Teleworking & engagement

Employee engagement is the personal investment and emotional commitment that employees have towards their company. Engaged employees love their jobs! They work harder, stay with the company longer and are more productive.

That’s why companies around the world are always taking several measures to boost levels of employee satisfaction and engagement. They organize training workshops, one-one coaching, offer more flexibility such as remote work options and so on.

However, remote teams have their own set of challenges which dampen morale and engagement. Communication can be confusing, team coordination can be weak and lack of physical proximity can lead to dampened team spirit, low trust and feelings of isolation.

But all these issues have solutions. Here are Inlea’s smart ways to keep your remote team engaged.

Give remote employees real responsibilities

The combination of a service role with a remote location can make an employee feel like a cog in the machine, only called upon to do their specific task and otherwise forgotten. Assigning more responsibility to remote staff does a number of beneficial things: it makes them feel valued, it gives them purpose, it adds to their career experience, and it guarantees more communication and opportunities for contribution outside of their main role.

Invest in frequent training

The more knowledgeable your team members are about their roles and the domain, the more productive they will be. That’s why successful companies are always investing in training and development. This includes on-the-job mentoring and shadowing as well as regular training workshops on technical and soft skills.

Employees look forward to training programs because it helps them build vital skills they need to grow in their careers. They also function as team-building opportunities where team members can develop better relationships amongst themselves. That’s why they are a great employee engagement tool.

In a remote team, you won’t be able to assemble a group of people for a training workshop in a boardroom. But why let that limitation stop you?

You can always host live webinars and organize a few workshops a month. In fact, live webinars can often be far more effective than conventional workshops. You can have far more attendees, and these webinars can be easily recorded so that people can refer to the videos later on.

Create communication standards

Remote and distributed teams call for a greater focus on remote-friendly tools and communication standards. The more effective your communication is, you’ll be able to eliminate more misunderstandings. Clarify what communication tool will be used for different messages. For example, you could choose a messaging tool such as Slack to be used as a chatter channel. This can help replace the daily chit-chat that comes with a co-located team. However, a channel such as email can serve for the big announcements that could be lost elsewhere.

Err on the side of over-communicating with your team rather than under-communicating. A simple check-in each day with your team member reminds them that you’re there to help and they aren’t alone.

Successful companies are made up of engaged employees, so make sure to prioritize employee engagement for your remote team members, as well.