The days of just working in the office are long gone. Even though the coronavirus is thankfully slowly disappearing, the trend of working from home certainly isn’t. In fact, as much as 85% of managers believe that having teams with remote workers will become the new norm.
And while remote work comes with a lot of benefits, sometimes managers can find it hard to keep their workers productive while working from home. If you’re struggling with finding ways to engage your remote employees and encourage them to be even more productive than they were at the office, you’ve come to the right place.
Don’t avoid employee monitoring software
A lot of managers are used to keeping an eye on their employees to be sure they’re always on track. However, there is no need to breathe down their necks.
There are a plethora of tools managers and business owners can use to monitor what their employees are doing even outside of the office. With good employee monitoring software, you will have the reassurance you need that your workers are doing what they should be doing.
Don’t see using this software as micromanaging because it comes with a plethora of benefits for both the managers and the employees.
Some of those benefits include:
- Assigning tasks to the right employees. This software can help you see what each employee does best and help you assign projects and tasks accordingly. By taking into account how long it takes someone to complete a task, you can distribute work fairly based on their skills and abilities.
- Improving communication. Remote work can often leave employees feeling cut out from the rest of the organization. But since this software is equipped with features that help you provide feedback and communicate, they will know that they’re always in the loop.
- Improving project management. With the right solution, your employees can manage their own tasks and even track their progress as they switch from one project to another. Additionally, you can use automation to assign projects and tasks based on employee engagement.
And since this software comes with time tracking and real-time productivity monitoring, and provides you with actionable data, you can be sure that everyone is doing what they should be doing.
Use the five-minute rule
Procrastination can be a big issue among remote workers, but it doesn’t have to be. If you want your employees to stop procrastinating and start their projects as soon as possible, you need to teach them the five-minute rule.
The five minute rule is a practice that helps people start doing a task that may seem daunting or hard by taking things one step at a time. Or to be more precise, five minutes at a time. If someone performs a task they don’t want to do for just five minutes, that same task won’t seem as daunting as before.
For example, let’s say that one of your employees needs to start doing a task and isn’t feeling motivated. Encourage them to commit themselves to the task for at least five minutes and use a stopwatch to be sure when that time has passed.
Most of the time, they will perform the task for more than five minutes and create positive momentum. And if they take it five minutes at a time, the task won’t seem as hard and challenging as it did in the beginning, and they will complete it before they know it.
Talk to your employees about burnout
As many as 86% of remote workers experience burnout at their current jobs, and there are a plethora of reasons for that. Some people overwork themselves, some feel too isolated, and some simply can’t get used to working from their home instead of an office.
No matter what the reason is, if your employees are at a high risk of burnout, you need to keep a close eye on them because burning out will lead to a significant drop in productivity. Low-stress levels are great for productivity, and that is what you should strive for.
Encourage your employees to talk to you about all of the issues they might be facing, related to work or not. Emotional support is extremely important for keeping your employees’ mental health in check.
Make sure you maintain consistent and constant communication, praise their accomplishments but also remind them there is a life outside work. Tell them to only work during designated work hours and to socialize as much as possible when they have free time.
Don’t forget about team building
Just because you can’t organize in-person team-building retreats, that doesn’t mean you should forget about team building altogether. In fact, one of the best tips to ensure business efficiency with a remote workforce is to host virtual gatherings.
Don’t think that you should only hop on a Zoom call when you need to discuss work-related topics. You can host virtual gatherings during which your team members can talk to one another and bond over shared interests that aren’t related to work.
Of course, don’t make anyone participate if they don’t want to. But encourage your employees to be a part of these virtual gatherings and explain all their benefits. The point of these meetings should be to have fun as a team and simply de-stress after a long day.
Here are a few fun ideas for a virtual team building party:
- Send your employees gift cards for snacks and drinks and host a virtual office party.
- Play water cooler trivia or have a quiz night.
- Organize a virtual card game night.
- Invite employees to participate in a virtual escape room or a murder mystery.
Final thoughts
Remote work is becoming the new norm as more and more companies are taking on a hybrid or a fully remote structure. But just because you can’t keep an eye on your employees and know what they’re doing at every moment, that doesn’t mean there aren’t ways to ensure productivity.
Just remember the tips and tricks you read about here and you will have a team of happy and productive employees, regardless of where they’re working from.
