How to Maintain and Increase Productivity in a Remote Team

 The global pandemic that started in 2020 and continued through 2021, forced many companies and teams to switch into remote working. Of course, remote working is not a new concept and many firms have used it even way before the pandemic, but these days, we can see big corporations using remote working that never tried it before.  

Remote working can be seen from different aspects. It gives employees freedom in their working time and may reduce some costs of the company in areas such as energy and maintenance. But it has its challenges too. Managing a remote team is completely different from working with people in one place and one building. Maintaining and increasing productivity in a remote team is a key challenge for both managers and employees. But looking through time and learning from experiences, we can find vital criteria that result in a productive remote team.  

 Encourage Team to Use a Collaboration Platform 

The first step to manage a remote team is using a collaboration platform. There are many of these platforms online and each one of them provides managers with different sets of features. You can find the one that best works for you by deep and complete research of the features.  

But encouraging your team members to use this platform is nothing less important. It is better to define strict rules that everyone in the team must use and collaborate with others through this platform. It might be difficult for team members to manage their time through so many different online networking tools, especially when they are working from home and has access to their personal devices too. But it is worth the effort to introduce and encourage your team to start and continue working in the company’s collaboration platform.  

 Make the Best Use of Virtual Meetings 

Virtual meetings are a great tool for a remote team. These meetings can be held both throw video or audio conferences. There are many great platforms online that help you have your online conference rooms. Based on the size of the company or teams, you can set the desired number of virtual meetings to check the progress, workflow, and any blockers for team members.  

A virtual meeting also gives your employees a sense of being in a working environment too. A big part of being a team member is seeing your colleagues and talk with them about the work you are doing. But it is important to take virtual meetings seriously. Because of remote work, many people decide to work from their homes and use a bedroom or a cozy corner of their house as their working environment. This is not bad by itself, but it is a clever idea to have some rules about clothing in virtual meetings. You do not need to restrict people by forcing them to wear suits and ties. They just need to know the virtual meeting is another important aspect of their remote work.  

 Manage Controlling and Check-Ins 

When working in an office, you can see people doing their jobs. You can check on your team members face to face and ask them about blockers or what they need to complete a task or make steady progress in it. But when you start remote working, you need a better plan.  

Many managers tend to use voice messages or several online meetings in a day to check and control the workflow of their team. While all of the methods used here can be helpful, it is important not to be overwhelming and making your team insecure and out of focus. When you leave your team members a voice or direct message, or by going online a few hours apart, you want to get feedback. But you should bear in mind that while working remotely, just the task of answering too many questions and participating in too many meetings might result in your employees lose focus on their task eventually, reduced productivity. So, finding the best solution and having a balance about check-ins must be considered simultaneously.  

 Manage Conference Times 

As mentioned earlier, setting conferences to check up the workflow and blockers of the team is vital. But you should find a balance in conference times. If you are holding five 1-hour conferences in a day, you are going to see a decrease in the team’s productivity. Team members need to checked-on and spoken to about their tasks, but engaging them in too many meetings will decrease their focus on their tasks.  

It is crucial to set a sufficient number of meetings every week and let team members know when they are going to attend them exactly. You should bear in mind that remote working means people are using floating working times and they are managing both work and life at the same place at the same time. So, be sure to help them understand work routines and manage their times accordingly.  

 Find and Make Use of Productive Times of the Day 

One of the most important aspects of remote working is that people tend to manage their working times themselves. While in an office, there are starting and ending working times, and the working hours are fixed, there is no such thing while working remotely. Some employees are more productive in the morning, so they try to start and end their tasks in the day, while many others might prefer nights and work better then.  

As the manager, it is a wise idea to discover the best and most productive times of your team members and assign the task according to their productive hours of the day. There are online time tracking tools that can provide you a comprehensive report about how your team members manage their times and when they are most productive.  

Get the Team Productivity Tools They Need 

Every team and each team member has its own needs. When working in an office, employees use the computers, software, and hardware provided by team managers. But when you are managing a remote team, you should consider what it requires to stay productive. Home computers are not equipped with the same software or hardware as office ones. And this is the task of the team managers to provide every productivity tool needed.  

It is also a brilliant idea to provide team members with the gadgets and hardware they need. Remote team members should not feel that they are using their personal stuff for the task provided by their team. This way, if something happens and their smartphone or laptop stops working, they will blame the team for their loss.  

 Do Not Forget Emotional Support 

Team members require personal and emotional support, even more, when they are working remotely. Due to the pandemic, many people are isolated in their houses, quarantined, and not being able to have quality times for themselves like before. They might have also lost their loved ones to the pandemic. These make everyone exhausted and emotionally weaker. Providing team members with emotional support gives them a sense of support from their team.  

 Value Personal and Team Achievements 

One of the benefits of working in the same place like an office is that team members can celebrate even small achievements simply by talking to each other in their free time and eating some coffee or ordering a small cake or pizza. These things make working more desirable and valuable to employees. But remote working, and especially being far from your colleagues due to the pandemic takes away these celebrations and fades out small achievements. As a team manager, you should make sure to value your team’s improvements and their members’ achievements to keep them happy about the job they are doing.  

Remote working has many benefits but it is totally different from working in an office. It requires its special handlings and cares to stay productive. Team managers should be aware of these differences and help their team members to succeed and improve while working remotely.