The recent global health crisis has completely shaken the way we live our lives and this is particularly true for how we work. Across the world, businesses are working hard to find suitable solutions to make sure their work continues even as employees work from home. While many are finding it very difficult to cope, some see opportunity in the crisis and are quickly adapting to the situation. Companies that can make the most of the present circumstances will likely emerge as stronger and resilient organizations with a solid foundation.
In this article, we will help you make important decisions that can help you place your business on such a path with workers working remotely via WFH (work from home). We will provide principles that you can use to create a customized and adaptable remote employee management policy. We will also focus on how employee monitoring apps can help you achieve that goal. Without further delay, here are the most important principles for managing remote employees:
1. Communication & Coordination
Communication lies at the heart of an effective employee management strategy. However, what you practiced before and what you have learned over the years may not be applicable under the present circumstances. This is because you will be communicating with your team members via digital means. You would have to review your manner of communication and add a personalized touch to it to maintain a good working relationship. Communication and coordination are two sides of the same coin. To improve coordination, you would need to provide simple and clear directions and goals. Make sure they are available in written format so your employees can access them at any point. Furthermore, you may have to invest in purchasing a Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) subscription to further boost coordination. Remember that communication is a two-way street, so give your workforce the tools and confidence to communicate anything with you. A personalized touch can, therefore, go a long way in boosting the morale and dedication of your team.
2. Flexibility & Leadership
The current circumstances will test your leadership skills to their limit. This is primarily because your working experience has predominantly taken place in a shared workplace. New situations and norms call for a new set of strategies. This is in line with what we discussed previously, that personalized relationships matter a lot. These are difficult times as economic uncertainty, job losses, healthcare, and social isolation is affecting everyone’s mental health. Your employees should be able to see you as a leading figure; someone who provides a sense of security in these troubling times. Flexibility, therefore, requires you to reevaluate your organizational policies concerning employees. Where suitable, be open to different working hours; consider providing room for extra leaves, and offer ample praise for a job well done. Avoid being overbearing and give your team members the autonomy to complete tasks and projects. In short, you need a new set of policies and a different style of leadership for managing a digital workforce.
3. Efficient Task Management
This aspect of remote working ties in what we have previously discussed. With remote working, it can be difficult to set out proper timelines, clarify goals, and effectively maintain a proper workflow. Besides, team cohesion suffers as tasks are delayed and issues arise. While you can iron out new rules for better task management, we strongly suggest you use a task management app. Avoid opting for free options because many of them lack the necessary features such as task visualization. An effective program can greatly boost workflow and provide a seamless transition to digital working. A smart option would be investing in an employee time tracking program. Remember to take your employees’ opinions on-board before you purchase such an app.
4. Transparency & Accountability
The previous points that we have discussed raise aspects of behavior and policies at your end. However, there are certain things that you as a manager can expect from your employees too. This concern issues such as transparency and accountability. It is perfectly natural to enforce a system of check and balance that ensures your employees are performing up to the mark. Similarly, your team will also welcome a system of accountability to make sure their efforts are not overlooked. The most effective way you can do so is by using an employee monitoring app. As with task management apps, we suggest you avoid free monitoring apps because they rarely work in practice. If you are wondering which employee monitoring app is right for you, do not worry, because we have an option on the table.
5. XNSPY Employee Monitoring App
XNSPY is an employee monitoring app that is specifically designed for use by managers seeking to boost productivity and improve accountability in the digital workplace. A distinguishing aspect of the app is that it is highly flexible, allowing managers to maintain a good balance between privacy and monitoring.
How Does It Work And How Much Does It Cost?
XNSPY can be installed on both Android & iOS devices and supports a wide variety of OS versions for both. Smartphones synched with personal computers provide an effective way through which you can access all work-related information. We will explain in detail what you can do with it, but let’s discuss the cost of the service. There are two different subscription packages for managers. The basic version costs USD 4.99 per month for a year-long subscription but has a narrow set of features. For the feature-packed version, you would have to subscribe to the premium package that comes with a price tag of USD 7.49 a month.
How XNSPY Helps Managers
XNSPY employee monitoring app offers a comprehensive set of features. Let’s take a look at them and how useful they are.
• Telecommunications Monitoring
Managers can view all phone call data through detailed call logs for each device. You can keep a record of all incoming, outgoing, and missed calls, along with call duration information. This way, you can match data to confirm your clients/customers are receiving care. Furthermore, you can also record phone conversations and keep recordings. This is particularly useful if customer support and client engagement is a crucial metric in measuring employee performance.
