How to Do Something Your Don Know: How to Manage Remote Employees

Hiring remote employees is a great way to tap into talent from around the world. Figuring out how to effectively manage remote employees can seem overwhelming at first, but there are a few tricks and tools you can use to keep your telecommuters productive and happy.

EditSteps

EditEmailing Remote Employees

Email to Remote Employee to Check in on Progress

Email to Remote Employee to Establish Expectations

EditSetting Expectations

Establish your expectations for your remote employees up front. If your employees don't understand what you want or need from them, they won't be able to succeed. Detail all of your expectations in online documents, videos, or slideshows, and pass them along to your employees. Make sure they include all the key information your employees need to be successful at their jobs.^[1]
- For example, you could create an introductory document to give to your remote employees when you hire them that outlines their responsibilities and gives them specific instructions for their job. You could even include links to other documents or videos that address specific scenarios your employees might encounter so they know what you expect them to do in those situations.
Use deadlines to help your remote employees meet your expectations. Without deadlines, your remote employees won’t know how much time they should be spending on their work or when they should be turning it in. Deadlines will help your employees manage their time efficiently, and they’ll give you a good sense of how much work is being done by your employees.^[2]
- Deadlines are also a good way to track how productive your remote employees are being. If an employee keeps missing deadlines, you’ll know you need to reach out to them and go over your expectations again.
- You can always adjust your deadlines later on if they don’t work out. If you realize a deadline you set isn’t realistic, you can extend it by a few days.
Give your employees a quota if deadlines don’t apply to the work they do. Sometimes, remote employees are hired to do lots of short, consecutive tasks, where deadlines wouldn’t make sense. If that’s the case for your employees, try coming up with a quota they have to meet instead to help them manage their time and be productive.
- For example, if you hire remote employees to respond to customer inquiries for your company, you could let your employees know you expect them to answer 3-4 inquiries per hour.
- If you need help coming up with a quota, try doing the job your remote employees do for a day or two to see what can realistically be accomplished by one person.
Let your employees know if they’re not meeting your expectations. If you notice one of your employees isn’t meeting their deadlines or quotas, reach out to them. Mention your concerns and ask if they have questions or need help with something. If the problem is recurring, consider whether the employee is a good fit for your business.^[3]
- For example, you could email your employee and say “Hey Jon, I noticed you didn’t meet your deadlines the past 2 weeks. It’s really important that you get your work in on time. Is there anything I can do to help?”

EditCommunicating Effectively

Communicate with your remote employees in a clear and concise way. One of the challenges of working with remote employees is that it’s harder to clarify any misunderstandings. Since you’re not down the hall to answer their questions in person, it’s important that you’re as clear as possible up front when you communicate with them. If you’re giving your employees instructions or sending out a group email, write it out first and read it to make sure it’s clear. Avoid using complicated, vague language as much as possible.^[4]
- Have someone else at the office read your memo before you send it out to see if it's easy to understand.
Schedule routine one-on-one video conferences. Communicating over video with each employee gives you the opportunity to explain company updates and expectations more in depth, and it’s a great way to connect face-to-face with your remote employees. There are lots of different video chat platforms you can choose from, like Skype and Google Hangouts. Try to get in at least 1 video conference monthly and individually with each employee.^[5]
Communicate as a group using chat platforms. Sending messages over a chat platform is easier than using group email. Whenever you have a message to share with a group of your employees, you can quickly add all the recipients in the platform to a message and send it. Chat platforms are also a great way for your remote employees to communicate with each other and quickly ask questions without having to send an email.^[6]
Take time differences into consideration when communicating. Since you're working with remote employees, there's a good chance that not everyone will be working in the same time zone. If possible, try to schedule calls and group chats during times when everyone is working. It may help to keep a list of all your employees' time zones so you can refer to it when you're scheduling events.
- If you need to get in touch with one of your employees about something but it's late where they live, ask yourself if it can wait until the next day. You can also send them an email so they get it first thing in the morning.
Use emoticons and GIFs to make your employees feel at ease. Non-verbal cues like smiling and nodding play a big part in communicating, which makes communicating with remote employees over email or a chat platform tricky sometimes. You can work around this problem by adding emoticons or GIFs to the messages you send your employees. They’ll appreciate the kind gesture, and it will help prevent your messages from seeming too aggressive.^[7]
- For example, if you’re asking one of your employees why they did something a certain way, you could include a smiley-face emoticon at the end of the message to show them you’re not mad.

EditTracking Productivity

Have your remote employees log their productivity. Create a form or spreadsheet where your employees can submit tasks they complete and how long it took to do them. You can review their submissions regularly to make sure they’re on the right track. If someone slips behind, you can catch it early and reach out to solve the issue.^[8]
Schedule regular group calls to discuss what everyone has accomplished. Routine group calls are a great way to keep your remote employees accountable and monitor their productivity. You can use the call feature on a chat platform to get your remote employees on a call at the same time. Then, have everyone go around and say what they’ve been working on and what projects they’ve completed recently. Take notes during the call and review them later to make sure everyone’s getting enough work done.^[9]
Try a time-tracking software. There are a variety of softwares and apps available that let you monitor the amount of time your remote employees are spending on their projects. Some programs will even take screenshots of your employees computer screens during work hours so you can monitor what they’re working on.^[10]
- If you decide to use a time-tracking software, make sure you're transparent and explain to your employees why you're doing it so you maintain an environment of trust and respect.

EditCreating a Team Environment

Send out a weekly newsletter to fill remote employees in on company updates. Even though your remote employees don’t work in the office, you still want them to feel like they’re part of the team. Since they won’t be around to witness big changes or events at the company, draft up a newsletter each week to keep them up to date and make them feel included. You can also include helpful productivity and efficiency tips in the newsletter so it’s even more useful.^[11]
Give your employees company apparel so they feel included. T-shirts, key chains, bags, or other items with your company’s logo on them would all work. Giving your remote employees a small piece of the company will help them feel like they’re part of the team.^[12]
Host in-person get-togethers for your remote employees. Planning a meet-up is a great way for you and your employees to get to know each other outside of emailing and video conferencing. You can invite your employees to visit your company's headquarters, or you can arrange a trip to a different location and bring some people from the office along with you.^[13]