Working remotely already comes with a fair share of working apart, so it’s the manager’s job to create inclusivity to avoid alienating your remote team.

Diverse companies with a mix of staff who come to work physically and remote workers, often forget that companies should treat all staff equally. Neglecting workers tells on the company’s overall productivity over time.

To avoid reduced productivity, here are a few ways to ensure that you’re not alienating your remote team:

1. Communicate clearly

Remote workers may feel alienated when they don’t get carried along with the organization’s big picture. Also,  when information doesn’t reach them as promptly as other staff. To avoid this, have clear communications with employees, and if it’s a vast team, the company can use in-house newsletters to communicate effectively. You can also have one-on-ones to ensure open and regular communication.

2. Don’t ignore their goals

It’s important for managers to ensure that their remote employees have career goals that align with the company to feel part of a bigger picture. When this isn’t the case, remote workers may feel sidelined and won’t hesitate to look for other job opportunities.

3. Acknowledge their work

Some remote workers work behind the scenes, and it’s easy for their ‘gratitude letters’ to get lost in the mail. Recognising your remote workers’ efforts will not only make them feel part of the team, but it’ll prompt more work to be done and the work to be done well.

4. Don’t Play Favourites

Favouritism can go a long way to mar the relationships in a company. It is not only a way to increase the chances of alienating your remote team; it also causes division in the company. Playing favourites affects overall performance as the favourites lose the opportunity to grow, and the other teammates may become lackadaisical as well.

5. Beware of scapegoating

Sometimes, remote workers may get blamed for things that are not their faults. It is peculiar human behaviour, as people who are in the office often blame people who are not in the same office. While this may feel like a problem for the staff to resolve, it may cause the remote workers to withdraw and stop giving 100%. So, ask questions and get to the root of each allegation.

6. Normalise asks for staff input

Remote workers may feel alienated because their inputs are not needed. Companies need to create and maintain an open-door policy to make it easy for employees to approach them comfortably, especially those that are not in the office physically – remote workers.

7. Encourage collaboration

Invite ‘everyone to the party’ by creating an inclusive environment through activities, tools, meetings and fairness in dealings. Collaboration makes it almost impossible to fall into the trap of alienating your remote team because there’ll always be one activity or tool to remind the managers about all the members of a specific team.

In conclusion, alienating your remote team may make them feel disrespected and detached from the company, and, in the long run, it affects their jobs. This feeling may result in them needing to look for more inclusive jobs, and no company wants to lose employees like that.

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