How to Increase Collaboration Among Telecommuting Employees

Forward-thinking companies employ many remote employees. The system is great for both the workers and the businesses. Still, a few problems exist. Communication and interaction among remote workers aren’t guaranteed. Smart companies plan for this issue and ensure that their remote workers do feel connected and valued. If businesses don’t do this, workers can easily become unmotivated and uninterested. There are so many things that businesses can do to make remote working more successful, so there is no excuse. Perhaps businesses should find out more about remote working successfully here. That should help employees to engage more and it should help the business to be more productive. Alternatively companies can implement an employee engagement survey which allows them to learn more about how their employees are feeling with working from home. If you’re looking for some ideas on what you can ask, you can head over to https://www.qualtrics.com/experience-management/employee/employee-engagement-survey/ where they have a full guide on creating an employee engagement survey. For now, here’s a guide on how to increase collaboration among telecommuting employees.


Understand the Problem

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Image via Flickr by www.geteverwise.com

You shouldn’t think of a remote employee as a separate type of worker. Employees that carry out remote work have the same tendencies as your office staff. Both groups respond to the same triggers. They also grow bored of the same practices.

Research suggests that 71 percent of employees don’t feel engaged at work. Your company should try to solve this issue by improving your means of communication for everyone. Remote employees will reap the benefits of this strategy, and your regular employees will, too.

Use Video

The role of passing information to employees is thankless and often unsuccessful. The accepted business strategy to share information is the conference call. A shocking number of employees multitask during these calls, and many don’t listen to anything that’s said. The conference call is an outdated style of interpersonal communication among employees. You need something more effective.

Internet video communication has risen in popularity in recent years. It’s become the best tactic for engaging employees without making them feel like they’re wasting valuable time they could spend working. A video takes only a few minutes for an employee to film, and it can do a superior job of sharing information in a way that’s easily consumed by the viewer. Plus, people can add questions and comments when needed.

Video is the future of employee engagement. You can train your entire staff, remote and in-office employees, to watch these short segments. It’s natural outreach for a society that already monitors phones for status updates.

Conference with GoToMeeting

Watching corporate videos and interacting with them is only half the battle in employee engagement. You also want employees to communicate with one another in a comfortable setting. GoToMeeting is the best video chat tool for business.

Remote employees love GoToMeeting because of its user friendliness. With a few mouse clicks, a person can start a chat that others can join. That person can even generate a URL that will enable others to join if they’re not tech-savvy. Sessions are either public or private, depending on the situation. Telecommuters will feel like they’re a part of the office staff thanks to this product.

Other Online Tools

Each month, new online tools enter the marketplace. Many of them improve efficiency and communication among employees. Employee programs can give employees an incentive to work harder and by not only improving your business but also, increasing the productivity of your staff with the help of virtual team building activities.. You should always research new tools that will improve your company’s interpersonal relationships and job performance.

Still, many of the most popular online tools earned a strong market position due to their overall quality. Products like Microsoft 365, Gmail, and Evernote all help employees stay in touch with one another as well as their bosses. Proper use of these online tools can make all workers feel like equals, improving their job satisfaction and engagement.

Improving communication among remote workers is a worthy goal. Simply follow the suggestions above to make them feel welcome, thereby making your employees feel more valued.

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