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The move to remote work isn\u2019t letting up even as the world learns to live with COVID-19. Most companies who tested the waters of telecommuting during the worst period of the pandemic found many reasons to maintain and even fully adopt the arrangement.<\/p>\n
One of those reasons they are increasingly embracing the virtual workspace is improvement in employee productivity.<\/p>\n
Study after study has cited different reasons why productivity is higher than in the traditional office. For example, remote workers are less likely to take time off to solve personal issues since they work from home.<\/p>\n
People are more relaxed working in a friendly environment like home. Also, choosing their work schedules is another factor that boosts productivity.<\/p>\n
A Flexjobs survey<\/a> attested that remote work boosts output and efficiency. 65% of respondents reported that they do better work from home than in the office. They mentioned fewer distractions, reduced commuting stress, fewer colleague interruptions, more comfortable clothes, and more personalized workspaces as some of the reasons for increased productivity.<\/p>\n However, while these factors come with remote work by default, other management-related issues can hurt productivity in a virtual work arrangement. This article focuses on how business owners can manage remote workers to increase and maintain productivity.<\/p>\n Remote work comes with the pressure of always confirming that employees are on the job. It\u2019s natural to be concerned whether workers are doing their jobs \u2013 and doing it right \u2013 without physical supervision. These concerns often spur managers to make regular calls and send disruptive emails in the name of check-ins.<\/p>\n In reality, people hate to feel that they\u2019re always looked upon with suspicion. Instead, they would appreciate a level of trust. No one likes to have someone else constantly watching over their shoulders. According to a survey published in the book My Way or the Highway: The Micromanagement Survival Guide<\/em> by Harry E Chambers, 85% of respondents admitted that micromanagement negatively impacted their morale.<\/p>\n So, make sure you trust your workers to do their jobs their way and at their pace. Also, resist the urge to check in every five minutes. Instead, you can use a clock in and clock out app<\/a> to monitor work activities. This way, you can see when your workers are on the job without always reaching out to confirm.<\/p>\n Nothing blows up productivity like communication. If your team members cannot collaborate, you\u2019ll hit bumps along the road that will cost you. Statistics show that small businesses with an average of 100 employees lose $420,000<\/a> to miscommunication every year.<\/p>\n On the other hand, McKinsey reported in 2012<\/a> that companies could boost productivity by 20% to 25% by leveraging social technologies to improve communication.<\/p>\n Since employees work from home, it\u2019s imperative that they communicate. The arrangement of working alone in a remote location could lead to members of staff working in silos. So, encourage communication by providing tools that boost collaboration in a distributed team. For example, you should schedule mandatory weekly or bi-weekly meetings and always remind workers to reach out whenever they face difficulties.<\/p>\n Providing the tools required to smoothen the remote work process is one of your primary responsibilities as a manager. While the virtual workplace removes the need for office maintenance, it still requires adequate digital infrastructure.<\/p>\n Remote work tools<\/a> don\u2019t start and end with a laptop and internet connection. Instead, your team must be equipped with the proper collaboration, time tracking, and project management tools. For example, they should be able to work on shared documents in real-time, engage in roundtable discussions over teleconferencing, and send and receive large files.<\/p>\n Remember to also provide productivity tools to help them plan better to boost output and efficiency.<\/p>\n When people work from home, they savor the prospect of working from any corner of the house. While this freedom and flexibility can be fun at first, it can cause problems long-term. That\u2019s because the home tends to be filled with distractions, and having a dedicated workspace is better for focus.<\/p>\n While we don\u2019t always see it, we develop and attach an inherent bias to every physical space we find ourselves in. These spaces are primarily set up to meet specific purposes, and we attach these purposes to them.<\/p>\n Setting up a home office allows you to enter that \u201cWork mode\u201d whenever you step into it. It also blocks distractions from places like the sitting room, especially if you don\u2019t live alone.<\/p>\n So, make sure you encourage your employees \u2013 and yourself \u2013 to set up dedicated work areas, as this can significantly impact productivity.<\/p>\n It\u2019s often difficult for remote workers to pump the work brakes. Many of them work for hours non-stop and resist the urge to rest. A Freshly survey<\/a> conducted by OnePoll found that 29% of WFH respondents forgot to take lunch breaks.<\/p>\n This trend is common among remote workers because the boundary between work and personal life is blurred. Sometimes, they even take up extra work after hours. As an employer, you should discourage this behavior as a burnt-out employee will only hurt your company\u2019s collective productivity.<\/p>\n As it turns out, research by Vouchercloud<\/a> shows that workers are productive for about three hours each day. Another Stanford study<\/a> reported that working more than 55 hours a week will make no difference in productivity.<\/p>\n So, develop a company culture that promotes breaks and mandatory work hours. For example, you can use time tracking applications to set lunch breaks and end-of-work reminders. It would also help if you recommended activities, like playing stress-relieving games<\/a>, to help your workers take the edge off and recharge.<\/p>\n Assigning specific tasks to the right people boosts productivity and saves time. Developing this policy will prop up your remote team for success in the long run. The problem for most business managers is identifying who\u2019s suitable for what job.<\/p>\n You can solve that issue by using competent time and productivity trackers. These apps will monitor and monitor how long workers complete their tasks. This way, you get to know who is efficient at what. You can then know the right person to assign a task and identify areas of improvement.<\/p>\n Some work activities take up more time than they should, and others are entirely unnecessary. Having these processes in your workflow can significantly hurt productivity and take you many steps back. For example, some meetings are time eaters and do nothing to help employees.<\/p>\nAvoiding Micromanagement<\/h2>\n
Promoting Communication<\/h2>\n
Leveraging the Right Tools<\/h2>\n
Using Dedicated Remote Workspaces<\/h2>\n
Encouraging Regular Breaks to Preventing Burnout<\/h2>\n
Delegating Tasks Optimally<\/h2>\n
Sanitizing the Work Process<\/h2>\n