How to manage, engage and motivate remote workers

Remote workers are the lifeblood of many organizations today.

Scores of startups have embraced a virtual model, building staff rosters entirely of remote and/or freelance workers. There are plenty of great reasons for a business to use remote staff, but keeping those far-flung workers engaged, involved, informed and motivated is not so easy.

This is an issue all businesses must now contend with. According to a 2016 report from Gallup, 43 percent of employees work remotely at least some of the time. The same Gallup report showed higher levels of engagement from employees who work outside of the office 60–80 percent of the time. However, remote workers require much more deliberate communication, direction and feedback from their managers and co-workers.

Communication can make or break your remote team’s success, so it’s crucial that managers accommodate employees’ work styles and personal preferences for receiving information. Let’s review a few ways to ensure this happens:

How to manage varying work styles