• Productivity Tracking
You can use XNSPY to track each individual’s productivity. For example, you can view app- related information, read emails, monitor web browsing history, take screenshots, or view instant messaging and social media apps. If the situation demands it, you can even block specific apps, and the user will know that you have blocked access. A record of all emails and instant messaging apps such as Skype can provide you a complete picture of communication within your organization.
• Location Monitoring
This feature is especially useful if you are involved in the shipping, transport, logistics, or customer service delivery business. You can view the location of each device in real-time, and use XNSPY’s geofencing solution to stay alert to important changes in location. In short, this feature provides a comprehensive picture of where your team members are and which direction they are headed in.
• Instant Alerts
The instant alert feature is a highly sophisticated feature that provides real-time alerts based on your preferences. For example, you can add anything to the words, contacts, or locations watch lists. XNSPY will generate an instant alert the moment it detects any activity related to anything added on any list. You do not have to go through the hassle of monitoring all data from each device as that can hamper your performance. With this feature, XNSPY automates the monitoring process and informs you of exactly what you need to know. You can quickly intervene and make changes if and when required.
• Device Use Reports
The app will generate detailed device-use reports that contain information such as top-callers, longest call-durations, calendar entries, and most-visited websites.
• Feature Management
Most employee monitoring apps frequently overlook this feature. With feature management, you can simply activate or disable any XNSPY feature with a single click. This allows you the flexibility to use a customized set of features for each member of your team. This is useful because any member can raise privacy concerns regarding a specific feature. You can assuage such concerns by simply turning off that feature and allowing the team member to view collected data. They will be unable to alter the data and can assess their own performance too. All these features can be used through the XNSPY control panel. You can access the control panel through any web browser or any device, all you need is internet connectivity. The panel is intuitively designed so you won’t have much trouble in getting to grips with how it functions. Now that we have reviewed the app in great detail, there are some important points you need to keep in mind before you purchase a subscription for an employee monitoring app like XNSPY.
Important Considerations
As the aforementioned features demonstrate, XNSPY can collect a large amount of data. Many of these features are quite intrusive and can strongly violate the privacy of your workforce. This is why we strongly suggest you install the app on a company-owned device. This way, you can keep strict boundaries between professional and personal lives. Furthermore, you have a legal obligation to obtain the proper consent of your workforce before you use such an app. Not doing so can land you in serious legal trouble. Another important point to bear in mind is that your employees should ideally have a say in how they are monitored. Explain the app’s features in detail, and consider their opinion before you set customized features for each person. This is the most effective way of promoting accountability and boosting transparency, particularly in the digital workspace.
1. Communication & Coordination
Communication lies at the heart of an effective employee management strategy. However, what you practiced before and what you have learned over the years may not be applicable under the present circumstances. This is because you will be communicating with your team members via digital means. You would have to review your manner of communication and add a personalized touch to it to maintain a good working relationship. Communication and coordination are two sides of the same coin. To improve coordination, you would need to provide simple and clear directions and goals. Make sure they are available in written format so your employees can access them at any point. Furthermore, you may have to invest in purchasing a Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) subscription to further boost coordination. Remember that communication is a two-way street, so give your workforce the tools and confidence to communicate anything with you. A personalized touch can, therefore, go a long way in boosting the morale and dedication of your team.
2. Flexibility & Leadership
The current circumstances will test your leadership skills to their limit. This is primarily because your working experience has predominantly taken place in a shared workplace. New situations and norms call for a new set of strategies. This is in line with what we discussed previously, that personalized relationships matter a lot. These are difficult times as economic uncertainty, job losses, healthcare, and social isolation is affecting everyone’s mental health. Your employees should be able to see you as a leading figure; someone who provides a sense of security in these troubling times. Flexibility, therefore, requires you to reevaluate your organizational policies concerning employees. Where suitable, be open to different working hours; consider providing room for extra leaves, and offer ample praise for a job well done. Avoid being overbearing and give your team members the autonomy to complete tasks and projects. In short, you need a new set of policies and a different style of leadership for managing a digital workforce.
3. Efficient Task Management
This aspect of remote working ties in what we have previously discussed. With remote working, it can be difficult to set out proper timelines, clarify goals, and effectively maintain a proper workflow. Besides, team cohesion suffers as tasks are delayed and issues arise. While you can iron out new rules for better task management, we strongly suggest you use a task management app. Avoid opting for free options because many of them lack the necessary features such as task visualization. An effective program can greatly boost workflow and provide a seamless transition to digital working. A smart option would be investing in an employee time tracking program. Remember to take your employees’ opinions on-board before you purchase such an app.
