What factors tend to influence ‘Remote-work’ and for ‘Remote-working’ to be productive? Prof. Dr. K. Harigopal

Earlier these were published in Linked in as short/brief articles under the caption: “Remote working—what factors tend to influence Remote-work; and for Remote working to be productive”.

Now all are coalesced together to provide a Complete & Comprehensive reading.

The factors would lie with the REMOTE-work itself, as to how ‘Remote-work’ influences or makes demands on employees. Basically, The REM aspects of work: ‘Reasoning’ (R), ‘Emotions’ (E), and ‘Motivation’(M) at/to work.

The REM factors operate in the context of: ‘O’ (how a given Work/Project is Organized), T (the ‘Technology’ involved—as to its nature, difficulty level, etc.); and E (Evaluation, for the expected results)—essentially the ‘OTE’ dimensions of tasks/Work. In 'remote-working', an employee’s success depends upon both the REM and OTE factors of Work, as they constitute the basic and most relevant dimensions of ‘Remote working’

THE REM FACTORS

The essential or core elements of REMOTE-WORK that influence an employee and his/her performance tend to lie in the realm of:

‘Reason’ or ‘Reasoning involved’(R) as necessary to accomplish a given work;

‘Employee’s-Involvement’ at Work and in the Work-process (E), and

'Employee’s felt ‘Motivation(M)’ to ‘work’ or ‘Motivation when at work’.

Therefore, an important consideration, while one ‘works-remotely’ would be: the extent to which, 'hygiene's’ and 'motivators' are in place in one’s work-situation'. While the ‘hygiene-factors’—may assist to remove any irritants in one’s work-environment; it is the ‘motivators’ (M) that bring-forth a better/superior performance.  

Earlier, providing for the relevant ‘hygiene and motivating factors’ at work was the responsibility of the Company/Organization, where an employee worked. However, ‘post-Corona’, an employee needs to create (or is responsible to create) a right work-environment by him/her-self when he/she preferred to work-from-home/or from a ‘remote-Office’ work, set-up for him/her-self.

Of course, if a Company were to arrange a ‘satellite work-center’ for a ‘unit of its employees’, the Company got to take care of creating a ‘right work-environment’ in such a Centre.

Certainly, a very relevant and considerably ‘important consideration’, is: how conducive a 'remote-work'/'work-from-home’ environment is and could/would be for ‘employee-motivation’ to work, compared with any regular ‘Organizational work-environment’ to which employees have/had been accustomed to for many years, till the on-set of the ‘Corona epidemic’!

To what extent an employee is/be adequately tuned to 'working-remotely'?--The REM factors

To what extent an employee is adequately tuned to 'working-remotely' is certainly an important consideration, in that, earlier he/she had been working for many years in a formal-setting…of an ‘Organization/Company-work-environment’ and mostly conditioned to work in such a work-environment.

Consequently, an employee may experience ‘isolation/loneliness’ at work while working-remotely. And even experience ‘decreased visibility’ in that he/she may feel being ‘less/not noticed’ as in a formal work-setting (or perhaps, a few may consider that their personality and ‘personal- charisma’ at stake!!).  

While working remotely an employee, at times, could feel less-certain about how an ‘assigned work’ is to be performed or may perceive the tasks to be performed either too difficult or complex’. In contrast, in a regular Organizational work-set-up, due to peer-group presence and their likely support and advice, an employee is less likely to suffer or ‘suffer less’ from such feelings of task-uncertainty/task ambiguity.

This begs the question, are all employees pre-disposed/tuned to ‘remote-working’, without suffering from the likes of a ‘Robinson Crusoe—syndrome’?

An employee ‘working-remotely’ and on a ‘tenured job’ may, occasionally, find it difficult to achieve the set-targets, and consequently entertain a vague ‘fear or suspicion’ about the ‘uncertainty of his/her job-tenure’ when unable to perform his/her job adequately.

Of course, such uncertainty may also be felt, consequent to the completion of one’s current task/Project. Perhaps, somewhat more by some 'project-specific'/contractual and ‘non-yet permanent’ employees.

