Remote work has become a hot button topic source over the last few years, with companies both for and against. But since the pandemic of 2020, there’s been ample evidence to show that working from home is not only productive, but it can actually be substantially more productive than traditional working arrangements in an office.
While achieving high productivity levels from your remote employees isn’t necessarily a difficult task, it does need to be set up correctly. Simply follow the steps below to efficiently streamline the transition from staff working from offices to working remotely.
Onboard remote staff effectively
Now that remote working has become the norm, at least it seems to be for the moment anyway, your entire onboarding process needs to be reviewed. Whether you’re hiring new remote staff or existing employees are making the transition to working from home after years of being in the office, the onboarding process must be effective for everyone.
Your onboarding process must be updated for the changing environment because many things will be different now. There’s no point explaining where the bathrooms are when your new staff may never need to come to the offices. Instead, bring the onboarding process into line with the current reality by ensuring all employees have everything they need to be able to remotely hit the ground running. Everything must be available at their fingertips.
Provide suitable tools
Remote employees need ways they can “plug into” the office in order to complete the work without actually being there physically. So the most important method of ensuring employees can remain productive is by providing suitable tools so they successfully connect to the office while working from home. So in order to maintain current productivity levels and increase opportunities for improvement, all information should be available via tools with access to work delivery systems to data access channels.
That means equipping your remote employees with the best technologies they need to achieve their work objectives, as well as tools to keep your team connected to each other. This is an important tool because it may not take long for some remote workers to feel increasingly isolated, lonely, or alienated from their team. This is why some businesses require remote staff meeting in the office at set intervals. Bringing them all together has a surprisingly large impact on the personal connection between team members, which directly translates into improved levels of professional collaboration and overall productivity.
Invest in staff upskilling
No matter whether your team works on-site or remotely, investing in employee growth and development is always in the best interest of any company. When teams are more highly skilled and knowledgeable, they can have a massive influence on your future successes. And not only is the development and training of employees beneficial for them because it expands their knowledge and skillsets, but it’s also great for the company as they do a better job which increases productivity.
Your commitment to staff education ultimately indicates how important they are to your business, which can in turn inspire them to return that commitment with teamwork, loyalty, and dedication. Ensure all kinds of relevant training is available to them, such as online courses for effective meetings and management upskilling. It’s always in your best interest on many levels to upskill your staff, because productivity certainly isn’t the only benefit here.
Provide access to emotional support
When employees aren’t used to working remotely, they can very quickly begin to experience any number of negative emotions, especially chronic levels of loneliness. This is important to be aware of as not every person will be suited to this type of work, which will ultimately reduce their levels of productivity. Especially when compared with staff who love the freedom of remote work, because their productivity will often be at record high levels.
Companies should always provide their employees with access to emotional support services, both for their wellbeing as well as for productivity. Managers should also be encouraging staff questions and providing answers as required, especially for any businesses that have recently made all of their staff work remotely in a full-time capacity.
The best thing about remote working is that the fundamentals of productivity management apply no matter where your teams of employees happen to be working. This means it shouldn’t be too difficult to make adjustments onsite management of staff to inspiring productivity when employees are working from home.
