Posted by Everything including the people, pets and the things we adore can be complete distractions while working from home. As tempting as it seems, sitting on your couch, switching on the TV, taking long intervals during work hours and sipping on coffee; remote work productivity becomes difficult to achieve. Thus, it leads to utter frustration among employers or enterprises.
So, how can such deflecting factors be fixed when working from home job comes with its own set of challenges?
Implementing some tips to improve remote work productivity and utilizing a proactive monitoring tool can be fruitful in procuring concrete employee productivity objectives. A plethora of remote-work arrangements were implemented suddenly to continue business as usual during the pandemic, leaving employees and supervisors alike to navigate a new work-life reality.
When employees are physically apart from their team members, misunderstandings can happen at any time even when every individual tries their best. While everybody has a different set of skills, personalities and preferences, enterprises need to make sure that teams work collaboratively. Lengthy, drawn-out email chains can take up a lot of time for everyone involved and when employees are unsure of the instructions, plans or the tone of written communication among them, picking up the phone and calling colleagues is the last option they find.
While some companies are successful in conducting remote work without any halt, the companies that are not used to it are not fortunate enough to get the desired outcomes in business growth.
The challenge was indeed really high for the organizations. 47% of employers need capabilities or processes to meet the crisis with the best possible outcome. This could be one of the many reasons why business experts and analysts paid great attention to the way the start-ups to enterprise businesses were adjusting their internal processes and employee communication strategies.
“Undoubtedly, the globe saw this COVID-19 pandemic as the world’s largest work-from-home experiment.”
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Think about it! Where some businesses saw this as a crisis they could not survive, others observe it as an opportunity to experiment, rethink, rebuild and improve the remote work arrangements.
From keeping a set schedule to aligning tasks for your employees and motivating them to work in a designated room or area, many practices can help to improve their work from home productivity. So, without beating around the bush, let us get directly into the tactics or useful tips for any business regardless of size (small/large) or work environment.
Tip 1: Build transparency
Set attainable goals and get your team on board. Make your team understand these goals and what is expected of them to work productively. Boosting morale and encouraging your team to work hard to achieve collective goals and building a transparent and trust-filled environment where everyone feels free to be their best without feeling micromanaged. This factor will prove crucial in work from home their productivity and overall health of the business.
Tip 2: Equip your team with productivity tools
Firstly, management must ensure ways to help the remote teams succeed by providing the tools they need to stay connected and work efficiently. Supervisors or managers can analyze these work hassles beforehand and prepare accordingly by equipping teams with advanced technologies that allow managers and employees to stay on the same page while working from home. Because of the dispersed workforce, it is essential to enable the right channels for your employees. Moreover, efficient employee monitoring software can help your organization to communicate effortlessly.
Tip 3: Distribute tasks fairly
During team productivity hours, burnout should be avoided at all costs. It is evident that when the workload intimidates employees, they tend to procrastinate and lose efficiency; eventually taking a toll on productivity. Be rational about the workload and allow time to complete the tasks. It’s essential to prioritize and categorize each task so that the work process keeps organized and everyone is staying focused and productive. This way, productivity flourishes in structure. The best way to strengthen the structure is through team interactions such as it could take a daily 15-30 minutes stand-up meeting to review what the teams did, the challenges they faced, the next scheduled tasks and so on. One one one meetings a few times a week to look at employees’ work and progress. Occasionally held long meetings at least once a month to review the completed projects, the outcome from those tasks during the month, and to discuss the next plan for the coming month. These strategies ensure the entire team is on the same page and information is shared accurately.
Tip 4: Recognize accomplishments
Employees or workers always need to feel supported. Their efforts and accomplishments should be acknowledged by the rest of the company.
When employees feel that their work ethics are recognized, their motivation and productivity would automatically go up. Do make sure you share team’s and personal accomplishments with the rest of the company, for example, having dedicated channels on your employee communication platforms where all team leaders share employees’ outstanding performances. Employees’ motivation has a direct impact on their engagement and productivity and commending good work can keep motivation and productivity high. You’ll be amazed at how productive once the employees receive positive feedback for their work. Also, awarding prizes to the best performers will be an added plus to challenge them. In no time, everyone will be enhancing their learning and productivity, so it’s a win-win on both sides!
Tip 5: Encourage dedicated workstations
Since remote work is becoming a new normal for many enterprises, managers must encourage their employees to create separate dedicated workstations in their homes to foster better productivity. Some companies can offer huge stipends to their productive employees for creating appropriate home office spaces if they choose to work remotely. The areas where employees feel comfortable, specified workstations at home keep the employees away from home distractions. For instance, having a separate room for studies to concentrate better and deliver results. A home office away from the actual office can allow you to maintain focus and stay on task.
Tip 6: Set established schedules
With supervisors no longer getting daily face time with employees, creating a daily check-in routine is vital to set priorities and foster accurate connections. Morning check-ins via video chat, phone call or instant message can create a sense of normalcy. Implementing a good time tracking software that allows everyone including managers and employees to be accountable and responsible for their time. Remote employees can record time spent on tasks, log hours worked, and login/logout to ensure productivity. And specifically, through employee monitoring software, reports can be viewed in real-time, regardless of location.
Tip 7: Implement the best technology
A proactive monitoring tool is an apt way to maintain a high productivity level while working from home or remotely, which can also help to replicate an in-office environment. However, do keep in mind that to make remote working successful for your employees, you have all the tools and employee monitoring software available so that you can reach them in no time and share with them the information they need right away as they cannot afford to spend hours and hours a day looking for the information they need.
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