A Comprehensive Remote Working Guide

Remote Work. What began, for most, as an involuntary and short-term solution to our current climate is now a front-of-mind consideration for many business owners and employees across New Zealand and around the world.

For some, this newfound work style has had a positive impact, opening doors to a range of opportunities that before were beyond reach.

For others, having a distributed team of remote workers has led to challenges that feel unsolvable with even a week’s worth of video calls, remote check-ins and virtual team meetings on the calendar.

Wherever your business is positioned on this compass, working remotely is an important matter to navigate.

We can safely assume then that the option to work remotely will become an employee expectation.

As an employer, it’s important to take note of this and allow for remote jobs, or you could see top talent walk out the door to a more flexible organisation.

Read more: Check out our 2022 remote work report

Key points:

1. Remote work, initially a short-term solution, has become a major consideration worldwide due to its potential benefits.
2. Remote work allows employees to work outside the traditional office setup and regular hours, promoting flexibility and reducing commuting stress. Remote work offers benefits such as improved work-life balance and increased talent pool but also requires thoughtful implementation to maintain team culture and productivity.
3. Employers must develop a remote working policy to meet legal and care obligations to their remote teams.
4. Trust between team members is foundational for effective remote teams, with employees and employers needing to work harder to build it.
5. When managing remote teams, employers should focus on the output delivered by remote workers rather than hours spent working.
6. Implementing OKRs can help align and track remote team goals across the company.
7. Essential remote working tools like Asana, Employment Hero, Zoom and Slack can greatly improve remote productivity.

What is remote work, exactly?

Remote work enables employees to work outside of a traditional office environment and the conventional 9-5 hours.

Whether that environment is a home office, a co-working space or a local coffee shop, it’s about empowering your employees to choose where and when they work best.

A remote work approach is driven by the belief that work can be completed successfully without workers being bound to a physical location.

For an employee, to work remotely means no commute to the office, no designated desk and more flexibility in completing projects and achieving goals in a location of their choice.

For an employer, this can result in increased staff retention, reduced overheads and a happier, more productive team – but more on the benefits of a remote work approach later.

When it comes to remote working, there isn’t a one size fits all solution. It’s important to remember that remote work will mean different things to different remote companies.

As an employer, it’s up to you to develop your own definition of remote work that meets your organisation’s unique structure, goals and objectives.

Read more: How to outsource hiring international employees

Developing your own remote work definition

It’s no secret that working remotely (or from home) is a popular workplace trend seen by many as a short-term solution to our current situation. The idea in itself suggests that there is an office waiting for you, a desk to go back to and a coffee machine in the kitchen with your name on it.

What this trend has revealed is the immense potential of businesses and their remote employees in the digital age. With the right attitudes, tools and technology in place, we are seeing firsthand the lasting benefits that remote work can provide.

This realisation has compelled many business owners to use learnings from their quick-fix solutions to develop long-term remote work plans that fit their organisation.

Designing your own definition of remote work means thinking from two different perspectives; your own and your employees.

1. What does a mutually beneficial solution look like in your organisation?
2. How does remote work impact team culture?

A remote first approach, for example, could provide your employees with the flexibility they need to work when and where is best for them, depending on their current situation.

With this model, deep work is completed at home or in a remote location, and physical workplaces are for socialising, coworker interaction, and collaboration.

The best part about a remote-first approach is that you can still support and guide those who are unable to work from home effectively, as they have the option to work in the office should they choose to.

A hybrid work-from-home model is a happy medium that allows employees to enjoy the benefits of both a traditional and virtual workspace. It’s an option being considered by Google, following a recent internal survey that found 62% of Google employees want to get back to the office at some point, just not every day of the week.

A hybrid model with long-term remote work options will allow Google employees to benefit from face time with their colleagues as well as greater flexibility and family time.

On the other hand, in a fully remote company there is no office setting and your employees or freelancers never attend a physical workspace.

