The shift to remote work has transformed the conventional regular office setting into a digital workplace, bringing new opportunities for growth and unwanted obstacles. However, amongst the many pros and cons, one of the trickiest roadblocks for almost every enterprise is how to monitor remote employees.
This is important to note as adequate monitoring and management of remote workers ensure productivity and accountability, along with mutual trust building. While this may seem like any typical business hindrance, understanding the pertaining challenges and how to overcome them is pretty helpful. And that is what this piece will explore.
Keeping everyone productive without micromanaging
As a manager, if you have a remote team, it is vital to ensure that they remain on track with work without feeling suffocated due to continuous oversight. Excessive monitoring can eventually make remote workers feel overwhelmed, demotivated, and unsatisfied. On the other hand, minimal checking can also result in missed project deadlines and unhappy clients.
Solution: To find the middle ground, consider utilizing some popular project management tools. These tools provide easily accessible features that allow everyone to see what they need to do and when without having to wait for scheduled meetings. Also, it is your responsibility to make them feel accountable for their work, tasks assigned, and communication patterns. This way, they can work independently and get things done efficiently.
Keeping data safe and private
Employees working from home often use separate devices from official work devices, which are usually connected to unsecured networks. This poses high accessibility risks to sensitive company data. However, implementing the right monitoring tools aids in minimizing these risks to a great extent and also prevents privacy invasion of employees.
Solution: To handle such situations, enterprises must invest in remote monitoring solutions that promise strong cybersecurity tools to maintain a balance between employee privacy and data security. Security solutions like end-point security, Virtual Private Networks (VPNs), and two-factor authentication are often nonintrusive and help safeguard data. Also, open communication is necessary so that employees know what and why they are being monitored so that they can better understand the system.
Dealing with time zone differences
Other than remote workplaces, time zone differences create a bigger question of how to monitor remote employees effectively. Coordinating work schedules and keeping everyone on the same page about the task or project can be quite challenging. This only causes delays in task completion, making it hard to keep an eye on remote employees’ work progress.
Solution: To deal with the difference in working time zones, you can take advantage of time-tracking software. These tools help with consistent tracking of remote team members while also considering their local time. If possible, determine a time that overlaps with each member and set up meeting schedules. Additional applications like Slack or Microsoft Teams will help keep members in the loop even when remote and receive immediate updates.
Striking an adequate work-life balance
Despite the freedom and flexibility of working from home, drawing a line between work and personal life can sometimes be tough. When this thin line is blurred, employees often feel confused, exhausted, and work overloaded, resulting in decreased productivity over time.
Solution: If employees themselves are unable to set a work-life boundary with remote work, managers should help promote a healthy balance by setting clear boundaries. You can encourage members to follow regular work hours by avoiding after-work or late-night work activities, calls, and emails.
Rather than tracking total work hours, you can use the monitoring tool to track only the active work hours to prevent overworking. If the situation demands, tailored mental health support or wellness programs would be an additional aid to remote employees’ stress management and promote a more balanced life.
Overcoming technical barriers
Remote work means dependence on technology. So, if any technical issue arises, it will mess with the workflow. Say outdated software, bad internet connectivity, or incompatible devices that don’t run well together disrupt the seamless work dynamic. Then, it becomes hard for the enterprise to track remote employees efficiently.
Solution: While implementing a remote work model in the business workflow, managers must ensure that the right technology is in place with an easy learning curve so that remote employees can work well. This also means employees having their own separate work devices at home with secure internet connections and up-to-date software. If any tech problem arises, immediate remote IT support should be arranged. Training sessions can be provided for any new technology so that workers can get the hang of what tools they need.
Handling legal and ethical considerations
When determining how to monitor remote employees, the perspective should not be one way. Remote employee monitoring follows several privacy laws and ethical rules depending on various aspects, like type of industry and work location. Ignoring and not abiding by these concerns may get the enterprise in legal trouble.
Solution: Several popular remote monitoring solutions already comply with necessary legal and ethical regulations. However, it does not hurt to be extra cautious in such matters. You can consult with legal experts to ensure that your enterprise’s monitoring practices comply with local and international laws. Preparing a clear business policy of what’s monitored and how it can be helpful. You should also get employees’ consent to monitoring activities. Additionally, you should stay updated and regularly modify policies to abide by changing laws and monitoring practices.
Building trust and transparency
The most crucial element of any working relationship is trust. But it can be tricky to form one with remotely working employees. If the company is not entirely upfront and open about the business dynamics with the employees, the business relationship will lack trust, build resentment, and ultimately lead to disengagement from work.
Solution: So, enterprises should emphasize encouraging a transparent culture in the business workflow where monitoring is perceived as a supporting tool for work success instead of constant surveillance. When deciding on the monitoring tools, you should inform them about their work purposes and get their opinion. Open communication channels and regular feedback sessions also build trust and promote work transparency.
To conclude, monitoring remote employees will never be easy. There will be difficulties at some point. The organization must determine ways to resolve these possible issues. The goal here is to guarantee a positive and productive workspace.
