We can all agree that becoming a good manager or supervisor takes skill and practice. That’s true in virtually any workplace. So how in the world do you motivate employees who work from remote locations? You might be surprised to learn that the secret to motivating remote employees is not nearly as much of a mystery as we’ve been led to believe. What follows are some methods used by successful supervisors to keep their remote employees performing and succeeding in their jobs.
Communicate – Often and Openly
Communication is the key to a good manager-employee relationship, so when your employee is working outside of the office, daily communication is absolutely essential. The remote worker needs to feel that he or she is kept in the loop with regard to what’s happening in the company and with coworkers – even if those coworkers are hundreds of miles away.
Establish Clear Performance Objectives
Your remote employees should understand what is expected of them. This includes clearly delineated performance standards – in other words, what quality and quantity of work is necessary for poor, below average, average, above average and outstanding performance evaluations. Employees who work in remote locations need to understand what you expect from them – not just for their annual performance reviews, but also what you expect from them day in and day out as they perform their jobs outside of the workplace.
Trust Your Remote Workers
Trusting employees to do the right thing is often a huge hurdle for management to overcome. Lack of trust is, in fact, one of the primary reasons why more companies don’t allow their employees to telecommute even on a part-time basis. One very obvious way to express your trust is by not spying on your remote workers. “Spyware” products are readily available. Many of these software packages will not only track and monitor your employee’s computer activity; some of them even block websites that they deem to be “inappropriate.” But the fact is that spyware can actually do the exact opposite of what it’s intended to do – it might track your employee’s computer activity, but eventually the employee will realize they’re being spied upon, and that will lead to lower productivity levels and resentment all the way around. Making it clear to your remote employees that you trust them to be productive and work hard will, in almost every instance, encourage them to do just that.
Use MySammy to Measure Productivity and Help Employees Succeed
The final key to motivate your remote employees is to measure their progress, establish personalized goals and provide incentives to keep them on the right track. MySammy is designed to accomplish these tasks. Instead of using intrusive spyware that invades the privacy of your employees, be honest with them and explain why you plan to use MySammy, how it works, and how it can help them to succeed in their jobs. Using MySammy, you can not only monitor your workers’ productivity levels – you can also establish individual goals for each employee. Your telecommuters will actually be able to monitor their own progress, and this often motivates them to become even more productive.
The best supervisors understand what it takes to successfully manage a remote workforce: openly communicating, establishing goals, trusting your workers, and utilizing all the features of MySammy to help them achieve and even exceed performance standards.
