Talent wins Games, but Teamwork and Intelligence win Championships.
This one is said by Helen Keller. Basically, it is more than that powerful team working is a must to enhance the quality of work, employee productivity and increase collaboration which in turn boosts output. However, more than you calling them a team, the team ought to see themselves as one. The current days are more into remote working due to a lot of constraints here and there. Managing an effective culture when employees are not in front of you is surely a challenge. Trust us its not rocket science and just few major points if taken care of well can do wonders for you as a company:
1. Effective Communication
Communicating well at all levels is the first major point which works in a remote working environment. Continuous and constant communication can turn remote working into fun. It can pave the way towards a foundation of efficiency, prosperity and happiness in the team plus being connected with the organizations vision.
2. Constant Learning
A full fledged remote working system can sometimes be hugely complicated thanks to the uncertainties resulting from transitioning from a known system of an office to an unknown one of remote work. In an environment where change is the only constant, a lot of established practices, skills, and knowledge are in dire need of an update. Only those employees who are able to upskill themselves according to the changing requirements will be able to make a meaningful contribution to the organisation.
Therefore, it is important that the workplace offers these up skilling opportunities to employees to ensure that they are able to reach maximum productivity both as individuals and as a team. Moreover, expectations placed on employees in a remote work environment have to be different from those placed on office workers. In work-from-home situations, productivity cannot only be measured on the basis of time spent in front of the laptop but rather in terms of tasks completed. For this, organisations should use employee monitoring software or employee tracking software or time tracking tool to keep a check on the individual employee productivity.
3. Not just WORK but some actual FUN too
Remote working can offer a lot of flexibility to employees but can also destroy the balance between work and life. This can lead to some employees feeling overburdened. To ensure such a situation does not occur, the working hours should be clearly defined and there must be time allotted to activities, coffee sessions, fun games and so on. This may be accomplished in a variety of ways, such as organising a lunch, birthdays, or quarterly town halls via a video calling application to allow workers to get to know one another both within and outside of their teams and interact freely. Also, policies like no new tasks allotted after 5 PM or no official communication after 7 PM can be adopted. It would allow employees to have some happy work time and no burning out.
4. Use of Technology
Some of the primary activities that hinder the process of an optimal work culture in remote teams are frequent demotivating messages, inappropriate allocation of work and limited interaction. As a leader in these ongoing times, it is important to incorporate few technology powered mechanisms like a real-time task management board and gamification of performance at the office as a team or as individuals in order to boost employee productivity. A tech powered employee productivity monitoring software like we360.ai could be a great option here
5. Goal Sharing and Corporate Leadership
Leadership shows employees the larger vision of the company and guides them in such a way that they can see the impact of their work on the larger success of the company. Remote work can create a communication gap wherein the vision of the company gets lost as employees fixate on their own tasks and own gain. It is therefore, important to ensure leadership is not lost and employees receive the guidance necessary to do impactful work and feel valuable to the organisation’s growth. This can be done by frequent communication, sharing the wider goal for individual tasks and holding weekly team meetings.
6. Rewards and Recognition
During remote working an employer cannot physically be present to oversee the work done by different members. Projects are often given to a particular team, and an individual's contribution can be hard to identify. This can lead to some employees feeling overburdened, while some employees can be found slacking in their work. In such a situation individual employee tracking software can be used to ensure that each employee is doing a fair share of work and is accountable for the same. Moreover, it is important to reward the efforts of both the team as well as individual good performers to encourage both team work as well as individual excellence. Consider sending 'care packages' that include useful or thoughtful gifts to employees that work remotely — our suggestions include a coffee subscription from Bun Coffee in Australia, or a skincare hamper for a spa day at home.
We360.ai as a company has adopted such policies for its remote workers and has also assisted several organizations to manage remote working teams effectively through its SaaS based employee monitoring software. Therefore, the above practices are a proven method to take your company to greater heights.