Millions of people around the world are working remotely in different fields. Some are working for companies in their region, and others for companies on the other side of the world. This might not be something new, but in the last couple of years, many companies and employees alike could witness the benefits of remote work first-hand. Many of them decided to never go back to the office or to combine remote and office work, and get the best of both worlds.
Whether your business entirely relies on remote employees or you have a hybrid model, one of the biggest challenges anyone in a managing position faces is ensuring productivity among employees working from home or anywhere else, other than the office. Of course, some businesses have just a few employees, and things can be much easier in such a case but for bigger companies, creating good teams who perform well and bring favorable results can become complicated.
Productivity plays one of the most important if not the most important role in the success of any working environment and the result of any project. Several factors affect employees’ productivity, and motivation is probably the main one.
1) Never Stop Improving Your Leadership Skills
There are many things you can do to achieve greatness in any field, but nothing is more important than constantly learning, and working on yourself, while never forgetting that from time to time we all deserve a break. There isn’t one magical way to become a leader. For most, it doesn’t come naturally, although some people do have it easier to communicate efficiently. However, if that’s not the case, it takes learning and practice. It’s not simply about reading a book or going on a coaching session or two.
Good leadership is a combination of many things. It’s about being able to express your expectations and demands the right way, without appearing to want to have complete control over your employees. It’s about being very organized, empathetic, and understanding, and also able to motivate and inspire your employees in a way that will boost creativity, productivity, and a real desire to contribute.
There are many ways you can learn how to be a good motivator, but before anything, make sure that you know how to motivate yourself. No one can be at their best all the time. We all have highs and lows, bad days, and personal issues that can affect our ability to focus. This is why it’s important to keep trying different techniques to boost your motivation and be able to pass on your knowledge to your employees.
2) Track the Behavior of Your Employees and Identify Ways to Boost Productivity
Another challenge managers face when they work with remote teams is monitoring. But working in a remote environment has become so common that these days you can find great solutions to this issue. While holding your teams to high work standards is much easier in an office, using an employee monitoring software tool will allow you to track the performance of your teams wherever they are.
It’s important to note that monitoring remote employees doesn’t mean and shouldn’t mean having complete control. Regardless of the environment in which they are working, without some autonomy, people can perform best – simply because they aren’t machines. One of the biggest perks of using employee monitoring software is that it will allow you to track their behavior, efficiency, and performance, which in turn will allow you to identify anything that might affect productivity, as well as the conditions in which productivity is high.
3) Ensure Effective Communication
Clearly, the biggest difference between working remotely and in an office is the difference in the way we communicate with our co-workers. Misunderstandings and miscommunication can be devastating for the efficiency of a team, making it hard to carry out tasks and complete projects on time. It can also negatively affect the quality of the work and, therefore, the results. All of this can be very disheartening for employees.
As a leader, you should identify the best way to ensure effective communication. There are great tools dedicated to facilitating communication between remote teams. Find appropriate software that will allow you to organize one-on-one and group meetings, videoconferences, training, etc., which can help you organize work chats according to subjects, projects, or between each team.
It’s also important to find suitable chat tools for co-workers. Informal communication at the office, whether it’s during coffee breaks, after meetings, or even while working, is incredibly important for employees’ morale, which can boost productivity.
Final Thoughts
Employee turnover rate is a big issue in most companies today, especially those working remotely. This is because today employees don’t hesitate to look for better working environments, better conditions, more flexibility, bigger salaries, or opportunities for career advancement.
Following these tips can help improve job satisfaction, which is very important for productivity. Finally, the best way to identify issues that affect productivity is to listen to your employees. So, encourage open communication based on mutual trust.
