The remote working option had been with us long before the COVID age, but today, it is one of the most popular working options. For that reason alone, thousands of workers were forced to stay at home and do their work stuff from there. Many were overjoyed with such a thing, it meant no more morning commutes, not seeing your family or friends, evening commutes... People thought that it was a piece of cake, working from home that is. However, after a year has passed, some of us began regretting our decision to let go of all of the office commodities and swapping them blindly to warm blankets at the comfort of their homes.

What's The Problem?

It is a dream come alive to wake up in your own room, get yourself a nice cup of coffee and all it takes to start working is opening your laptop. Day after day, you being to get bored with such routine, and everything suddenly is not so good as it looked when you started. What are the reasons?

1. We are social animals and the is no way around that. By staying at home, we ignore the need to communicate with other people. The things we are unconsciously after are attention and new information. 2. We miss our colleagues. Most of us make friends at the office. If you miss Jim or Pam, it may be the case of your deteriorating mood. 3. We miss the commotion. I am not talking about going on a two-hour bus journey to your office but a constant (almost) feeling of being on the move. Something was always happening and you were there, now you are simply not.

How Can Managers Help?

When running a company on a remote basis, certainly, there are some tips that you can use to make employees' lives significantly better.

1. Choose The Right Tools Make sure that no member is left behind on any tasks. Everybody should be well-informed at all times and aware of everything that happens in the company. We use a lot of tools like Notion for many shared workspaces and organizational purposes, Asana for tasks, as well as Jira for some projects. We are also in the process of developing our own management tool that we'll use internally, check it out over here.
2. Talk With Them It is important to let the remote employees know that you are there for them as their manager. It can get lonely for them, moreover, they may become lost in the sea of endless tasks and responsibilities, so it is a good idea to talk to them every day. Acknowledge their success and results, be a good sport even if they are little on the down side of things, the quarantine gets to the best of us.
3. Treat Them Equally It is really easy to exclude remote workers from the overall company flow. They may not be in the same room with you, but remember that they are in the same team as you and have to be treated as such. When something happens in the company — let them know. If you are planning some sort of a celebration, offer them to come and spend time with you! They will surely appreciate such a gesture and be in good spirits after that.
4. Motivate Them There are a lot of things you can do to motivate your remote team. Do a little meeting with all of them or individually and ask them what would they need to become better at what they do. As a company, you can provide them with office supplies or new tech which will make them even more productive. Do not micromanage them, as it only makes them doubt that you trust them at all. Be sure to check on them every once in a while though and whether they are okay.

Summary

There are lots of things to consider when you are managing a remote team. The most important piece of advice that I have for you is to treat them equally, just as other team members. It may be hard to communicate and face-to-face communication is undoubtedly easier, but it is your job as the manager to adjust and do your job to your best ability.