How to meet the ongoing challenges of remote management

NEWS RELEASE

March 2022

How to meet the ongoing challenges of remote management

TWO years on from the start of the pandemic and for many the working landscaped has changed permanently.

However, while employers and their teams have embraced and adapted to various forms of hybrid working, recruitment and HR experts believe that remote management is here to stay.

Peterborough-based recruitment firm Anne Corder Recruitment has been working with employers and managers since the start of the pandemic to offer advice on the challenges of managing remotely, and how to do it successfully.

Managing director Nel Woolcott said: “Despite so many businesses adopting a hybrid working policy, there is still much discussion around how to manage teams remotely.

“At the start of the pandemic, many people were thrown into a new way of working and most have overcome hurdles along the way. However, we perhaps didn’t anticipate that for many, a permanent return to the office is now not a viable option.

“Employers also face their own challenges of managing their teams remotely. It is crucial that staff continue to feel supported in their role and where possible, managers maintain or re-adopt an ‘open door’ approach – albeit virtually – and engage with colleagues on the lighter side of a day at the ‘remote’ office.”

Anne Corder Recruitment has teamed up with Peterborough-based HR professional Clare Eager from PeopleHR to deliver a virtual lunch and learn session on the subject, as part of its popular 2022 series of online events.

Clare will be sharing her experiences as an HR professional, not only from the past 24 months but also examining how remote management has evolved. 

She said: “Key to the session is group participation, with attendees sharing what has and hasn’t worked for them and culminating in a master ‘success’ action list.

“It’s worth investing time on connection; humans are social beings and crave that interaction – and managers who enable this to happen reap rewards through less absenteeism and an increase in profit and productivity. And of course, it tops up our resilience tanks too!”

Clare’s session runs from 10.30-11.30am on Thursday April 7. To register your place and to find out more on forthcoming events please visit www.annecorder.co.uk/about-us/events

Some tips for managing remotely:

• Communicate: Check in with your team daily if possible – even if it is just a five-minute video call to ask them how they are or what they did at the weekend. Ensure your approach isn’t one which may come across as you ‘checking up’ on them.
• Motivate: Start a ‘good news conversation’ and tell staff what a great job they are doing in these difficult times; recognise great results, praise individual performance, highlight the value of the team approach, encourage new learning. While it may be hard to be motivated when you lack the skills to complete the task, working from home give the opportunity to let your staff invest in themselves. Set them tasks which will grow their skills; and let them have time to do that online course.
• Support: Encourage colleagues to take regular breaks – and tell them it is ok swap screen time for a short coffee break or that having a dog barking or small child interrupt a video meeting isn’t the end of the world. Working from home can see some people slacking during the day and overachievers going above and beyond. In the office you can see who is in which camp but working from home makes that invisible. Flagging up issues as they arise will ensure the best outcome for both you and the employee.
• The fun factor. However big or small your workforce, it is important to retain the team spirit. Encourage staff to come up with fun team building ideas, perhaps offering a prize for the most imaginative.

Note to editors

For more information contact Cetti Long at Media Matters cetti@mediamatters-pr.co.uk or call 01733 371363.