The trend of having more headquarters-based employees working in branch offices and remote locations has been nothing short of tectonic. Companies have become supportive of work-from-home initiatives as part of efforts to help employees achieve work-life balance, reduce real estate costs, attract the best talent, and become more environmentally conscious.

However, many companies — both large and small — have yet to make the leap because of concerns about managing unseen, remote workers. Here are five best practices to follow when considering the shift to offsite work arrangements.

1. Address management challenges – To help you distribute workloads, implement a real-time system that monitors the status of remote employees.
2. Implement training – Keep personnel on the same page by making sure everyone has a solid understanding of your business processes. This helps ensure that remote employees are working when they are supposed to be working.
3. Leverage real-time visibility – Real-time analytics go a long way in building the confidence and trust that remote workers are productive. Analytics may also help identify those who need extra help adjusting.
4. Build trust – There has to be a level of trust with an employee working at home. Look for independent people who get results by working well on their own and with minimal direction.
5. Understand the impacts – Many managers focus on the human resources and IT aspects of moving to a distributed work environment, but overlook the impact on operations. Do your homework to understand how it will impact your business processes.

Start reaping the benefits of a distributed work environment… Contact us today at: (800) 787-4848 or email jnolte@chesapeaketelephone.com.