How to stay productive when working remotely?
Remote working may seem like a dream, yet it comes with challenges.
Remote workers can work from anywhere: home, coffee shops, libraries and of course coworking spaces. Most remote workers are taking advantage of this perk to explore the world. And that may be a reason for statistics that shows remote workers are 86% more productive.
On the other hand, remote working means more distractions and lack of natural communications that would normally occur in an office environment. This can cause social isolation which may lead to less productivity. However, there are some practices to prevent these situations and maintain high motivation along with continuous productivity for remote workers.
Here are five practical tips:
1 - Team Spirit
Non-work communications, which are of great importance for the motivation of remote workers and the continuity of their overall performance, should not be underestimated. Shared goals and interests make it easier to bond between remote workers. In this way, employees create such a bond even if they are in different regions and it brings them together. And encourages team members.
Creating a chat channel like ‘’just for fun’’ in communication channels like Slack or any messaging program. It will serve to socialise by sharing memes, fun facts, jokes and funny videos or other non-work points to bring some fun to your remote workplace. This way team members will get to know each other, bond over mutual interests and reduce stress in remote working environments. Virtual team building is another way, hosting weekly happy hours, team building exercises like weekly catch ups by grabbing drinks and snacks together via online meets, or leaving a few minutes at the end of video meetings for small talk also works.
2 - Organise a dedicated workspace
When working in an office, we do not give much thought to the work environment. Nevertheless, this situation is quite different when working from home. Dedicated workspaces at home have become a standard for many remote workers, yet there are still a large number of people who work from the kitchen tables, the sofa or even in bed. Having a dedicated workspace to maintain efficiency and work-life balance greatly affects productivity.
Whether you’re working from home alone or managing a remote team, you may need to create routines or apply proven ones to increase and maintain a healthy work-life balance. If there’s a budget, you can even hire team members who will be solely in charge of the productivity of the team members and provide allowances for office furniture and tech products to create dedicated workspaces.
3 - Create a daily tasks check-in routine
Nowadays, there are many tools available to manage remote teams, such as Notion, ClickUp, Monday etc. Both individuals and teams can use such tools to keep the progress intact and record completed tasks.
Weekly progress checks for those working individually and scheduled group video conferences and instant messaging apps for those working as a team strengthen communication between team members and help set priorities.
Let the team and family members know when you’re available and when you’re working throughout the day. You can turn off personal notifications during working hours to stay focused.
4 - Provide emotional support and feedback
Another effective method to keep motivation high while working remotely is to organise communication channels. In this way, remote workers understand that they are valued and that their efforts contribute to the overall business results.
Here’s what you can do for effective communication:
- Maintain constant and consistent communication with remote employees.
- Provide timely and constructive feedback.
- Praise their achievements privately and in communication channels for them to feel included and motivated.
- Give remote employees clear goals and routes to perform better.
- Establish and build trust in your remote team for them to know you believe they’ll get the job done; thus, you’ll motivate them .
5 - Equip remote workers with productivity tools
Almost every article on remote worker productivity mentions the need to use the right tools for effective communication and collaboration between team members. In fact, the use of these technologies by remote workers allows them to organise the workflow, track performance and make the lives of remote workers more organised and easier to manage.
With several open communication channels such as Slack and Zoom, project management and tracking applications such as Notion, Monday and ClickUp and applications such as Scoro and Time Doctor, you can establish the communication and tracking system necessary for open communication and workflow tracking of remote employees.
Additionally, these tools can be used by individual remote workers for better productivity: Todoist, Krisp, Evernote – you name it!
The bottom line
Although there are plenty of products and programs available to establish a motivating and productive work atmosphere for remote workers. The key is to recognise possible flaws in proactivity and work efficiency in advance, understand their causes and adjust work processes and communication channels to fix these.
The practical tips and available tools and programs highlighted in this article can be the first steps towards more effective communication between remote workers. By providing excellent collaboration and open communication channels to individual or remote teams, you can positively influence their motivation, engagement and work satisfaction for increased productivity.