Have a game plan for the following: Does your team have the necessary technology or access to it? Or try our Culture Questions, where we give you 300+ questions just like this that you can ask your entire team. Even the act of asking a question in the first place can demonstrate that you care, as a leader. You’re taking the temperature with this question – it’ll... #2: What fears or trepidation do you have around the team and/or company, if any? Follow-on questions: Here are 21 questions you might consider asking. However, just because you have remote staff doesn’t mean you understand their world. 1. Why are these questions important? These critical questions to ask remote employees can help support your team as a manager. I won’t just give you one question, though. When you are aware of the obstacles that your team is facing you can actively work towards mitigating the issues and finding solutions that will help your team feel better supported from a distance. What wins did you have this week? Nowadays, when most of us work from home, it’s a nice touch to kick off a meeting with a bit of fun and socializing. Follow-up questions you can ask to better understand where your team member is coming from: During your next one-on-one meeting, try asking these 4 critical questions – or some of the 10 suggested follow-up questions. Supermanagers is for managers, like you, who want to be extraordinary at the fine craft of management. Perhaps the greatest assurance during these times is you asking questions that show you’re serious about supporting them, in the first place. Follow-on questions: Access meeting notes inside of Google Meet and get helpful details through Google Calendar events. Discover more articles about employee engagement. Say hi to me on Twitter at @clairejlew. Other questions to ask remote employees in a survey: Do you feel you have a good work-life balance? Contact between managers and remote employees is unavoidably sparser than with colocated workers. • What is your work setup like? Interview questions to ask remote workers 1. Is there anything I can do to ensure you get that time to during the day to focus on your work? What do you normally do to recharge your energy? 2. The option to work from home has become an increasing demand among employees in the last few years and most companies have adopted this way of working to attract and retain the top talent in their industries. Collaborate on meeting agendas, share notes, and exchange feedback – without leaving Slack. Your goal in hiring remote workers is to maximize the advantages and minimize the disadvantages of the unique nature of remote working relationships. That’s why as a manager, you should prioritize mental health and well-being and encourage employees to do the same. If you communicate this in your plan, all employees will know times they have to be available and when they can have personal time. Collaborate on meeting agendas, take notes in real-time, and end every team meeting with an action plan. How strongly do you feel valued at work? Or, maybe you’ve been around for a while, but you’ve realized that you really don’t know all that much about the people you work with. How comfortable are you with your remote technology? Is there anything right now that is slowing you down or blocking you? You want the truthful answer of how they’re actually doing, so you can then accordingly support them as a manager. Have you been able to stick to a work routine or schedule? What do you like best and least about working remotely? It is often referred to as working from home (WFH) or telecommuting. What did you like the most about your last job? Follow-up questions you can ask to figure out the best next steps to address their fears include: You no doubt care about performance. Making the case to work from home. Questions to ask remote employees are likely not top-of-mind. We trust that people will be available when needed and that they will achieve the results for which they are held accountable. 9. Be sure to ask at least a few follow-up questions to know how you can translate your team’s answers into action. Guidance allows admins to suggest talking points for managers to discuss during their 1-on-1s. Follow-up questions you can ask to remove roadblocks for your team include: Of all the questions to ask remote employees, this might be the most paramount. Don’t groan quite yet! What aspects aren’t very clear? Purpose of these questions: environmental analysis. What do you think could help us improve daily communication? Join us live on Twitter at 12pm ET on the last Tuesday of each month for a manager-focused chat. A new employee just joined your team, and you want to make sure they feel welcome. Have you worked in a remote job before? Though previous remote work experience isn't the only predictor of a candidate's... 2. Ask how you can help. Leadership, productivity, and meeting insights to fast-track your way to being a great leader. As an employer, take a look at key deadlines, company goals, and potential project issues while building your remote policy. Or they can choose to ask those strange interview questions that are designed to reveal the inner workings of a job seeker’s mind—but really just wind up confusing everyone. Problem Solving Questions See how high-performing teams are using Fellow to level-up their meeting and productivity habits. Project management becomes a little more challenging when your contributors work remotely and it means that you need to improve your communications and engagement with your team. 5 Interview Questions to Ask Potential Remote Employees 1. COVID-19 has forced many employers and employees to start working from home, raising questions about the duty to accommodate and an employer’s responsibility to keep their team safe. What's your remote work experience? Make sure the infrastructure is in place. While the work from home model has taken some time for companies to warm up to, many managers are realizing that their team works more effectively from home. In this edited Q&A, drawn from a recent HBR subscriber video call in which listeners were able to ask questions, she offers guidance on how to work … What is your work setup? Here are some questions you can ask about your remote employees’ well-being: Working remotely definitely has its advantages but there are still several challenges that come with working from home that need to be addressed with your team. Refer back to this guide anytime you need to check-in with your remote team and understand their level of engagement! In asking these questions to your remote employees working from home, you are going to get a clearer idea of how to effectively manage individuals and what they need from you as a manager in order to be successful. Apart from providing greater flexibility for where employees are located, remote work has other major benefits for companies. Why do you want to work remotely? “Especially in the context of an abrupt shift to remote work, it is important for managers to acknowledge stress, listen to employees’ anxieties and concerns, and empathize with their struggles.”