Having a fully remote team is an increasingly popular option for many businesses who want to access a much wider candidate pool to fill their positions and enjoy the many other advantages of a remote friendly structure.

Whatever the arrangement, make it a priority to build company culture in your remote team. You don’t want your distributed workers to be socially distanced as well as physically.

Read more: How do you welcome a remote employee virtually?

Remote working trends

Our notion of ‘work’ is on the verge of transforming completely, becoming a thing we do as opposed to a location we go to. Work hours will become fluid as we focus more on output instead of input.

To support this, emerging technologies will expand the possibilities of remote work and leaders will be required to play a more active role in supporting mental health and connection in their teams.

So, if this is the case, will we have offices at all in the future? Our research found that the thing workers miss the most about the workplace is the social aspect.

They miss easily bouncing ideas off coworkers (63%), the camaraderie and friendship of colleagues (50%), ease of communication with a team leader or manager (36%) and the general energy of the workplace (34%).

Clearly, face-to-face interaction with co-workers is one of the things that we value the most about our work experience, and we predict that future offices and workplaces will become dynamic environments to cater for this.

Designed to facilitate a range of social activities, we believe that offices will transform into vibrant places for collaboration, creation, learning and team bonding.

Read more: Remote work statistics you should know

What are the benefits of a remote team?

It’s taken a global pandemic to teach us that we can perform our role away from our traditional workspaces.

Before the crisis, the vast majority of us would manage the pressure of our daily routines without realising just how exhausted we were, partly because it’s all we’d ever known.

Lengthy commutes were the norm, but now, thanks to remote work, we’re using that time to be with our families.

1. Help your team facilitate a greater work and life balance

We know that working remotely instantly grants your team greater work/life balance and without this, the daily grind can cause workers to burn out.

If you’re an employer or manager and think your employee’s commute isn’t your problem, think again.

According to the HILDA survey, long-distance commuters have lower levels of overall job satisfaction and are also more likely to quit or lose their jobs within the next year.

Get mindful at your morning yoga session, take a stroll down to the beach, spend longer sipping that morning coffee, or just spend an extra hour in bed if you need to.

It’s things like this that can make all the difference to your remote team. It’s up to them to manage their new remote work environment and it’s up to you to guide and above all, trust your team.

Read more: Tips for employees working from home

2. Instantly open up your talent pool domestically and internationally

Gone are the days of attracting top talent within a 50km radius of your office. A remote approach means no boundaries when it comes to location. This means that your talent pool instantly increases and your new employee could work in the U.S, UK, Canada or anywhere!

The career opportunities that you provide are no longer bound by location but instead are open to different states and even countries. This means you’ll have more choice when it comes to hiring top talent. Better yet, this can lead to a decrease in time to fill roles, which can save you money in the long run.

Read more: How can an employer of record help hire internationally?

3. Reduce your overheads

This one is a no-brainer. No office space at all means no overheads for that cost centre, just like a smaller space means reduced overheads, and offices used less frequently or by less people will result in lower bills than when operating at full capacity.

Remote work. Sounds good – right?

4. Create an inclusive and accessible working environment

When introducing remote work to the mix, you create the opportunity to improve inclusiveness and diversity within your business.

Essentially, you are broadening your candidate pool to include people with different backgrounds or beliefs. This approach can help reduce inequality by creating more equitable employment opportunities for those who may not have them otherwise.

People such as parents, carers, people with disabilities and those unable to commute to the office due to their geographical location have often been excluded from the full range of career options, and this is your opportunity to change that.

Here’s how you can transform your business so everyone can participate equally in our new world of work:

Reducing Inequality and Expanding Opportunities

Remote work fosters equity by opening doors for those often excluded from traditional employment, such as parents, carers, individuals with disabilities, and those in remote areas. It promotes a more diverse, inclusive workforce—benefiting businesses and creating a fairer future.

