7 tips for good employee follow-up in a digital world

So, how can you, as a manager, follow up on employees who work from home?

7 tips on how you can help maintain dialog, togetherness and motivation.

1. Reach out with information:

Ensure that the flow of information is maintained and that the same information reaches everyone. Use email, online meetings, Teams or similar.

2. Maintain consistent contact:

Make sure you have a dialog with employees even when there is no purely practical need for it. It's a good idea to have regular 1-1 meetings, even if it's just for a short and pleasant chat.

3. "See" the employee:

Some employees are introverts, others are extroverts, while most are a mixture of the two. The typically introverted employee prefers to work quietly, without disturbance from colleagues in the same room. The extroverted employee tends to have a greater need to have colleagues around them while they work.

4. Ensure frequent debriefing meetings:

Rush meetings are a social and pleasant break from the desk and promote physical activity. If possible, make sure that some meetings can be conducted in this way.

5. Initiate coffee chats on Teams:

For a variety of reasons, it can be difficult to meet up, but it's still possible to have a good dialog. Getting together digitally is no substitute for meeting in person, but is far better than no contact at all.

6. Remember your employees:

Remember what you have promised. Follow up on what you've said and don't let anyone feel "forgotten". Do you notice that some employees disappear from the community? Involve them.

7. Have a higher frequency of department/team meetings:

By running a higher frequency of departmental meetings where everyone participates, both managers and employees will have regular meeting points. These meetings should be short and effective, maximum 30 minutes, and can be held 2-3 times a week or daily if suitable. This results in everyone in the team being continuously updated and up to speed.

If you are going to conduct follow-up meetings digitally, remember to make a note of what was discussed when, especially if there are points you should follow up on. This is important for further dialog, especially when you hold the annual evaluation with your employees. Regular clarifications and reconciliations with employees make the annual review much easier.

Employee follow-up is everything from the formal follow-up call to the informal chat in everyday life, both of which are equally important. In this day and age, you may need to conduct the formal follow-up call digitally, something many managers have become good at. But it's just as important to keep in touch with your employee on an informal level, when you can no longer meet in the office. So set aside time each week to have an informal chat with your employees.

Remember, therefore, that employee follow-up should not necessarily be an emergency measure, but a continuous or recurring measure that you must find room for in a busy working day. And where there is a need for follow-up in connection with sick leave or other important conversations, this should be documented.

There is no one-size-fits-all answer to how to conduct good employee follow-up. To make it easier for you, we've prepared a template on how to conduct good performance reviews and how to conduct good employee follow-up.