Talking about Home Office work, the first question that comes up is how to ensure team productivity with remote work.
Though this may sound easy in theory, many people are not prepared to overcome some of the challenges that this type of work imposes, especially when it comes to separating personal and professional life in the home office.
At these times, everything counts and, in order to be successful and not lower productivity, they have to be very dedicated to not being distracted or losing their focus regarding their routine.
Advantages of working from home for companies
Despite the challenges and the need for some adaptation from the team, research shows that working from home can, in fact, increase productivity and contribute to a more motivated team and better delivery of results.
But, in practice, how can working from home increase productivity if the team is working separately and in an environment that can generate many distractions?
If you’re still not convinced, check out some of the advantages that remote work brings to your team and, at the same time, to the company:
Decrease in delays
Working from home means there is no need to deal with traffic jams, delays on public transport or traffic jams. This means employees don’t have to spend hours commuting and can instead focus their energy on getting to work on time.
Cost reduction for the company
One of the biggest advantages for companies with home office work is the reduction of costs, such as:
- transport;
- coffee and snacks;
- energy expenditure;
- costs of equipment maintenance, such as air conditioning, office equipment and physical structure in general;
- cleaning staff, security, etc.
Better quality of life for employees
Most of the stresses brought by the traditional work routine-the hours spent in traffic, overcrowded public transport, inadequate food, and other things that stress out your team before the day even starts-are eliminated when working from home.
Employees have a better quality of life, and, therefore, work with more motivation and also increase the quality of their delivery.
Additionally, remote work can also provide more flexible hours.
Depending on your company’s activity, you can agree with your employees on the hours they will work each day so that they can work during their most productive hours.
And, by being at home, it is possible to combine work with other simple activities, such as going to the doctor or receiving a service provider at home without having to miss work.
Labor laws have already regulated home office
After the Labor Reform, home office work was regulated as a formal type of activity. So, if you are an employer who wants to do everything within the law or guarantee your rights as an employee, you can rest assured!
The regulation of teleworking (as home office is called) defines important details such as working hours control, employment contract, rules on the structure for the employee to work and the company’s obligations.
Who can work from home?
For work done at home to be done with the same quality as that done at the company, the employee’s activities must be able to be carried out outside the workstation.
Companies that work with digital products, e-commerce, software and consultancies, for example, can carry out work outside the company without compromising productivity.
In cases where the work requires the employee to be on site, such as sales, industrial production, construction, etc., they do not allow for as much flexibility.
Even so, it is possible to make your working hours more flexible on some days of the week, whether to produce reports, plans or hold remote meetings, for example.
How to stay productive while working from home
Now that you know the advantages of implementing teleworking in your company, check out 7 tips to ensure your team’s productivity even remotely:
1. Have a space at home to be your office
This place is very important to contribute to tranquility, focus and concentration in the activities you need to develop.
This special corner should break your connection with other parts of the house that remind you of rest or fun.
2. Make a good weekly plan
Meet with the team to plan the week’s actions. This is a great time to align leadership expectations regarding team deliverables and is very important for breaking down weekly goals so that actions are guided by the main objective: achieving the goal.
At the end of this meeting, it is important that the team leaves well-oriented, with doubts resolved and committed to what was defined.
3. Don’t forget the daily meetings
Contact at the beginning of the day makes all the difference. This is the time to answer what will be prioritized for the day and to explain whether there are any obstacles that are preventing the person or team from reaching the goal.
This moment must be very objective and targeted to encourage the team to take faster action, in addition to enabling closer monitoring of activities, avoiding surprises along the way.
4. Don’t interrupt your work for household chores
Interruptions are, without a doubt, the biggest villain that reduces productivity. They disrupt the line of reasoning that is fundamental to your delivery.
Talk to the other people in your house and make it clear that you are working. If you live alone, set aside time to do household chores so that you don’t mix up activities and can achieve the expected results.
5. Use appropriate tools
It is important that your computer has all the tools necessary for your work to be carried out well.
In addition to a good internet connection, there are cloud services and various tools that can help teams and professionals in any company manage their work and maintain productivity.
6. Use communication to your advantage
Communicate well with your team and with the people you need to interact with to perform your work well.
Another villain of remote work is communication, a key element for good team management. However, with the tools we have at our disposal, we can easily overcome this challenge.
7. Manage your time well
To achieve effective time management, it is essential to control activities with well-defined and stipulated deadlines.
There are several tools that can help you in this process, ranging from controlling which activities should be carried out and how long they will take to controlling the time your employees spend on each activity.