The year 2021 was a turning point for businesses with offices. But, as 2022 came in, many companies learned valuable lessons for the last year about work culture, office space in general, and, most crucially, how to work remotely.
In 2022, you may be wondering what the future of remote work holds for many work-from-home individuals. And, as we go toward a remote-first end, it’s essential to consider how to successfully incorporate individuals into the company culture.
Table of Contents
How to Manage Remote Teams?
(Tips for Employees and Employers)
Reconsider what “onboarding” entails
Many businesses have a somewhat organized, standardized onboarding procedure that relies only on physically being in the office. With the pandemic, many companies have realized that establishing a remote culture necessitates unconventional approaches to many parts of the business.
The good news is that many conventional onboarding activities can be replicated online, such as a welcome brunch or an initial stand-up.
Another option to make new employees feel welcome is to have teammates record welcome messages or videos and send them to the new employee’s mailbox on day one. Virtual lunches that mimic real-life office activities are also possible.
Companies should consider getting back to basics in terms of organizational structure: timely follow-ups, near-constant availability to answer queries, etc.
Consider your company as a remote-first organization
Most organizations built their company culture around the office before the pandemic, with remote work being an afterthought. Today, it’s critical for businesses to reverse that mindset.
Organizations need to recognize that they have to build a company culture around working remotely while also acknowledging the utility of a physical office. It entails a thorough revamp of the onboarding process, as stated above, and a total rethink of team organization and operations in general, particularly the feedback process.
It is critical that your company’s understanding of remote work difficulties evolves and that you seek to solve them in meaningful ways actively. Many organizations, like Google and Slack, have established annual engagement surveys that ask employees for valuable input on their remote-first setup so that you may improve it with new or changed policies that benefit employees.
Make time for meaningful discussions about topics other than work
One of the things that the pandemic has severely harmed is the intimate bonds that coworkers create when they spend their days in the same office area. In our remote-first world, creating meaningful activities and interactions is crucial.
Buddy lunches, in which people are matched with another person every other week to eat together through Zoom, are another fantastic approach to developing camaraderie in the remote-first environment.
Achieve Work-Life Balance
According to various research, having a rich personal life outside of work is more likely to rank higher than money, recognition, and autonomy as the most desired success criteria. Most people’s lives are disrupted by changing dynamics, wreaking physical and mental havoc.
Discipline is required for a successful work-life balance. You can also establish a work environment at home by setting up a specialized workspace. At home, things are different than in the office, when everything reminds you of work.
Keep in mind that the office is still available
Even if the pandemic worsens, it’s crucial to remember that the workplace is still open for you to work once a week, once a month, or once a quarter.
However, tact is required; while your product manager may want to come into the office three times a week, your software engineer may prefer to continue working remotely.
It’s critical to consider each employee’s preferences but giving them the option to come into the office is always a safe bet.
Don’t forget about events, either: with the proper COVID-19 measures (vaccines, tests), team gatherings at the office may help develop a strong culture and remind everyone that they’re a part of a team.
You Can Also Read: Comprehensive Guide to Remote Work
Remote Work Tools
You and your team are expected to perform at the same level regardless of where you work. It is easy for us to get most of our daily work done with the help of an internet connection.
With an internet connection, you can post a blog post, send a follow-up email, shoot a video chat with a team member, or create a workflow to nurture prospects and customers in your CRM.
However, when it comes to remote work, we all know that having an internet connection isn’t enough. Tasks and impediments will inevitably develop that will be difficult to manage remotely. Communication and productivity can become a nightmare when dealing with these complex tasks and cross-team collaboration.
As the demand for remote work has increased, technologies and resources have been available to assist you in being as effective as possible while working from home.
Here are some of the tools that may help you navigate remote work in 2022:
CarbonFreeConf
During pandemics, Carbonfreeconf.com was founded by Quentin Kral to enable researchers to exchange their results digitally rather than face-to-face.
The CarbonFreeConf platform may be used to organize sophisticated virtual meetings between researchers. It includes several valuable features for researchers to share their work more efficiently and with a few clicks.
It’s an all-in-one solution that lets scholars worldwide organize conferences, manage attendees, develop websites, host meetings, record speeches, display posters, and more.
Popwork
Popwork enables managers to work more effectively with each remote team member by establishing simple and effective management rituals such as weekly one-on-one meetings, monthly step-back sessions, and long-term goal tracking. Popwork assists in the preparation, execution, and follow-up of each tradition.
SuperTeam
SuperTeam is email-based software that allows you to automate your workflows in seconds. With features automating workflows to task management and scheduling software, you may safely send emails from any email provider on any desktop, tablet, or mobile device. The developers promised there would be more apps to be supported in the future.
During the pandemic, the app was launched, allowing users to safely automate their workflows by writing 1-2 phrases in an email. That email address will receive an email with a link to the automated job in the 3rd-party app, which you must validate. It works with Gmail or Microsoft Outlook on any desktop, tablet, or mobile device and requires no data storage.
Zonka Feedback
Zonka Feedback is a renowned employee feedback platform that allows businesses to gather employee sentiments efficiently. It is a powerful tool for gathering feedback, gaining digital insights, and optimizing web experiences.
There is a need to solicit employee input frequently to engage staff and boost productivity, retention, and teamwork. This remote technology can help businesses better understand how their staff work.
Organizations can use Zonka Feedback’s employee feedback platform to create customized surveys for different teams, departments, and even touchpoints. Thus, anyone can choose from various survey templates to make quick and engaging feedback questionnaires.
QuillBot
QuillBot is an AI-powered tech writing platform. It offers free online writing and research tools to help students, authors, researchers, lawyers, educators, ELLs, bloggers, and anyone whose job requires them to efficiently research and articulates their ideas become more effective, productive, and confident writers.
The goal was to make writing as painless as possible. The tools are game-changers for anyone who wants to correctly communicate ideas, overcome writer’s block, or procrastinate. QuillBot is there for you whether you’re writing emails, essays, or social media postings.
The main distinction of QuillBot from others is that it’s a one-stop writing platform with various helpful tools. Its tools include a paraphraser, grammar checker, summarizer, and citation generator that help users with anything.
You can use QuillBot from creative storytelling to language refinement to editing for clarity to extract vital information. As a result, you will be less distracted and won’t have to open many tabs to access different writing tools.
How to Welcome Remote Work in 2022?
People are now working in areas other than traditional offices more than ever before. As a result, coworking spaces have become their growing sector. Going to work, sitting at a desk for eight hours, and returning home is no longer the unquestioned standard.
Keep these pointers in mind if you want to get the most out of remote work. Also, look at these remote working tools, which have proven to assist firms and individuals in coping with the rapid shift to working from home.
