Many staff now want to work from home on a permanent basis. They had a taste of what this is like in the last few years, being able to avoid the morning commute, as well as being able to dress down and work from behind a screen.
If you are the boss, you want to keep your team happy. This can mean you are allowing work from home in order to retain your employees. But, one fear that many bosses have is that their staff are not being as efficient and productive as they should be. In other words, they are doing the bare minimum and spending more time on their mobile phone, browsing the internet and even cleaning the house during working hours.
Does this sound familiar? If you are worried about how hard your team are working remotely, here are some tips on how to ensure they are being productive.
Offer Workspace Advice
Let’s start by pointing out that not every employee is going to know how to work from home productively. In other words, they may fall into bad habits such as not getting dressed in the morning and working on their laptop in bed.
So, in order to highlight changes your staff should make, you can offer workspace advice. Create a booklet or online information and guide your team on how to set up their workspace. You can offer guidance on the right desk and chairs to use, as well as how to designate an area in your home for working.
Have Meetings in Person
There are going to be some projects that require group effort and this is not something that is always easy to do at home. There can be miscommunications and this can lead to delays that you cannot afford to have. So, when there are important projects to work on, it might be best to have some meetings in person. The group involved can meet at a time that suits everyone and get down to work.
For this type of gathering, you can hire out a meeting room. This can be for a few hours a week and it allows a quiet and private space for employees to work together. For instance, visit https://w1virtualoffice.com/ to hire a meeting room in London. This company offers everything from virtual offices to professional meeting spaces where productivity is encouraged and a comfortable setting is given for discussing any topics.
Give Training for Collaborative Tools
If your team are all working remotely, you are going to be using collaborative tools to see what everyone is working on. But, the problem is that a lot of businesses just expect their employees to adapt and know how to use them. They might end up spending a lot of time confused with the software and this can affect productivity working at home. There is even the possibility of work being lost if you do not know how to use the tools correctly.
Therefore, make sure that you give training to your staff on how to use collaborative tools. They will know how to operate the features they have and keep in touch with the team. Plus, they can use their time efficiently. Employees can get more enjoyment out of using these tools when they know how to do it too.
Set Weekly Goals
Think about when you have goals to reach. You have something to aim for and work towards during the week and this can keep you motivated and productive. But, when you simply see work piling up in front of you with no end date in sight, it can be difficult to keep going. This is going to be particularly true when you are working from home and there is nobody there to push you.
So, now that you have put yourself in your employee’s shoes, you need to consider how you can motivate them from afar. Well, you can set weekly goals for everyone. This is something that every staff member should have in order to give them something to work towards. They can set the goals themselves and you can view them to ensure they are achieved. This also means that you know what everybody is doing and who is falling behind and may need some extra support.
Arrange Monthly Online Socials
One of the main things that people feel when they work from home is loneliness. If you have been used to working in a busy environment and with a team in an office, it can be difficult to work at home and suddenly have nobody there. This is particularly true if you live on your own. When your team feel lonely and isolated, this can affect their mood and productivity on a daily basis.
One thing you can do to help your employees is to arrange monthly online socials. This can be a way for everybody to get to know each other and communicate. You can turn on webcams and everyone can chat. If you do this on a monthly basis, everyone can have something to look forward to.
