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    • Action plan

    Creating an effective remote workforce

    Medium effort

    Medium impact

    Remote working is nothing new, but before coronavirus it was much more the realm of freelancers or more digitally-focused businesses. Businesses forced into remote working patterns are now experiencing first hand how a blended approach can actually be of benefit. Take advantage of the many common experiences and tools available to devise an approach to remote working that suits your business best.

    • We’ve designed our action plans to be completed in the order of steps laid out and explained why each step is important
    • Customising your action plan lets you set your own completion dates, assign tasks to others and get notifications
    • Helpful tools are provided for certain steps while a tracking metric at the end will help you determine the long-term success of your effort
    • A downloadable PDF version of each action plan is available if you’d like to compete it offline
    What's involved? Ways to use this action plan Measuring impact
    1

    Spend some time learning about how other businesses have gone about setting up effective remote workforces

    Impact: low

    Why will this help?

    Learning from the experiences and lessons of fellow business leaders is the best way to direct your own improvement efforts.

    Remote working attracts better talent – and diversity of thought

    Distributed workforces reduce costs, increase the pool of candidates and create a higher level of job satisfaction, but education and communication are key.
    2

    Conduct an audit of your technology, both hardware and software, to determine whether all members of staff have the ability to work remotely effectively

    Impact: medium

    Why will this help?

    You need to know where you stand right now to know where improvements or additions are required. A simple audit will get the right people involved in this process and identify where holes in the operation currently reside.

    Is your tech effective for working from home?
    3

    Speak to your staff about what they like and dislike about their remote working set-up. What would help them be more productive, what software services do and don't get used, etc

    Impact: medium

    Why will this help?

    Everyone's remote working set-up and situation is different, so it's important to keep in touch with employees. While some will have issues with equipment, others will be finding it harder to switch off at the end of the day. Learn about the individual issues so that a new strategy fits in with needs.

    Speaking to staff about their remote working set-up
    4

    Establish a system for how staff working remotely communicate as both a team and individually with line managers

    Impact: high

    Why will this help?

    Keeping your team engaged while they work remotely is vital in this new era of working from home. Communication done in the right way makes them feel supported but not micro-managed.

    How to keep remote teams engaged virtually

    Keeping a team engaged is vital to reap the benefits of greater collaboration – but it’s easier said than done when your staff are remote.
    5

    Develop a remote working handbook that sets out how staff can work remotely but also remain productive and collaborate in the same way they would in an office-based environment

    Impact: high

    Why will this help?

    Using the right tools at the right time will make communication with remote employees more successful. Developing a handbook lets everyone know how things will be done going forward and remove ambiguity from vital business operations such as meeting structures, wellbeing checks and company updates.

    The tools you need for successful remote working

    Equip remote employees with the right tools and you’ll create a productive, collaborative environment. Our checklist shows you how.

    What can I do with this Action Plan?

    Start this Action Plan

    Add some extra information to this plan and we’ll help you get it done.

    • We’ve designed our action plans to be completed in the order of steps laid out and explained why each step is important
    • Customising your action plan lets you set your own completion dates, assign tasks to others and get notifications
    • Helpful tools are provided for certain steps while a tracking metric at the end will help you determine the long-term success of your effort
    • A downloadable PDF version of each action plan is available if you’d like to compete it offline

    Download and print

    Get a printable template for this Action Plan, fill it in with some target dates, and share it with your team. Pin it on the wall where everyone can see it.

    Get the printable Action Plan

    Learning Groups

    We also run Learning Groups on these topics where you can join other leaders tackling the same challenges.

    Find a Learning Group

    How will I know if my action plan is working?

    Staff satisfaction survey results

    Staff satisfaction surveys help gauge sentiment at regular intervals

    Why this metric?

    Whether gathered anonymously or not, staff satisfaction surveys help gauge the sentiment of your people as changes are made and impacts felt.

    How do I start tracking?

    Use an online survey to get feedback from members of staff three and six months after making changes to see what impact it has had.