Managing a remote team can be challenging as you seek to ensure that the team members remain focused on the organization's vision and mission even as they telecommute. Amid the pandemic, many employees have been forced to work from their homes and managers managing the employees as they telecommute. Here are a few tips to help ensure effectiveness as you manage telecommuting workers. 

Establish a clear communication plan
One of the best avenues of ensuring that managing remote workers remains effective is setting up effective communication within the team. You will need to determine the best mode of communication based on the resources at the organization's disposal and the employees working from their homes. Once the method is identified, ensuring that all employees are comfortable with the selected method will be critical. Schedules for when regular communication will be made can then be established and communicated to all employees. This can be based on the needs of the team as well as the objectives teams seek to achieve.

Determine the work the employees can carry out remotely.
Due to the changing environment of working, there could be some tasks that your team members may not be able to accomplish. Reviewing the job descriptions of employees to ensure that they are assigned tasks they can carry out remotely, based on the equipment and resources allocated to them, is key. It's also wise to prioritize the essential and high-impact tasks.

Put in place the right monitoring mechanisms.
While you need to ensure that your employees remain productive even as they telecommute, micromanaging them could give you the opposite effect. Establish clear goals that need to be achieved with every task assigned and identify timelines when progress for the tasks need to be shared. Establishing effective tracking methods that work for the employees could also be helpful to ensure that employees are keeping time. For instance, you could use online collaborative spaces where employees post the work done for reviews and comments within agreed timelines. Then, make yourself available, but trust that your employees will get the job done!

When working from home, the boundaries between what is professional and what is personal can get blurry. As a result, productivity at home could be adversely affected. It's important to  create an environment at home that enables you to be productive through streamlining your schedules and enhancing the boundaries between professional and personal lives.

Set aside an arranged workspace
Productive telecommuting workers have a dedicated workspace or office at their homes. These spaces are well arranged and devoid of any clutter. This arrangement aids the workers to remain focused on the tasks they are working on.

Have a routine and follow it
Creating a daily routine will help get to work in the right mindset and enhance your productivity. Your daily routine should include the time you get out of bed, when you get to work, and the time when you stop working. When creating the routine, it is important to consider the tasks that you have been allocated, the meetings that you will be required to be part as well as other issues related to the workplace.

Adopt regular communication
While working at home, it is essential to ensure that your team members are always updated with the progress you are making with your work. Making consultations where necessary when handling various tasks Working collaboratively with other team members and contributing to the team's success through the various online collaborative platforms.

Plan for household chores
While working at home, it is important to ensure that your responsibilities at the households are well-taken care of. Communicate your expectations when working at home from your family members. Make it clear the boundaries you have in place between working and handling home chores. Taking breaks to be with the family could also be really helpful- make time to spend with the ones you love!