. You’re taking the temperature with this question – it’ll give you a good overall read of how a remote employee is doing. How can I improve the clarity or cadence of my communication? If you send everyone home without a clear strategy, chaos and uncertainty only follow. (Multiple choice) a) Ate breakfast b) Wore pajamas c) Brushed my teeth d) Cooked lunch/dinn… 1. How would you measure success in this role? Let your teammates share how they feel and express support for each other. 6. It’s natural and understandable. The survey includes 42 items, including multi-select and open-ended items that measure various aspects of the employee experience that are key to understanding resilience and areas where people may be more susceptible to burnout. Ask the following questions about communication to uncover how to improve the way you interact with your remote team: In asking these questions about communication, you are gaining valuable insights from your remote teams. The right questions to ask remote employees can help you, as a manager, understand how your employees are coping with these tough times of COVID-19 – and what they might need most from you as a manager. Keep meeting notes in one place by bringing everyone you work with – vendors, clients, agencies – into Fellow. What feels confusing right now? Your job as a leader is to make every employee's … 5. Are there specific projects or tasks that you feel are blocked or … What equipment or process improvements would make things 10%... 3. What are some challenges you’ve faced recently? How managers can learn about the impact that remote work environments have on their team. According to HBR’s guide to remote management, employees look to their managers for cues about how to react to sudden changes or crisis situations. Communication is key while remote so employees need to be responsive and accountable. Do you feel the company supports remote staff effectively? Now that you know the qualities you should be looking for, here are various questions that’ll help you test for those qualities in candidates. What challenges are you experiencing in comparison to... 2. Here are 10 guidelines to kick off your remote work … Everyone needs to know if they will be running the race alone for 3 or 4 days. Or, you need to find a way to warm up a conference call between remote team members and ask some get-to-know-you questions for team-building. And it’s available now. How can we support you more? How … If you’re planning to survey your employees on remote working, we can help you with that. Keep all of your meetings running smoothly with these pre-built meeting agenda templates. When have you felt stressed or overwhelmed in the past month? 15. Get our latest insights on leadership, as they're released, directly from our CEO Claire Lew. Then you’ll want to use Know Your Team. Available on Mac, Windows, iOS, and Android. Keep scrolling to read about the 15 essential questions that you can ask your employees regarding communication, virtual engagement, and roadblocks. The following questions are going to equip you to successfully monitor the efficiency and overall well-being of your remote employees. We’re expected to have answers to things like, “When will we be able to go back into the office?” or “Will certain team members will have their jobs still in a few weeks?” or “What’s the outlook of the business six months from now?“. 1. Whatever you do, just at least one question. Ask remote employees to open up about specific things you or the rest of the team could do to fix communication issues. Share. Otherwise high-performing employees may experience declines in job performance and engagement when they begin working remotely, especially in the absence of preparation and training.”. Looking for a way to easily put these ideas into practice? As a manager, it’s really important to check-in with people on your team on an ongoing basis and ensure that they have the tools and resources they need to do their job well. Connect Fellow with 2,000+ apps with the Zapier integration and automate meeting workflows. You probably already have a remote employee, or have talked about it. According to a 2018 report by Global Workplace Analytics, the remote workforce “has grown by 140% since 2005” and is still growing rapidly. Your email address will not be published. Feeling valued at work is a huge motivator, so this is an important question to gauge how valued your workers feel. How can I adjust things to help make that project more manageable right now? A single meaningful question can make all the difference for employee morale. Plan and run productive meetings… wherever you work best. Questions about remote communication. Show your direct reports that you care by remembering what they said during past meetings. Employee Happiness Survey Questions to Ask About Employee Recognition 14. What equipment or processes would improve your day-to-day work? Is your HR team fully prepared to answer the questions surrounding mandatory remote work while still keeping your employees safe? ... Officevibe empowers managers to ask important questions, review data and take strategic actions to achieve their goals. Do you think our decision-making processes include those that work remotely? What part of your job is the most draining? Give and get real-time feedback on meetings, projects, and performance through our app or in Slack. 11 Questions To Ask Remote Employees 1. Don’t fixate merely on answers as a means to give assurance as a leader. Additionally, because you’re asking about “level of energy,” it gives the other person permission to share that they may feel worn thin and drained more than usual. However, we can unintentionally hinder our team’s performance, unbeknownst to us. During these uncertain times, many of us as leaders might feel beholden have answers – not questions – for our team. Transform remote meetings into productive work sessions through collaborative agendas and time-saving templates. Are there any obstacles that prevent you from doing your best (obstacles at work, or if you want to talk about it, personal)? Communication between you and your employees becomes even more important when your team is working remotely. Without remote work policies, a disconnect can form between employees and their supervisors, which is unproductive and unhelpful. Lead 6 Interview Questions to Start Asking Every Remote Work Job Candidate (Covid Edition) I asked one million-plus LinkedIn followers for their favorite interview questions to ask job candidates. #1: How would you describe your level of energy these days? I’ve been focusing as well on checking about the productivity they’re having recently and insisting on the fact that it’s ok to be less productive given the current context. 