Nov 26, 2022 • 15 min read
Replicating an in-person office to a remote work setting might be impossible and overthrow the benefit of working remotely.
However, there are ways to make your workplace feel like an office without actually disregarding the ultimate purpose of working remotely. Many employees are more familiar with traditional offices if they haven’t experienced working from home before.
Therefore, switching to remote work might be a massive step for them. Businesses operate in different settings, but their mission or objective is often the same—efficient flow of operation, happy customers, high-quality products/services, and a collaborative team. However, their success is accomplished in different ways!
Every team member has different needs to cope with the changes of working remotely more efficiently. DigiWorks provided some insights on how you can provide the distinct needs of your remote workers in their workplace.
Let’s say you have remote workers who enjoy constant communication through meetings and other employees who adore working independently. How can you give them their needs without setting aside the others?
You’ll find out through this article!
You’ll learn:
Use the DigiWorks platform to hire, manage, and pay remote talent from all over the world.
Let’s start by distinguishing the functions and purpose of each work setting.
Traditional offices often rely on synchronous communication because they have the advantage of working side by side.
They usually held real-time discussions during face-to-face meetings and worked at the exact location. It is easy for them to collaborate since they can communicate well with minimal interruptions.
On the other hand, remote work functions virtually and works best with asynchronous communication. Companies usually work with a global talent pool and hire employees from different countries.
Therefore, communication can be a little shaky, especially with the wrong management, knowing that employees have distinct timezone and manage their workspace differently. But, the best part about working remotely is the flexible workplace, wide range of benefits, and it is more cost-effective.
That is why individuals who find it hard to stay out of their homes or just want to work on their laptops usually apply for remote jobs. Don’t worry!
You can still chit chat and collaborate with your colleagues, track each other’s performances, and provide your best output even while working remotely. The only difference is that everything revolves around virtually!
Having excellent communication in an organisation doesn’t mean having meetings every day.
But, working asynchronously is not also about working on your own without the help of others. You can still get responses from your team and ensure that your employees are interacting even through asynchronous communication. Just make sure that your communication channels are not ‘dead’.
Lead your daily interaction to drive your entire team to leave messages every day. Communication doesn’t always have to be related to work. Even just sending motivational quotes or asking how they are doing will help employees be more engaged in their work.
No one loves going to meetings every day, but managers can still organise occasional meetings for usual check-ins. That will ensure that everyone is working on the same page and that no one is left behind on past projects. You can also use meetings to address problems they are going through and let everyone leave suggestions.
Some employees tend to feel isolated and disconnected when working remotely, but that doesn’t mean that scheduling multiple meetings a day is the best solution. Some employees don’t have the same situation and probably prefer working independently.
Having more interaction doesn’t mean that it will increase productivity. Some just get bored listening to unnecessary Zoom meetings and waste time rather than just doing their tasks.
The best way to resolve the problem with communication is by allowing your employees to sign up for occasional meetings that will serve as their ‘virtual coffee breaks’. In that way, those who are willing to connect with their colleagues have the chance to do so, and those that might be a little too busy can just focus on their own work.
In the office, employees celebrate each other’s birthday by having a mini-party or going to dinner after work hours. That is not the usual case in remote work, mainly because everyone works at distant locations. But, that doesn’t mean that you cannot acknowledge special occasions or achievements with employees.
Even by just simply sending greetings on group chats and encouraging other workers to do the same can undoubtedly impact someone’s day and make them feel valued.
Managers can also organise fun meetings where they can chitchat for a bit and sing their colleague a birthday song. If possible, you can also send birthday perks, gift cards, or flowers as a way to celebrate with them.
The best part of working in the office is talking to your colleagues about random things and instantly connecting with them. You can have the coffee room or snack area to talk about non-work related stuff, enjoy meals together, and even go out on weekends.
Socialising might be easier when working in the traditional office, but that doesn’t mean that it is impossible in a remote workplace.
Remote workers often come from distant locations and have different backgrounds. Wouldn’t it be fun to have short trivia or any watercooler conversations with your co-workers during breaks?
You can join chat rooms or meetings to talk about your personal lives and learn about each other’s traditions and cultures.
At DigiWorks, we witnessed how it changes the productivity and engagement of our remote workers when there is a connection built within our workplace. There are many things to talk about when you come from different backgrounds.
Thereby, we never limit our coworkers when they create conversations, share experiences, and build strong bonds because that solidifies our company.
Use the DigiWorks platform to hire, manage, and pay remote talent from all over the world.
DigiWorks is an easy-to-use platform that helps small businesses and start ups hire amazing remote talent from around the world. DigiWorks offers a way for you to hire, manage and pay people from all countries. If you find an amazing virtual assistant from Philippines, a content writer from Nigeria, or operations manager from South Africa – manage and pay your entire team from one platform with no hassle.