3 Effective Ways to Manage & Streamline Your Mobile Workforce

When COVID-19 reared its ugly head in the United States this spring, many employees suddenly found themselves working from home. Overnight, millions of people transformed kitchen tables into home offices and have done their best to produce quality work during very unusual circumstances.

As a business owner, you must admit that overall your now-remote team is really doing an amazing job. Most have put their noses to the at-home grindstone and you are thankful for that. With their help, you have been able to keep your company going.

At the same time, you also know that there is still room for improvement. You understand that the more effective your remote employees are, the happier your customers will be. To help ensure that you are setting your workers up to be as successful as possible while also streamlining the company’s operations with customers, consider the following words of advice.

Empower the Help of Management Software

One great way to mesh your company’s processes with your mobile workforce is with the assistance of management software. This will allow you to collect work-related information on each of your employees, offer insights on how everyone is doing in regards to meeting deadlines and other performance metrics and better communicate your expectations and work updates. Your team will log in and use the same software while working from home; this will help everyone to see what tasks are pending while having the crucial info they need in one place to accomplish these projects.

Make Meetings Short and Sweet

When you were all in the brick-and-mortar office, you may have scheduled one long meeting a week for the whole team. Shorter virtual “huddles” are your best bet now, when people are doing their best to work from home as Fido barks at the UPS guy and kids may pop in to ask for help with their schoolwork. Keep in mind that what worked well in the office may not work in a remote environment; you may find that the short and sweet meeting approach is just as effective at getting your news out and motivating your team.

Encourage Everyone to Care for Themselves

While some of your employees are at home with a spouse and kids – and may long for some time alone – others may be spending long days solo in their home, with very little human interaction. Loneliness and isolation is a real challengefor many remote workers. Be aware of this very real issue and encourage everyone to engage socially with you and/or other team members whenever they can. A Facetime phone call between two work friends can really bolster their spirits.

Also, let your team know that they should take real breaks during the day and get out to walk around the neighborhood, mask up and head to a coffee shop for a friendly chat with a barista who makes a mean latte or whatever else they need to do to not feel so alone. In turn, your workers may feel less sad and depressed, which will help them to be more engaged and work and be more effective with customers.

Remote Workers Are Now the Backbone of a Successful Company

As we head into 2021, chances are good your remote workers will continue in this capacity for some time. Continue to communicate regularly and clearly and use the help of software, short virtual meetings and lots of encouragement to keep your invaluable team on as even a keel as possible. Your company’s success and your customers’ happiness will benefit from this approach.