8 Questions About Remote Work Answered . Is it a challenge for you? Have engaging 1-on-1s, never forget what was discussed, and build better relationships with your direct reports. 3. Streams are digital notepads to help you organize projects, share OKRs, and whatever else you dream up. What can we do to improve the way we communicate company updates and decisions? The transition from managing your employees face to face, in the office, to managing remote employees can be somewhat challenging at the beginning. How do I make sure my employees are ready to work from home? Ask how the candidate will communicate with the team and ask how comfortable they are using different communication platforms. Also ask how they’d prefer for you to reach them, be it through Slack, email, or video chat. If you’re in the process of transitioning to remote work, here’s a guide on the right questions to ask, challenges to anticipate, and clear solutions to those challenges. Have you been able to take time for yourself, in any way? BY HRD 26 Mar 2020. Remote work is any work that is done outside of a traditional office environment. If so, what was the experience like? The following questions are going to equip you to successfully monitor the efficiency and overall well-being of your remote employees. Among other benefits, remote work allows for a better work-life balance and allows individuals to take the initiative to get their work done, regardless of where they’re logging in from. Managing remote teams isn’t always easy when you aren’t face to face with your employees or the issues that they are facing. Here are some live pollsthat will help you do just that: #1: Which city are you joining from today? Communication between you and your employees becomes even more important when your team is working remotely. It is relevant for all employees - regardless of whether they are working remote, on the front line or returned/returning to the workplace. How do you manage distractions during the day? • What’s most challenging for you in your daily work routine? Ask these questions to improve remote communication, check-in on team morale, and address roadblocks. Answers, not questions, seem to be our focus right now as leaders. With Fellow, you can see a history of every 1-on-1 conversation you’ve had and ensure that you’re staying focused on important decisions and action items. Will you provide training and how is that delivered? Before early 2020, only 7% of Americans had the luxury of working from home. Is there an aspect of your job that needs more help or coaching. What time of day, while working remotely, are you most productive? It takes some time, trial and error to determine which means of communication is the most effective for you and which remote collaboration tools will be the most beneficial for your employees working from home. Follow-up questions you can ask to better assess their current situation and support them include: You might be nervous to ask this question… which is a probable sign you should ask it The only way you can allay fears in the team is if you know what they are in the first place. One of the most common challenges for remote workers is lack of communication and social connection. Like many startups, 15Five doesn’t have a vacation policy. Cultural Fit Questions. Have I given you enough context about why this work is important, who the work is for, or any other information that is crucial to do your job well? What issues do you run into frequently? Is it easy to “turn off work mode” at the end of the day? Connect Fellow to the tools you love to make your meeting, management, and productivity workflows better. (Word cloud) #2: What’s the strangest thing you did while attending an online meeting? Get management tips, interviews, and best practices directly into your inbox – and become a better leader. Employee engagement 濾 Have you ever worked remotely before? Some companies operate completely remotely, while others allow their employees to work from home a couple of days a week. What is the high point of a typical day... 2. 15 Questions to ask remote employees. What tools and systems does the team use? The Art of Meeting with Your Manager will help you leverage the power of one-on-one meetings. This explosion in remote workers has happened so quickly that managers have had little time to learn about or adjust to having to manage a partly remote team. In fact, 70% of professionals around the world are working remotely at least one day each week, according to a recent study.And some are even working remotely full time.. One of the biggest benefits of remote work is the flexibility it allows you in other areas of your life. Here are 10 of the best employee questions to keep your remote team engaged and connected. What is your work setup like? But people still work together on teams whose individual members have to successfully pass the baton on shared responsibilities and team-wide goals. Collaboration apps, email, time management and … Yet in order to do our job well as leaders, questions are what can offer insight, understanding, and resolution – more than we might imagine. What can I do to prevent that? We’ve created a ready-to-run survey that does all the hard work for you. 4. Managing remote employees takes some getting used to and there are certainly adjustments that need to be made to see a productive team output. It’s important that each team member feels comfortable coming to you with any questions or concerns they have about roadblocks they are facing while they work remotely. How are you adapting to working remotely? Is this person highly disciplined and self-motivated? Some companies operate completely remotely, listen to employees’ anxieties and concerns, Work from Anywhere: Shopify and GitLab on a Digital By Default Future, Synchronous vs. Asynchronous Communication: A Guide For Managers, 9 Remote Management Tips For High-Performing Teams, 10 Expert Tips for Effective and Meaningful One-on-One Meetings, 28 Questions to Improve Team Dynamics and Culture. One place by bringing everyone you work best released, directly from our Claire... Huge motivator, so this is an important question to gauge how valued your workers feel time. And time-saving templates you feel you have a set of typical … 11 high-impact questions managers should ask remote to... Telecommuting can still be hard so this is an important question to gauge how valued your workers feel record and! Know your team ’ s most challenging for you in your home for work you felt stressed or overwhelmed the! 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