With this sudden change in working arrangements, nonprofit organizations have developed survival strategies that will allow them to continue working and growing despite the challenges posed by the pandemic. Furthermore, nonprofits are doing all they can to deliver their services and mission by devising new strategies that will allow them to navigate the new work environment characterized by remote work.
Here are eight ways to manage your nonprofit teams and get the most out of them as you adopt the remote working arrangement.
- Develop a policy
Remote work is a new thing, and like any other new project, it can lead to confusion if not handled well. As a nonprofit, you need to have a work policy that clearly defines what your remote workers need to do, how to do it and what to expect from them. A clearly defined policy encourages accountability from staff and lays out guidelines and instructions regarding how to access data in your organization.
- Ensure a good flow of communication
Communication is everything in a remote work environment, and therefore you need to set clear expectations to ensure all tasks are accomplished, and goals are met. Ensure managers are readily available to connect with employees and use messaging tools internally to keep in touch with the staff.
- Trust your employees to do their work
As you implement a remote work arrangement, the best thing you can do is build trust with the staff. Set the right expectations on work hours and what should be delivered, and develop the correct schedules that your staff should follow. After this, the most important thing is to trust your staff to deliver their work without micromanaging them.
- Regularly check the well-being of your staff
Not being with people can be difficult and isolating for remote workers. As such, you should find ways of regularly checking colleagues who work remotely and work hard to share information like you can if they were working in an office. Carry out video conferencing to connect with them and see how they are doing.
- Group meetings
Group meetings should be scheduled at a specific and consistent time so that staff will not have to start and stop what they are doing to accommodate the meetings. This will help maintain the productivity of staff when many of them are working at home and juggling other personal schedules such as learning and house chores.
- Keep schedules as normal as possible
Communicate your expectations regarding working hours and encourage transparency in feedback from staff on feasible schedules. Stay focused on the normal business hours and make it easy for all your staff to stay in touch.
- Invest in the right tools
At the peak of the pandemic, most organizations found themselves struggling with the technology and tools needed to work from home. As a nonprofit that considers remote work, you should provide your staff with the technology needed and the training necessary to work from home. Have the right technology infrastructure that allows secure remote access to your staff and subscriptions for necessary software.
- Make good use of feedback and constructive criticisms
Feedback is a stepping stone to improvement. This is also true for remote work. As a nonprofit leader, recognize and celebrate the achievements of your staff and ask for more where it is necessary. Motivate your staff to do better in areas of weakness for better results.
