Remote work has become mainstream in many business and industrial segments because of the push it received from the lockdowns and border closures during the Covid-19 pandemic. Though it has both pros and cons, for small businesses, it increases flexibility, scalability, and savings, wherever remote work is a viable alternative. Furthermore, remote work has become an integral part of the digital world connected through the internet and cloud technology. While a remote work environment is a prerequisite for working from home, it has become an essential part of the business world where employees need to stay connected to business operations, software, dashboards, and applications from anywhere.
Basically, a remote working environment would mean an ecosystem accessible through the internet or mobile phone networks where the related applications can function efficiently and communication can be conducted quickly and effectively without physical collocation. So, the first step towards building or facilitating a remote working environment would be setting up the right technology, tools, facilities, and infrastructure for remote collaboration. Meanwhile, system security is one thing you should always pay attention to when setting up a remote working environment. Hence, you must get the most resilient systems and software that you can afford and that you will need.
Then you would need subscriptions to services like instant messaging, collaboration tools like Microsoft Teams or Google Workspace, or tools like Trello, Asana, or Notion. Here, the number of options is endless, but one has to choose according to the company’s needs. Many of these can be done with complimentary subscriptions, but free subscriptions may also entail permitting access or use of some of your data. That is why premium subscriptions may be preferable or necessary. Slack, WhatsApp and Zoom are good options for video meetings or conferences.
Managing remote employees involves defining all the expectations and parameters, treating them as individuals, and understanding their unique or diverse needs, as their home settings would be different and not the same as the typical office workspace. Monitoring and micromanagement won’t work, but assignments, turnaround deadlines, and flexibility in shift timings for logging into systems can work well most of the time. Clear and honest communication is also an inevitable part of effective management, and more so when you need to manage work remotely. Furthermore, occasional meetups, get-togethers, and fun can increase bonhomie, while regular video meetings for updates and collaboration can help to keep productivity on track. Here, one should remember that creating a perfect remote working environment goes much beyond ensuring the required infrastructure and facilities for digital connectivity and video meetings because that can be established just by spending money and hiring contractors or service providers. However, eventually, the success of a remote working environment will depend upon how a company overcomes or tackles the various challenges associated with managing a remote workforce.
