Work From Home Accountability: Handling Struggling Remote Employees
By now, everyone has most likely worked from home or is still working from home. Remote work has been the preference of many as we function through new circumstances. It’s safe, convenient, and economical. The thing is, working from home as a large group is harder said than done. With employees working on their own and not having immediate or face-to-face communication with everyone else, it will be harder to direct the team and make sure everyone is doing their parts. This is where accountability comes in.
What is accountability in a work-from-home setup?
Work from home accountability simply refers to leaders, managers, and employees taking responsibility for their work despite the remote setup. This means they complete tasks and projects in good time and quality, stay on top of their duties, and are committed to taking part in the team’s progress and success.
For employees, accountability means completing daily or weekly tasks, plus special projects assigned to them. Meanwhile, managers’ and supervisors’ accountability depend on organizing and managing the team, pushing everyone for success, overseeing individual tasks, and coordinating with other people for other goals and projects.
Accountability plays a big part in a team’s productivity. It helps create trust and harmony within the team, and one of the keys to success. Without it, work might be jeopardized and will be inefficient. If you think your team or one of your employees is having accountability issues, you need to face it head-on. You need to be prepared to deal with this and try to come up with a solution for both the employee and your team.
Tips on handling struggling employees
Working from home can be challenging both for individual team members and the team itself. Employees might suddenly become unresponsive or may gradually fall out of touch with their duties and underperform. When this happens, the flow among the team might be disrupted and might even come to a standstill. Here are some tips on managing struggling employees.
Talk to them and show empathy
First and foremost, get the chance to talk to them. Give them the benefit of the doubt and try to know more about their situation. Do they have an emergency at home? Are they dealing with health issues or more? Try to find out the reason they’re having accountability issues in the first place. Once done, you can try to find a solution that will improve your employee accountability.
Use messaging apps and a conference call service to communicate
Communication is a big part of working from home, especially when accountability comes into place. Use various mediums and services to establish effective communication. Utilize messaging apps to check up on employees daily. You can also utilize a large conference call service to work on your accountability and get the team together at once. With this, you’ll be able to discuss tasks and progress, address any concerns, and work together as a team.
Explore solutions with the team
Another thing you need to focus on is to explore solutions with the team. Talk to your employees about staying productive and accountable. It’s important to collaborate with them for different perspectives and ideas. You can also try to identify concerns or conflicts in the daily workflow and come up with a solution for the team. Doing so will help you improve your productivity altogether.
Increase team accountability
Above all, increasing accountability as a whole should be your goal. Here are a few ways on how you can build your team’s accountability:
- Define or establish goals
- Be considerate when measuring results or outputs
- Build engagement within the team
- Establish open and effective communication
- Give and accept feedback
Resort to termination last
Take into consideration the solutions and changes you’ve made. If the struggling employee still hasn’t improved after a period of time, they may not be a good fit and termination may be necessary. This should only be your last resort. It’s important to give your employees room to improve and adjust. However, if nothing is getting better, then letting go of that employee might be more sensible.
Keeping remote workers accountable might be a little trickier. Make sure to keep these things in mind as you continue working remotely and driving your team to success.