Any decision-making anxiety, that a remotely-working employee may entertain tends to affect the quality of his/her work, not to speak of his/her creativity at work.  We might as well say, that feelings of ‘isolation and decreased ‘visibility at work, could certainly be stressful to some employees that work remotely—compared to employees in a formal Organizational ‘work-set-up’ having their team-members/colleagues at the work-place. Being together ‘at a work-place’, tends to provide employees greater feelings of ‘psychological-security’, much more than each employee working all by him/her self alone or in isolation.

Two essential aspects, that influences one’s work behaviour/performance relate to: how one is being ‘seen’; and 'regarded’ by one's colleagues/one’s team—in other words—one’s ‘visibility and credibility’. “Being seen provides opportunities for being heard and regarded”. Credibility, generally, is hard to come-by without adequate visibility!

A relevant question, therefore, is: ‘how does ‘working-remotely’ affect one’s visibility’?

‘Credibility’ mostly, is a consequence of one’s performance at work, where one gets recognized for one's work, talents etc. Though being (or noticed to be) ‘credible’ may take some-time despite one’s ‘superior-performance’.  

Of course, ‘Visibility’, is an important aspect in any employees’ work-environment! By their very nature, most employees tend to be gregarious—and may believe/consider that their ‘work-potential’ may not get adequate/due recognition, if they worked ‘in isolation’/remotely.

For any employee, being recognized in the presence of his/her colleagues/others in one’s team, as in a formal ‘work-set up’, tends to be more meaningful, while contributing to one’s credibility, compared to getting such a recognition in isolation/a remote-work setting!

‘Not seen’ (visible), is often ‘not noticed’, if not ignored.

The lack of or a limited personal rapport at work, especially with one’s role-set members may aggravate one’s apprehensions that one may get ‘marginalized’. Such feelings, irrespective of being legitimate or not, may make some employees feel that they could lose their identity and probably their employment (i.e., their currently-held-job) in near future, consequent to any Organizational restructuring necessitated by some drastic changes in the prevailing/current ‘business-environment’.

Needless to say, compared to working in a regular work-environment within an ‘Organization’, working remotely/from home, may create feelings of ‘isolation-at-work’ that could 'peak' for a few employees over a ‘time-period’. More so, for those who are not tuned to work alone and have been accustomed/habituated to work in a regular ‘Office-environment’ for several years. (Is not a human being, gregarious by nature!).

When working remotely, some employees may experience an ‘uncertain feeling’ of having lost their moorings (or their ‘job-hold’) with the Company that they had been working for; while some others, could entertain an ‘unconscious-fear’ that their employability may not be ‘continued’ in near future, subsequent to the current assignment they had been working-on. Such an anxiety, probably, they would not have had entertained (or may have had entertained very marginally), when they went regularly to their Company/Office, every working-day (perhaps, from the felt-strength of peer-group support/employee-union support, etc.).

Even, if a few employees had entertained such apprehensions while working regularly within their Company premises; that could have had been only during the times that their Company had fared ‘badly in the market’, and caused apprehensions of possible employee-retrenchment. (Of course, a ‘sinking-ship’ has its own ‘time-lag’ to get fully sunk; meanwhile, the crew members would have had enough-time to swim ashore/save themselves!)".

If ‘remote-working’/’work-from-home’ is likely to create ‘an identity-crisis’ in a few employees, then a concern of relevance for any Company/Organization would be: how to minimise such feelings of ‘job-insecurity’ in such employees; and as a corollary to it: what could be the relevant ‘Organisational-initiatives’ to boost ‘motivational-levels' among such employees!

In a ‘formal-work’ situation, an employee is less likely to experience an ‘identity-crisis’ as he/she may find (or seek) some comfort from the contextual aspects of his/her work/work-environment (past or present) such as: Company work-culture, team-work/team-support, formal-supervision, stipulated hours-of-work, Organizational norms-and-rules, support of 'employees-union', and such others.

