When preparing to roll out a remote-work program to your team, take some time to ask and answer the following questions first.
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DOES INTEGRATING REMOTE WORK HAVE THE SUPPORT & ACCEPTANCE OF ORGANIZATIONAL LEADERS AND EMPLOYEES?
Remote employees need to feel welcomed and valued as they join your team, despite not being physically in the office. Prioritizing remote work should be viewed as an opportunity for the organization to expand its talent pool and enable its employees to optimize home-work life balance. In order to establish acceptance, leaders need to communicate by announcing remote work, the reasons for doing so, and the optimism surrounding the decision.
WILL REMOTE EMPLOYEES HAVE THE NECESSARY INFRASTRUCTURE AND TECHNOLOGY TO ADHERE TO SECURITY AND COMPLIANCE REQUIREMENTS?
How will you ensure remote workers take all necessary steps to address information security, physical security and legal compliance requirements. Engage your internal security and compliance colleagues to review your remote policy, identify any gaps and develop a plan to fix them.
ARE COMMUNICATION GUIDELINES ESTABLISHED?
Make sure guidelines address considerations such as differing time-zones, technology and tools used, and preferred methods of communication. Instant messaging can help remote workers feel included in day-to-day work. Weekly all-hands meetings also keep people connected and projects moving forward.
IS THERE A CLEAR AND TRANSPARENT PATH to ADVANCEMENT FOR ALL EMPLOYEES?
Many employees worry going remote may stymie their careers. Be prepared to schedule regular check-ins and provide ongoing feedback to reassure them. Think about how you’ll highlight wins and communicate tools and training opportunities to all employees, regardless of where they sit.
HOW WILL YOU ENSURE COMPANY CULTURE IS INCLUSIVE?
A critical threat to remote-work success is allowing a "speak up or risk not being seen" ethos to dominate workplace culture. Not all employees are overtly assertive, especially in a remote situation. Acknowledge and support these employee differences. Think through onboarding. How will you translate your team’s in-person welcome experience to employees joining remotely?
Once you’ve figured out those high-level questions, be sure to give some to answering tactical ones, too. Workspace, for example. Do all eligible employees have the equipment—tech, paper, pens—to support remote work? A strong, reliable internet connection? If not, what’s your plan?
Implemented well, that is with the employee experience balanced against company goals, productivity can be maintained, if not improved, with the introduction of remote work. Just stay actively focused on the factors critical to success.
Interested in diving deeper into creating and optimizing modern work experiences? Tap into the insights and tools of our partners at Werklabs, the employee experience experts.
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