How to Manage Remote Work Schedules? Complete Guide

The office-going rituals turned into remote office functions due to the penetration of the Covid-19 virus. It’s more than a year since the organizations are handling their entire office functions in remote work schedule form. 

The system has become quite difficult for small organizations for staff scheduling, employee monitoring, and having a real-time track of their employees.

 I am sure, there are multiple companies facing this issue, and thus, we have come up with this blog in order to discuss what are the best practices to manage your remote teams. 

Without wasting time, let’s get started!

Common Challenges Of Remote Work Schedule

There are multiple backbreaking situations that are faced at the time of remote workforce. Some of them are:

• No direct supervision
• Insufficient access to information
• Less social interaction
• Disturbance at home
• Miscommunication between teams
• Technical glitch

6 Powerful Ways to Manage Employees In Remote

Here are some major goals you need to kick-pass for smooth flow of productive work and good management of teams:

1. Daily Check-In

In remote work functions, the punch-in and punch-out systems cannot work. Thus, it’s necessary to use software for daily check-in to have a track of the employee’s availability. This will help HR in managing the attendance of their staff and employees.

2. Regular Video chats

Verbal communication is preferable over texts. 

To avoid any miscommunication, it’s important to have a meeting daily via video conference to communicate and deliver their strategies positively. It will also help the employees to raise queries instantly if they have any. 

Also, through video conferences, it will always keep the employee’s actions.

3. Employee Work Schedule

It becomes difficult to assign the day-to-day work and target to the employees. Thus, every organization should have work scheduling software for ease and inspect the outcome of each employee. This will bring transparency between the reporting manager and the team members.

4. Install Time-tracking Software

In offices, our team lead used to come to our work-stations to know our work efficiency and our ongoing projects. However, it isn’t possible for him to check during work from home mode. 

Therefore, it’s best to get Time-tracking software that tracks the total work efficiency of the employee via a remote work schedule.

 For instance, the employee has a check-in for the attendance but he contributed only 3-4 hours out 0f 9 hours in a day. Then his/her work efficiency is very low.

5. Set Schedule Reminders

Arranging meetings can become daunting with total staff and employees remotely. They may forget about the meeting date or time. 

To overcome this obstacle, create a calendar invite for the meeting. This will help them remember the meeting and all will be present for the same.

6. Limit Time Hours

At times, employees work for extra hours and then ask for additional payment. This creates fuss and builds a negative impact on each other. 

Thus, the company should ask their IT person to install the software that works for limited hours. This will make clear to employees that they will be paid only for the restricted hour as mentioned in the terms and policy of the company.

To get an effective monitoring service you must understand the correct flowchart of scheduling.

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Also Read: What You Need to Know About Remote Employee Monitoring Software

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Steps For Online Employee Scheduling

Every organization should seek the following steps during work from home schedule. Read the steps carefully:

Step 1: Assemble the Work Production Standards

While working from the office employees were assigned some additional tasks along with their dedicated jobs. However, it becomes tedious in remote work to manage extra tasks along with their target. 

Thus, each employee should be given a proper online schedule regarding their task, no. of hours, and production level.

Step 2: Examine Activity Insight

Due to this pandemic, the market buying process frequently changes. Therefore, the sales module also changes accordingly. It’s necessary to check the activity of employees if they are able to follow them on spot. 

Else being remotely available, managers will not be able to be confident for the candidate. This may lead to loss. 

Thus, the software examines the productivity of sales from each employee.

Step 3: Determine Future Activity Roles

With the list of the recent projects and tasks performed by the employees, decide and schedule the roles of the employees accordingly. This will bring a proper flow of work function.

Step 4: Focus on Outcomes/Profits

Since you have now assigned the projects to the employees according to their caliber, you need to focus on the outcomes. 

The motto is to gain profit from the employee. 

Being on remote access there are multiple hurdles that they face. Thus, it’s necessary to focus on the output and less on the activities.

Step 5: Resolve Technical Hindrance

Working remotely, every now and then there arise technical issues. Keep your IT team superactive so that employees get their trouble resolved instantly. This will not allow the work to be lagging behind. And, employees will not be frustrated at work.