Certain dominant and reoccurring questions (both from employees’ and Organizational point-of-view), that may influence remote-working, could be:  

* How adequately a 'work-process' is ‘stream-lined’?--as to the work-priorities, time-schedules and time/work-sequence.

* Is there a 'right-technology' in place (the network, tech-tools, and log-in accounts) for employees to work-remotely?

* To what extent, an assigned work is considered as ‘routine vs. stimulating’?

* Is the ‘assigned-work’ driven by restricted processes, rules, and regulations or does it provide some leeway for an employee’s discretion and freedom to think, plan and execute?

*How a Company may regulate (or exercise control over) the ‘work behaviour’ of its remotely working employees? Of course, certain rules and regulations are needed to provide direction and ‘overall-guidelines’ for employees to do their work that even employees do understand as necessary. However, these rules need to be drafted in ways to allow/provide opportunities for employees to be creative within a given ‘overall-frame-work’.

This brings to fore, certain relevant and important issues: How to design any ‘work’ that is remotely performed/done, so that:

- it could be ‘stimulating and challenging’ to an employee working remotely?

- ‘motivation’, could be built in as an ‘intrinsic aspect’ of the ‘nature-of-work/work-process’ itself?

- be enabling an employee working remotely to be able to 'experiment-with' the Work, so that he/she may be creative and entrepreneurial at work, and have the necessary lee-way for such ‘self-initiatives’?

Perhaps, an employee also needs to engage him/her-self in ‘periodic-introspection’ about the ‘work’, he/she does, as to the extent, to which the work is:

 *‘quite-involving’ or ‘engaging’? 

 *driven by the ‘process’ of it., and, as to how ‘deterministic’ it is in terms of the demands/work-commitments made on an employee? And also:

*Does the ‘work’ provide significant ‘challenges’ as to the way(s) it is/could be performed?

*The degree of 'lee-way' possible in the ‘work-process, if an employee wanted to be creative/innovative?

*How does his/her work relate to others in his/her role-set. Where, he/she is expected to support his/her role-set members or have to depend upon their support, etc.

*Were certain aspects/significant-issues/opportunities missed-out in his/her performance!?

*What improvements were needed with respect to his/her performance?

How efficient and effective a ‘remote-working employee (or remote-working team) could be, also depends upon certain factors:

*is he/she/team) able to identify any ‘work-related problems’ that may/could arise, have arisen; and whether able to resolve them constructively?

*is employee-motivation built into the work-process itself (e.g., one may move to stage II, only when one has successfully completed stage, I)

*Is each team-member adequately-enabled to share his/her insights about ‘work’, in that the ‘team as a whole’ could benefit from such ‘insights’. This tends to foster/facilitate among group-members, a constructive and positive team-spirit/work-loop.

*As a significant aspect of ‘work/human-behavior’, what is considerably important is the ‘recognition’ of one's 'performance', by his/her team/Organization.

*As a corollary to it, the 'criteria and rules' governing ‘employee-recognition’ and reward scheme’ and the ‘types of rewards’ got to be clear; well-communicated to all employees, and also publicly displayed on the Company Notice-board for the awareness of every employee in the team/Organization. It is quite important that any ‘reward’ scheme be perceived as 'meaningful and justified’ by employees, to nullify any misconceptions or wrong assumptions that some employees may hold or entertain about any ‘reward-scheme’.

*Of course, a 'reward' tends to be perceived as ‘relevant and meaningful’ when it is 'specific-to-a given performance' and is contingent upon ‘such a performance’ without being delayed in time, so that employees can perceive the connectivity between the 'quality and quantity of a performance' achieved and a ‘reward’ given/bestowed (that is to say, the rational basis of a reward).  It is vital, that any 'scheme-of-rewards' got to be in place, as an intrinsic aspect of a Company’s Overall-Policy.

*Recognition and reinforcement of an employee’s 'superior-performance' by a team-leader/Management could be also in terms of: a letter of appreciation and ‘performance-based’ increments/rewards, etc. Performance-recognition should not only be for ‘individual performance’, but also for a ‘team’s 'overall-performance'.

