How to Empower Remote Employees to be More Productive
Remote work has become the new norm for the American workforce. As of 2017, 3.9 million U.S. workers reported working from home at least half of the time. This represents a whopping 115 percent increase from 2005, according to a FlexJobs report.
As a leader or manager, it can be challenging to work with remote employees and ensure that they’re being productive. That doesn’t mean it’s impossible — it just means you need to consider the tactics you’re using.
“Track and collaborate online with your remote workers. Start collaborating on ProofHub today with a free trial.”
In fact, your success in a role like this is really about going back to the basics. Establishing processes, allowing for employee autonomy, and being transparent are just a few ways to empower remote employees to be productive. Get ready to take notes and use what you learn to make your remote team more productive than ever before.
Establish a Process to Track Progress
The Project Management Institute found that a lack of clearly defined objectives and milestones to measure progress is the most common factor (37 percent) for project failure. This data suggests that expectations must be clear to employees to ensure productivity and success.
Establishing parameters in this way allows you to set expectations, and then more importantly, track progress of all employees, remote or in-house, at any time of the day. The key is making sure everyone uses the platform properly and regularly.
As such, the first expectation to set is with tracking progress and productivity. For example:
- What do you expect all employees (remote and in-house) to report on daily?
- Do you need to see weekly reports?
- Should all project-related conversation happen within one platform or tool?
- What milestones should be reported on?
- How is success measured?
When remote employees understand the procedure, they can be more productive, while ensuring you’re able to see their progress. The right procedures will also give you piece of mind, allowing you to see what they’re producing and what needs attention.
Use Project Management Tools
Project management software or programs are a must-have for distributed teams. They provide a unified platform to collect documentation and data, give feedback, and track progress. Procedures are much easier to enforce with a company-wide project management tool. This makes everyone more productive on a daily basis.
Choosing the correct tool depends on the specific needs and resources of your organization. ProofHub is a great option because it’s an all-in-one “hub,” making it easy for both in-house and remote employees to collaborate, stay connected, and track the status of shared projects. It’s also multilingual, making it easier to work with employees around the globe.
If you’re not sure where to start, check out ProofHub’s guide, 7 Tips on Choosing the Best Project Management Software.
Avoid Being a ‘Helicopter Manager’
A 2-year Stanford Study showed that remote workers are more productive than in-office employees, and this increased productivity can equal an extra day of work. The takeaway is simple, you don’t need to micromanage a remote employee to ensure productivity. That behavior can be counterproductive and undermine the autonomy that remote employees value.
With an established process to track employee’s work, there’s no reason to be a “helicopter manager.” Instead, focus on bringing more collaboration into your management style. Elena Carstoiu, COO of Hubgets, explains the benefit of this for you and your employees:
“Project management takes a lot of effort for the team leaders involved. Handling everything by yourself can quickly become overwhelming, especially when the project hits a rough spot. When you make it collaborative by involving others in the process, responsibilities can be shared, and the amount of work can be divided.”
In this way, you can be better at your job while allowing your remote employees to be productive on their own terms. If an issue arises for lack of productivity, that’s the time to address it — doing so preemptively could dissolve trust.
Give Consistent Feedback (Both Positive and Negative)
Managers should encourage a feedback-driven environment when working with remote employees. Remember: those employees aren’t able to get a pat on the back as you walk by their desk or get looked in the eye as the team is praised for good work. Yet, when they know what they’re doing right and what they’re doing wrong, they can be better at their job and therefore more productive.
Remote employment experts at Remote.com suggest that feedback does two important things: corrects errors and inspires better work. The key is to give feedback that praises the employee and provides constructive criticism, while finding a balance between the two.
Remote.com explains, “Remember, feedback can be both positive and negative, and if you’re dolling it out, be sure that you’re providing both. Too much negative feedback can be discouraging, while all positive feedback leaves the receiver with no ways to improve (and let’s face it, there’s always room for improvement no matter what you’re doing).”
To provide consistent feedback to remote employees, you may just have to work a little bit harder to make it happen. For example, set regularly scheduled meetings to connect 1-on-1, which makes it easier to remember.
Make All Communications Transparent
Communications with remote employees should allow transparency from both a management level and on an organizational level. Not only does this ensure everyone is on the same page, but it’s important for the mental health of your employees.
In a 2017 study of 1,100 employees, nearly 75 percent of remote workers said they feel colleagues don’t fight for their priorities. What’s more nearly 75 percent also felt colleagues make changes to projects without telling them. If they feel left out, they may lose motivation to be productive and helpful to the rest of the team.
Communicating regularly can avoid these issues and alleviate any concerns. First and foremost, it’s important for to be clear about how you best communicate, when you’re available, and how you prefer to be reached. You may want to hold “office hours” outside of regular meetings to be available to remote employees.
On the flip side, take time to find out how your remote employees prefer to communication; Via chat? Phone? Video call?
It’s also important that an organization keep remote workers updated on the company, along with shifting goals and priorities. These company updates can happen via weekly/monthly newsletters or organization-wide emails; most companies hold company-wide all-staff meetings — just video your remote employees in.
Empower Your Remote Employees to be More Productive
Remote employees can’t be managed in the same fashion as an in-office team. You must be proactive in understanding the nuances of distributed work and find ways to best empower your staff. If you start by establishing processes, preparing yourself physically and mentally to work from home, invest in project management tools and be generous with feedback and transparent in your communication, you’ll watch a unified team grow into a team that’s also productive, and therefore, successful.
“Organize all your project activities with a project management software. Try ProofHub.”
Author Bio:
Jessica Thiefels is the CEO of Jessica Thiefels Consulting and has managed both remote and in-house employees in her various roles. She’s been featured on Forbes and Business Insider and regularly writes for Virgin, Glassdoor, Score.org and more. Follow her on Twitter @JessicaThiefels and connect on LinkedIn.
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