The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic forced thousands of people out of offices and into their homes. Because of this, people face work efficiency challenges such as having unstable data connections in their homes. The work-from-home mandate made the work/home life balance disrupted and prioritizing duties challenging.
Now, this might sound surprising but working from home has been an increasing trend even before the pandemic. Remote working isn’t new and what makes it great for business is its reduced cost in office space while having the employee’s convenience and many more.
However, these advantages also come with a fair share of disadvantages on both sides. Business owners have difficulty in monitoring the performance of their employees and employees are more prone to home distractions and potential burnout, not to mention the risk in information security.
One great way to boost confidence and instill inspiration is to reward your employees for all their hard work. You can reach out to platforms like Gift Market and ask them for different types of hampers according to the different levels and hierarchies in your organization.
To prevent this, management must exert effort in protecting (virtual) workplace integrity and cultivate productivity and morale in its employees. If you are having trouble working from home, there is nowhere better to learn than from businesses that exercise work-from-home strategies.
Below are 10 ways, coming from companies that have expert management, to improve remote work for your business.
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Communication is the Key
Effective communication is essential in maintaining the community of a workplace. Applications such as Slack, Skype, and Zoom provide good communication service that keeps employees engaged with each other throughout the day. By also using chat applications and hosting video conferences, employees can communicate questions and concerns faster than email. Avoid using social media platforms in communicating because of their tendency to be a distraction during work.
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Build an All-Inclusive Community
Having an inclusive community can elevate employee morale and further strengthen relationships between employees. You can host game nights, remote team-building activities, and company virtual get-togethers to keep your colleagues a chance to bond and opportunities for self-expression.
Also, having a community can help encourage staff to socialize and build camaraderie that helps in work communication and increase productivity.
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Utilize Work Efficiency Trackers
Working from home does not mean you get to be casual in your work. In order to maximize work efficiency, using applications such as Hubstaff can keep work time in check. These apps force you to set aside distractions because they track the time, the websites you use and sometimes take screenshots of your desktop.
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Feedback is Important
Recognition and feedback can be huge factors in raising the morale of an employee. Whether you praise someone for giving a good job or reprimanding an intern for not following instructions, this feedback must be communicated in an appropriate manner. For example, appraising an employee for their good work can be done during team meetings, and reprimanding MUST be done privately to preserve the employee’s self-esteem.
Also, launch an investigation to determine whether a claim is true or false. Falsely accusing someone can lead to distrust among employees that can result in lower performance. Always remember that feedback does not work one way. Your employees must also have a chance to equally express their opinion on management and point out mistakes that you might have missed.
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Set Boundaries and Expectations
Setting healthy boundaries among work is essential in building relationships between team members, especially in remote workspaces. Each employee has different environments and setting work boundaries can keep employees happy and well. You can start by agreeing on a flexible work schedule that your employee can responsibly comply with.
Also, you must clarify expectations to avoid frustration, confusion, and being upset with your employee. Having a healthy expectation from the start can reduce pressure on your employees and can even surprise you if they overperform in their given tasks.
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Dedicated Workspace
Virtual or not, a workspace is an important environment to encourage and maximize work efficiency. If you are in your home, dedicate a workspace that is free from outside distractions and can boost focus. In the virtual space, you can use Discord and its channels to encourage employees to be in a work-ready mentality. Also, having a workspace can increase productivity in meeting deadlines and promote overall well-being.
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Onboarding School and Self-development Workshops
It goes without saying that in order for your business to succeed by doing remote work, hiring the right people with the right mindset is a must. Onboarding new employees can determine whether they are independent and motivated to grow as an individual. In addition to onboarding, having self-development workshops can further cultivate the good qualities and traits of an employee and will help you in your business as they become part of your team.
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Establish Work Culture
As Forbes CEO of Capacity David Karandish likes to say, “corporate culture is the glue that holds a company together”. Positive work culture aided with good communication can work wonders for your business. It can help your team leaders instill values onto their respective teams that can overall boost productivity performance.
If you are shifting to remote work from the traditional office space, you can convert Wednesday Coffee Nights to Video Charades via Zoom. If you feel that your virtual culture is still lacking, you can amplify it by recognizing big and little wins, encouraging an open, honest environment, and including team-building activities into your workflow.
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Instill Inspiration
As a business owner, your employees view you as their leader and as the captain of the ship – a.k.a. your company. During your regularly scheduled meeting, include time to speak and inspire your team members in order to boost morale and let them know that you are in this together.
An effective leader also has the duty to create leaders among his team. Needless to say that not every business needs a team, but keeping yourself patient and inspired equally works with a business that has thousands of employees.
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Having a Clear Goal and Mission and Vision
Without a clear goal, mission, and vision, you and your business can be easily led astray. Setting goals help you push your limits, guide your focus and reach new achievements for your business. Creating a vision and mission statement helps you and your employees align and work towards a specific purpose.
This also helps increase efficiency and productivity in the workplace because people tend to work hard when they know and believe that they are working towards something and not just wasting time.
Key Takeaway
Remote work has its upsides and downsides. There are many factors that you as a business owner cannot control. Take it easy on your employees because they might have an unstable data connection or doing work while babysitting. Utilize communication and workspace applications and avoid the distraction of social media sites.
Traditional office work and remote work have different environments but both must still have the same work etiquettes, workflow, culture, and business operations. Remote work is not easy by all means, and it all depends on good management to successfully run a business from the comfort of your own home.
Tip to add, having an exceptional HR team is beneficial in handling office communications and maintaining work culture.