Accessibility for People with Disabilities

Barriers in recruitment and employment processes leave many individuals with disabilities underrepresented in the workforce. With unemployment rates for people with disabilities double those of non-disabled individuals, many turn to entrepreneurship for opportunities.

Remote work eliminates commuting and in-office requirements, making employment more accessible for the 386 million working-age people with disabilities globally.

Accessibility for Working Parents

Balancing family and work is challenging under the rigid 9-5 structure, which often clashes with school hours and necessitates long commutes. This setup can lead to burnout and reduced family time.

Remote work allows parents to choose when and where they work, fostering better work-life integration and overall well-being.

Accessibility for Those in Remote Locations

Remote work removes geographical barriers, enabling employment opportunities regardless of location. Teams can now collaborate across cities, countries, or continents, expanding options for both employers and employees.

5. Contribute to increased employee happiness and productivity

This one is a biggie. The general outcome of our recent research into remote working found that remote employees are enjoying the experience of working from home (84%) and would continue to work from home regularly if given the opportunity (92%).

Ultimately, it contributes to them feeling happier and more productive in their roles.

Unfortunately, mental health conditions are common and when left untreated, expensive for a business owner. According to MentalHealth.org.nz, 66% of New Zealanders want to take time off from work each year for mental health reasons.

Of course many factors can contribute to workplace stress. A holistic approach should be adopted to ensure that as an employer, you are taking the appropriate measures to guide your team on finding the right work life balance.

In saying this, it’s fair to say that many New Zealanders like to work remote and are happier when doing so. Besides no commute to the office, workers are also enjoying flexibility and additional time saved.

By introducing flexible work policies, businesses stand to improve their desirability, increase retention rates and create a healthier (and thus more productive) work culture.

Remote work, or the option to work remotely, is a win win for both businesses and employees.

Looking for transition into a flexible workplace? Download our flexible work policy template here.

What does remote working in New Zealand look like?

Operating a remote business or managing remote workers in New Zealand can have its own unique challenges.

Organisation is key to understanding when and how to communicate with fellow remote coworkers.

As an employer or manager, setting boundaries and liaising with your remote teams to create a schedule that works for everyone puts you in a much better position to ensure your remote meetings are a success. On the flip side, operating across time zones means that there are more hours in the day for your business.

Developing your remote working policy

As an employer, you want to ensure that your organisation is covered legally and that your duty of care obligations to your remote teams are met.

Developing a policy for your business may feel like a daunting task, but our Remote and Flexible Working Policy and Remote Working Employee Agreement template can help.

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Essentially, what you need to know as an employer is that the model WHS laws still apply if your team members work from somewhere other than their usual workplace, for example, from home.

Whatever the work situation, as an employer you have a duty of care to ensure the health and safety of your remote workers. It is your responsibility to guide your team and provide advice on best practices advice on how to safely work from home.

Additionally, you should ensure your workforce understands how to work from home and complete their jobs efficiently.

Having certain work processes and procedures in place can assist in supporting your “work from anywhere” policy.

These include:

• Providing equipment and training to facilitate offsite productivity
• Encouraging transparent communication with clients, suppliers and teammates regarding a remote coworker’s arrangements
• Ensuring employees who work remotely are offered opportunities that are aligned with their office-bound team members

And don’t forget the little things! Put remote employee anniversaries and birthdays in the calendar and make sure you celebrate them.

Together, these processes can go a long way in supporting your remote work model.

How can you build trust in remote teams?

Trust is foundational for creating an effective team, so it’s no surprise that it makes up the largest part of the employee productivity pyramid.

It’s one thing to say you trust your employees, but when it comes to showing trust, you need to walk the talk. When we talk about fostering trust, it goes both ways, and this involves:

• Compliance – Employment contracts; certifications, payroll, tax, work rights
• Compensation – Fair and Legal (Modern Award & Classification)
• Clear policies – National Employment Standards, Fair Work Information, Statement, Drugs & Alcohol, Social Media, etc
• Workplace Health & Safety
• Security
• Transparency
• Communication

If you’d like to learn more about how our policies can help build trust amongst your team, get in touch with one of our small business specialists today.

