How To Enable Your Employees To Work Productively From Anywhere?

The modern business landscape is evolving, and remote work is no longer just a perk but a necessity for many organizations. Employers who enable remote work benefit from numerous advantages, from a global talent pool to overhead cost savings. 

However, the remote work model comes with its own set of challenges.

If you’re wondering how to enable remote work for your team without sacrificing productivity, the good news is that these obstacles are not unbeatable. With the right strategies and tools in place, you can overcome these challenges and unlock the full potential of your remote staff.

Learn the key strategies to ensure your remote employees are not just working, but thriving, no matter where they are.

1. Define Their Roles & Responsibilities

Clearly defining your employees’ roles and tasks will help ensure they work well from anywhere. A structured work setting, after all, helps ensure the productivity of businesses and its employees.

So, establish clear objectives, KPIs, and responsibilities for your remote employees during your onboarding process. Create a work-from-home checklist outlining what they need to do and what is expected of them. 

You can further emphasize these roles and responsibilities on your chosen project management platform to prevent any confusion. Productivity tools like Asana or Jira allow you to assign tasks, set deadlines, and track progress. 

Also, schedule regular feedback sessions with your remote workers. You can send them online surveys to see if the workload is too much or if the goals aren’t realistic. Or, you can hold regular calls and ask them how their work is going. We’ll talk about communication tools later. With these frequent check-ins, you can review KPIs and adjust roles and responsibilities as needed. 

Defining everyone’s roles and responsibilities is not just about ensuring improved productivity. It’s also one of the more important employee retention strategies. 

Don’t believe me? Just look at the statistics. A whopping 84% of employees said they intend to stay in a company that ensures role clarity. In this scenario, a staggering 75% also express satisfaction with the company leadership.

2. Provide Your Employees With The Right Devices

Giving employees the right devices like laptops and smartphones is key to ensuring they thrive, whether they’re in coffee shops, coworking spaces, or in their homes. With the right equipment, they can easily work together even when they’re geographically apart. This not only helps people get more done but also makes it easier for them to work flexibly. The result? The whole company succeeds in the remote work setting.

Beyond the basic equipment, consider specialized hardware based on job roles. For instance, graphic designers may benefit from high-resolution monitors and drawing tablets. Data analysts, meanwhile, might require powerful processors for computational tasks. 

Employees agree that working with outdated technology hampers their productivity. Therefore, periodic hardware assessments and upgrades are crucial for maintaining a competitive edge in a remote work environment.

Providing your out-of-office workers with the right accessories is just as important. While most modern laptops come equipped with built-in webcams and microphones, a quality headset can make a difference, especially in noisy environments. This is particularly crucial for roles that require frequent communication through conference calls or virtual meetings. 

3. Invest In Reliable Communication Solutions

Don’t just invest in your remote employees’ primary devices for work. Invest in reliable communication solutions for remote work success as well. These solutions make it easy for remote team members to share information and perform their roles effectively, no matter where they are.

Tools like Slack, Google Meet, and Microsoft Teams can help ensure instant messaging and voice calls among your remote employees. Don’t just settle for the basic chat and call application features. Explore advanced features like breakout rooms in Zoom for focused group discussions. How about you check out those Slack integrations that allow for automated updates from other tools like Google Drive as well?

Also, look for platforms with features that allow for less formal interactions, like coffee chats, virtual team lunches or happy hours. Such activities can form part of your engagement strategy. They can help maintain team cohesion and provide a space for informal knowledge sharing. They help build relationships and contribute to a more cohesive and engaged remote workforce.

But in some cases, you shouldn’t just invest in communication solutions that enable your employees to socialize and communicate. 

If you’re running a sales organization, for instance, you’ll need to spend money on communication tools with even more advanced features. To perform their work well, after all, your sales personnel need a tool that doesn’t shouldn’t just enable them to interact with leads seamlessly. They need one that also allows them to monitor these interactions. So, instead of investing in regular video conferencing software or chat solutions that focus only on communication, it’s more cost-effective to invest in a high-quality business phone system with CRM integration. Such a tool can help your remote sales employees interact with leads and track sales calls more efficiently at the same time.

Whichever communication solution you use, Bookafy’s automated calendar management system comes in handy. Its syncing feature can be integrated into many communication tools so scheduling your fun team meetings and work calls is easy.

4. Support Employees’ Mental Health 

Your employees’ mental health is something you shouldn’t ignore. You’ll need to give them the resources and support they need to stay mentally well, no matter where they are. According to the US Census Bureau Household Pulse Survey, 40% of remote employees have experienced anxiety or depression. So, by proactively supporting mental health, you’re doing right by your employees. 

Consider implementing ‘No Meeting Days’ or flexible hours to help remote employees beat fatigue and burnout. Avoid planning important meetings on Wednesdays, as the hump day is considered by employees as the worst day of the week. 

Also, schedule 15-minute one-on-one check-ins with your remote team members specifically to ensure their mental health. These check-ins can serve as a safe space for individual employees to discuss any challenges they’re facing, whether work-related or personal. 

Managers can also use this time to share resources on mental well-being, such as mindfulness apps or online therapy services, to help remote employees manage stress. The fun activities we talked about a while ago–coffee chats, virtual employee lunches, and happy hours—can also help remote employees combat social isolation. 

By launching these initiatives, you’re showing that the company has a supportive remote corporate culture that puts its employees front and center.

In Closing

Remote work offers benefits to both your employees and your business. The remote work model allowed for business continuity during the COVID-19 outbreak. However, it also presents challenges. 

The good news is these challenges can be easily addressed. The key lies in planning for them and equipping your employees with the necessary tools in a remote work setup.

Start with defining your remote employees’ roles and responsibilities. Then provide them with the right devices so they can perform well. Investing in effective communication tools is equally crucial, as such tools help ensure a seamless work environment. Lastly, never ignore your employees’ mental well-being. Remember that a happy employee is a productive one.

Now is the time to act. Enable remote work for your team by implementing these strategies. You’ll see your employees flourish, regardless of where they do their jobs. As for your business? See it succeed, too!