Over the past few years, increasingly more people have started to work remotely from their homes instead of going into an office. This major shift was driven by the COVID-19 pandemic, but remote work looks like it’s here to stay even now that the pandemic is over. Both employees and employers have recognized the amazing benefits of being able to work from home.
For employees, there is no more wasting time and money commuting every day. They have much more flexibility to take breaks, run errands, and balance other life responsibilities. For companies, allowing remote work helps them hire the best talent from anywhere without being limited by geography. It also greatly reduces expensive office overhead costs.
Nevertheless, remote work does come with a few challenges that require special tools, strategies, and outsourcing consulting from experts such as those at Information Services Group ISG to overcome.
Staying Productive While Remote
One of the biggest hurdles of remote work is maintaining productivity and focus without a manager and coworkers around. It’s easy to get distracted at home by chores, television, family members and other disruptions. To that end, some helpful strategies are:
- Having a dedicated home office space free from distractions.
- Setting a routine and consistent schedule.
- Using productivity apps and website blockers.
- Taking real breaks away from your workspace.
- Communicating frequently with your team.
Setting Boundaries For Work-Life Balance
While remote work does provide fantastic flexibility, it can also make it harder to separate work and personal life when “living” at the office. Without clear boundaries, you may find yourself working longer hours, always feeling “on call”, and struggling to truly unplug and recharge. So experts recommend strategies like:
- Setting a schedule and sticking to it – don’t let work bleed over.
- Having a dedicated workspace you can walk away from.
- Silencing notifications and putting away work devices outside of office hours.
- Taking breaks to move around, exercise, and get outside.
- Unplugging completely for set periods like evenings and weekends.
Collaboration Tools Are Critical
When you’re not working in the same physical space, clear communication and collaboration become extremely important. Cloud-based tools for video conferencing, messaging, file sharing, task management and project collaboration are essential. Popular options are:
- Zoom and Microsoft Teams for video meetings.
- Slack and Microsoft Teams for messaging.
- Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 for documents and spreadsheets.
- Asana and Trello for project management.
- Dropbox and Google Drive for cloud storage.
Many companies rely on outsourcing consulting services to select and implement the right suite of collaboration tools across the organization.
Remote Management Requires Trust
An underlying challenge for managers is leading a remote team they cannot directly observe throughout the day. There needs to be a fundamental base of trust in your employees to manage their own time properly and get work done independently. This is where clear goals, deadlines, and measurable results come into play.
Techniques like daily standups via video chat, documenting tasks and deliverables, and frequently checking in can help provide accountability. But managers also need to cut their remote workers some slack for things like household distractions during the day. The focus should be on deliverables rather than strict schedules.
Don’t Forget Team Bonding
One of the most common complaints about remote work is the lack of social interaction and the feeling of being part of a cohesive team. Be sure to schedule regular virtual social hours, team-building activities, or even optional co-working sessions. These activities help build connections and strong working relationships within a distributed team.
Conclusion
Overall, with the right tools, strategies and expert guidance from outsourcing partners, any company can successfully transition to a productive remote workforce. The future of work is increasingly becoming remote and flexible.