Step 6: Encourage Social-Communication

Having experience of working from the office it becomes quite difficult to manage from home. There are multiple reasons like housework distraction,  emotional isolation, regular doorbells, and many such obstacles that lead to quitting the job. Thus, it is mandatory to involve regular social interactions. This will bind them and will fresh their minds. 

For example, one day a week a company can arrange an unofficial remote social meet playing few games, and having conversations regarding their lockdown life.

Step 7: Arrange Resources

It’s the responsibility to provide the necessities to the employees that are required to perform the task like WiFi, Laptops, cellphones, and headsets (client servicing). Apart from this employee scheduling software is a must for all the employees so that they can justify their salary.

Step 8: Mentor over Manage

There should be an understanding that everyone is facing issues at home. 

Thus, mentoring over managing with patience can help in motivating the employees to work. There is a cycle that needs to flow for the result and the absence of one part can not cover the cycle leading to no profit. 

Thus, value teammates to gain profit.

Employee Needs V/S Business Needs

To run an organization the contribution of both i.e. the employee and the client is important. Likewise, their needs should also be fulfilled. 

Below, we have discussed the requirements they expect during remote work:

Employee Needs

• Working from home does not mean they can work extra hours daily
• The task should be  pre-decided for easy flow
• No deduction of a percentage of salary 
• The software to check work status should be explained properly
• Proving required necessities of employee’s for work

Business Needs

• The target should be fulfilled
• Work efficiency should be maintained
• Come up with new innovative ideas
• Try to bring good business
• Should maintain their work report over the software

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Must Read: Hybrid Workplace | How it Works, Pros, Cons, Everything to Know!

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How Remote Working Becomes Beneficial?

There is no denying the fact that working from home has benefits also. Let’s count:

• Savings of Travel Money

The remote work schedule or work from home helps in saving the travel expense. The amount saved is quite good.

• No commute, no stress

As the remote work is on, there is no burden of waking up early, getting ready, and rushing for work

• Schedule Flexible time

As the employees don’t have to travel they can choose flexible hours 8 am-10 am for their 9 hours shift. They don’t have to worry about traveling in late evening hours. 

• Away from politics

No one can deny that there is politics running in every sector. Thus, in remote work schedules, it becomes zero percentage. 

• Involvement of all employees via video calls

While everyone is performing their tasks from home it becomes necessary to connect everyone for meetings or discussing the topics, this helps in involving every employee to have direct reporting with the boss. Else, in the office, only the team leads were asked to attend the meetings.

• Better employ strength

Online employee Scheduling makes a good strength of employees from full-time to freelancers.

• Work-life balance

With remote work, scheduled members help in balancing their personal and professional life by investing a good amount of time.

• Increased productivity

With the monitoring software, employees are active and thus provide increased productivity to the organization.

Why Is A Remote Work Schedule Needed?

There are some real needs of remote office work:

• Household Helps

Due to commuting to the office daily it becomes difficult to spare time for household work. It becomes a total imbalance between professional and personal life.

• Software Monitors

In a remote work schedule, the monitoring software helps to accurately calculate work efficiency. The software cost is also reasonable and a one-time investment.

• Collaborative Meeting

The research tells that in remote work the meetings are collaborative and more intellectual including all the employees to participate.

Final Thoughts

It’s recommended for companies to choose a good employee scheduling platform like Workstatus Software for smooth work. It is the one-stop solution for both managing and monitoring employees at the same time. 

Unlike other software, it is easy to use with no complex functions. 

Everything is automatic and with GPS Tracking and Geofencing features they can easily track their employee’s login locations. Thus, it can become the best choice.

FAQs

1. What are some best practices for managing remote work schedules?

Some best practices include setting clear expectations and goals, establishing a routine, communicating regularly with your team, and using tools such as project management software , time-tracking apps like Workstatus, and shared calendars.

2.  How can I ensure that my remote team stays motivated and productive while managing schedules?

Regular communication, setting clear goals and expectations, and providing support and resources can help keep your team motivated and productive. Additionally, offering flexibility in work schedules and encouraging breaks and self-care can also help prevent burnout and promote productivity.

3. How can I address challenges that may arise while managing remote work schedules?

Be proactive in identifying potential challenges and address them as soon as possible. 

Regularly check in with your team to ensure they have the resources and support they need, and be open to feedback and suggestions. 

Additionally, be flexible and adaptable, and be willing to adjust schedules and work arrangements as needed to ensure success.