Remember: Building trust is a two-way street for both employees and employers.

Employees want to know, “Am I going to get paid correctly, work in reasonable conditions and be treated with respect?”

Employers want to know, “Can I trust my employees to be positively engaged and deliver what the business needs of them?”

When it comes to building trust remotely, there are many pieces that make up the puzzle.

Communicate often

When working in remote work environments, communication and trust have never been more important. Communication goes further than just spoken words. After all, tone (38%) and body language (55%) make up the major elements when it comes to building a human connection.

This is why it’s so important to encourage everyone in your team to have their cameras on during team meetings.

As a leader in remote work, we know that you can never over-communicate. By keeping your team members updated and in the know, they’ll feel confident in your direction.

This is especially important in uncertain times when your team members are looking to you for guidance and stability.

However, did you know that 91% of employees think that their team leaders lack communication skills? What’s more, almost 1 in 3 employees don’t trust their employers, and that stat was from when we were in a physical office together pre-pandemic.

Be sure to have the right software for remote working available for your team to facilitate open communication.

Read more: Checklist for companies with remote employees

Be open and transparent

Uncertainty is a nasty trap to be caught in. Especially if managers fear their remote employees are sitting by the TV in their pyjamas munching on Doritos rather than knuckling down. This can lead to tight micro-management regimes that leave both parties feeling dissatisfied.

The solution to uncertainty is simple, and it starts with building open communication and transparency.

If you want your employees to be honest, you can’t keep them in the dark. With remote teams working in separate locations, it’s easy to forget to relay important information regarding specific roles, expectations and task deadlines.

Providing enough context and ensuring remote teams have access to all necessary information is a must. Being open and transparent starts with strong communication.

Transitioning to a remote workforce and having remote employees means you need to provide them with a platform to share, discuss and collaborate on ideas. Try using online communication platforms like Slack and keep discussions in public channels, so everyone can feel included and incorporated in meaningful conversations.

Trust is a two-way street; if employees feel trusted and valued, they will return the same level of respect when it comes to completing their work on time.

Read more: Incorporating trust into your company culture remotely

Set clear expectations

If your employees are seasoned veterans when it comes to remote work, you’ve likely already built high levels of trust in one another to complete tasks autonomously. However, for teams only just transitioning to remote work, setting clear goals and expectations is critical for building trusting relationships.

Often when offsite work arrangements fail, it is because managers did not spend time briefing their employees on what is expected of them. Be sure to clearly articulate what it is you want each team member to achieve throughout the course of the day.

If a project needs to be finished before a deadline, set reminders for those responsible for preventing anyone from steering off track.

A great way to articulate expectations and critical tasks to remote employees is through regular video calls. Whether it be in the morning, afternoon or perhaps both times of the day, virtual meetings always come in handy when your employees work remotely.

If your team meets via video call, have someone record key points and deliverables that will be forwarded to each attendee.

That way everyone knows what it is they’re doing, and you won’t need to check in on them every 5 minutes.

Read more: Goal setting for remote teams

Focus on output over hours

In this new era of remote working, the focus has been more on output rather than the number of hours and location of work. The goal is to look at what employees have to show in these flexible circumstances.

Many managers are concerned with employee performance when working with a remote workforce. When employees work remotely, most managers find it difficult to maintain trust because they’re unable to track how long each person remains in their seat, as they would when working 9-5 in the office.

Not being able to monitor remote workers means team leaders and managers have to put full trust in their employees to accomplish exactly what was agreed to.

Strict employee monitoring has been proven to impact productivity levels and lower workplace morale negatively.

Looking for more ways to be productive? Here’s how to run an effective virtual brainstorming session.

