Remote work was already growing before the COVID-19 pandemic made it a necessity, and it seems like it’s here to stay.

One 2019 study estimated that 70% of workers would utilize remote work in some capacity by 2025. Then came the shutdowns, where nearly every industry embraced remote work. Now, even as vaccines have increased and things move back towards normalcy, the trend seems unlikely to stop.

Even organizations that prefer an office space may struggle to get their workers on board. More and more employees prefer remote work, going as far as taking pay cuts to stay out of the office.

These changes pose unique problems in the nonprofit sphere, where teams rely on building a culture and committing to a vision together. Remote work can feel isolating and may make it difficult to keep teams aligned, but with a few subtle changes, nonprofits can embrace remote work without hindering their productivity, mission, or efficiency.

Utilize the Right Tools for Meetings and Collaboration

Anyone who worked in 2020 (or accessed the internet, or turned on a television, or just about anything else) heard about Zoom. A relatively unfamiliar platform before the pandemic became commonplace for workers across the country along with apps like Slack, Microsoft Teams, and Google Hangouts.

Each of these help organizations host meetings and collaborate with teammates. Video meetings help people feel more connected than emails or phone calls because of face-to-face interaction. Likewise, the ability to quickly ping somebody with a specific need through instant messaging enables more seamless collaboration, even when everyone is far apart.

These types of big brands aren’t the only tools that make remote work successful, though. Lots of smaller, more niche players can support organizations with specific challenges surrounding remote work like connecting with donors, managing projects, or keeping your team aligned.

Project Management Tools

A separated workforce can lead to missed details and reminders. Tools like Trello, Asana, Monday, or ClickUp help organizations keep their teams on track so all the best work gets done at the right time.

This can prove particularly fruitful for nonprofits because of all the various tasks to track and manage throughout the organization. The whole staff has lots of work to balance. Keeping a todo list in the Notes App will only get you so far. Project management tools like these empower organizations to keep calendars, boards, timelines, and other visualizations that help your teams get work done.

Strategic Planning Software

Managing the strategic plan has always been necessary for nonprofits, but the rise of remote work makes team alignment even more important. A strategic planning software helps your organization stay focused on its mission and accomplish its goal.

Mission Met Center works in this way, functioning a home for all things related to an organization's strategic planning. Pulling from over 20 years of experience planning and implementing strategies, we built a simple platform specifically for nonprofits that enables your organization to...

• Simplify workflows by having the most important info in one secure place

• Keep teams aligned and accountable

• Access key reports and track insightful data

• Ensure your organization stays on mission all the time

Utilizing remote workers doesn’t have to cause misalignment. Keeping everyone focused and on task will empower your organization to fulfill its mission. This starts with the right set of tools.

Don’t Neglect Engagement or Encouragement

Separated workers can quickly become isolated workers, but they don’t have to be. Executive directors and other leaders can find creative ways to keep themselves and their staff members connected.

Engaging Employees

A lot of organizations are very stressed and discouraged right now. Team members are overworked and trying hard to stand firm to the mission, but continuing to push through all the time has its challenges. Executive directors know this more than most. That’s why they are uniquely positioned to make a difference.

Some practices involve simple changes to daily rhythms. Encourage everyone to keep their cameras on during meetings. Schedule a few minutes of catching up before getting into the nitty gritty. Implementing these small elements can boost morale and keep people united.

More intentional check-ins can help as well. When organizational leaders make an effort to check in with employees, when they ensure everyone has the means and support to complete their work, they show that they care for their workers. This can help establish or maintain personal relationships amongst the team members and make disconnected workers feel part of something again.

Encouragement for Executive Directors

As much as organizational leaders want to and should make sure employees get taken care of, it’s important that they don’t neglect their own wellbeing, either.

Social media can be a great place for executive directors to get active with other industry leaders through groups and forums. Sites like LinkedIn, Facebook, or Twitter offer ways to stay connected with those in your organization or people beyond it, too. A lot of executive directors and board members have found support and ideas for how to run their organizations through these kinds of digital networking opportunities with other nonprofit leaders.

If the relationship allows for it, executive directors can also reach out to specific board members for support. Keeping a regular phone call or video conference on the calendar can help ensure that no one gets burnt out or too overwhelmed.

Keep Documents and Information Secure

Security risks are the dark underbelly of remote work and can cause real problems for any nonprofit.

Organizations naturally have less control over their staff’s device usage and practices, making them vulnerable to cyber attacks. Since nonprofits often deal with sensitive information, this can be particularly alarming.

While no security strategy is perfect, a few simple changes can help reduce risks.

Consult with an IT Professional

Larger organizations may have an IT team in place ready to help, but if you’re like most nonprofits, that concept is a distant dream that you know won’t happen soon.

The good news is that you don’t need a full tech team to give advice on setting up your remote workforce for success. Most IT professionals can answer the big questions quickly and help you get started. You might outsource this work to a consulting firm, or you can also utilize your network to see if anyone can donate their time and expertise.

Supplying Devices

Letting remote workers utilize personal devices can cause big problems for a nonprofit because of the security risks involved. That’s why more leaders across industries are supplying their team with work-specific mobile devices to heighten security protocols and bring back some of the control found in an office environment.

Obviously, this can be a hefty cost, but supplying devices doesn’t have to mean getting everyone the nicest laptop possible. Cheaper options do exist. They might not have all the perks of a really nice device, but all the major players – Apple, Dell, Microsoft, and Google – have noticed and responded to the need for workable, mobile devices that can get the job done.

Utilizing the Cloud

Secure cloud storage may be the simplest step in keeping your organization’s information safe. Saving items to desktops or sending information through personal email won’t cut it. Those areas are notoriously insecure in cyberspace.

Organizations can instead encourage their staff to utilize cloud networks like Google drive or file sharing sites like Dropbox to send sensitive information. This may take a bit of training and adapting at first, but in the long run, it will save you from a ton of headaches.

Accessing VPNs

It’s almost inevitable that remote workers will work within insecure networks. Coffeeshops, libraries, and even some at-home internet setups create unsafe places to send, store, and receive information.

A virtual private network (VPN) allows the user to set up a secure connection between themselves and the internet anywhere in the world. By connecting to it, you equip your data with a sort of invisible, encrypted safety shield that protects from potentially harmful attacks.

Best Practices for Passwords

The fact is that most people don’t know how susceptible their passwords are to cyber attacks, but a few tips can help bolster security.

• Reset your password often

• Don’t reuse the same password for all sites

• Use a longer password that is hard to guess

• Don’t store your passwords on your phone or personal device

These best practices reduce the potential for password-stealing and can go a long way in keeping your information safe.

Embrace the Change

All signs point to a future of remote workers, and forward-thinking nonprofits have a unique opportunity to get out ahead of the change by learning to embrace it.

By implementing some of these practices, organizations of any size can continue to have organizational success with their remote workers.