How to Keep Your Team’s Productivity Up While Working Remotely

April 10, 2020 IN

The work from home mindset is different for freelancers and remote employees, for they’ve adjusted with the work routine and the environment setup. The challenge comes with employees who’ve never previously experienced first-hand this office to home transition.

Here, introducing itself is the very evident turn of events around the world.

This event change has led to businesses more than ever directing their employees to work from home. The situation is more difficult for the manager here who has to deal with his/her own dilemma to manage ground operations without anyone on ground. The overall mentality changes when you are comfortable in the home surroundings, and so it gets difficult to check the productivity goals as you move ahead with the day’s activity plan. While struggling for motivation themselves, they have to keep the team’s morale high, motivate them to be productive and help everyone meet their desired goals. It gets complicated with the amount of the coordination required between the team members, and this trouble doubles with increasing project complexity.

Not that it’s rocket science, but the challenges are plenty.

This includes every peculiar instance that comes complimentary with the perks in work from the home atmosphere. Peculiarities where your mind has to process that it does not have to get ready for office, catch the morning commute, or periodic self-assurance that everything will be alright, not ignoring overcurious family members, social isolation and lack of access to information and communication lag between the team.

Here Are 5 Effective Tips on Managing Remote Teams:

 
The following  ways will help you keep your team’s productivity up while working remotely:

  1. Ring the Morning Bell

    2. The work from home setup has a cozy feel, unlike the office’s – one where everyone is costumed for work and ready with the morning coffee/tea, to fulfill daily commitments. With the exact opposite surroundings at-home, the brain refuses to accept a working-day. An active solution to beat this lag will be ringing the morning bell. Once your team members know that they’ve to report for work (even-from-home) at a particular time, there is no room left for the brain to lie down or the morning lethargy sneak-in. The work momentum will build once everyone’s on board, and a quick video call with small teams and groups will work beneficially to list down daily goals and end timelines.

  2. Tech and Productivity tools

    3. Managing remote teams becomes difficult with all team members settled in separate workspaces and their shared responsibilities. To keep track of who’s working on what project and their daily goal timelines, take help from the technology we’re blessed with today. Use applications to set goals for the day – this will help you meet the team goals and the team members to focus on their work responsibilities for the day. Take help from various time tracking tools and project management software to keep an eye on project deliverables and manage their timelines, or you can use the video calling platforms like Google Hangouts or Zoom and get into conference calls with the team members. The goal is to have everyone on the same page.

  3. Have Discussions

    4. Brush up your communication skills and have one-on-one conversations whenever possible. Unlike the office setup, you cannot have washroom breaks or water-cooler gossip sessions, so instead have a chat over the phone. Celebrate small accomplishments of your team, encourage rewards, acknowledge the good work, as these little instances will break the monotony of the silence in the space.

    The stressful work pressure will harm your team member who’s already finding it difficult to adjust with the sudden shift in world events. Keep it light, have timely communications, discuss hobbies, funny incidences, chat about non-work-related topics- this will keep their spirits high and relieve them of the stress around them.

  4. Provide Support Amidst Challenges

    5. The loneliness and isolation might have an adverse impact on many of the employees working alone. The panic in the world updates and the emptiness inside the residence can eventually have a serious impact on someone who might find difficulty in coping with it. Advocate healthy habits, be available for your team, respond to their challenges, encourage proper sleep and indulge in healthy conversations to keep your team member’s morale high.

  5. Encourage Designated Workspaces

    6. This is a practice most adopted by regular employees with work-from-home structures, and a very beneficial one as it aids in separating the work and personal life. With the pets sitting on your keyboards or regular disturbances from children running around, working remotely might at one time or the other, surely become a nightmare, resulting in lowering productivity goals for each team member. As a team leader or a manager, you can encourage the team to have designated workspaces as the ongoing situation does not seem to mitigate anytime soon. Encourage diversity in different cultures and allow flexibility with the challenges your team members face to support their ends as well. But make sure to have the communication on expectations delivered clearly – setting strict time goals will keep the remote team’s productivity wheel rolling.