How to keep up productivity for homeworkers
Since the government encouraged employees to work from home where possible during the pandemic, many employers have adopted remote or hybrid working for good. But how do you ensure working from home remains productive as the novelty wears off?
How can employers encourage the productivity of their remote workforce as time goes on? Here are the top recommendations from our HR experts.
A stitch in time saves nine
If you sort out a problem immediately, it may save extra work later. Considering the impact of continued home working now will ensure workers are just as committed to carrying out their roles as they would have been in the workplace. Keep reading for some tops tips on how to encourage productivity.
Train your line managers
This may be the first time that your line managers have ever managed their team remotely. You always want to ensure that your team have the right skills to do the job – making the move to managing a remote workforce is no exception. With this new people management challenge, consider giving them an online training session to boost their productivity and in turn the productivity of their team.
Communication is key
We may have adjusted to carrying out our work via tools such as Microsoft Teams, Google Hangouts or Skype for Business but that doesn’t mean we are getting the level of communication right with employees. Take the renewed emphasis on working from home as an opportunity to evaluate the last 6 months and make any necessary adjustments to how and when you communicate with your team. There is a balance between constantly messaging employees and radio silence! Ask yourself questions; are you:
- Accessible to your team?
- Available to respond to any pressing concerns?
- Being clear on priorities and any deadlines?
- Giving feedback on objectives and key milestones?
- Do you know the availability of your team? (i.e. ensuring you can reach them when needed – not micromanaging)
- Communicating updates on the business and sharing successes?
- Checking the frequency and length of meetings your employees are attending? Shorter meetings may be required to avoid video conferencing fatigue and meetings taking up too many working hours.
Set expectations
Set clear goals, objectives and expectations for your employees to ensure they are aware of the required standard of performance. It is key that you concentrate on outcomes and results. Managers who used to have an office-based team prior to COVID-19 may need to change their focus when measuring home workers performance. Move to assessing quality, results or achievement of the agreed objectives.
One to ones
Continue with your existing performance management processes. Ensure 1:1s or supervisions happen regularly to assist with the management of your employees and ensure you keep informed on your employee’s progress towards their work objectives. Don’t forget to listen to your employees and act on their feedback as required.
Collaboration
Providing opportunities for the team to collaborate. After a long period of working from home, employees may start to feel isolated. Did the team collaborate previously? Did they work together on projects or learn by sharing experiences? Ensuring employees continue to feel part of a team will help them remain focussed.
Wellbeing
Employees may struggle to switch off after their day working from home. Promote health and wellbeing during your individual chats. Maintaining a good work/life balance will help with productivity and avoid a burn-out situation. This can be more common with homeworking as the lines between home and office can be blurred. You should ensure that clear expectations are set out around the hour’s employees work and responding to messages out of hours. Consider the impact and perceived pressure to respond on the employee by sending them an email late at night.
Ultimately if your employees are communicating clearly with you and meeting their objectives and deadlines, you will need to trust that they are being productive and therefore doing their jobs effectively.
Further reading
For additional information on managing your remote team please read: performance management for homeworkers: top 10 tips.
If you’re considering making home working or hybrid working a long-term option at your business, then read our ultimate guide on flexible working to learn more.
