Remote work is the new norm of the age, and more and more companies are adapting the culture in their company ecosystem to increase overall productivity. But have you wondered what makes remote teams so productive besides the assurance that they’re working from the comfort of their homes?
We’ll discuss how you can get the most remote productivity right after answering the question.
Why A Remote Workforce Is More Productive
Remote Employees Work Longer Hours
A survey from Ergotron reveals that employees who work from home are putting in 40% more work hours. The additional time each day can add to additional workdays, which translates to more work.
Remote Workers Have Better Work-Life Balance
Another study from Ergotron indicates that 75% of employees have achieved better work-life balance when working from home. Employees feel well-rested and perform better during work hours when they have time for themselves.
Remote Workers Are Less Stressed
People working remotely feel much less stressed and overwhelmed compared to when they are working from the office. As more offices have started to shift towards remote work culture, the number of stressed employees is decreasing.
10 Tricks To Increase Remote Team Productivity
Now that we’ve established the superiority of remote working with the 3 best reasons why it’s better, here are 10 tricks you can use to maximize the productivity rate of your remote team.
1. Streamline Communication
Communication shouldn’t be a complicated process. There are various communication channels that you can create with different remote team management tools.
Also, don’t just talk about work all the time during virtual meetings. Remember not to overshare, but talking about something different once in a while is a refreshing experience that is welcome by everyone.
2. Optimize Your Company Culture For A Remote Setting
You cannot optimize the company infrastructure for remote culture when the entire organization sticks to the traditional company cultures for too long. Here are a few tricks to optimize your company for handling virtual teams in a remote setting:
- Promote better work-life balance with flexible work hours
- Encourage employee well-being by providing the employees with physical and mental health benefits as incentives.
- Create extra-curricular activities to help team members bond from far away and establish company culture in a remote setting.
3. Create Detailed Documentations For Processes
Don’t just inform your team members about something; expect them to remember every little detail. Create documentations that carry the entire process, along with the specific requirements.
It can also help the team resume work or improve from certain points with the help of documentation, picking up the pace.
4. Encourage Team Members For Better Time Management
Though remote work promotes better work-life balance, there are times when the line gets blurred. These moments are when productivity gets hampered.
Here are a few ways you can prevent that:
- Provide the team with resources that can help them manage their time better
- Teach each team member to maximize their productive hours
- Communicate better with your teammates
- Create daily, weekly and monthly plans so the team can utilize them for maximum productivity
5. Never Overwhelm Your Employees
Understandably, as a business owner or team leader, you can feel compelled to check in on your employees when they are working remotely through one-on-one meetings. But there’s a fine line of difference between a casual check-in for progress reports and coming off as subtly pressurizing.
Unless it’s necessary, don’t assign additional objectives to a remote employee unless it’s an emergency. The same can be said about checking in. It’s okay to casually ask for progress, but doing it too often can feel like micromanagement.
6. Always Be Flexible With Your Employees
“Held loosely, with an open hand, the sand remains where it is. The minute you close your hand and squeeze tightly to hold on, the sand trickles through your fingers.”
-Kaleel Jamison
As the quote suggests, don’t be a dictator within the department. There’s a lot to get used to when working in a remote environment, and not everyone can adapt to these new changes as easily as others.
Always be patient and lenient with each employee during the transition period. With the right amount of time provided to each team member, the team will start getting into the rhythm.
7. Use The Right Collaboration Platforms
When the whole team is in the same physical location, you don’t need many Zoom meetings or emails for collaboration. But that is not the case when it comes to remote work.
Always remember to use the right collaboration platform, of which a lot exists. Pick the one that suits the team’s work method and style and can help keep the whole team on the same page.
8. Get Ready For Technical Issues
If you have an in-house team ready to deal with any technical issues, you’re already set. But if you are working with hybrid teams, you must have at least one extra technical team on standby to solve any technical issues.
Technical issues
are part of the trade with the additional use of different tools and tech stacks. It’s up to you to ensure that all the teams meet their goals despite the setbacks.
9. Host Employee Engagement Activities At Regular Intervals
Remote work can feel like isolation at times. You can lift everyone’s mood with a few team-building activities every once in a while. Act like you were in the same office, and arrange activities like a gaming session or movie stream.
When you’re creating an environment where every team member can be themselves and don’t have to act as uptight professionals all the time, they can feel more relaxed, improving team bonding and morale.
10. Give Everyone A Break
Burnout is the greatest enemy of productivity and comes from constant work stress. How do you get rid of stress? You get rid of the thing that’s stressing you; in this case, it is continuous work.
Everyone has a different tolerance limit, and you should keep an eye on each to ensure maximum employee well-being. It’s not just about understanding the team’s strengths; it’s about sympathizing with their weaknesses.
Learn to give your employees a break when they need it. If they are showing signs of burnout, it’s time for you to let them relax.
To Wrap It All Up
Remote teams are a blessing during the toughest time of our lives. Even with the occasional technicalities, a well-round remote team can achieve better results. All you need to do is set up the right productivity-boosting strategies.
FAQs
Remote team productivity refers to the ability of a remote team to achieve its goals and objectives in a timely and efficient manner.
Remote teams face various challenges, such as communication gaps, lack of motivation, work-life balance, and difficulty managing time.
You can improve communication by setting up regular video calls, using project management tools like Trello or Asana, and encouraging open and transparent communication.
Motivating remote team members includes recognizing their accomplishments, providing regular feedback, and offering opportunities for professional growth.
You can improve time management by setting clear priorities, using project management tools, and establishing timely check-ins with regular intervals to monitor progress.
