Remote work is a crucial topic for multiple industries and companies. The feasibility and cost-effectiveness of a remote employee are simply incomparable. But its management always seems to take away the advantages of a remote employee.

So, what can you do?

Firstly, let’s start by busting some myths around remote work. Then, we will discuss the key factors for communication. Improving communication with remote employees can solve most of your issues. Here’s how. 

Busting the Myths

We assume that remote workers are lazy, hard to manage, and have poor time-management skills. That’s not entirely true. That’s why we have discussed some remote work myths below. Check out. 

1.    Remote Workers Are Lazy

Remote workers are always seen as people who are not able to deliver work on time or who procrastinate. They may bring up issues at the end moment and fail to deliver work in the required deadline. 

That’s not entirely true. If you successfully deliver the goals and aims of the project to the remote worker, you can expect them to work with efficiency. Every time you assign a task, call them, and clarify the goals of the project and what you are trying to achieve from it. This helps the remote worker to grasp the end-outcome, which helps them work with efficiency. 

2.    Company’s Culture Suffers

Of course, your company’s culture would be impacted. But this doesn’t have to mean that your company’s culture should suffer.

You can encourage your employees to stop by and make small talk with remote employees over Slack. They can strike up a conversation and communicate with remote employees in their break. It is not necessary to call up every time or meet the employee in the hallway. You can simply start a short conversation on message whenever you have time. This way, your company’s culture changes but your in-house and remote employees still stay connected. 

3.    Remote Workers Are Always Available

This is a common misconception, which encourages employers to hire remote workers and then later feel cheated on after realizing that that is not the case. 

It is best to realize that remote workers are like your in-house employees. They may not work overnight to give you the work you are looking for. They may not work on Saturday and Sunday. They may not be able to give you work in an hour just because they are working from home.

Setting the right expectations helps in mitigating these issues from the core. Realistically assign work with the right timelines to avoid delay and poor work quality. 

Building Strong Communication

It is possible to resolve the problem arising from the above myths by just building strong communication culture in the workplace. You need to talk to your remote employees to make things right. Let’s see how you can connect and collaborate with your remote employees.

1.    Remote Work tools

Utilize proper tools to ease communication between employees. For instance, having an email domain, which is not accessible on the mobile phone can restrict the flow of communication. So, use additional tools like Slack to ease out communication flow between your employees.

This would allow your remote employees to get on a video call, talk, and interact with the team for clear and quality outcomes. 

2.    Culture

Avoid building a culture where there are too many rules.

Instead, focus on a culture that helps you work with efficiency, improve the transparency of processes, and create a diverse culture. Your employees should be able to talk with each other without going through multiple managers. The flow of communication in your culture should be smooth. 

Conclusion

For a small or medium organization, using remote employees is extremely beneficial. Utilize the above tips to reduce the risks that might arise. Improve the culture of your organization to enhance communication. Embrace the remote culture to enhance the performance and productivity of your organization.