3 Key Ways to Ramp Up the Productivity of Your Remote Workforce
by Arnab Dey Job & Career Published on: 22 January 2022 Last Updated on: 19 October 2024
Remote working. Working from home (WFH). Distance working. Three names that reference arguably the biggest and most inevitable trend of the last decade. In fact, as we speak, 16% of companies globally are fully remote while around 62% of employees aged between 22 and 65 say they work remotely at least occasionally, according to data collected by Owl Labs.
The big question is: how can you, as a business owner, make sure your remote team is working optimally and reaching their full potential? This article lays out four key tips in this regard.
1. Encourage a Healthy Work-Life Balance
As a business leader, it’s only natural to want your team to be as productive as possible. You want them to put in the hours, do away with constant time-outs, and hit their daily deliverables with impeccable effectiveness. But guess what? That kind of mindset and push never works out in a remote work setup.
Instead, focus on keeping a pulse on your team’s well-being. You don’t want half of your remote employees to call in sick or worn-out three times a week every week, do you? Indicators of burnout include absenteeism, poor performance, or heightened emotions. Keep these in mind as you focus on creating a highly productive team.
How exactly can you establish a healthy work-life balance amongst your remote workforce? Well, these three-pointers offer a great starting point:
- Encourage timed breaks throughout the day so your employees can have time to hit the gym, take walks, eat out, or hang out with friends
- Regularly review workloads to know who is busy and stressed, and who has capacity. Then re-assign and spread out workloads as needed
- Increase support—monetary or otherwise—for parents
2. Ensure Your Employees Have the Right Ammunition of Tools
In order to attain optimum productivity as a remote team, having the right setup and tools is absolutely key! For example, with a fully-functional remote desktop, remote employees can securely access all applications and data within the corporate network with zero impact on computing power—all from a location of their choice. You may also wish to encourage them to download the best vpn for mac or PC in order to give their devices, and any sensitive company data they may be working with, an extra layer of protection and keep their network private while they’re working remotely.
This goes a long way in improving employee agility and positively influences job satisfaction and productivity.
Similarly, with well-equipped webcams, your remote team can seamlessly attend virtual meetings and participate fully without hiccups.
Check that each of your remote employees has the right mixture of tools for maximum productivity and efficiency. If not, consider loaning some to employees who don’t.
3. Put in Place a Distinct, People-Focused Virtual Workplace Culture
At its core, the remote workforce is extremely volatile and requires a little more attention compared to the office one. A little laxity and compromise here could see your team lose its focus, and consequently, its output and productivity.
When reevaluating your remote workplace culture, make it a bit more positive and people-focused. Put your employees at the heart of all your processes, strategies, and decisions. Make them feel proud to be part of your team. Let them belong. How exactly can you pull this off, you wonder? Here’s how:
- Practice thoughtful and proactive communication
- Consistently praise and reward good work
- Bake team building into your workflow
- Emphasize shared goals
- Spread positive company swag through branded gifts
4. Get More Work Done Remotely
With the right strategies and tools, you can increase your remote team’s productivity several-fold. The trick is to notice a lack of productivity and participation, understand the reasons, and adjust the existing workflows accordingly.
While at it, don’t forget to recognize and appreciate your employees for every little effort they put in. Now the ball is in your court—best of luck!
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