Read more: How to promote work-life balance for remote teams

Hold every team member accountable

In truth, your employees may well be snacking away at their seats or scrolling through various social media channels. Still, the real value of remote work is the ability to empower employees to manage their time and productivity better.

Remote work means people are held accountable, and if they fail to deliver, they must communicate why. Employees need to be in charge of their own time management and learn how to apply themselves in their roles.

Encourage team members to share the progress of their current project in regular meetings. This allows both you and other team members to be on the same page while keeping individual team members accountable.

Read more: Is flexible working right for your company?

Measuring Productivity of Remote Employees

Measuring productivity for remote employees isn’t about constant monitoring. Instead, it’s about fostering motivation, focus, and support. Reduced productivity in remote teams can stem from various causes, and understanding performance helps leaders address challenges effectively.

Define KPIs and OKRs

Set clear Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and Objectives & Key Results (OKRs) for your teams:

• KPIs track individual performance with specific metrics (e.g., number of customers helped, feedback ratings).
• OKRs link big business goals to individual and team objectives, paired with measurable results.

Use cloud-based HRIS software, like Employment Hero, to easily track and update progress on these metrics.

Leverage Project Management Tools

Utilise project management software to enhance visibility and accountability:

• Tools like Employment Hero and Asana streamline task tracking and OKR progress.
• Assign tasks, track completion, and balance workloads across teams.
• Prevent projects from falling off the radar and ensure equitable distribution of work.

Encourage Mini Milestones

Break larger tasks into smaller milestones:

• Boost motivation and improve task visibility.
• Create reusable templates for standardising processes, especially for new hires.
• Allow self-management to avoid micromanaging while adapting to individual work preferences.

Establish Baseline Completion Times

Work with employees to set realistic completion times for recurring tasks:

• Example: A design brief might be expected within one week.
• Helps employees prioritise better and identifies resource gaps in teams.

Regular Check-Ins

Schedule consistent team meetings and one-on-ones:

• Review progress on OKRs and daily tasks.
• Encourage candid feedback to understand employee experiences and address challenges.
• Utilise HR software like Employment Hero for centralised feedback tracking.

Prioritise Communication

Build trust and collaboration through strong communication:

• Use group chats, check-ins, and updates to foster engagement.
• Recognise achievements publicly to motivate employees and reinforce a culture of appreciation.
• Leverage tools like Employment Hero for rewards and recognition, enhancing morale.

Effective productivity measurement in remote work hinges on structured goals, robust tools, and open communication. Adopting these strategies ensures your team stays motivated, accountable, and aligned with company objectives.

Things to Avoid as a Remote Team Leader

Here are some important things to avoid as a remote team leader, and what you can do instead:

Expecting Instant Replies

Expecting immediate responses can lead to burnout and disrupt focus for everyone involved. While instant messaging tools encourage real-time communication, they shouldn’t demand constant availability.

What to do instead: Adopt an asynchronous communication style, allowing team members to respond on their own schedule. Encourage deep work and clarify that delayed replies are acceptable to maintain productivity.

Booking Back-to-Back Meetings

Constant meetings lead to “Zoom fatigue,” leaving no time to recharge or refocus.

What to do instead: Schedule 5–10 minute breaks between meetings to let everyone stretch, hydrate, and reset.

Being Accessible Without Disruption

Balancing team accessibility with your own tasks can be challenging, especially during tight deadlines.

What to do instead: Designate specific days or blocks of time for meetings and spontaneous check-ins. Update your calendar and status to reflect your availability while preserving time for focused work.

Micromanaging Your Team

Micromanaging signals distrust and lowers morale, while also wasting valuable time.

What to do instead: Empower your team with clear workflows and project management tools like Asana for transparency and autonomy. This builds trust and improves efficiency.

Gaslighting Your Team

Dismissing or invalidating your team’s efforts—intentionally or not—damages trust and confidence.

What to do instead: Admit mistakes and take accountability. Creating a culture of honesty encourages your team to own up to errors without fear.

