As the world is facing Coronavirus pandemic, the companies across the globe are forced to take precautionary decisions, allowing their employees to work from home.
And due to this, remote working has become new normal for many companies as well as people. Although it’s an advantage for employees to be able to work from the solace of their home. While employers do have some obvious productivity concerns, especially small businesses that are facilitating their employees for remote working for the first time.
Since productivity and efficiency are the two factors that keep the business running. The reasons behind the concern of employers are pretty much valid.
Keeping all these things and the current situation in mind, here are some tips that can help you to increase your team productivity even if they are working from home.
1. Communication is the key
No matter whether your employees are working in the office or from their homes, effective communication is very necessary to make employees know what is expected of them. In the workplace, people spend their time in close proximity with their managers and leads, so communication is effortless and easy.
But, that’s not the case with remote working, there are more chances of communication breakdown. Hence, being an employer, try to connect with your virtual team more often and explain your expectations from time to time. Also, listen to them and be available whenever they want to talk to you.
When you keep in touch with your employees on a regular basis, they will not feel isolated and unstructured, which are prominent reasons for less productivity.
2. Keep tracking the work done
Remote teams with flexible working hours sometimes lead to laziness among team members, which obstruct productivity. If you are paying your employees as per the productivity hours, then you need to monitor their work, or else you end up paying even for the non-productive hours.
In the traditional office setup, you can keep an eye on your employees, whether they are working or not. But, it is not possible with the virtual teams. And the best way to resolve such issues is to have an employee monitoring software that can let you track the work your team is doing and calculate their actual productivity.
There are so many highly efficient time tracking software available on the web like EmpMonitor, TimeDoctor, Hubstaff, etc. So if you have not implemented any such tool yet, then you can just consider one of this software looking at your business requirements.
3. Set goals
Setting goals is vital, especially when you are working with remote employees. It helps to keep you and your team on the same page regarding the outcome towards the work you all were working for.
Remember, if goals are actionable, employees can track their performance, know where they stand without feeling lost and frustrated, know where they stand, and achieve the expected results.
In particular, remote teams tend to be outcome-oriented and require consistent deliverables in their work. So, it is better to prioritize production-focused goals instead of performance-focused goals, at least in the initial stage, so that the team can get their footing secure.
4. Recognize achievements
Recognizing and praising your employees for their good work is a skill that every manager needs to have in their toolbox. Constructive and timely feedback helps a great deal in establishing productive working relationships.
No matter how you are expressing it, with a genuine thank you or something big like organizational awards. Recognizing the efforts of your team is very important.
Take out some time and make your employees feel appreciated for the contribution they are making to your company. If you lack in these areas, then the employees really get disengaged and can also drive down the morale of the rest of the team, which directly impacts productivity.
5. Set your employees free
When you set your employees or team members free and give an environment where they are allowed to do the things their way, then you will surely get the best result. It’s basic human nature.
Generally, employees tend to lose interest when they are being micromanaged by their managers or bosses. So try to create the best team by defining their job responsibilities and tell them your expectations clearly. After that, get out of their way and let them do the work in their own way.
But you also need to make sure that you are approachable when your team needs you to clarify their doubts and boost their confidence. It will help your team members to perform to the best of their abilities.
Wrapping words
Remote work definitely comes with a lot of benefits and freedom. But it also brings a lot of responsibility. There is no specific way to empower your employees and boost productivity. It requires small-small and constant efforts to lay the foundation of a productive environment no matter where your employees are working. You can see a huge rise in productivity, by providing constant support, feedback, and encouragement to your employees.
The above-mentioned tips will definitely help you in preparing the perfect batter with the ingredients that are required to empower the employees to be at their productive best.
