5 Challenges of Working and Managing Remotely | Peoplelogic.ai Peoplelogic.ai Follow Mar 11 · 4 min read

With the unfortunate spread of the COVID-19 virus, organizations of all sizes have started to roll out remote work policies to ensure the health and safety of their employees. For many companies, remote work is commonplace and the tools, systems, and rigor have been baked into the company culture for years. For others, remote work may be a new frontier and could be the cause for alarm around productivity, team building, and performance. Below, we cover the top 5 challenges typically seen with remote work policies and how Peoplelogic.ai can assist your organization in ensuring a smooth and productive transition.

#1-Company Culture & Morale

Perhaps work from home and remote work policies were in place from the start, or perhaps remote work is new to your organization. Either way, with the public health crisis-inspired fervor, organizations big and small, private and public, are rolling out new work from home policies to curb the spread of COVID-19. While such an effort may change how companies view these policies for the long-haul, there is no denying that this occurrence can evolve our corporate culture forever.

As we continue to move further into the era of endless connectivity, more people can perform their professional duties from anywhere in the world. Peoplelogic.ai can serve as a valuable partner, collecting invaluable data that can help you better understand what effect working remotely has on your company, the culture, and the morale of your employees. ( HINT: you may notice that productivity actually increases, but some of your superstars prefer to work on a schedule that is not a traditional 9 to 5.)

#2-Communication

Communication and dialogue may be seen as a challenge, but organizations should take a page from the technology sector’s playbook. Virtual teaming tools like Zoom, Slack, Office 365 Teams, and battle-hardened email all serve as a conduit to allow colleagues to connect in real-time, meet face to face digitally, and keep lines of communication open internally and externally.

If your business relies on external meetings, moving to a remote backup plan may cause a bit of anxiety. Peoplelogic.ai integrates flawlessly with your CRM, and communication mediums such as Email, to ensure your clients, partners, and prospects are being followed up with, communicated to appropriately, and ensures your team continues the best-in-class service you would normally expect.

#3-Instilling & Continuing to Build Trust

There is no question about it, building trust between team leads and employees is a challenge to begin with. Some organizations have found it more difficult in the remote-enabled world. The key here is to continue to maintain transparency but make a concerted effort to realign expectations and workloads of your employees.

Peoplelogic.ai provides automated guidance and coaching to help managers ensure that they are clearly setting expectations, that work is being followed up on, but most importantly that their team members are confident in what needs to be done, and that the employees have the means to adequately complete a task. If your organization is dependent on drive-by management, this “new world” may be a bit unnerving. Peoplelogic.ai helps managers take an unbiased approach to empowering their team members.

#4-One-on-One Meetings

When the stock markets are crashing, fear is spreading, and your company is rolling out a remote work policy for the first time, the people operations side of management is at risk for falling through the cracks. It’s essential now, more than ever, to maintain open lines of direct communication with the employees on your team.

By integrating into the tools you and your team are using on a daily basis, Peoplelogic.ai is going to take the guesswork out of people management. If the platform identifies signals that a manager is missing the beat on taking the time to connect on an individual basis with their team members, we’ll surface those insights and guide the manager down a pathway to ensure one-on-one meetings are not lost.

#5-Tracking Work & Productivity

Do you quantifiably know what your team is capable of while working remotely? You may have assumptions and they may be on or off base. It’s critical to have systems in place that can identify when someone is being underutilized, or perhaps even more importantly, if you have an employee that is going above and beyond but teetering on the line of burn out.

Peoplelogic.ai empowers sales, product, and support leaders to maintain a pulse on their team, even if everyone has to work remotely. By using the data your team is already generating, Peoplelogic.ai can ensure that nothing is slipping through the cracks, that no employee is taking advantage of the lack of oversight, and that no individual is burning themselves out in an effort to ensure that they seem like they are working (Yes, this can be a problem with remote workers that do not have the experience with the flexibility, or are not familiar with remote work culturally).

Peoplelogic.ai will also surface a host of insights, guidance, and recommendations based on the team’s activities, behaviors, and personalities that give organizations a completely unbiased overview on the efficacy of their remote work policies and the effect they have on the bottom-line.

At the End of the Day

We’re at a key inflection point with the spread of COVID-19 and organizations making remote work a necessity. With the sudden increase in remote work arrangements it’s critical for organizations to be tuned into their people and productivity. Peoplelogic.ai keeps you looking through the windshield, offering forward-looking insights into how your team is spending their time and how managers can better empower their team. Peoplelogic.ai can help ensure a smooth transition to a more dispersed working environment while maintaining team productivity and engagement. Get started for free.