[tanyadeon]

I currently manage employees who work from home. Any suggestions on how to keep those employees motivated/Engaged. Any morale booster ideas..I am open to all suggestions.

[Jodith]

A personal phone call once a week or so just to check in and see how things are going can go a long way to maintaining moral, especially if large dollops of appreciation for good work are included.

I've found, when working remotely, that my biggest problem is feeling like I'm not part of a team. A weekly or monthly conference call to being the whole group together can be handy.

Another nice communication tool to help everyone feel connected is something like a forum where everyone can easily communicate.

[Patricia]

We are in the midst of a transit strike here in Ottawa and the drive in has been difficult to say the least. Our employer has been accommodating us by letting us work remotely from home at times when we just can't get parking downtown or the thought of commuting in the traffic is unbearable.

I have found that having a to-do list online that both you and your employee/assistant has access to is a great tool. I put the jobs in order of priority and my assistant then fills in the status when it is done or where she is at.

Laughing All the Way to Work: A Survival Blog for Today's Administrative Assistant: To do or not to-do? Managing with the to-do list

I also treat her as if she was in the office and call her if I need anything or check in with her. As Jodith suggested, you should include your remote employee in team meetings by teleconference or better yet by Skype if you are able.

[Robert Ball]

I used to manage 8 offices around the world (from the U.S.) and found that the best way to keep them engaged and productive was a regularly scheduled call - at least weekly and with calls and emails in between. For the meetings, we had a fixed agenda that included an update from the week before, so you could track to-dos and commitments from the prior week, plan out the current week and look ahead as well. Emails were less formal but still frequent (I tried to send at least one daily).

We also made sure that they were included in office meetings by teleconference. Even when the audio quality was poor, they still felt engaged. The hardest part was to make sure that the rest of the home office remembered them as well - if you are managing remote employees, it's one thing, but make sure they are also included in general employee meetings, etc. and touch base often with HR and others to remind them.

Finally, remote employees should pay a visit to the office on a regular basis to keep them engaged... nothing like a personal relationship and I always tried to schedule them with folks from other areas of the office informally so they could feel a part of the culture and informal goings-on.