How Working From Home (WFH) Can Be A Success Story
Remote work has us losing our heads with boredom. Not to mention that the pandemic has seriously affected our morale. From feeling useless to feeling like you are losing control, it all seems to be going downhill.
But is the flexible work-life that bad? Or do we, as managers, have something to do with the drop in productivity? Let’s discover the path to find where we lost our way and how exactly we may be able to regain control over the functioning of the workforce.
We have this time on our hands where we get to choose exactly what we want to prioritize. True leaders know how to make the most out of any situation, and it shouldn’t be any different at the time of this adversity.
I think it is best if we look at remote work as the powerful ally it is instead of making it out as an adversary. It’s easier to believe in the success of your remote team when you have total control over the projects your employees are working on.
So What Will Be Your Plan Of Action?
One has to be smart while managing remote work. One mistake can set you back by months but a great move will take you a big step closer to success. In my opinion, it all comes down to two questions:
- How do you manage your team? Because in the end, it is the work of your employees that brings the team achievements.
- How do you prioritize work and distribute tasks? As I said before, what you do in the lockdown period carries massive weight, so prioritization is important.
Now remote teams can deliver, organize, and schedule with ease using ProofHub. Get access to the best support for WFH teams today!
Here at ProofHub, we have plotted down areas of weaknesses and try to avoid factors like distractions and poor time management that slow us down. We follow the following points as a guide to run our business through this remote work era:
#1 Importance Of Prioritization
Resounding success comes from panned out schedules, acing the deadlines, and knowing what to do along with when to do it. Prioritization will be your first step towards gaining control over your team. Also, I feel like this lockdown period presents a sensitive timeline for companies all around the world and that makes prioritizing work all the more important.
For this, you would need to:
- Keep an eye on the activity of your competitors.
- Keep tabs on the demand of the people.
- Learn what sells in the market and with which marketing pitch.
- Map out plans and start working on strategies that require immediate attention.
- This needs extensive project management along with effective time management.
#2 Take The Time To Declutter
Working from home will present your team the time to refurbish old working habits and motivation methods. With the right push, your team may unlock the secret to productivity which by all means is to declutter. It is all about creating a working process that corresponds to the needs of the time.
I feel like this time should be better used to scrape old habits and develop some new ones. What I suggest is that you:
- Start afresh with a new approach to your projects.
- This would include creating new workflows that suit your team’s now flexible regime.
- Keep streamlining and polishing your workflow until it gives you the results in productivity that you desire.
- Also, this is a good time for your team to empty out their inboxes and move the tasks that have already been done or declined.
- Take care of the priorities you set by creating a plan of action in the form of a workflow.
#3 Why Scheduling Is Essential
A remote team can never function well without a set of policies that they can follow. Maintaining order is a manager’s job, therefore, it is your duty to tell your employees about deadlines, due dates, and most importantly the strict work hours. Scheduling and time management are key details that should be your priority while managing a remote team.
Here is why I am stressing on proper scheduling:
- Scheduling will help your employees be aware of their agendas.
- It would make it easier for them to plan, arrange, and organize.
- It will help your team stay motivated and hence more productive.
- Scheduling done with set guidelines can make your team more accountable.
From events to milestones to important meetings, schedule everything using ProofHub! Start your FREE trial now!
#4 Give Time To Team Collaboration
The team that can enable each other to see the big picture is always the one that sticks together. It is in the leader’s best interest that you maintain team collaboration putting in even more effort than you were before for your WFH team. Here are all the collaboration practices that I feel can be easily followed by your remote team:
- Creating a collaborative platform by using a project management software that helps in clarification of tasks and aids with transparency.
- Using video calling tools that help your team with communication.
- Pick a tool that helps your team be on top of things by investing in an instant messaging software platform.
- Also, take care of employee engagement and keep tabs on their performance using a software platform that helps you calculate the same.
#5 Making Yourself Accessible
As a manager, your responsibilities just increased, another thing that also increased is how much your employees need you. Being accessible to your employees is a key parameter in determining the productivity of your remote team. Your employees are going to have questions on just about everything. This is why you should make sure to be more available when your team is working from home.
- Being more accessible will show your team that you are going through the same hardships they are.
- It will help you engage more employees.
- It will keep your team inspired and motivated.
- Work will also move faster when you are there to answer the questions of your employees and are actively overseeing everything.
#6 The Chain Of Feedback
A team’s success is turned to actuality when every member is on the same page. But the chances of success increase exponentially when your team knows exactly what their responsibilities are and what their role is towards the betterment of the business. This can only be facilitated through feedback. Here’s how you can effectively make the feedback work for your remote team’s success.
- Schedule the meeting and let your employees know.
- Set the agenda and the tone for the meeting.
- Jot down the points you want to convey.
- Talk detailedly about the areas that require improvement.
- Ask them for their input on the setbacks of their performance.
- Set clear expectations for them and tell them which strategy they can apply to improve.
#7 It’s Great To Delegate
Just because you have gone remote does not mean that your employees don’t feel the need to be trusted and held accountable for their efforts. Delegation is important for your team members. It keeps them awake and leaves them feeling responsible and inspired. My best advice for remote team leaders is that you steer clear from micromanagement.
Here’s how you can effectively delegate:
- Use a task management or a project management tool to assign tasks to one or more members.
- Give them access to important information and updates regularly with its timely notifications.
- Carry out team discussions to discuss future strategies and upcoming events.
- Keep your team in the loop and assign them projects according to their schedules and skillsets.
All In All,
Help your team organize their tasks, prioritize projects, and move deadlines to drive productivity. If yours is a company trying to thrive in the time of this pandemic, practice renewing your objectives and workflows.
Use this time to change the definition of goals and help uplift your team so that they can achieve more together. What is important in this period is that we keep our teams motivated, because only a motivated workforce can achieve success in adversity.
Here at ProofHub, we are doing our bit to help schools around the world by giving them free access until the end of the year 2020. Here’s how you can claim this special offer.
If you enjoyed reading this article:
Clap: so others can find it
Comment: if you have a question/suggestion you’d like to ask
Follow: ProofHub to read all the articles
