Best Practices for Your Company’s Remote Work Policies

Remote work is more popular than ever in the 2020s, but you must follow certain practices – and use the correct HR forms – to ensure it suits your firm. In this post, we’ll highlight eight practices that help you make the most of remote work.

1. Assess Remote Work’s Suitability

Not every company is a perfect fit for remote work, and there might be some roles you just can’t adapt to a home environment. However, there might still be many jobs your team members can carry out off-site.

You might choose to reserve remote work for those performing above a certain threshold. These will be the people you’re confident can keep up the good work while out of the office and – most importantly – away from oversight.

2. Use a Remote Work Agreement

It’s worth formally establishing your company’s remote work policy in writing. You should set this out as a contract that each remote worker must agree to and sign. The remote work agreement should cover:

• Key remote working hours
• Your expectations for upcoming work
• How employees should treat any equipment you provide
• Appropriate communication channels
• What a safe workspace looks like
• How to abide by data security practices

Ideally, many of the best remote work practices will be in this document. You could even use an online template that already includes a full policy to save time – many sites offer these forms for free or at a low cost.

3. Establish Necessary Remote Equipment

As an employer, it’s usually your responsibility to guarantee your team has the equipment they’ll need to work remotely. This often includes a laptop, a second monitor, and more – contractors are usually exempt from these benefits.

The law doesn’t compel you to provide this equipment. However, if it’s in your budget and there are people on your team without a laptop, it’s a worthwhile investment. You should, ideally, give them the tools they’d have in the workplace.

4. Communicate With Your Team

Poor communication could sink your remote work policy. You won’t know where your team is on a project, and they might generally feel disconnected from the company. In a physical office, it’s much easier to keep in touch with your team.

Establish clear communication channels, such as Slack or even regular Zoom meetings. Even if only some of your staff work remotely, they should still be in the loop. Make sure they can join in-person meetings, and set core availability hours even if you’re mostly flexible.

5. Monitor Productivity

According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, remote work has boosted productivity in over 50 industries. However, there’s no guarantee that this will be the case for your firm – so make sure you’re always checking and tracking employee KPIs.

Set SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound) goals for your team so they have a clear direction. You should also look more toward these goals rather than the actual time they spend working as a measure of productivity.

6. Promote Teambuilding

Teams are harder to build and maintain in a remote environment. If you plan to make the switch to home working, you must work to foster a cohesive and inclusive environment. Here are a few ways you can boost teambuilding remotely:

• Daily huddles where everyone shares updates
• Non-work channels to discuss hobbies
• Virtual coffee breaks
• Regular team video calls
• Online socials, such as a virtual pub quiz
• Collaborative projects
• Virtual skills workshops

Everything you do here could help make remote working more enjoyable for every team the firm has. Without your due diligence here, it’ll be easy for them to feel isolated.

7. Revoke Remote Work if Necessary

For many companies, remote work is more of a privilege – one that you could take away. If your staff aren’t hitting their targets, you might have to bring them back to the office. They might have distractions at home that even they’re not aware are affecting their focus.

Similarly, if remote work doesn’t seem to be working across the board, don’t be afraid to scrap it. Ideally, your remote work agreement will set out your ability to modify or terminate remote work as and when you see fit.

8. Update Your Policy Regularly

Even if you don’t end remote working, you should still adapt your policy to fit your team. If many people on your staff prefer a hybrid arrangement, make in-office attendance compulsory at least once a week.

Your policy should fit your team, not the other way around. To this end, make sure you ask them for feedback and address any common points in your updated remote work policy.

Final Thoughts

How you navigate remote work in 2025 and beyond could decide how much your employees like working for you – and if they stick around. With the right document template, you’ll be able to build a great home working policy that works for everyone.