4. Transparency & Accountability
The previous points that we have discussed raise aspects of behavior and policies at your end. However, there are certain things that you as a manager can expect from your employees too. This concern issues such as transparency and accountability. It is perfectly natural to enforce a system of check and balance that ensures your employees are performing up to the mark. Similarly, your team will also welcome a system of accountability to make sure their efforts are not overlooked. The most effective way you can do so is by using an employee monitoring app. As with task management apps, we suggest you avoid free monitoring apps because they rarely work in practice. If you are wondering which employee monitoring app is right for you, do not worry, because we have an option on the table.
5. XNSPY Employee Monitoring App
XNSPY is an employee monitoring app that is specifically designed for use by managers seeking to boost productivity and improve accountability in the digital workplace. A distinguishing aspect of the app is that it is highly flexible, allowing managers to maintain a good balance between privacy and monitoring.
How Does It Work And How Much Does It Cost?
XNSPY can be installed on both Android & iOS devices and supports a wide variety of OS versions for both. Smartphones synched with personal computers provide an effective way through which you can access all work-related information. We will explain in detail what you can do with it, but let’s discuss the cost of the service. There are two different subscription packages for managers. The basic version costs USD 4.99 per month for a year-long subscription but has a narrow set of features. For the feature-packed version, you would have to subscribe to the premium package that comes with a price tag of USD 7.49 a month.
How XNSPY Helps Managers
XNSPY employee monitoring app offers a comprehensive set of features. Let’s take a look at them and how useful they are.
• Telecommunications Monitoring
Managers can view all phone call data through detailed call logs for each device. You can keep a record of all incoming, outgoing, and missed calls, along with call duration information. This way, you can match data to confirm your clients/customers are receiving care. Furthermore, you can also record phone conversations and keep recordings. This is particularly useful if customer support and client engagement is a crucial metric in measuring employee performance.
• Productivity Tracking
You can use XNSPY to track each individual’s productivity. For example, you can view app- related information, read emails, monitor web browsing history, take screenshots, or view instant messaging and social media apps. If the situation demands it, you can even block specific apps, and the user will know that you have blocked access. A record of all emails and instant messaging apps such as Skype can provide you a complete picture of communication within your organization.
• Location Monitoring
This feature is especially useful if you are involved in the shipping, transport, logistics, or customer service delivery business. You can view the location of each device in real-time, and use XNSPY’s geofencing solution to stay alert to important changes in location. In short, this feature provides a comprehensive picture of where your team members are and which direction they are headed in.
• Instant Alerts
The instant alert feature is a highly sophisticated feature that provides real-time alerts based on your preferences. For example, you can add anything to the words, contacts, or locations watch lists. XNSPY will generate an instant alert the moment it detects any activity related to anything added on any list. You do not have to go through the hassle of monitoring all data from each device as that can hamper your performance. With this feature, XNSPY automates the monitoring process and informs you of exactly what you need to know. You can quickly intervene and make changes if and when required.
• Device Use Reports
The app will generate detailed device-use reports that contain information such as top-callers, longest call-durations, calendar entries, and most-visited websites.
• Feature Management
Most employee monitoring apps frequently overlook this feature. With feature management, you can simply activate or disable any XNSPY feature with a single click. This allows you the flexibility to use a customized set of features for each member of your team. This is useful because any member can raise privacy concerns regarding a specific feature. You can assuage such concerns by simply turning off that feature and allowing the team member to view collected data. They will be unable to alter the data and can assess their own performance too. All these features can be used through the XNSPY control panel. You can access the control panel through any web browser or any device, all you need is internet connectivity. The panel is intuitively designed so you won’t have much trouble in getting to grips with how it functions. Now that we have reviewed the app in great detail, there are some important points you need to keep in mind before you purchase a subscription for an employee monitoring app like XNSPY.
Important Considerations
As the aforementioned features demonstrate, XNSPY can collect a large amount of data. Many of these features are quite intrusive and can strongly violate the privacy of your workforce. This is why we strongly suggest you install the app on a company-owned device. This way, you can keep strict boundaries between professional and personal lives. Furthermore, you have a legal obligation to obtain the proper consent of your workforce before you use such an app. Not doing so can land you in serious legal trouble. Another important point to bear in mind is that your employees should ideally have a say in how they are monitored. Explain the app’s features in detail, and consider their opinion before you set customized features for each person. This is the most effective way of promoting accountability and boosting transparency, particularly in the digital workspace.
Master Employee Management During The WFH Remote Work Shift
There are many factors to consider when managing employees now working from home remotely. Keep these tips and tools in mind to ensure that your company doesn't lose any momentum during lockdowns, pandemics, or other disasters limiting in-person working.
