Remote workers, also known as telecommuters, are becoming more prominent in the workplace these days. The benefits of utilizing remote workers is that you can take on employees that do not live in your geographic area, you can reduce your office costs, and you can create flexible work schedules that better serve your business. But there are challenges to utilizing remote workers that every company must overcome. The biggest challenge is working out how to manage employees that you do not see in person on a regular basis.

Consider Deadlines Instead Of Work Hours

You could ask employees to clock into a workday through an Internet program or by utilizing a phone system, but even that is not going to give you an accurate method for monitoring their work. Instead of worrying about having remote employees put in the prerequisite 40 hours per week, consider setting deadlines for tasks and holding remote employees to those deadlines.

When you utilize deadlines, you allow your remote employees to make their own schedule and that can increase productivity. You will also find morale on the rise when employees are empowered to determine their own work routine.

Have Regular Meetings

If your remote workers are close enough for them to reasonably drive to the office, then you could have regularly scheduled meetings at least once a week with all remote workers. If your team is scattered around the world, then create regular meeting times, either by phone or video conference, that you can meet.