In-office employees have gone from ample interaction with work colleagues to zero interaction due to
the global pandemic. This blog post addresses some important ways to increase remote employee
productivity and engagement.
While a companies percentage of remote employees to in office has been growing over the years it
certainly hasn’t been at 100%. 100% remote is now the reality all companies are operating in now.
Companies are now forced to use tools and management strategies to continue driving the business
forward in new and innovative ways. But being cut off from the daily rhythm and routine of the
workplace can definitely affect morale and productivity. The stress of the pandemic can also be difficult
to work with, which can impact the motivation of a lot of employees.
In this environment increasing remote employee productivity, engagement and even enthusiasm can be
a tough ask, but it is possible. Here are 4 ways you can keep your workforce motivated, engaged, and
productive.
Setting Expectations and Increasing Accountability
Companies still have a business to run and they are after all still paying their remote employees so there
should be an expectation there that employees will produce what is expected of them. However reality
is productivity will take a hit especially if there is not much of a remote culture. Culture and more
importantly to a degree (in this environment) routine is hard to create overnight but it can be done.
Instead of one lengthy meeting it might be better to schedule multiple “micro meetings” to keep the
cadence of communication up.
By keeping employees connected from one task or project to the next, you will help ensure that remote
employees know that they are still part of the team that is moving the business forward.
You should also prioritize collaboration tools that help create accountability and transparency. This can
help employees track goals and keep communication levels up. It will also keep their work cadence up.
Home Environment
Working remotely comes with a certain sense of flexibility that you don’t have in the workplace. But, it
can also lead to “home” distractions that employees typically don’t have in their in office work
environment. This is especially challenging since all the kiddos are home as well. It is good to
brainstorm best practices with your team – have employees suggest ways they have been able to
cordoned themselves off for important calls, etc. It is important that a company acknowledges there will
be distractions and have empathy for this – even expect productivity to take a bit of a hit especially for
dads and moms that have school age kids.
Virtual Presence
Even though everyone is home based, it doesn’t mean that you have to stop working as a team.
Proximity helps hugely in human connectivity, but remote employees don’t have that luxury. To increase
remote employee productivity and engagement make sure the video component is used and not just
voice when doing screen shares – the more face time the better. Facetime is what employees do in
person – no reason they can’t enable that from a remote office.
Celebrate Successes
Remember those hallway and kitchen celebrations for employee special occasions. Just because people
are in remote offices that does not need to end. Make sure in group meetings you call out special
occasions or even have a cake delivered to the home – do things extra special to show the company still
cares. These actions can have a tremendous impact.
The same is true with Employee Recognition. Make sure employees are getting Kudos for a job well
done and if you have a formal recognition tool put this tool in overdrive – find ways to recognize
employees and again celebrate those high fives whenever possible.
