Many people were not looking to work remotely, but were thrust into it because of the pandemic. In fact, there are certain people that were trying to avoid working remotely.
Which means that it can be very difficult to have your work force working remotely. When there are people who aren’t used to working a certain way, or that they don’t have the right personality for it, there will be challenges.
So, it pays for you to understand what these challenges will be so you can head them off before they become problems. In this article, we will go over several of the downsides of working remotely and how you can help overcome them.
1 – Loneliness
Some people love to simply sit in their cubicle all day and just get the work done with little interaction. But, even those people have a limit. Without interacting with their peers, many will start to become disengaged and lose interest due to the loneliness of the work.
In a traditional office, there are people coming and going and when a question needs answering, you can go to your coworker and ask. Meetings happen frequently, and as boring as they are, they do provide interaction and help keep everybody on the same page and engaged.
To get around this loneliness, workers need to be reengaged so they can stay productive and happy. Try to schedule some video calls either one on one or as a group on occasion.
Also, find virtual games that are fun and will help promote binding and team building so they can feel like part of a team.
2 – Less accountability
Part of not feeling engaged with the work is the lack of accountability. When the work becomes a drag and seems pointless, it means that there is less of a sense of needing to get the work done to not let the team down.
If there doesn’t even seem to be a team then this can be a real issue. And sometimes it isn’t even the remote worker to be blamed here. Managers can also have an out of sight and out of mind mentality. They may forget about a deadline or not be checking in enough with a worker to promote that accountability.
A good way around this is to use a time tracking tool. There are many out here that will allow a worker not just to determine how long they have been working on a certain project, but will also provide screenshots so you can see if they are using their work hours on non work related things.
3 – Lack of communication
Sure, emails and SMS are frequently used to communicate, but it isn’t the same as an actual conversation. It’s hard to know if everybody is on the same page when they are not in the same office. Meetings are harder to schedule so getting everybody up to date is easier said than done.
Try to make sure that you are using video calls with employees when you feel that it can benefit their work. If you see productivity slipping, don’t try to crack down, but, rather, find some time to check in with an actual conversation.