What used to be something that only a small part of the workforce could do is now the rule. In the past few years, working from home has become very common very quickly, and it looks like it will stay that way. Companies and employees alike have benefited from letting people work from home, which has led to lower overhead costs and better job satisfaction. That being said, this way of working hasn’t been easy either. Keeping employees engaged and productive has proven to be especially hard in a remote setting, which has created new problems for businesses all over the world. Here are some easy things you can do to fix this issue and get your online workers more involved and productive:
Talk to each other well
A lot of the time, remote workers who work odd hours or in different time zones don’t feel like they’re linked to their teams. It’s not reasonable to expect people to be available all the time, but being able to reach out to coworkers through digital means can help improve general connectivity. Use chat clients, social collaboration software, and online communities to let your employees who work from home join the talks about culture. As it turns out, this simple step can go a long way towards building trust and friendship among team members by showing that the company really values different work schedules and lives.
Hold virtual talks often
Emails, instant messages, video calls, and online meeting tools are how most remote teams stay in touch all the time. When the whole team needs to work together, a voice or video call can be very helpful for getting everyone to work together well. In the same way, it’s important to plan less formal virtual get-togethers that aren’t always tied to work. This will allow your workers to have casual, stress-free conversations, will get them excited about working from home, and will ultimately make them more engaged and productive.
Effectively lead your teams
For processes to work well and output to be high, management must be effective. On the other hand, that can be a hard goal to reach, especially in a remote area. Professional services for managing a contingent staff might be a good idea in this case. These professionals will give your business an edge over the competition by overseeing the quality, speed, and risk of your employees, all while making sure you follow the rules and lowering costs overall. This will give you more time to do what really matters: increasing productivity and helping your business run smoothly from afar.
Encourage people to connect personally
You should always be professional with your workers, but you should also remember that they are people. Like everyone else, they have good and bad days. To connect with them better, you need to know what they’re interested in, what they’re good at, and what they could do better. Take note of what your workers like to do and what they do for fun, and then try to incorporate that into their work through tasks, assignments, or even promotions that are related to that. A lot of people will work harder and be more dedicated to the company if they know you care about them as individuals.
Make sure workers feel appreciated
Even if they work from home, every worker should feel like they are respected. You won’t be able to say “thank you” quickly at work or have business lunches, so you will have to come up with new ways to thank your team quite often. This could mean giving virtual gift cards for birthdays, setting up team calls to recognise great work, making sure you’re always available for questions and concerns, or finding any other small way to show your remote workers you care. When you let your employees know you value them, they will be more engaged, which will help your company benefit from remote work.
Put health and well-being first
It’s also important that you care about the health of your workers. After all, members of the team won’t be able to do their best work if they’re not feeling well. Hence, you could start an employee wellness programme or come up with a way to motivate your staff to cook a healthy meal, work out more, spend more time outside, or make another good habit. For starters, this will help your remote workers stay healthy. It will also bring your team closer together and show that you care about their health.
Think about gamification choices
The term “gamification” refers to adding gaming elements to non-gaming settings. This is a unique and interesting way for businesses to get their employees more involved. Similar methods of encouraging healthy competition and giving prizes for everyday tasks could be an effective way to get employees to work harder. People who work from home need to feel like they are part of the team and are included. Competing and setting goals as a team could help build that necessary sense of working together. The main goal of these teams is acceptance, inclusion, and working towards shared goals. They can be made based on location or function.
It might be hard to keep workers who work from home interested in their jobs, but it’s not impossible. The tips above will help your team be more productive and will open up new growth and success possibilities for your business.
