How To Overcome The Challenges Of Working Remotely With Your Team

Question: Working remotely has increased in the last few years. What’s one drawback to the practice and how have you dealt with it?

Happy Hour Gets Pretty Lonely

Jordan Gurrieri, Blue Label Labs – Let’s grab a drink after work” doesn’t really materialize well on Slack. We’ve started to schedule our monthly team meeting in-person from 3-to-5 p.m. with happy hour or some social activity afterwards every time. It’s a great way to get teammates out of the house, working together in person for a team meeting, then socializing with some fun and casual downtime.

You’re Easily Distracted

Steven Buchwald, Buchwald & Associates – To put it simply, it’s a wonder anyone actually gets anything done anymore. Anyone who says they haven’t at least occasionally wasted time on Facebook is probably lying. The best way to tackle this challenge, I find, is to give your employees guidance — but don’t try to restrict them or block access. That’ll kill productivity as sure as a video of a cute cat.

Multitasking Becomes an Issue

Ryan Meghdies, Tastic Marketing – Working remotely is a valuable benefit to the employee and employer. However, guidance is always helpful. Set up a meeting with employees individually to discuss location options they are aware of and educate them using scientific studies with practical tips (e.g. breaks, multitasking, interruptions, blocking off time, motivation, loneliness, etc.). Keep the communication door open!

It Can Lead to Doubts

Brandon Pindulic, OpGen Media – While working remotely has a multitude of well-covered benefits, we often run into a “feedback” issue. Most employees feel like they are bothering their manager by asking questions (hint: they are not). And when working remotely, this means that calling and emailing your boss only adds to that belief. In reality, asking questions that can help advance your progress is beneficial to all parties.

[This post first appeared on the Business Collective – an initiative of Young Entrepreneur Council, which is a free virtual mentorship programme that helps millions of entrepreneurs start and grow businesses.

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