With India and many countries around the world in lockdown due to coronavirus, many companies have their staff working remotely from their homes. Different departments are learning to collaborate with each other over the phone and other online messaging/video conferencing systems. There are many teams that are experiencing this the very first time. The same goes for many companies where work from home was not part of their culture. The biggest challenge that both the management and employees face is how do you enhance the productively of your employees working remotely.

In this post, we will discuss various methods through which various teams of a company can collaborate and work effectively thus maintaining the standard of work expected from them by their bosses.

Ways to Enhance Remote Workers’ Productivity

Set Well-Defined Goals

Having goals in place is crucial for your staff working from home. A strong structure is always needed when your staff is working from home. Set goals or targets for them along with the timeline for each goal. This will ensure that the staff knows what they need to achieve and by what time. It also helps the team organize their priorities. They know which tasks require more of their time and effort and plan activities accordingly.

Checking up on the progress of each goal periodically also is important. The staff needs to know they are responsible for the delivery of their target and regular checkups with also let you know in advance if any team member is facing challenges and needs any extra help from your end.

Have Open Lines of Communication

Any department or team can rarely work on their own without the help of different departments. Inter-departmental communication is key to the free flow of important information. Get all your teams on the same messaging platform or project management platform like Slack or Basecamp. Make sure all necessary people are onboard and connected to each other so that in case of any assistance, they are available to everyone.

The heads of each department can touch base every morning at the beginning of their day via video conferencing to set the agenda going forward. The basics do not need to be mentioned like having a strong internet connection that has the required bandwidth to handle all the video calls and a system with good configuration and processing power to handle all the tasks needed to be done.

Backup from IT Team

While working from home your team can face many technical challenges. Some they can handle on their own with the help of Google search and their own technical knowledge. However, there can arise more complex issues that require the assistance of your IT team. Have a few key people from your IT team on standby to remotely help employees working from home with their issues.

Make sure the staff has a Team Viewer or AnyDesk like software installed using which the IT team can remotely access their system to troubleshoot the issues. Less time wasted by technical error means more productive time for your staff and business.

Regularly Listen To Employee Issues

Get in touch with your team periodically to hear out what challenges they are facing while working from home and your organization can better help resolve them to maintain the productivity and morale of your team. You can converse one on one with your staff members or have a group video call to understand common issues making the team less productive. Always remember that clear communication is key in these times.

Once the issues are understood, take the required steps to resolve them. Check back again with your team after a week to see how the resolution has impacted their work for the better.

Recognize and Appreciate Good Work

In times like these, when we are all working in isolation, the morale of the employees can take a hit as they are alone and cut-off. To make them feel connected with the organization as well as to make them know their hard work is being appreciated, steps need to be taken. You can always appreciate an employee over a call or send out an email chain with the entire team in CC congratulating your team members who have done excellent work.

Having weekly rewards and recognition events via video conference can also do wonders for the team’s morale and can restore their sense of normalcy.

Wrapping Up

IT companies and call center service providers alike are doing their best to cater to their clients’ needs during this pandemic by continuing operations through remote work. Maintaining and improving their remote team’s performance and productivity can really be the key to survival as well as the revival of many of these companies. The above-given information will hopefully be a step in the right direction for all employees that are working hard from their home.