*Got to note, that every employee tends to have an inherent desire to get feedback about his/her performance and be recognised for his/her efforts. Generally, remote workers may have less of a ‘grape-wine’ at work as in a ‘formal-Office-set-up’ to know about their work-behavior/performance.

The moorings of any Company lie in its Workforce. What a Company/an Organization is/could be, depends upon the performance of its employees. When employees 'work-remotely', there is a need to cognize as to what factors may provide the ‘right-support’ and are quintessential to ‘enhance’ their performance---individually and collectively.

A 'reward' may be perceived as relevant and meaningful when it is 'specific-to-a given performance', and is not delayed, so that employees are able to relate a ‘reward’ to the 'quality and quantity of a performance' that has been the basis for the reward.

It is vital, that any 'scheme-of-rewards' got to be in place, as an intrinsic aspect of a Company’s over-all Policy.

Remote work and Employee supervision (OTE-- factors)

When employees work from home/remotely, direct-supervision is less possible as in a normal office-situation. This may give rise to a variety of employees’ behaviours:

*Some may over-work themselves.  

*A few may develop a tendency to focus more on ‘work/tasks’ classified as ‘most urgent’/’important’; and probably less on the other activities that have not yet been ‘firmed up’ as to their priority. And such, activities are likely to be put on a backburner/postponed! 

* It is likely, that some sort of ‘work-inertia’ may build-up over some-time, in that some employees may develop a tendency to ‘post-pone’ certain activities/work-demands 'by-a-few-days', if that is possible to do so.

*A few employees may experience some sort-of-a-fear (rational or irrational) that they may lose their jobs consequent to the completion of the current work— ‘project’ with respect to which they had been employed. Such apprehensions could be much more in the context of a quickly changing business environment and consequent changes in the current employment/employability scenario, world-over.

*A few consequences, perhaps, may occur like a self-fulfilling prophecy: Anxiety/tension about one’s job-tenure that some employees might experience, (more so, among employees contracted for any specific/ ‘time-bound’ projects) may negatively influence their current performance. Compare this with the ‘psychological assurance’ that an employee generally must have had experienced, while working regularly in a normal office-setting in a Company/Organization.

*Moreover, a comparative assessment of one’s performance, and the realization of one’s potential in comparison to others in one’s team comes into a better focus, in a regular Office-environment than in a ‘remote’ work-situation. 

How efficient and effective a ‘remote-working-team’ could be, depends upon OTE factors:

Being able to ‘energize’ an employee/team, working-remotely—through proper communication process and obtaining periodic-feedback as to the factors that are likely to, or are hindering an employee’s/team’s work; and ‘stream-lining’ the existing ‘work-process’ to be much more productive. Therefore, a reliable and valid communication process needs to be ‘in-place’. Sometimes, ‘over-communication’ (repeat-communication) may be necessary for facilitating a clear understanding among team-members. Therefore, ‘communication’ needs to be an intrinsic part of the work-process and not as a remedial measure when something has gone wrong or is about to go wrong!

Relevant considerations, therefore, could be:

*Is a ‘remote-working employee’ able to identify any work-related problems that may arise/have arisen at work and be able to resolve them’ constructively?

*To what extent, employee-motivation is built into the work-process itself. For example, one may move to stage II, only when one has successfully completed stage I,

*Does remote working facilitate each team-member share his/her insights about his ‘work’ and thus everyone in the team could benefit from the ‘work-insights’ of each other. This tends to foster/facilitate, a constructive and positive team-spirit/work-loop in the team.

Employees in a remotely working-team, need to be periodically given feedback as to their performance, by its team-leader/Management, and that may be in terms of: a letter of appreciation, incentives and rewards, etc., not only for ‘individual performance’, but also for a ‘team’s 'overall-performance'.

