How to Ensure Your Remote Workers Stay Productive
Since there are three times as many remote jobs as there were in 2020, it’s evident that working from home wasn’t something that was just necessary during the pandemic. Although managing a distributed workforce presents unique challenges, the benefits of remote work for employee productivity cannot be ignored. Increasing team output requires a comprehensive strategy that considers the whole company in terms of communication, engagement, well-being, trust, and ownership.
It takes time to make a difference, but it’s worth it in the end. Here are the top four recommendations for leaders looking to boost their teams’ output and performance while working remotely.
Implement Time Tracking Software
Time tracking is a useful method of monitoring the efficiency of remote staff. Now that more people than ever are working remotely, businesses rely heavily on work from home tracking systems to ensure their workers are being productive.
The time your remote employees spend on each project may be easily evaluated by their management with the use of time-tracking software. Tracking time also aids in self-management for remote employees, enabling them to set priorities and stick to deadlines.
In addition, it can assist businesses to learn how long employees really spend on various projects, so they can better plan their resources. Time monitoring helps keep remote employees responsible for their time and helps them maximize their productivity. This helps both the company and the remote worker by giving them more structure and direction in their daily job.
Establish a Good Work Environment
Company culture is the foundation for remote workers’ efficiency. Staff members won’t feel empowered to give their all without a strong culture based on trust and ownership.
Some supervisors think that measuring the time their remote workers put in might help them be more productive. However, the result of micromanagement is typically the reverse. Instead, you should put your energy into recruiting value-aligned individuals and providing them with the resources they need to excel at their jobs. This implies putting less emphasis on how busy a person seems and more on how productive they are.
It’s important for a team to be able to adapt how they operate and interact with one another in order to be successful. You’ll be doing your part to make your coworkers happier, healthier, and more invested in their job, all of which are essential to maintaining a high-performing team.
Remote work offers more freedom than 9-to-5 jobs, but you still need to foster a culture that supports telecommuting. Making a defined policy for what constitutes flexible labor for your company is essential in this regard. Allowing workers to choose their own schedules, take breaks when required, and unplug outside of work hours are all smart places to begin.
Make Online Document and File Sharing Available
It’s rather obvious that workers need to have access to the resources they’ll need to do their tasks. Despite the many issues it causes, many businesses still depend on email to distribute and exchange documents.
When team members use a social intranet document management system to store and distribute files, everyone on the team has instantaneous access to any and all files they may require, no matter where they happen to be working. Everyone on the team can see who else has access and who has made changes, and they may prioritize which documents appear at the top of the list by ranking and rating them.
Motivate With Games and Reward Success
Some people need a little more push to reach their objectives, and that’s where friendly competition comes in. It’s important to keep remote employees invested in the success of the company by recognizing their achievements, praising their performance, and recognizing their exceptional job.
Since the remote workforce does not get the morale boost of hearing their coworkers say things like, “Hey, I heard you got that big contract—nice job” or “I saw the presentation you made, it’s amazing.” Convey this appreciation through technology.
Social intranets make it simple for managers and peers to provide digital pats on the back to their team members by publishing remarks, congrats, and criticism in full view of everyone. These can be linked to objectives in order to gamify accomplishments; for instance, workers who reach a certain kudos threshold may be eligible for a reward.
Final Thoughts
There’s no denying that managing remote workers has its own unique set of challenges compared to managing employees you encounter on a daily basis in the office. And for businesses used to the concept of physical presence being a prerequisite for employment, the transition to a remote work environment can prove challenging. The good news is that there are many resources available to make the changeover smoother and additionally boost productivity.
