How to Elevate Your Employees’ Productivity During COVID Times
In a
word, the last two years have been… strange.
And
while we instinctively learn how to cope in our home lives, the truth is that
many businesses are remaining stagnant instead of adapting with the times,
which can be disastrous for employee productivity. More and more people are working remotely, and this appears to be a
trend that will likely continue when/if we pass through this COVID era.
So
what can you do as a business owner to ensure productivity stays high when
everything around your employees is changing?
Here
are a few ideas that have proven successful for other companies:
Get Your Technology Solutions Set
One
of the more positive things to come out of this pandemic is a shift towards unified technology
solutions. However, that can be both a curse or a boon, depending on how
well the tech fits your current flow. Make sure that all your technology
choices:
1. Are user-friendly
2. Available for all platforms
3. And integrate well with your existing tech
Zoom
and Slack may be the biggest names to take a jump as people do more remote
work, but there are others out there to explore, like the ones listed below:
●
Asana and Trello for project management
●
GoHighLevel as
a multifaceted CRM
●
Google Workspace for online collaboration
Add Another Layer of Structure
One
of the challenges to remote work is the idea that your employees will be less
productive when they’re physically not at your business location. Your
self-starters will obviously find their inner motivation, but others may not be
so driven.
For
exactly this reason, establishing a more defined structure to the working day
can help keep them on task:
●
Planning, planning, planning - Have your employees submit a broad outline
Friday of what they hope to achieve and what they need to do for the next week.
●
Morning check-ins - You don’t need to have a detailed meeting
with each employee, but think of your daily check-ins as the same process as
just saying hello in the office.
●
Availability - You may be in the office, but to remote
employees, it can feel like you’re unavailable. Go out of your way to show that
you’re ready to answer questions or discuss issues by making your available hours
clearly visible.
●
Breaks - If you’ve got everyone taking their lunch
at different times, it’ll wreak havoc on your internal communications. Set more
fixed lunch and other breaks to keep everyone on the same page.
Build Better Company Culture
If
there’s a clear loss when it comes to working remotely, then it’s found in how
employees internalize company culture.
Without
being at a physical workplace, many
remote workers feel more like a freelance contractor than an actual employee,
regardless of how hard you’ve tried to create a sense of belonging.
Now
more than ever, it’s crucial to show your employees that they’re a valued part
of your organization, and even small gestures go a long way. Make sure you:
●
Publicly acknowledge employee achievements and efforts
●
Inject fun into the daily grind
●
Communicate often
●
Remember to say thank you
It’s
clear that remote work has entered the mainstream and will be here for years to
come.