*A remote work-situation is less likely to have a ‘grape-wine’ as in a regular ‘formal-Office set-up’ for providing any feedback about ‘work-behavior/performance’ indirectly. And, the realization of one’s work-potential that one can perform better than some others--a comparative assessment--a ‘figure-and-ground’ phenomenon tends to be much more evident in a regular ‘Office-situation’, than in a remote work-set-up.

*A 'reward' may be perceived as relevant and meaningful, when it is 'specific-to-a given performance' and not delayed in time for employees to be able to relate a ‘reward’ to the 'quality and quantity of their performance'. It is vital, that any 'scheme-of-rewards' got to be in place as an intrinsic aspect of a Company’s Overall-Policy.

*Anxiety/tension about one’s job-tenure (among those employees contracted for any specific and time-bound projects) could negatively influence their current performance. Compare this with the ‘psychological assurance’ that an employee generally had experienced earlier while working formally in an Organization. An employee working remotely may experience some-sort of a fear (rational or irrational) that he/she may not continue to be employed/employable consequent to the completion of a current work-project, in the context of any 'prevailing un-employment scenario’. Realization of one’s work-potential and that one can perform better than some others, is generally a comparative assessment--a ‘figure-and-ground’ phenomenon that perhaps comes into play much better in a regular (formal) ‘Office-set up’, than in a remote work-set-up.

Driving Performance from Distance, could be challenging in many ways: This entails:

* Setting up performance-standards that are realistic and measurable?

*Ascertaining that employees working remotely are quite aware of the ‘standards of performance’ required of them, and the necessary standards in reaching the defined targets and goals!

*Ensuring that all the necessary communication among team members is timely, purposeful, smooth and supportive; and felt by them to be clear, timely and trustworthy to foster collaboration among the members!

*Any human effort at work, is influenced by one’s cognitive, conative and emotional components of work-behaviour. To what extent these attitudinal dimensions are supported at work? --underlies individual and group morale and thereby 'individual and team-efficiency at work'.

*Micro-management to be avoided—as it could be counterproductive for achieving a project’s success, and the overall productivity of an Organization!

*The softer-dimensions of team-work, that is, ‘trust-in individual and team-efforts, and acknowledging an employees’ excellence in performance’ remain important to individual and team effectiveness. (M&E)

Managing a Remote Work-team.

It is necessary to ensure, that each employee in a remote-work team:

*is quite clear about his/her work-expectations, and how his/her performance converges leading to a better group-performance.

*has a defined calendar of activities, and ‘time-schedule’ and clarity as to the ‘on-line interactions’

* is well-connected, coordinated within his/her communication net-work'

* is able to meet his/her specific performance-targets and as well contribute effectively to his/her team's performance goals!

* is well-oriented towards ‘goals and results’ that need to be achieved, and not just being oriented towards one’s own tasks.

* is sufficiently knowledgeable about one’s own and as well the performance goals of the others in the team, and more so, if his/her team members happened to work across different time-zones!

* notices Progress—visible progress at work—as it is a better motivator of human behaviour. 

An Organization/Company has to be cognizant about the deficiency-needs of 'remote-working employees'--despite, the necessary technological infrastructure and spatial-facility already in place, and take remedial actions. An Organization may have less 'control over its remotely-working employees compared to a 'formal-office' set-up. Consequently, an Organization may exercise control through well-structured 'work-formats', and 'pre-set' performance levels. It will do good to set up a ‘task-chart’ and ‘goal-accomplishment-chart’ for periodic monitoring and evaluation.

In 'remote-working', the 'onus' of being able to retain one’s job lies on oneself--the employee. Whereas, in a 'regular work-place' as in an Organization, interpersonal relations at work and one’s personal equations with one’s supervisor/superiors do matter to a sufficient degree.

What a Company/an Organization is,--if not for its employees’ performance! It is vital, that a 'scheme-of-rewards' got to be in place, as an intrinsic aspect of a Company’s over all-Policy.

