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 disrupted the work/home life balance, making prioritizing duties challenging.
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. Business owners have difficulty monitoring their employees’ performance, and employees are more prone to home distractions and potential burnout, not to mention the risk of information security.
One great way to boost confidence and instill inspiration is to reward your employees for all their hard work. You can contact platforms like Gift Market and ask them for different hampers according to your organization’s different levels and hierarchies.
To prevent this, management must exert effort in protecting (virtual) workplace integrity and cultivating employee productivity and morale. 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 ten ways, from companies with 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. Employees can communicate questions and concerns faster than email by using chat applications and hosting video conferences. Avoid using social media platforms in framing because they are distracting during work.
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Build an All-Inclusive Community
An inclusive community can elevate employee morale and further strengthen employee relationships. 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 being casual in your work. 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 and 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 an employee’s morale. Whether you praise someone for doing a good job or reprimanding an intern for not following instructions, this feedback must be communicated appropriately. 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 results in lower performance. Always remember that feedback does not work one way. Your employees must also have a chance to equally express their opinions on management and point out mistakes 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 a different environment, 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, it would be best if you clarified expectations to avoid frustration, confusion, and being upset with your employees. 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 hiring the right people with the right mindset is necessary for your business to succeed by doing remote work. 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 an employee’s good qualities and traits. It will help your business as they become part of your team.
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Establish Work Culture
As Forbes CEO of Capacity David Karandish, says, “Corporate culture is the glue that holds a company together.” A positive work culture aided with good communication can work wonders for your business. It can help your team leaders instill values in their respective teams that can boost productivity performance.
You can convert Wednesday Coffee Nights to Video Charades via Zoom if you shift to remote work from the traditional office space. Suppose you feel that your virtual culture is still lacking. In that case, you can amplify it by recognizing big and little wins, encouraging an open, honest environment, and including team-building activities in your workflow.
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Instill Inspiration
As a business owner, your employees view you as their leader and the ship’s captain – a.k.a. your company. During your regularly scheduled meeting, include time to speak and inspire your team members to boost morale and let them know you are in this together.
An effective leader also must create leaders among his team. Not every business needs a team, but keeping yourself patient and inspired equally works with a company with thousands of employees.
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Having a Clear Goal, Mission, and Vision
You and your business can easily lead without a clear goal, mission, and vision. Setting goals helps 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. You, as a business owner, cannot control many factors. 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 must still have the same work etiquette, 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 home.
Tip to add: having an exceptional HR team is beneficial in handling office communications and maintaining work culture.
