How To Know If Remote Employees Are Working

How do I know my employees are working and being productive when remote - a COUPLE of GURUS blog img

In recent years, remote work has increased in popularity among many professionals and the rise in technological development has aided the move towards a more flexible working environment.

While remote work has benefits like flexibility and the opportunity to work from anywhere, it can also be difficult for certain people to stay productive. We have been getting more and more questions from our clients on how best to help their remote workers with their productivity and stay focused, as employees’ productivity is crucial for the development of a company.

Remote work can make it challenging for employers or supervisors to know whether their employees are working and often raises the question, “How do I know my employees are working when they are remote?” Before getting into ways of tracking your employee’s productivity, here are a few tips on helping your remote workers with their productivity.

Tips on helping remote workers with their productivity

1. Have clear communication channels.

To stay in touch with their coworkers and managers, remote employees frequently need to use digital communication tools such as Microsoft Teams or Slack. To make sure that everyone is on the same page, it is important to create clear communication channels and norms early on. To have clear communication, you can use project management tools, virtual meetings, and recurring check-ins.

2. Promote self-care and a healthy work-life balance.

Remote workers frequently struggle with a healthy work-life balance and may find it challenging to take time off from the job. Encouragement of self-care and a work-life balance can help remote employees stay engaged and prevent burnout. This may entail establishing unambiguous guidelines for working hours, promoting breaks and physical activity, and facilitating access to mental health support.

3. Offer regular feedback and recognition.

It’s important to provide remote workers with consistent feedback and appreciation. Constructive criticism can help remote workers perform better and stay on task, and praise can raise spirits and motivate them. These can include opportunities for professional development, ongoing performance reviews, and public acknowledgment of accomplishments.

4. Have clear goals and expectations.

Establishing clear goals and expectations for remote workers in addition to clear communication channels is crucial. This may include precise goals, deadlines, and results. Giving precise instructions can keep remote workers motivated and engaged even while working alone.

5. Provide Remote employees access to appropriate tools and resources.

Last but not least, effective remote work requires access to the appropriate tools and resources. This can cover everything from dependable hardware and software to opportunities for training and professional growth. Giving remote workers the proper tools and resources can increase their sense of connection and engagement, which in turn can increase productivity.

How To Know If Remote Employees Are Working

A challenge that comes with remote work is finding ways to know that remote employees are working and being productive. Since we now know ways of improving remote employees’ productivity and keeping them engaged, it’s important to first identify signs that your remote employees are not working.

Pointers that your remote employees are not working

1. Missed deadlines

As earlier outlined in increasing productivity, it is important to set goals and deadlines, and in a normal office environment, tasks and projects are handed in on set dates.

For remote work, this is also the case, and when deadlines are missed more often, it may be an indication that remote workers are not being productive if they frequently miss deadlines or fail to finish projects on time.

2. Submission or production of low-quality work

Research shows that since the onset of the pandemic, workers have opted for remote jobs and after the pandemic was managed, a significant number chose to retain their remote status. For this reason, it’s expected that since one is working in an environment conducive to them, they are likely to deliver high-quality work.

If a remote worker’s submissions or productivity are low-quality, it can be a clear indication that the remote worker is not making the required effort or is not fully committed to their job.

3. Poor communication and inconsistent availability

When it becomes a task to reach the remote worker and they do not return the calls, messages, or emails promptly, it can mean that they are not engrossed in their work.

Also, when a remote employee is constantly unavailable during their scheduled working hours, it could mean they are not working.

4. Lack of progress

If remote workers fail to complete their given tasks or projects for an extended period of time, it could indicate that they aren’t doing their jobs well.

Making sure that your remote employees are working

As we embrace remote work, it is also important to embrace tools that track remote employees’ productivity metrics and time. So how do we go about this?

Managers can use remote software tools to monitor remote employee productivity, the performance of their team, and pinpoint areas for development. But it’s crucial to apply these tools in a responsible, moral manner that respects the privacy and liberty of employees.

It’s important to choose the appropriate tracking technology that fits the needs and values of your team from among the numerous that are accessible, this will help your company effectively utilize the selected tool. Software for project management, behavioral & activity monitoring, and time tracking are a few common choices.

Such software can also help managers and their employees by noting warning signs of employee burnout and fatigue before they affect productivity. Also, since you can monitor projects without micromanaging, it is simple to measure and manage remote employee productivity.

As stated above, there are tools that we can implement that will help achieve the monitoring process. At a COUPLE of GURUS, we have software that can be implemented to track remote employees’ productivity. Our software aims to create transparency between managers and employees. This is achieved by using proof of work tools that foster transparency. Workers are regularly shown metrics that illustrate how they are doing in real-time and have access to their productivity statistics.

Managing a remote team might be a challenging task, but it’s important to help remote workers improve their productivity and ensure they are working. Implementing a COUPLE of GURU’s tracking tools will help you achieve the best results. If interested, feel free to contact us to learn more!