In the digital world we live in 🖥🌎, remote work is more than just a trend; it’s a reality for many. As a business owner, adapting to remote work is essential for the productivity and well-being of your employees. In order for your business to succeed, your workforce must feel motivated, productive and content with their working environment.👍
According to Forbes, “by 2025, an estimated 32.6 million Americans will be working remotely, which equates to about 22% of the workforce.”🏡 To help you navigate this common way of work, we’ve compiled a list of 5 working-from-home tips to ensure you and your employees remain satisfied.
Let’s get into it!
Source: Forbes
Remote Work: The Pros and Cons👍👎
Remote working has become increasingly popular in the world we live in. In some businesses, employees experience a mixture of office-like and remote work, and others only require one location. Whatever the dynamic, there are pros and cons that all business owners should be aware of.🤔
According to statistics, 98% of workers want to work remotely at least some of the time. So, as a business owner, encouraging productivity and employee well-being when working remotely is essential.🤩
Some employees may enjoy working from home, whereas others may struggle with their productivity. 🥱That’s why it’s essential for strategies to be in place to ensure all employees’ well-being is put first.
Source: Forbes
Here are some pros of remote work:
- Work-life balance and flexibility🤸♀️- Employees who work from home can create a more flexible schedule, more time for themselves, and a healthier work-life balance. From personal commitments to appointments, employees have more input over their time.⏰
- Increased productivity🧠- Some employees feel more productive in the comfort of their own home, with well-known surroundings. They can personalise their work environment, creating a home office or workspace that fosters their engagement.👩💻
- Reduced costs💸- If your employees work from home, you don’t need to spend as much on office space, utilities or overhead costs. Employees will also save on commuting costs.🚎
- Breaks down global barriers🌏- Remote work allows people of all time zones and geographical regions to contribute to the workforce. You can open up your employee pool to the wider world.
Source: Zippia
Here are some cons of remote work:
- Work-life balance⚖️- Sometimes, the line between work and home life gets blurred when people work from home. This can make it hard for employees to set clear boundaries, potentially leading to burnout.
- Loneliness☹️- A lack of face-to-face communication can make some workers feel lonely. This can lead to a lack of productivity and motivation. It can also negatively impact a person’s mental health.
- A lack of team morale🤝- If employees aren’t mixing, there may be a lack of team morale. This can lead to loneliness and a lack of motivation among staff.
- Lack of monitoring⌛️- As a business owner, it’s more of a challenge to monitor your employees’ productivity when they work remotely. This could lead to performance issues.
It’s essential to keep in mind that what works well for one employee may not work for another. Everyone’s different, with different outlooks and abilities. Some people love working from home; others find it more of a struggle.
That being said, there are steps you can take as a business owner to ensure your staff remains productive and motivated. These steps will increase employee well-being and satisfaction and lead to a thriving business.🤩
Source: Pew Research
5 Tips for Business Owners to Make Working From Home Easier🏠
Working from home is a fairly new concept and became exceptionally popular during the COVID-19 pandemic. Since then, some businesses have allowed their staff to work remotely. While there are many pros to working from home, there are some challenges that employees face. It’s vital to ensure that your workforce remains as motivated, productive, and happy as possible.
Here are our 5 top tips:
1. Separate Work and Personal Life🖥🙎♂️
When people work from home, the line between work and personal life tends to get blurred. This can lead to your employees feeling stressed or demotivated. Maintaining a boundary is essential, so encouraging your employees to create a designated workspace and specific working hours when they finish and start work may help.⏱
You could introduce time and attendance software to help your workers stay on top of their hours.⏳This will help them draw a line between their work and personal lives, avoiding burnout and helping create a sense of structure and routine in their daily lives.
Encourage your employees to have a workspace that’s separate from the rest of their home. Urge your employees to create their own home office, as this will help them stay productive and stay on track with a work schedule with increased productivity. This will help to keep the boundary clear.👨💻
Another tip for maintaining the boundary is to avoid reaching out to your employees outside of their working hours.💬This could lead to them feeling overwhelmed and create a challenge when separating home life from work life. If your employees feel that they can focus on their work, finish it, and separate it from their personal life, they’ll feel more motivated, and their well-being will increase.😊
2. Create Communication Channels🗣
Another remote working tip for business owners is to set up clear channels of communication. Working from home can be lonely for some people, but by setting up a clear way to interact virtually, your employees can remain in the loop and in contact with each other. According to Zippia, “19% of work-from-home employees stated that “isolation” is their #1 problem, and 70% felt left out of their workplace.”
