Below we’ve broken down a few key points you need to know about the challenges of managing remote employees’ wellbeing, maintaining accountability for their workload, and how to maintain communications between teams that you might not have considered. Here are a variety of common issues and areas to keep in mind, including:

Sustain Mental Wellbeing.

It can be challenging to reduce isolation. In a typical work environment, having co-workers are identified as a social circle. Still, if no family members interact with employees while working remotely, it can feel lonely. Although the internet provides access to face-to-face conversations and interacting tools like Slack, it’s still possible to become isolated being in the same place for long periods when working alone. Sitting at home for long durations can turn into subsequent days without acknowledging it. Then, habits become formed as a result. No one warns us about the signs of becoming a hermit due to working remotely. It’s important to consider designing a work schedule that allows employees to interact with others throughout their daily routine, encouraging mental breaks and briefly shifting one’s thinking to something other than working on a project. Brief breaks are the best way to allow positive, creative energy a chance to stimulate the brain. Stepping outside and breathing fresh air can also supply oxygen and increase positive moods.

Hold themselves accountable.

Holding employees accountable for completing their daily tasks may seem cumbersome, but it can develop a pattern for successful habits of accountability. Personally monitoring their workload and assessing the timelines of projects can help manage their energy and support their ability to stay focused. Working remote requires a balance between time management and personal accountability to ensure a day’s work is completed on schedule. A sure way to ensure the necessary tasks get accomplished is to begin them as early as possible at the start of each day. Handling the more significant task in the morning will allow team members to feel accomplished at the beginning of the day and fuel other projects. Knowing a high-priority project was completed feels noble and validates a celebration for achieving success within the perimeters of self-accountability. It automatically energizes a desire to do more of what stimulates a feeling of accomplishment. So, it’s essential to emphasize getting the complex tasks out of the way first?

Maintain continuous communication.

It makes no difference whether your team was dysfunctional before implementing a remote work environment or during the process of a team breakdown; not telecommuting can be a setup for a disaster. Helping employees avoid feeling like introverts and becoming non-communicative, managers should encourage them to view time away from the office as a commuting break and a way to recalibrate themselves.

Connection and team-building skills are vital resources for remote teams to collaborate. All it takes is a little creativeness. Engaging with colleagues can stimulate creativity even in a virtual environment. Everyone will have to adjust to ensure the team remains functional while working from individual workspaces and using tools such as Zoom will assist with connecting and collaborating. Focus on bringing excitement and interaction to each meeting to provide the experience of connection.

Team building efforts are essential in remote settings. As companies begin to return to office spaces, a hybrid model may be the best way for organizations to maintain communication and operate simultaneously. But blending in-office and remote workers will present some challenges that businesses need to confront. Such as being in the workplace and employees feeling comfortable reconnecting. Instead, the exact opposite may happen? Until we’re completely clear of paying tribute to an unseen airborne virus, there may be discomfort around the office and less up close and personal communicating between workers. The important thing is to acknowledge the contrast that may be visible and find a way to integrate a new form of communication that works for everyone. The hybrid model may be the best way to reintroduce remote employees to each other after being separated for long periods.