team who has a record of dishonesty.
This could spell disaster for the success and progress of your brand. Plus, you might lose customers or business. That's why it's important to set up ways to supervise mobile workers.
With the help of technology, managing remote employees is not that difficult. You can request they install a camera at their workstation from home. Most employers think this affects morale.
Many employees despise micromanaging, so go another route. You can have a deadline for a specific amount of work every week or month. Have a portal where they can record their results.
As a manager, inspect their work on the regular. This will ensure that your employee is keeping up with standards and getting the job done. For truck drivers, recording mileage is the best bet!
Most remote employees have different schedules from their managers. Some do work during normal business hours. This is something you'll need to consider as a manager.
Would you like your employees to have flexible scheduling or a strict schedule? There are pros and cons for each. Let's first take a look at the pros. Flexibility makes employees feel happy and appreciated.
But, this may mean you have employees working at different times throughout the day or night. Which also includes working outside of normal business hours. The cons of no flexibility are that it's a huge turn off for employees and it can feel too rigid for some.
You might allow flexible scheduling but set your schedule for within business hours. For companies that don't expect emergencies, this would be an excellent choice. Flexible scheduling touches on only the tip of the iceberg, so let's delve into the issue deeper.
Scheduling issues can also pose a problem when too many employees take off at the worst time.
Setting standards for time off is super important. You want to ensure you always have enough staff on hand to complete the tasks. If all your employees get sick at once, how will you complete the tasks for an approaching deadline?
Explain to your employees the policies on sick time or time off for vacations or emergencies. Be sure to write out your requests if your employees need time off. You may ask they communicate with you through phone or email.
Setting limits on various forms of communication is the best bet. You can ask them to call and leave a voicemail and write an email.
Clear communication is another challenge of managing remote workers. There are several issues that can arise in any line of work. That's why it's important to have back up.
This may mean investing in a technical support line for after hour issues. Have a direct phone line to your phone for emergency situations. It's easy in our modern times to stay in touch.
With a business smartphone, you can turn on notifications for your email. You can also text, or communicate through social media avenues. For truck drivers, it's very important for them to stay off the phone.
Be sure to stress how vital it is to remain alert and keep their focus on the road. There are many ways you can stop a phone from being a distraction on the road.
Keeping everyone up-to-date on news is crucial for the success of your remote team. There's nothing more infuriating than learning too late you've done a task wrong. Avoid any disasters by making business information accessible through various avenues.
Again, clear communication is key! Get a workplace discussion board or a work instant message or email for important news.
As a manager with remote employers, you need to be amazing at giving good, direct directions. A project could suffer if you don't have clear instructions for your remote team to follow. If you know you are not a great written communicator, make a video explaining.
Start any big projects in advance. Have a support team or emergency line for employees to ask questions. Be responsive, and answer emails every day.
The possibility of misinterpretation for remote employees is normal. This is a real challenge for employees from across the country or throughout the globe. Different cultures may interpret certain writing in a different way.
It's best to remain formal in your writing and avoid idioms or common phrases. While this may seem dull or boring, it will ensure clear communication. That way you can feel confident in your clear instruction.
As a manager, you work as a medium. That means you have to translate what the client is requesting to the remote worker. Giving accurate details is vital for this to work.
You need to be specific in what a client is asking for. Take great note or record your client conversations during meetings. You might have your client submit an online form with special requests for the remote worker.
Good communication could make or break the client's satisfaction.
We want you to value your mobile worker. To do this, you'll need to have the right research and technology under your belt. For drivers, using myFix is a great way to keep drivers safe.
It'll also keep a product secure, and get deliveries complete without issue or tragedy.