If possible, aim to have weekly video calls so your employees can catch up with their workmates. You could include icebreakers so they can get to know each other better.👋
Working from home may be lonely for other people. But it doesn’t have to be. Have weekly meetings where your employees can catch up with their workmates. Start with icebreakers ❄️ and let them share about their personal lives. Furthermore, introducing a platform for communication allows employees the opportunity to reach out if they have any issues, and they don’t need to suffer in silence🆘
Source: Zippia
3. Prioritise Mental Health and Well-Being🧠🍎
Remote work can cause a blur of boundaries between work and personal life, which can lead to burnout and decreased well-being. Mental health is essential as happy workers are generally more productive, helping your business thrive.📈
By encouraging your workers to set boundaries between their personal and work lives, make time to eat lunch, take regular breaks to get some fresh air, and set realistic expectations for their workload, you’ll help take care of their mental health. This will also show you support them and take their well-being seriously.
If your employees are working remotely, it may be a good idea to incorporate flexible hours or a wellness program into your company. This will support your employee’s physical and mental health, helping them remain as engaged and motivated as possible.
Source: Zippia
4. Promote Team-Building and Social Interactions👋
Team-building exercises are great for boosting employee morale and increasing productivity. Team-building is a great chance for employees to get to know their team members, fostering positive relationships, a sense of camaraderie, and increasing employee well-being.
Plan virtual team-building exercises, casual meetings, or in-person social events to keep communication high.👩🏾🤝👨🏽
Here are some ways you can promote this in your business:
- Host viewing parties🥳 – if your employees like watching TV shows or movies, you can host a viewing party where everyone can watch their favourites.
- Virtual happy hours😄 – you can have an online bonding session where you will play group games, share stories, or do whatever you and your team desire to do. This will improve camaraderie and teamwork.
- Share your pet at work🐶 – who doesn’t love pets? It would be fun if an employee could show their pet and talk about it. You can do this at least once a week, rotating between everyone who has their fur babies. This will help boost your employee’s moods and help them relax with something to look forward to.
Source: RSPH
5. Use The Right Technology🖥
Using the right technology is an essential tip for working from home. Up-to-date technology is essential for remote workers, as this means they can work to the best of their ability. Invest in high-quality, secure, and reliable technology that’s easy to use, like communication platforms and project management tools.
Providing your employees with the right equipment will keep their motivation high and portray your dedication to their success and commitment to a streamlined workflow.
Here are some examples of technology you could use:
- Chat Apps💬
Instant messaging can help you and your team stay connected. Chat apps boost employee communication and offer a place for people to seek out answers or voice any concerns. Through these kinds of apps, your team can easily reach out to each other for a variety of reasons.🤝 This is great for remote workers, as it will help to reduce their loneliness.
Keep in mind that you have to secure the privacy of the tool that you will use, and you should have guidelines about messages that you can exchange in it 🔒. Common examples of chat apps are Tommy’s messaging software, Slack, WhatsApp, and Signal.
- Video conferencing📹
When you have team meetings, it would be best to use video conferencing software. In this way, it would be easier to talk about more important and lengthy topics. You can also use it during webinars, online training, and virtual conferences. Well-known examples of this kind of tool are Google Hangouts, Zoom, and Skype.
- Collaboration Tools🔧
Typically, there are a lot of files that need to be shared between your team. A collaboration tool will be helpful with that. These kinds of software are great for remote workers, as they keep everyone in the loop and streamline the workflow. File-sharing software like Google Drive, Box, and Dropbox can make your life simpler.
- Project Management Tools👨💻
Project Management Tools can help you track the tasks and progress of your employees. It will help you become organised and help with the flow of your business. Examples of these are Trello, Osana, and Microsoft Project.
- Employee Scheduling⏰
Work-life balance is crucial and must be promoted to everyone. Employee scheduling helps employees stay on top of their work hours and avoid doing unnecessary overtime.
Tommy’s employee scheduling software, as well as their timesheets, helps prioritise the welfare of your employees by allowing them to work at their desired time. It also helps maximise shift-based collaboration with their workmates.⏰📃
Source: Forbes
Conclusion
By following these tips and incorporating strategies into your business, your employees will appreciate your commitment to their success and well-being.🤝 While remote working may work great for some, for others, it can be a challenge. If you want to improve your employee’s satisfaction and boost the productivity of your workforce, give these tips a go.🏡🖥🤩
Do you have any experience working from home? Let us know how you find it, and share any tips you think may help others.
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