Skip to main content
Blog

5 Common Challenges of Managing Remote Workforce

By April 6, 2020No Comments6 min read
Manage remote workforce team members

There are many advantages of having a virtual workforce. Your virtual teams are more productive when compared to the on-site teams. Also, you can save up to $10000 per employee per year. Thus, many companies were already hiring remote workers. The recent coronavirus outbreak has forced everyone to start working remotely. However, it is very difficult to manage your virtual workforce. There are some unique problems related to a virtual workforce. You should try to solve these challenges. Thus, you can enjoy the benefits of a virtual workforce. In this article, we are going to talk about the common challenges of managing a virtual workforce.

  1. Tracking your Virtual Team’s productivity

If your employees are working in an office, then you can easily check their progress. Your employees can also ask you about any problem. However, this is not an easy task when your employees are working remotely. It is difficult to manage your employees without this direct feedback and contact. However, you can easily deal with this issue.

If your team is dedicated, then you don’t need to check their work status. Your team members will submit only quality work. However, you should still periodically check their progress. There are various project management tools available in the market. You can use these tools for ensuring that your team is completing their work on time.

The coronavirus outbreak has forced even normal employees to work from their homes. They don’t know anything about working remotely. Thus, you should give them input after a regular interval. There are various time tracking tools available in the market. You can use these tools for ensuring that your employees are working.

  1. Company culture

Every company has its own values and culture. Most workers follow the culture of their company. If they don’t fit in, then they will find some other company. However, if your workers are working remotely, then it can be difficult to spread your company culture.

You can improve this by implementing a top-down approach. Your managers should follow the company culture. This will encourage other people to follow your company culture. You can do casual conversations with your team members. Also, you should send some gifts to your team members. You can do hold virtual meetings with your team. This will help you in building your company culture.

  1. Managing effective communication

There are various different methods to communicate with your team members. Thus, it can be difficult to pick the correct method for your team. Some people use email for communicating with their team members. You can use different communication methods for communicating with your team members.

It is important to create a remote communication policy. Your team should agree with this communication policy. There are various amazing project management tools available in the market. These tools will help you in setting up tasks. Slack is one of the best tools for remote workers.

Every remote team is different. Thus, there is no universal communication policy for remote workers. You should ask your team members about their preferred communication method. It is also important to test different communication methods. This will help you in finding the best communication method. It is important to ensure that everyone is following the communication rules.

  1. Difficult to manage the schedule

There are many benefits to working with remote workers. However, managers should mitigate all the inefficiencies that can affect the productivity of their team. Sometimes your remote workers are working from different time zones. If your employees are working in the same region, then it is easy to create a schedule. However, if your employees are working from different regions, then it can be difficult to create a schedule. Your team members should coordinate with each other.

You should hold a remote meeting every week. If you can’t hold meetings due to different time zones, then you can record meetings for your team members. Thus, your team members can check the recording of your meetings. You can use this method for communicating important tasks and instructions. It is also important to provide feedback to your employees.

  1. Monitoring the performance of your virtual team

It can be difficult to track and monitor your remote employee performance. You should make sure that your employees are doing their work efficiently and effectively. It can be very difficult to track the performance of your employees. Most managers don’t know how to handle their remote teams. It is easy to monitor your team member’s performance when they are working in your office.

It is important to implement transparent communication modes. Your virtual employees are also responsible for the relationship with your customers. If you are using a good communication channel, then you can easily track the performance of your employees. You can easily check if your customers are satisfied with your services. There are various amazing collaboration tools available in the market. We have already talked about these tools. You can use these tools for tracking the performance of your virtual teams. It will also help you in evaluating the performance of your remote workers.

Conclusion

The recent outbreak has forced every company to adopt remote work. Thanks to technology, your employees can complete their work from home. Thus, they don’t need to visit your office for completing their work. This will help you in protecting your employees from the recent coronavirus outbreak. It will help you in limiting the spread of this virus. However, it can be very difficult to manage your remote workforce. Most managers don’t know how to handle their virtual teams. You can use the tips mentioned in this article for handling your virtual teams. These tools will help you in easily handling your virtual teams. Thus, you can quickly complete your projects. If you need more tips regarding managing a remote workforce, then you can contact Bleuwire.

Contact us today to learn about Bleuwire™  services and solutions in how we can help your business.