Despite the efforts of many companies to return their employees to the office, the truth is that in many companies remote work is here to stay. At least, in part of the template. This is a reality for companies that, given the impossibility of finding talent within a safe distance from their offices, are forced to look in other provinces or autonomous communities. Even in other countries, and they hire staff who work remotely
There are also companies that have decided not to back down from remote work, and in which the entire workforce works from their preferred location, meeting in person from time to time. In these cases, all business processes must adapt to the new work format. Also the measure of productivity of each worker will be different. Therefore, it is necessary to develop new strategies to assess remote performance. How can you do it? What factors intervene in the productivity of remote employees that have no weight in it if the workers carry out their tasks from the office?
What impacts the productivity of an employee who works remotely
Many studies show that those who work remotely can have better results. So much so that in some cases it can yield up to 47% more. But it’s important to understand the impact remote working can have on overall productivity within each individual company, because every business is different.
One positive aspect of remote work is the increased flexibility it offers, allowing employees to do their tasks independently, and also during the hours they prefer. This autonomy often leads to greater job satisfaction, as well as greater efficiency, already. that workers can focus more on their tasks without the typical distractions of an office environment.
However, a workforce that works remotely can suffer a negative impact in terms of communication between team members. In the case of remote work, generative work environments can be more static and isolated, and lead to fewer relationships between different departments, and even between members of the same work group. This will worsen communication, and may lead to reduced value creation in the organization. For this reason, it is necessary to look for measures that favor communication between different teams, in addition to providing facilities for communication within the same group.
How to measure employee productivity of a remote workforce
The first thing to do to measure employee productivity is to set clear and realistic expectations and goals. This goes far beyond assigning tasks to workers. The company has to share its vision and mission with all the members of each team, and it is necessary to divide the objectives of each project into tangible tasks. It is also necessary to raise the expectations that will be deposited in each position.
All of this should include key performance indicators, or KPIs, as well as roadmaps each team member is expected to follow, and expectations for the quality of each team’s work. It is also important to take advantage of the remote work features of human resource management systems. These platforms help companies design and follow the objectives that each employee has, and align them with business objectives. They will also serve to communicate these goals and plans to each employee.
Thus, when each member of a team is aware of the part of the work with respect to the company and the team that corresponds to him, he can work in a more focused way. And the more detailed your work roadmap is, and what you need to do to achieve your goals, the easier it will be for you to achieve them.
Time management and project management tools
Another of the systems that can be used to measure the productivity of an employee is the use of time tracking tools. It is an objective method to measure productivity, although its use does not mean that it only measures working hours. These tools can offer information related to how those hours are distributed, and inform if they are used to carry out tasks, meetings or other professional activities.
Its mission is also to help identify inefficient actions. Like an excess of time spent in meetings, or irregular work patterns that can worsen productivity. With all this information, team leaders can design strategies to streamline processes and encourage effective time management. Of course, we must bear in mind that it is not about being on top of employees every minute, but about creating an environment that leads to efficient work habits.
Project management tools can also help in this. When a team works remotely, sometimes its members and managers are a bit blind to the status of projects, and these tools can help to eliminate this, since they offer a centralized platform from which tasks can be created and assigned. and keep track of them.
They offer a visual interface that allows you to see at a glance who is doing a specific task, the status of assigned tasks, and the timeline of projects. But they can also facilitate collaboration, enable document sharing, and foster communication. Therefore, project management tools are an essential element for teams that, in whole or in part, work remotely. In addition, they allow detecting problems in carrying out tasks, or in the time it takes to do them, in stages that allow them to be corrected before they affect the course of the project.
communication is key
In addition to these tools and measures, it is necessary to always keep communication channels open. Also check the status of things, and team members, frequently. For this it is advisable to have team meetings, even if they are brief, daily. And with each of the members, individually, from time to time. Thus, those responsible for the team can resolve doubts, see if one or several members of the team have a problem, and also advise their group.
Individual performance reviews can also be carried out, although these can be more indicative of the progress of each member, or used to see if it is appropriate to improve the conditions of one or more members, or promote them or change teams or departments.
These meetings and reviews offer constructive feedback, and recognition of the employee’s work, which needs to be done, and can improve their productivity. These interactions, which must be natural, show that a manager or executive is also involved in the growth of the team or teams he leads. The effect this has on team members is positive, and can lead to their being more satisfied and involved in their work.
But every employee who works remotely has to self-assess, which will lead them to think more about how they do things, and discover their strengths and weaknesses, as well as what they can improve. In these cases, the task of team leaders is to facilitate self-assessment, which will not only improve productivity, but will also foster the personal growth of each worker.
Thinking about these points can make a worker more motivated and involved, which will lead to more productivity. A self-assessment may also make each worker discover things about himself and his tasks that conventional evaluations miss.
In view of all this, managing the productivity of teams that work remotely requires a mix of clear communication, the strategic use of technology and the promotion of self-awareness in workers. Setting clear objectives, using time and project management tools, maintaining regular contact between team members and encouraging self-assessment are key measures for team leaders to boost the productivity of their members remotely.
Of course, since each project and worker are different, it is important to adapt these strategies appropriately to each case. Because it is as important to improve productivity as it is to create a work environment that supports professional and personal growth, as well as the general satisfaction of each team.