As an aspect of ‘work/human-behavior,’ it is considerably important that one's better 'performance' gets recognized/rewarded. As a corollary to it, the 'criteria and rules' governing any ‘recognition’ and ‘reward scheme’ and the ‘types of rewards’ got to be clear, and communicated and displayed publicly for the knowledge of every employee in a team/Organization--so that any ‘reward’ is perceived as 'meaningful and justified’. This would nullify any misperception that a few employees’ may/could have entertained about a ‘given reward’.

A 'reward' may be perceived as relevant and meaningful when it is 'specific-to-a-given performance', while being not delayed in its dispensation, so that employees are able to relate a ‘reward’ to the 'quality and quantity of one’s performance'.

Remote work and Employee motivation. Issues of practical concern:

*How well-defined and clear are the ‘tasks’ necessary, for a given ‘goal-achievement’? with respect to:

* Individual employee task(s)--clarity concerning task(s), task-specificity, difficulty level, and the time-schedule for task-completion.

*Matching task-difficulty with employee skills and capability: How an employee regards himself/herself, in relation to a given ‘task’ and its ‘difficulty level’ (as to the required knowledge, skills, prior-experience, and self-confidence in being able to complete the task(s) within a set-time-schedule—i.e., one’s ‘self-efficacy’ dimension.

* Each employee's awareness and knowledge of how his/her performance goals and the performance goals of the other team members--relate to group/project-goals and the overall Organizational-goals.

*How well an employee is well aware of the degree of his/her effort and persistence required to achieve a ‘set-goal’? €

The above, could have been easier in a normal work-set up as in a regular organizational Context to check and monitor. However, when employees are hired to work on a project, and they work-remotely, there could be some practical difficulties as to 'employee-assessment' and 'performance monitoring' of each individual team-member, and the team as a whole!

*Supervisory (leadership) orientation and behavior, probably, need to be different depending upon the nature of Work. Many Organizations, probably, did not have the experience of ‘supervising remotely’, during the 'pre-Covid times'. This necessitates taking a closer-look as to: ‘what could be the challenges for 'remote-supervision' and 'supervisory-leadership practices’, Post-Covid.

Would supervision depend more upon hourly, daily or weekly work-reports, coupled with employee’s self-reports; and these blended with ‘team-performance-reports’ and ‘achievement of team-goals’? A relevant consideration, when employees and work-teams work-remotely, tends to be: how precise and open the ‘communication channels’ are, where the 'feed-back' and 'feed-forward' reporting plays a crucial role!

.Other relevant considerations in the context of Remote work, tend to be:

* is there the 'right-technology' in place (the net-work, tech-tools, and log-in accounts) for an employee working remotely?

*How adequately a given 'work-process' is ‘stream-lined’?--as to work-priorities and the time-sequence

How efficient and effective a ‘remote-work-team’ could be, depends upon:

*An employee's awareness and knowledge of how his/her performance goals, and the performance goals of each team member-- relate to group/project-goals and the overall Organizational-goals.

*How well an employee is well aware of the degree of one’s effort and persistence required to achieve a ‘set-goal’?

The above, could have been easier in a normal work-set up as in a regular organizational Context-- to check and monitor. However, when employees are hired to work on a project, and each of them works ‘remotely’, there could be some practical difficulties as to 'performance-monitoring' and 'employee-assessment' of each individual team member, and also the team as a whole!

Certain essential Considerations:

1.  What a Company/an Organization is,--if not for its employees’ performance!

2.  To what extent the Management/Company is able to identify any work-related problems that could arise when employees work(ed) remotely, including the ‘ways of resolving them’ constructively.

3.  Can employee-motivational/motivating aspects be built into the work-process itself? For example, an employee could move to stage II, part of the work, only when he/she has successfully completed stage. This also may satisfy an inherent desire that most employees tend to have to get feedback about their performance and be recognized for their efforts.

4.  It is vital, that a' scheme-of-rewards' got to be in place, as an intrinsic aspect of a Company’s over all-Policy

5.  Recognition and reinforcement of an employee’s 'superior-performance' by a team-leader/Management could be in terms of: a letter of appreciation, incentives and rewards, etc. This should be not only for ‘individual performance’, but also for a ‘team’s 'overall-performance'.

