Unspoken Challenges To Remote Workforces
I have heard time and time again about some of the more common remote workforce challenges, many of which revolve around technology and accountability. But today, I wanted to explore remote workforce challenges a bit further and discuss some of the unspoken challenges you may encounter as you transition your team to fully remote (if you haven’t already done so.)
1. Hiring Can Be Harder.
Years ago, having a remote workforce gave you an advantage when it came to hiring. You had a much larger pool of candidates to pick from, and workers inherently knew the value that came along with a remote work opportunity so it was much easier to fill open positions. But now there are literally hundreds of thousands of businesses around the world that are hiring remote employees, which makes the market for good help that much more competitive.
2. It’s Difficult to Humanize Your Connections.
There’s a certain loss of connection when you work remotely. Sure, you can send a message on Teams or Slack but you can’t just walk by and see what someone’s doing or just pop in. You lose some of those informal touches that help make connections. You can no longer bump into Julia on her way to lunch to say a quick hello and ask her how she’s doing, or after the meeting’s over, pulling Todd aside and just checking in with him. Those informal touches are what humanize and connect our team and give us opportunities for coaching.
3. Creativity is More Challenging.
Creativity is difficult to master even in a room full of people. And brainstorming through a video meeting is not the same thing as being there in person, it’s much more difficult. It’s hard to read body language. If you are remote, people are just staring at their screens and it’s difficult to see how someone reacts to an idea or concept. Which can really cause you to struggle in the creativity department. You can regain it back of course even remotely, but you have to work harder for it.
4. Communication Can Fall Short.
Communication has to be worked a little bit harder, and building culture is not as easy with a remote workforce. It takes longer to build up the same behaviors and strategies to work together as a team synergistically. It’s not impossible, just more difficult to obtain.
5. Coaching Is Slower.
The last challenge we have with a remote workforce has to do with developing and coaching your staff for growth. It’s harder to develop your staff when you’re not there. You don’t know if they are sitting in front of their computer struggling to work with another co-worker, or if they really don’t understand a task that was given to them unless they come forward and share that information with you. So, you miss a lot of opportunities to help them do their job more efficiently when in a remote environment.
For the vast majority of businesses, working remotely has a lot of advantages and they often far outweigh the challenges that come along with remote work. It just takes a little bit more time and patience to get the end result that everyone is looking for.
