The rising popularity of the remote work model may be the only positive side of the Covid-19 global crisis. Employees who started working remotely due to pandemic-related restrictions enjoyed the opportunity to work whenever and wherever they wanted, having the chance to better organize their time and achieve much-needed work/life balance. 

The increased control over the work hours led to boosted productivity accompanied by enhanced employee satisfaction. 

Companies that offer flexible work hours can expect lower turnover rates since the recent FlexJob survey shows that 76% of employees would stay at their current positions if flexible work hours were on the table. 

Also, by adopting a flexible work model you may attract a higher percentage of younger and more diverse employees. The study from 2019 reveals that a staggering 92% of employees aged 18-27 set flexible working hours as a top priority when choosing a job.

For all these reasons you should consider devising and implementing a flexible work model that will best suit your company. And, here, you’ll find several tips on how to choose and implement flexible work arrangements that’ll benefit your employees and business alike.

Create Flexible Time Policy to Build Trust

It’s a well-known fact that every successful business is built on trust. And this trust between managers and employees may become a tricky issue in the remote work environment. As the Harvard Business Journal states business leaders need to believe in employees’ integrity and the ability to deliver high-quality results. Simply put they need to do what their teams are doing and whether they intend to continue doing it. 

However, they may struggle with getting objective reports without in-person communication and strict schedules. 

If you want to tackle this issue effectively, create a flexible time policy Involve your employees in setting realistic goals that can be equally distributed, allowing for flexibility. Then define measurable benchmarks for performance evaluation and organize virtual or live team meetings to discuss these 

By adopting a remote work model, you may encourage employees to make work-related decisions independently. This can enhance their confidence and drive them to make bold career moves and take on leadership roles within their teams.

Employees are most engaged and productive when they feel appreciated and see that you trust their judgment. Once you build an atmosphere of trust between you and your teams, start implementing flexible time arrangements partially to see the effect it may produce. Once you see that this work model positively affects productivity and employee satisfaction you can transfer to running fully distributed teams. 

Include Technology into Your Workflow

Securing open and seamless communications with your remote teams can be the most challenging task that requires the assistance of advanced digital solutions like internal messaging channels and video conferencing platforms. 

Although video conferencing can’t replace real-life conversation it allows employees to “read” facial expressions and match them with the tone of voice. Video conferencing can prevent possible misunderstandings and battle the feeling of isolation alike, enhancing mutual understanding and respect.

Employees can rely on word processing apps to create documents and share them with colleagues, leave comments or edit them. By looking into the document history, managers can gain insight into employees’ processes and progress on specific tasks without having to micromanage them.

Finally, try investing in virtual assistant software to get a clearer picture of the way your employees use their time at work. You can analyze this data to enhance productivity and time management, make more accurate predictions, and set reasonable deadlines for future projects.

Provide Regular Check-ins

The Harvard Business Journal findings show that employees seek support and guidance from their managers. Even though digital solutions can eliminate the need for you to hover above employees’ heads and micromanage them, this doesn’t mean that they don’t expect informative feedback from time to time.

Running fully remote teams means that you need to step up and be available and approachable to your team members via different channels, offering consistent guidance and support.