Three Tips for Effectively Collaborating with Telecommuters

Having employees telecommute can leads to incredible benefits like increased job satisfaction, higher morale, and even a noticeable boost in productivity.

According to Gallup’s 2015 work and education poll, thirty-seven percent of American workers have telecommuted.

In fact, the average American telecommuter works remotely two days every month, while nearly one in ten telecommute at least half the time. Whether your workforce features regular telecommuters or occasional work-from-home employees, collaborating effectively with your remote team is essential.

If you’re new to remote team collaboration or just want to see better results with your current team, these three tips will revolutionize the way you collaborate with your remote team:

1. Set clear expectations before getting started.
Managers worry that telecommuters will be too distracted by daytime TV and household chores to work productively away from the office. However, a study of call center workers conducted over nine months in 2013 found telecommuters completed 13.5 percent more calls than office workers.

This study points shows the potential of telecommuting arrangements — but it’s not guaranteed. For telecommuters to function at peak productivity they need a clear understanding of expectations.

Communicate the work that’s required clearly and when it’s due. Give your telecommuters specific deadlines to work toward instead of asking for tasks to be completed as soon as possible.

2. Invest in project management and collaboration software.
Email isn’t an effective solution to managing telecommuters. In fact, it can even add unnecessary complexity to projects and tasks!

Fortunately there are simple project management solutions to make collaboration easy and manageable. While some free tools exist, their plans generally don’t have the features managers look for in a remote collaboration solution.

Instead, look invest in a  project management platform like Redbooth. Redbooth offers unlimited task and project management in addition to other features that make it a complete collaboration solution. Online meetings, business chat, advanced reporting, time tracking, and even one-click voice calling let you manage remote teams by creating shared digital workspaces.

You may even discover that the right project management solution can make remote team management even easier than managing on-site employees.

3. Leverage business chat and online meetings to build relationships with your remote team.
Working outside an office can be lonely, but a lack of physical proximity shouldn’t be a barrier to effective collaboration with your telecommuting employees. Genuine interest and outreach not only boosts morale and increases productivity, it also makes your remote team feel included and like a true part of the team.

Build trust, rapport, and a positive working relationship face-to-face — no matter how far apart you are. Regularly make informal calls to your telecommuters to touch base and even invite them to events such as Christmas parties and awards nights. These efforts will remind them that they’re a valuable part of your team.

For day-to-day tasks and work-related projects, HD video conferencing for online meetings is the best solution for building relationships and staying aligned on important projects. And, when an online meeting is too much for a simple question or check-in, business chat works well for clarifying information or answering quick questions.

Good managers know how important it is to communicate about matters beyond the business.

When you know your remote team, you’ll also learn what motivates them. When you understand this motivation, you’ll be able to get the best out of your telecommuters.

Photo by Bench Accounting