Today, remote working is a widespread possibility that formerly appeared far-fetched. The COVID-19 pandemic has prompted thousands of businesses worldwide to switch to remote working quickly. Although working remotely is not new, professionals used to work remotely occasionally, but not on the same scale as they are now.
According to the statistics, in 2021, almost 67% of the workforce started working from home. Due to the enormous responsibility of managing remote teams successfully, real-time review software that can provide feedback on engagement and productivity is required. Most firms are unaware of how extensively remote working needs to be implemented. We must understand that the pandemic’s remote working is here to stay. It has become the new normal.
What Are the Difficulties Arising From Working Remotely?
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Unplugging
Keeping teamwork and productivity in check while working remotely is one of the most common issues. A survey found that thousands of businesses and employees welcomed and easily adjusted to remote work. But they eventually run into several significant difficulties, with a reduced attachment from work being one of them.
The distinction between an employee’s personal and business life has become hazier due to working from home. Due to the unusual hours, people find it challenging to keep work and play separate.
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Restrictions on Social and Work Life
Working remotely, as opposed to in traditional office settings, has significantly impacted professionals’ social work practices. Working from home can be isolating.
Remote work has significantly hampered peer-to-peer interaction, bonding, and connection building, with no in-person coffee breaks, group lunches, or team activities. Employee productivity and performance are directly impacted by loneliness since there is little or no sense of community.
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Concern About Missing Out
Managing the risk of losing employees when employees work remotely is another significant difficulty for businesses. Because more workers are working from home, it is more difficult for employers to recognize excellent performance, give constructive criticism, and give rewards. Employees who work remotely also experience opportunity isolation in addition to emotional isolation.
How Can You Improve Teamwork?
1. Make Sure Your Employee Has the Proper Equipment
Companies must ensure that employees have access to the appropriate technologies for remote teams to succeed. Each employee needs to be equipped with the proper workspace. For instance, ergonomic tables, chairs, and office supplies like webcams and headphones must be made available so your staff can engage in daily tasks and company goals without difficulty.
Good remote working tools greatly minimize overhead, increase workflow flexibility, and improve responsiveness.
2. Invest in Platforms for Collaboration
Collaboration that works well is essential for any team that works remotely! Access to company resources and effective communication is crucial to business success. For instance, businesses can invest in clever cloud-based solutions to support the day-to-day work of remote teams rather than downloading and distributing several versions of the same document among numerous individuals.
Collaboration tools like Microsoft Teams, Google Business Suite, and others guarantee that all files and communications are safe, current, and accessible to all parties. Additionally, businesses can use collaboration platforms to store their documents securely and grant controlled access to the resources.
3. Clear Online Meetings With Good Communication
Virtual meetings are increasingly becoming the norm. Every single day while working from home, we attend meetings. It’s important to realize that the main drawback of online meetings is that because they don’t involve face-to-face connection, it can be challenging for participants to remain focused and keep track of the objectives.
Online meetings are frequently ineffective for developing positive working connections among distributed teams. According to a study, more than 91% of participants acknowledged daydreaming during a virtual meeting.
So, how do we make meetings and presentations engaging? By using professionally designed PowerPoint templates and Google slide themes! These ready to use themes can help you create presentations that minimize distractions, present information lucidly, and conclude with clear action items.
4. Establish a Consistent Work Schedule
Undefined working hours are one of the most significant issues people have with remote work arrangements. A planned and understandable work schedule should be provided by managers so that workers are encouraged to complete their tasks on time. A WFH-friendly schedule can set clear targets and communicate the correct expectations to the staff, just like regular office hours.
Not only that, but having a well-defined work plan helps employees maintain a healthy work-life balance. The objective is to keep employees feeling positive. Only then can businesses encourage productive peer collaboration.
5. Monitor Team Time Use
Monitoring how employees use their time when working remotely is another essential component. It is challenging to track what teams are working on and for how long when they are dispersed and working remotely. Knowing how much time your teams invest in projects is essential for every organization from a billing and management viewpoint.
To solve this problem, use a variety of work-tracking systems. Through automatic productivity monitors, you may encourage cooperation among employees and hold them responsible for their time management. In this way, businesses may spot areas where employees need more instruction, cut down on time-wasting activities, and motivate staff to finish tasks on schedule.
6. Offer Emotional Assistance
As previously indicated, spending a lot of time working from home might increase feelings of loneliness. Employers are required to offer employees consistent emotional assistance. Managers can start by making themselves more accessible to the team members than usual.
Employees should be encouraged to use instant messaging apps so they may communicate with peers and management right away. Additionally, HR departments can encourage remote workers to maintain a healthy lifestyle, get enough sleep, exercise, and continue to spend time with their families.
Wrapping It Up
Companies of all sizes have adopted remote working due to the pandemic. When the job is visible, regulated, engaging, and given the proper credit, firms can now make “remote” work and cultivate remote solid company culture. Employers must keep track of team capacity, activity, and hours to make remote working enjoyable and manage happier healthier teams with ready to use slides like Google Slides templates.
