The COVID-19 pandemic has forced many Arizona businesses to let their employees work from home to curb the spread of the virus. While remote working poses many benefits for your staff, they may eventually become less productive and engaged over time. To keep your remote staff productive and motivated, try the following tips:

#1. Be flexible with work schedules

An employee’s home environment is different from a traditional office, so consider letting your employees work their preferred shift. Let’s say that one of your employees prefers to work from 7:00 AM to 4:00 PM. Another may want to offset their shift to another day because they’re not feeling well. As long as they can meet deadlines and collaborate with their teammates, it's okay to give your employees more control over their work schedules. Doing so may even enable them to work at peak performance.

#2. Teach time management techniques

While flexibility is one of the most important things you can provide your employees, time management is just as essential. At home, not only are they occupied with work, but they are also distracted by household chores and other personal matters. There are many techniques that your employees can use to manage their time. For instance, the “Do It Now” mentality states that if you’re feeling lazy when you should be doing something, reciting the phrase “do it now” and powering through with a task will save you time. Meanwhile, the Pomodoro technique divides the workday into 25-minute intervals, with short breaks in between.

#3. Recognize outstanding work

Some of your employees are going beyond the call of duty for your company, even while working from home. Keep them motivated by recognizing their exceptional work. Use office collaboration tools such as Slack and Microsoft Teams to acknowledge outstanding employees. Use this opportunity to motivate others to work hard as well. Reward employees by offering them incentives such as mentorships, webinars, or their preferred online course. Doing so not just helps them learn new skills, but it also helps them grow professionally.

#4. Keep employees in the loop

During these uncertain times, effective communication among teams and departments is more important than ever. Keep your staff regularly updated about the things that are affecting the company. For instance, if the organization is experiencing a revenue slowdown, let your employees know the reason behind it and how the company plans to recover. This way, your employees feel that they are important to your firm.

#5. Encourage de-stressing

Doing office work and dealing with household matters at the same time can be draining. Keep employees productive and motivated by encouraging them to de-stress and do something that makes them happy. This could be playing a video game, reading a book, cooking a meal, or taking up one of their hobbies after their shift. Show your staff how important it is to relax and set boundaries for work and play. Consider telling employees to take frequent breaks and spend their personal time focusing on their physical and mental health.

#6. Gather feedback

You will likely encounter some issues with your remote work setup, so it’s essential to gather feedback from your employees. This gives you an opportunity to learn from them and improve your company’s policies. You can use online surveys to ask your staff what remote processes work and what doesn’t. You should also ask for their opinions about current systems in place. For all you know, your lackluster video conferencing app may be holding back your staff’s productivity. By listening to your employees, you are demonstrating the company’s openness to suggestions, which boosts team morale and keeps them motivated and productive. When it comes to managed services for businesses in Phoenix, no one does it better than Solution Partner. We provide proactive and reliable tech solutions that will protect your organization from downtime and other threats. With our 20+ years of experience serving business IT needs, you can never go wrong by partnering with us. Schedule a FREE consultation today.