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July 9, 2018 0 Comments

4 Tips to Be an Effective Work From Home Boss

There are many tips out there on how to be an effective manager, but it goes to another level when you’re managing a remote team.  Your workers are out of sight, and it’s very important that you manage them, hire the right people, and still stay sane in the process! Managing home based employees can be a challenge at first, but it will give you more flexibility and freedom if you master it.

Read along for some of our best tips for management of remote teams.

Manage reasonably

Since you can’t physically be with your employees, it can be tempting to micromanage every task, client, and project.  But this goes against everything that work from home can be – flexible and less stressful.

You must start by trusting your employees, and that comes with hiring the right people.  Hire those who know if they’re productive independently, and who never give you reason to question what they’re up to.  With work from home jobs, it can be helpful to have a trial period of 30-60 days so you’re able to see this in real time.

Get together

Although your company is remote, it’s important to get together in person if and when you can.  Whether it’s for a mini retreat, incentive trip, or convention that will build your knowledge, it’s helpful to get your team together.

When you get together in person, you get a chance to really connect.  You build relationships, get to know each other, and discuss the business, which ultimately builds more bonds and solidifies trust.  On top of this, it can be fun for a remote worker to get to meet their team in real life.

Don’t forget that they also don’t get to see their co-workers very often, so you can bring this benefit to them and allow those relationships to strengthen as well.  When a team is reliant and trusting among co-workers, everything runs more smoothly and more effectively.

Invest in a program

There are many programs – free and paid – that allow you to more easily communicate with your team via video.  You have the free options of FaceTime, Skype, and the free option of Zoom meetings. For paid options, you can utilize chat options such as Slack, Sococo, or any other online communication program that also features video.

Even if you don’t do video communication on a consistent basis, it can still be fun to do from time to time.  When you aren’t using the video feature, be sure that you’re still communicating often. Group texts, client management systems, and Facebook chat are all great options.

Ask for details

While you shouldn’t be consistently micromanaging, keeping tabs on your team is still key.  Ask for detailed timesheets if that’s helpful at first, or you can do daily summaries. Whatever you need to feel at ease, while still allowing your team some freedom, is very important.

You can also utilize tracking software and time management software, if your team should need that.  Establish a solid process for reporting results and deliverables to the company and/or to your clients.  At the end of the day, this is your business, and work still needs to be done.

Becoming a manager of remote teams is all about the balance! Take some time to figure out what you need to feel comfortable, while still giving your team trust and getting the work completed.

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August 28, 2017 0 Comments

4 Top Qualities of the Best Managers

Being a good manager is more than simply showing up and giving orders.  In today’s world, it’s important to develop an array of qualities that bring out the best in your employees.

According to a study by Dale Carnegie Training, “29% of the workforce is engaged, 45% are not engaged, and 26% are actively disengaged.”  These are alarming numbers, and much of employee engagement deals directly to the employee’s immediate supervisor and manager.

Read along for some of the top attributes in being a successful manager with engaged employees.

Empathy

Empathy is fast becoming the number one trait of managers! When we express empathy, we’re relating to the feelings of others.  As a manager, being empathetic will allow you to interact on a more personal, effective level.

When your employees sense that you care about them, their current situation, their workload, and so on, they’re much more likely to come to you before things get bad.  This allows you to increase employee retention and put out those fires before they get too big.

Present

It’s a tough thing to be present in today’s technological world! As a manager, your presence is not only appreciated – it’s necessary.  When you’re present and communicative with your employees, they feel that the matter, and they’re more likely to stay in contact on a consistent basis.  When you have work from home employees, this is especially a bonus!

According to OfficeVibe.com, 69% of managers are uncomfortable communicating with employees.  When we’re uncomfortable, we tend to stop communicating and leave things in a confusing state.  Once you’re disengaged and uncommunicative, employees begin to question motives and lose morale.

Trustworthy

As a manager, your actions are always on display.  You become the example for your employees, so “Do as I say, not as I do” will not work! This does not inspire confidence in your employees.  Your actions and words must match, which is the hallmark of a trustworthy person.

When your employees trust you, it gives them the confidence that you’re capable of leading them.  Like it or not, employees want some reassurance in their work and the direction of the business.

Another way to establish trust is by being direct.  It’s important to be empathetic, as we’ve stated before, but to keep employees trusting that you’re looking out for their best interest, keep things simple.  From your requests to your meetings, keep to the point as much as possible.

Driven

It’s hard to expect your employees to work hard and feel fulfilled in their job if you don’t.  We all ebb and flow in our job satisfaction, but as a manager, you need to work to ensure that you stay positive – or make a change.

Stay driven in your business purpose and work to drive everyone else and keep morale high. If you’re miserable, how will your employees act?  Your drive will show in your daily work and communications, so do all that you can to remember why you started this business, and why you enjoy doing what you do.

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April 17, 2017 0 Comments

4 Ways to Manage Home Based Employees

Working from home provides a lot of opportunity for flexibility and work-life balance, but it also presents unique challenges.  One of the main obstacles can arise in managing employees, as there’s not quite the amount of accountability that occurs in a traditional work environment.

Although management of employees can be tricky, it’s something that can be sorted out with a bit of forethought.  Read along for our best tips for successfully managing home based employees.

Management Software

There are several options out there for managing your employees and projects from a distance.  Basecamp is a very popular option, but there are others out there as well.  These programs allow users to log in remotely, complete tasks, share documents and checklists, and general stay in contact on a daily basis.  It’s easy to see what your employees are getting done, as well as seeing if they remain active on the site.

They can start as low as free and go up in price, typically depending on number of employees.

Click here to view a list of options that are comparable to Basecamp.

Timesheet

When your employees work remotely, it’s important to keep track of their time on a consistent basis.  Whether they’re project-based, hourly, or salaried, have them document their tasks in a detailed timesheet.  This doesn’t necessary need to be an ongoing practice, but it helps to establish the relationship and expectations in the beginning.

Determine how you’ll calculate time: by 10-minute intervals, 30-minute intervals, hour-long intervals, or simply project-based.  This establishes trust between you and your employees, and allows you to see how quickly they’re able to complete the work.

Additionally, some of the project management options allow you to track time and see which tasks employees are working on in real-time.   Timecamp, ClockSpot and MyHours are examples of this option, and it can be an easy way to keep track of time.

Weekly communication

Weekly calls and email communication are key to managing a remote team.  In general, having home based employees will require more communication.  Set up a time that works for everyone that includes a weekly call with the entire team.  This is a great time to review client obligations, any issues, and obstacles that might be in the way.

When you have a regular appointment for communication, you avoid issues before they get out of control.

Manage expectations

Remote employees don’t have to be a challenge to manage, as long as the correct expectations are set from the beginning.  If you’re requiring management software, take the time to explain and train any new employees in using it.  If a timesheet is required, be sure that they know what that needs to look like.

Additionally, ensure that they’re given every chance to succeed.  It can be an adjustment to work in a home based environment, and expectations do vary from traditional offices.

While you may have more flexibility in a work from home position, you may have to put some more checks in place to ensure that work is being completed effectively.  Luckily, with the advances in technology and communication, this is not only possible, but much more simple!

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