6.  Got to remember that remote workers may have less of a ‘grape-wine’ at work, as in a ‘formal-Office set-up, to get to know about their work/performance, indirectly.

7.  It is vital, that 'scheme-of-rewards' got to be in place, as an intrinsic aspect of a Company’s over all-Policy

8.  As an aspect of ‘work/human-behavior,’ what is generally considerably important is that one's better 'performance' gets recognized. As a corollary to it, the 'criteria and rules' governing any ‘recognition’ and ‘reward scheme’ and the ‘types of rewards’ got to be clear; and communicated and displayed publicly for the knowledge of every employee in a team/Organization-so that any ‘reward’ is perceived as 'meaningful and justified’. This would nullify any misperceptions that a few employees’ may/could have entertained, about a ‘given reward’.

A 'reward' may be perceived as relevant and meaningful when it is 'specific-to-a-given performance', while being not delayed in its dispensation, so that employees are able to relate a ‘reward’ to the 'quality and quantity of one’s performance'.

 Each team-member may be encouraged to share his/her insights about his/her ‘work’, and thereby everyone in a team could benefit from the work-insights of each other. This tends to facilitate a constructive and positive team-spirit among group members.

 A Company tends to exercise control over its remotely working employees in terms of certain processes, rules and regulations, and performance schedules that need to be met-with.

 In fact, certain rules, regulations are needed, not only to keep employees on track but also to serve the purpose of serving as ‘overall-guidelines’ for their work. Of course, rules need to be drafted/crafted, so as give opportunities for employees to be creative within a given ‘overall-frame-work’!

 How to ‘energize’ a team working-remotely? Need to be gauzed by asking each team-member relevant questions—as to the factors: hindering his/her work; factors that are necessary to facilitate work, and to ‘stream-line’ a current work-process to be much more productive.

 A reliable and valid communication process needs to be in place. Occasionally ‘over-communication’ (repeat communication) may be necessary to necessitate a clear understanding among team-members. Communication is an intrinsic aspect of the work-process and not as a remedial measure when something has gone wrong or is about to go wrong!

When most of its employees work remotely, a Company, to get the 'best out' of them, needs to be quite supportive of them. It has to share with its employees what they need to know about the details of a project, while providing the necessary advice, time-to-time.

A Company has to set ‘performance standards’ that are realistic and measurable. Employees working remotely need to be aware of these standards and need to regard them as necessary and a ‘must’ in reaching the defined targets and goals!

Therefore, how succinctly these standards are communicated to remote employees is important. Any communication has to be timely, purposeful, smooth and supportive; and regarded as clear, timely and trustworthy by employees to foster better collaboration among team-members! Moreover, any employee’s effort tends to be influenced by his/her attitudes, i.e., his/her cognitive, conative and emotional components of work-behaviour. How these attitudinal dimensions are supported at work? --underlies individual and group morale, and thereby 'individual and team-efficiency at work'.

The softer-dimensions of team-work, that is, ‘trust-in individual and team-efforts, and acknowledging an employees’ excellence in performance remains important to individual and team effectiveness.

Micro-management has to be avoided—as it could be counterproductive for achieving a project’s success, and the overall productivity of an Organization!

A 'performance-cum-motivational chart'-- where a remotely-working employee is able to trace his/her--progress in performance over-time, could facilitates ‘self-awareness’, and prompt in him/her a ‘self-motivating and performance-improvement behaviour’.

An ‘employee-recognition’ program, as to the criteria for evaluating-merit, and ‘merit-recognition’ formats (gift-card, trophy, cash-bonus, paid-holiday, promotion, etc.), got to be in place.

Measurement is basic to Progress--of a Project, and its team members. Eventually that would be a 'Company’s-progress' too. A relevant ‘time-tracking' soft-ware may be used to gauze the time/hours-spent’ by an employee on each of his/her activities over a project's 'time-period' that assists him/her in better streamlining his/her work and also improves on his/her performance.