Remote working software for productivity

Thankfully, technology had our back when the world went into lockdown, equipping us with communication tools, project management platforms and video conferencing apps.

Many of us have become so familiar with letting participants into a Zoom presentation that we’re questioning the necessity of the eleven interstate flights we made earlier this year.

Whilst there are certainly downsides to our current situation, the technologies that we have rapidly adapted to have taught us how to build connections, sustain community and remain productive in isolation; learnings that the whole planet will likely take forward as normality continues to resume. But which project management platform or collaboration tool is right for your business?

Here are a few that we’ve found to be the most effective in remaining productive whilst working from home:

Asana 

Have 10,000 things on your do list? Asana can help you manage those endless priorities. Asana offers transparency across your remote team so that you can see what everyone has planned for their workday and for the week ahead.

Create collaborative projects with other remote team members, assign responsibilities and get notifications when a teammate completes a milestone. You can also set timeframes, deadlines and assign tasks to other remote working colleagues.

With integrations into Gmail and Outlook connecting your emails and inbox and a surprisingly motivating unicorn that appears each time a task is completed, Asana is an all-in-one project management system that helps make people work better.

Employment Hero OKRs

When your entire team begins to work from home, it can be a shock to the system. Between getting your team’s set up right and maintaining focus on their work schedule throughout the day, it can be easy to lose sight of your big overarching goals.

That’s where we can help. Employment Hero’s built-in OKR feature can help your team stay productive when working remotely towards the company’s goals.

Trello

Trello is a collaborative task management tool that manages the day-to-day activities and action items of your team.

A Trello board can be individual or collaborative and is a great way to communicate with your team internally, or even external departments and suppliers who you engage for regular work.

It’s a highly visual platform and one of our favourite collaboration tools for teamwork that allows for easy prioritisation of tasks.

Google Drive 

If you’re new to remote work, there’s a chance your company hasn’t yet transferred to paperless. Google Drive is a cloud-based file management tool that allows your team to access and create files online.

Google Drive allows your team to create documents, spreadsheets, forms, presentations and much more. It’s simple to use and a change that will greatly benefit your team’s efficiency, whilst saving paper in the long run.

Remote working tools for team communication

Having conversations, sharing knowledge and fitting in a lunchtime chat has never been easier thanks to the plethora of corporate messaging resources at our fingertips.

With tools like Facebook Messenger and Whatsapp ingrained in our every day, it was about time for the work-appropriate equivalent to join the club.

Here are a couple that we have found to be especially helpful in keeping up conversation and company culture when we feel like we need it most.

Zoom

Zoom is a remote video call platform that aims to make communication easy from any location.

Remote work from presentations, company forums and virtual tours are made possible with functional tools like the waiting room and screen share. With different plans available and the most basic options for free, Zoom is a great way to connect distributed teams and make remote work work for your business.

Slack

An effective communication tool is key when it comes to setting your remote team up for success.

There are plenty of chat tools available to facilitate remote work and this one, in particular, is simple and effective. Keep your team accountable for their work arrangements and ensure no one misses an update in the business. With Slack, you can create channels for different topics as an easy alternative to email. It also has inbuilt video conferencing capability for hosting online meetings.

Workplace

Workplace is a collaborative tool by Facebook that enables businesses to stay connected no matter where staff are located.

It works by mimicking the social media experience we’re all used to; share team-wide announcements and video content via your feed, run polls and join project groups. Chat and video call functions are also available, along with features like the Knowledge Library that allows users to easily share static content.

The wrap up

The traditional office of yesteryear could soon disappear as remote companies encourage workers to perform deep work and business as usual from anywhere and save the inspiring and creative events for the workplace.

Remote work; makes a whole lot of sense when you think about it, doesn’t it?

If you are looking for software that helps you manage your remote staff from onboarding to employee management, performance reviews and OKRs, book a demo with Employment Hero today!

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