{"id":65540,"date":"2019-09-19T17:52:12","date_gmt":"2019-09-19T21:52:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/?p=65540"},"modified":"2020-09-03T05:53:12","modified_gmt":"2020-09-03T09:53:12","slug":"my-remote-employees-are-starting-to-feel-a-little-too-remote","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/professional-development\/management-leadership\/my-remote-employees-are-starting-to-feel-a-little-too-remote","title":{"rendered":"My remote employees are starting to feel a little TOO remote"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

As the space between work and not-work becomes ever more blurred, questions about how to do this thing we plug away at for 30 or 40 or 70 hours a week become all the more expansive. In <\/em>Work Flow<\/strong><\/em><\/a>, we delve into the novel dilemmas created by the new ways we work, as well as timeless questions about ethics, gender assumptions, and toxic work situations (and how to escape them). How we work is an important component of how we live\u2014and we\u2019re here to help you do better at both.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Something messing with your flow? Unload your work problems here, and you\u2019ll not only feel heard but you\u2019ll also get unbiased, real-world advice. (That\u2019s something your work sibling\/spouse just can\u2019t offer.) Tell us everything: <\/em>ideasbywe@wework.com<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I manage a distributed team\u2014everyone works from home in various locales, though we do get together at least once a year for a company-wide meeting. It\u2019s challenging to juggle different time zones and schedules, but we make it work with weekly team meetings over video conference as well as one-on-one video meetings. (We also email throughout the day, and do phone calls as needed.) <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

While most of my team members seem to be responsible work-from-homers, one of my newer employees is regularly unavailable at various points throughout the day\u2014hours can go by before I get a response to a pressing question. In our one-on-ones, he acts like everything is fine\u2014which I suppose it is, since he gets me his hard deliverables on time. I haven\u2019t brought up the issue for fear of seeming like a micromanager. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Am<\/em> I being a micromanager by taking issue with his periods of unavailability, or is he doing something legitimately wrong? How can I, in general, have better visibility and oversight into what my remote team is doing? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ah, these are the struggles of our time! According to a Global Workplace Analytics survey<\/a>, 4.7 million employees (3.4 percent of the U.S. workforce) work remotely at least half the time, and 80 percent to 90 percent of the U.S. workforce says they would like to do so at least part-time. Working remotely is often linked with greater worker happiness and efficiency, and it also frequently helps both workers and companies save money, and results in other nice things like reduced greenhouse gases<\/a>, since it cuts down on commutes. We\u2019re likely to keep moving in the direction of remote teams, as FlexJob\u2019s second annual Future Workforce Report<\/a> found that 38 percent of full-time, permanent employees will likely work remotely in some capacity within the next 10 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, it\u2019s a perfect time to ask these questions, really. And your desire to not be a micromanager is laudable\u2026 but you\u2019re definitely going to have to start managing a bit more. The good news is: Doing so is going to be helpful for everyone on your team, including you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Step 1: Set expectations<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Your first order of business\u2014if you haven\u2019t done this already\u2014is for you to lay out your expectations for your team. What expectations have been set already? If the answer is \u201cnone,\u201d then it\u2019s time to set them. Answer the following questions about how you <\/em>want everyone to work together, taking \u201cfear of micromanaging\u201d off the table for a second.<\/p>\n\n\n\n