7 Ways to Increase Productivity on Your Remote Team
There are unique challenges that come with working remotely, but there are a few things you can do to ensure your team is set up for success.
If your remote team struggles with productivity, here are seven ways you can improve efficiency, communication, and alignment across the board.
Provide or subsidize equipment
To be productive, your team members must have the right equipment for the job. But a team member who is struggling financially may not be able to provide what they need themselves. This could lead to inefficient substitutions or workarounds. Instead, provide the necessary equipment, or offer a budget and shopping list so team members can purchase equipment on their own. This will ensure that everyone has what they need to do their job effectively.
Encourage open communication and questions
When your team works remote, you’ll naturally feel more disconnected from each other. This distance could make it more difficult for some team member’s to reach out for help—which can affect the productivity of the whole team. To work around this problem, regularly meet with each team member and talk to them about what problems they’re facing and create a solution with them. Weekly manager 1:1s are even more important when you’re working remotely. Additionally, make sure everyone knows who to reach out to when they need assistance, whether they need help from a team member, HR, IT, or another department.
Set productivity goals
Working remote generally means working unsupervised. For many employees, this isn’t a problem. But other team members may struggle to stay on task without the gentle pressure of a supervisor being in the same room. Productivity goals will give your team members something concrete they can focus on and work toward. With clear goals in place, they’ll know exactly what is expected so they can effectively manage their time and prioritize tasks. Consider hosting a weekly sprint planning meeting to review tasks, assign due dates, and check in on projects.
Take advantage of productivity-boosting software
In today’s technology-rich world, there are a number of different types of apps that can help your team increase their productivity. For example, consider BlueJeans, a video conferencing app that assists you with scheduling interactive, virtual meetings with ease. You might also use a virtual whiteboard like Lucidspark to collaborate and brainstorm on projects together in a simple-to-use, creative workspace. Or you can incorporate LastPass to store all your usernames and passwords in a secure space that every team member can access whenever they need to.
Ensure documents and software are accessible
When your team members have to wait for someone with more authorization to gain access to files or software, this will directly hurt their productivity—especially on a remote team, where they may not have access to physical company equipment, tools, and resources. To avoid this situation, take proactive action now and provide your team members with the permissions or authorization settings they will need to fulfill their current and future tasks.
Establish regular work schedules
One of the biggest challenges of remote work is maintaining a regular schedule. And, unfortunately, team members who have an unpredictable schedule may struggle to get into a productive headspace. Before this becomes an issue on your team, set clear guidelines for when everyone needs to be available. This will aid collaboration efforts between team members and help your team set an effective routine.
Encourage breaks
No employee can be 100 percent productive all the time—and those that try often experience burnout. In an office setting, chatting with coworkers and playing games in a break room provide an effective outlet. But this isn’t always feasible on a remote team. In place of these activities, encourage and remind your remote team to take their own breaks. This will give your employees an opportunity to recharge so that they can continue to work in top form when they are back at their desk.
You have a lot of tools and techniques at your disposal that have the potential to increase the productivity of your remote team. Pick and choose which practices work for your situation, and then reap the rewards from your efforts.
Rachel Stewart is a freelance content writer. In her free time, she enjoys reading, video games, and all things music. Rachel hopes to publish a fictional book someday and try many more potato soup recipes.