How to establish the best conditions for remote working and internal communication

5 elements to offer the best remote employee experience

In 2019, research by Randstad showed that 69% of workers in our country would prefer to telework, even if their companies did not yet offer this option. The COVID-19 pandemic has transformed this scenario, overcoming the reluctance of many organisations and making teleworking an essential resource for any business.

The experience of this period will facilitate a total adaptation of the digital environment of organisations toward intensive teleworking, and will definitively promote the use of internal communication tools (such as LumApps) in organisations that offer this way of working to their employees.

Remote working or teleworking is now a reality, thanks to constant advances in technology and communications. Managers can now easily manage their remote workforce, ensuring their productivity and commitment to the organisation.

However, companies need to change their culture, in order to evolve from environments with a significant component of physical interaction to ones where the focus is on digital collaboration. For many of them this represents a great challenge.

To this end, experts from LumApps (the collaborative social intranet) highlight 5 elements that are key to creating the best conditions for remote employees:

1. Involve the staff

Whether dealing with employees who are physically present most of the time but occasionally work remotely, or new employees who are going to telework, the organisation must ensure that all of these people are in alignment with business objectives and collaborate seamlessly with each other.

How can this whole and varied workforce be remotely engaged? With proactivity. The organisationmust plan ahead for teleworking, and make sure that employees have the conditions necessary to carry out their activity: ensuring that they have adequate equipment and communications in their new location, offering training on the tools most commonly used in a teleworking environment, or providing an experienced mentor to guide the remote collaborator are just some of the options. It is also necessary to ensure the cohesion of the teams via online meetings.

2. Improve communications

The involvement of the staff is essential, but it is also essential that remote work at the level of both the organisation and the different work teams benefits from maximum transparency, speed and effectiveness in the transmission of information.

How to optimise information flows? First, the organisation must provide its employees with an internal communication platform, such as LumApps. You should also regularly distribute information through internal newsletters and encourage video meetings. The organisation must also analyse feedback from employees working in remote environments in order to quickly and effectively apply the necessary improvements. Last but not least, corporate security policies and guidelines for remote work must be established.

3. Ensure collaboration

When establishing a remote working environment, a company must bear in mind the need to foster teamwork in this new digital ecosystem. Maximising collaboration between employees is essential for business continuity and subsequent success.

How to guarantee internal collaboration? Intwo ways. On the one hand, the companymust promote a culture of teamwork in the organisation from the outset. To this end, it must offer digital spaces for communal working (communities / internal forums) that facilitate team collaboration.

On the other hand, the company must invest in tools for productivity and collaboration. In this sense, it is essential to:

• Have office automation and collaboration tools such as G Suite or Office 365
• Implement project and task management solutions to optimise work
• Create and organise a digital repository of team files

4. Connect the team

Man is a social animal. In the case of remote workers, they need to be able to meet frequently in a virtual way (and face to face when possible): interaction drives motivation and increases productivity.

How to have connected and cohesive teams? Companies must weave theirown socialisation networks thanks to resources such as digital communities and social networks. Thus it is more important than ever to:

• Show appreciation to remote workers within the community.
• Encourage group chats and conversations
• Conduct team knowledge sharing sessions.
• Organise virtual lunches or ‘happy hours’
• Encourage virtual breaks

5. Progress at all times

The last element highlighted by experts is based on the need to develop the telecommuting environment, both in terms of technology and the human experience of the on employees.

How to evolve continuously? For continuous optimisation of the teleworking environmentonce created, experts from the LumApps internal communication solution underline the importance of company managers working on emotional intelligence. In order to do this, they must start by putting themselves in the shoes of the remote workers, trying to experience what they feel in their day-to-day life and promoting a good working environment in their homes. LumApps also advises collecting feedback from these employees about their integration within the organisation, integration

which must be consolidated with face-to-face teamwork activities. Lastly, it is also advisable to offer training to the group to boost their personal development.

Conclusion

Once the COVID-19 pandemic has been overcome, companies will turn their attention to building digital environments that are 100% adapted for intensive teleworking, or, at best, optimising the environments they have used.

They will have learned from both positive and negative aspects of their experience during this period how they should guide this process of transformation and consolidation. In this context, internal communication tools like LumApps (which can be fully integrated with G Suite and Office 365) are going to be crucial.

At Intelligence Partner we have an in-depth knowledge of LumApps, and we also have experience in implementation, maintenance and support work for this tool.

Contact us and let us know your current situation and your goals. Our experts will analyse this information, and then work with you to design the best conditions for teleworking and internal communication with your remote employees.