An Organization may have less 'control over its ‘remotely-working’ employees compared to a 'formal-office' set-up. Consequently, an Organization got to exercise certain controls through highly-structured 'work-formats', and 'pre-set' performance levels.

It is necessary for a Company/Organization, to ensure, that each employee in a remote-work team:

 *Is quite clear about his/her work-expectations

*Has a defined calendar of activities, and ‘time’ schedule as to on-line interactions. How well each employee is connected, coordinated within a 'communication net-work', is certainly, very important!

*Each employee is able to meet his/her specific performance targets, and contribute effectively to the team's performance goals as well! Each employee's performance got to converge leading to a better group-performance!

A Company/Organization:

*got to be aware of the deficiency-needs of its 'remote-working employees'--despite, the necessary technological infrastructure and spatial-facility already in place?

*Periodically examine, as to the extent a work-force, is able to achieve team/group goals, even if its team-members happened to work across different time-zones!

*Ensure that each employee in a 'work-team' is well-oriented towards ‘goals and results’ to be achieved, in addition to  being ‘task-oriented’

*It will do good to set up a ‘task-chart’, and ‘goal-accomplishment-chart’ to enable periodic monitoring and evaluation of ‘individual employee-and-team progress’. Visible progress--is often, a better motivator of human behaviour.

Remote-work: Issues of practical concern for a remotely-working employee:

*How well defined and clear are the goals and ‘tasks’ for a given ‘goal-achievement’?

*The degree of task-difficulty level, and how appropriately it matches with an employee’s skills and effort to achieve ‘set-goal(s)’ in ‘the time-schedule’ set for ‘task-completion’.

*Awareness among employee's working remotely as to how their performance goals, individually and collectively relate to group/project-goals and the overall Organizational-goals.

*An employee, in a normal organizational work-set up could have been well aware of his/her ‘roles’, and the ‘expectations of his/her role-set members’.  Even monitoring and checking employees’ performance may remain well-regulated in an Organizational Context. However, when employees are hired to work on a project and they all work-remotely, there could be some practical difficulties as to the 'performance-monitoring and assessment' of each individual team member, and the team as a whole!

Remote work and Employee motivation: Issues of practical concern that influence work behavior.

What is the nature of work? --Is the ‘work’ to accomplish a set of given ‘goals’ that are 'routine' and involves the implementation of a given ‘plan-of-action’ according to set ‘rules and regulations’? Or, a given ‘work’ requires due deliberation and conceptualization--making demands on 'specialized-skills' and congruent orientation among team-members to reach relevant goals!

Supervisory (leadership) orientation and behavior, needs to be different depending upon the nature of work.

Many Organizations, probably, did not have the experience of ‘supervising remotely’, during the 'pre-Covid times'.

Post-Covid, what could be the challenges for 'remote- supervision' and 'supervisory-leadership practices’?

Will supervision depend more upon hourly, daily or weekly work-reports, coupled with employee’s self-reports, and how all this blend with ‘team-performance reports’ and ‘achievement of team-goals’?

The ‘communication channels’ (how precise and open are they?) and 'feed-back' and 'feed-forward' reporting play a crucial role when employees and work-teams work-remotely!

Remote work and Employee motivation: some practical concerns: Does an employee perceive/experience any 'dissonance' between what is expected of him/her and what he/she considers as appropriate based on his/her experience and skills?

Some dissonance may also be experienced between 'goals' to be achieved and the 'processes' involved.

While, a moderate degree of 'dissonance' could be a motivator, any dissonance beyond a tolerable degree tends to adversely affect one's performance. How such a dissonance felt by an employee may be handled, in a remote-working situation? —is of a practical concern

This brings to focus: Employee’s 'self-efficacy' i.e., an employee's 'self-perception' of being able to perform given tasks and achieve set-goals vs. how an employee actually responds to a given goal or set of activities to be performed; and weather able to achieve the set-goals; and as well the employee's 'standing' in comparison to the other team-members. 

By: Prof. Dr. K. Harigopal.