While many people are continuing to work remotely, more and more leaders are asking whether remote work is continuing to really work for their teams.
Answering that question is why we’ve created the new Remote Work Survey, which assesses remote teams across multiple dimensions, and is designed to enable a leadership team to quickly assess how employees working remotely are faring. Whether they’re in the office part-time or are working from home full-time, leaders need to understand what about the experience is working well, and where improvements can be made, to ensure employees are engaged and productive.
Assessing four aspects of working remotely
Available as part of Engagement Multiplier’s library of on-demand surveys, the Remote Work Survey assesses four different aspects of working remotely:
- How effectively managers are leading remote employees,
- Whether being remote has created impediments to working,
- Whether policies and processes are working for remote team members,
- If the employee feels connected and has a sense of belonging.
Manager Effectiveness
Whether or not an employee is in the office, they need feedback, support, and visibility with their manager. This section will help leaders determine whether their management team is adept and providing effective leadership for all employees.
Managing remote employees requires different skills than managing people in person, and understanding whether your managers are equipped to lead remote teams effectively, are present for their people, and providing proactive leadership – whether or not they’re in the office – are keys to evaluating management effectiveness.
Support & Resources
Is anything impeding an employee from doing their best work? This section will help leaders identify any obstacles employees are encountering that may be clouding their understanding of their role and responsibilities, or otherwise impacting their ability to work effectively.
Evaluating whether remote employees are measured fairly and transparently, whether managers support remote employees as well as those working on-site, as well as how conducive home arrangements are to working effectively, are some of the important elements of supporting a remote team the survey evaluates.
Policies & Processes
A key to making remote work really work for both the employee and the company is to ensure that policies, processes, and expectations are fair and workable for everyone – whether they’re in the office or not. Assessing factors such as meeting format and technology, as well as whether remote employees are pressured to be “always-on” \will enable leaders to understand if the company’s approach enables remote workers to perform to their fullest, or is a source of frustration.
Connection & Belonging
People who have strong connections with their coworkers and feel they are part of something bigger are happier, more engaged, and more effective. Connections with others foster communication and trust, and a sense of belonging provides motivation and confidence to bring ideas forward – all of which contribute to an employee’s overall engagement and performance. Understanding how connected employees feel with each other and the larger organisation can be difficult to measure, however, by assessing whether remote employees are maintaining (or building) relationships with their peers, are experiencing any difficulties with communication and information access, and whether they have a good sense of the company’s overall strategy and direction will enable leaders to evaluate their team connections.
“Teams are dynamic things, and while many employees rose to the challenge at the outset of COVID, reality has set in for many still working at home,” comments Stefan Wissenbach, founder and CEO of Engagement Multiplier. “Just because a team was working well a year ago doesn’t mean they are continuing to do so today. Leaders must stay on top of their organisation’s remote work experience, to ensure those working remotely are still fully connected to the organisation and are not impeded from doing their best work.”
Engagement Multiplier’s on-demand survey library makes it fast and easy to survey a team about a specific topic, such as remote working, culture, mental health, and wellbeing, or DEI. On-demand surveys can either be used on a stand-alone basis or combined with a regularly scheduled Benchmark Assessment.